Are you a big fan of James Harden as the next superstar shooting guard?

H

hahnhan

Guest
#1
The shooting guard position is labeled as the icon position in the NBA....

If you look back into the past in the last two decades..theres only a few superstar two guards in the NBA .....Michael Jordan , Kobe , dwyane wade , Clyde drexlar ...you can include iverson since he played the two spot later in his NBA career...also tmac if it weren't for injuries...

Harden is one of the best offense players in the league and he's improved even more this season as a member of the rocket. He's not as athletic as previous star level shooting guards but he will have his moments of nice soaring dunks.
 
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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#2
No I'm not.

But despite the backlash against him, which BTW I share -- if he blew out a knee trying to flop someday I would just sit there and giggle -- I think its dishonest to try to deny him a pretty clear advantage as THE SG of this particular generation. He's the one superstar type guy. And the big thing I always ask out of people to be superstars? you gotta create. if you don't create you are a star, but somebody is making you one. Harden creates, for himself, for others. He's a superstar. But he's also a sloppy floppy gimmicky superstar in an inflationary system who was really miserable in the playoffs last year. I don't think he's a guy on the level or even close to the level of DWade or Kobe of the last generation. But I do think he might have a claim as an equal of peak Ray Allen, and possibly even be a little better.

In the last generation I would have maybe ranked it:

Kobe
Wade
TMac
Iverson
Vince
Harden
Allen
Johnson
Roy

something like that. He's the best we have at that position right now. Of course the position is at one of its weakest points in decades, so its not the same thing as competing with Jordan, Drexler, Mitch, Dumars etc. for that honor.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#4
I find the OP to be strangely worded. I can't parse whether he's asking, "Do you think that James Harden is the next superstar shooting guard?", or whether he's asking, "Do you like James Harden, who already happens to be the next superstar shooting guard?"

And I can't answer just yet, because those two questions yield different answers from me.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#6
he flops his way to the free throw line...so no, I'm not too fond of Harden as this decade's dominant SG. But that's what we have to deal with so I will gladly root for Wiggins and Beal and hope they turn into something special.
 
#7
The man has skills, but his style of play makes it very difficult for me to root for him or his team. He is a product of today's NBA, where touch fouls are called like never before. That being said, he still is a great SG, but certainly at least 1-2 notches below Kobe and Wade. Prime Kobe/Wade were certainly something to watch, almost can't miss action for some folks (I was a huge D-Wade fan back in the day). Not so much with Harden.
 
#9
James Harden absolutely reminds me of the old guys playing pickup basketball that you think you'll have an easy run with and then turn around and wonder how you lost by 10. Crafty, skilled and hard to stop even though you know he's either shooting a three or driving to the hoop. Like a bigger, stronger and better passing Manu Ginobili he just has enough in his bag of tricks that he can get where he needs to go. But for some reason I just can't root for the dude. I don't know if it's the flopping, or the lackadaisical defense (which to his credit is better this year) or both. I was a little put off by his "this team is me and Dwight and role players" but honestly isn't that how most stars feel? Can't really criticize the guy for being honest.

In short - James Harden IS the best shooting guard in the league and IMO can be considered a superstar but no, I'm not a big fan.
 
#10
My problem with Harden is that he takes advantage of the current NBA...FLOPS. Without his flopping antics, I'd probably like him.

I believe there is an actual real life tier with SGs.

Tier A+
-Harden

Tier A
-Klay Thompson
-
-
-

I think there's a tier A+ because Harden is just so dominate. There isn't any SG on his level right now. SG is getting to the point where Klay Thompson type of SGs ARE the norm in the NBA now. Primarily 3&D guys. Guys who can shoot spot up 3s and defend in the wing. That's the normal for SGs in the NBA now. Guys like DeRozan and Thompson can handle the ball, but I don't think they're at Harden's tier yet.
 
#14
he flops his way to the free throw line...so no, I'm not too fond of Harden as this decade's dominant SG. But that's what we have to deal with so I will gladly root for Wiggins and Beal and hope they turn into something special.

A couple of hard ass fouls back in the day would cleared that up really quick. I don't get it. That's why you have guys like Reggie Evans on the bench. You want to flop on our guys, your getting laid out... Flagrant or not.