Yeah, the dunk contest was kind of not awesome. But what was awesome, was James Harden’s attire. He was most certainly swaggin’ Saturday night. I think it’s pretty clear that Harden leads the Thunder in swag, and probably by a large margin. The letterjacket, Harry Caray glasses combo is definitely a look Jimbo Slice is able to pull off. It must be the beard, amirite?
But I love this picture. Everyone is sitting down, watching DeMar DeRozan skywalk. But there is Harden, alone on his feet, mouth agape. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant looks on in earnest and Kevin Garnett appears to be napping on Rajon Rondo’s shoulder. I think this picture really sums up the contest well.
Here’s some video of James Harden talking after the game. Below are some quotes from Russell Westbrook, Patrick Ewing and Kevin Durant.
WESTBROOK
On how he played: “It was a fun game, unfortunately they came out with the victory but a fine team effort for us. We just tried to come out and have some fun.” Read more…
Sometimes here at Daily Thunder, we like to go inside the game. We like to dig deep, get inside the stats and understand basketball. Find the important things that can help you the reader, better comprehend the game on the court. And in that spirit, today I started thinking: I wonder if there is a difference in James Harden’s stats when he wears a headband?
And so I looked it all up. Through some exhaustive research, I’ve compiled this handy-dandy table and a chart to follow to inform you of such important things.
G
PPG
APG
RPG
FG%
3P%
FT%
With Headband
9
10.1
1.2
3.8
39.4
43.8
95.4
Without Headband
41
9.6
2.2
3.0
38.2
36.2
78.4
As we see, Harden turns into a sharpshooter when wearing the sweat-catcher. He jumps 17 percent from the free throw line and 7.6 percent from 3. He also goes up 1.2 percent from the field but in such a small sample size, I don’t think that matters. (I guess in reality, none of this matters, but alas.) And with the band, Harden gets to the line more (2.4 to 3.2 free throw attempts a game). Overall, with the headband, Harden is just a more productive player. And the most important thing, the team is 5-4 when he wears it. Read more…
Watches are so named as a reminder – if you don’t watch carefully what you do with your time, it will slip away from you – Drew Sirtors
(Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
Forty-eight minutes. Forty-eight nerve-amplifying, pupil-dilating and excitedly exhausting minutes is just not enough. At least not for the Thunder’s shooting guard duality. And so, with two very different but equally impactful players on their roster, that age-old issue of time creeps its ugly head again. Is there enough time for both James Harden and Thabo Sefolosha on the court to both make the kind of impact they can to help the Thunder win games?
Maybe. But what if there is a more pressing question underlying the question of minutes itself? What if the real question is: Do Thabo and James affect the outcome of a game in a positive way equally?
Now there’s a dilemma. That’s a question that I’m not sure any of us really want to answer. Well, this isn’t a place for the faint of heart fan so let’s see how they each rank up among the NBA’s elite SG’s to get a better picture. Before we do that, let us not forget those individual grains of sand in the hourglass that both players have in a game thus far.
Thabo Sefolosha averages 32.5 minutes a game; James Harden averages 21.2 minutes a game.
Now onto where each ranks among the league’s leading shooting guards… Read more…
(Good morning faithful friends. Thanks for reading Daily Thunder. Have a bagel.)
If you’re at all bummed from last night’s lackluster performance, have no fear. I have your cure. I’ve watched this six times already. I can’t get enough of it. I love seeing players acting like themselves. And their age too. I keep laughing to myself thinking of these three choreographing the routine though. Did they practice? Did they script it out? Was it really just an improvisation? Whatever the case, I freaking love it. Enjoy.
If you can’t tell, I’m a little obsessed with the details of basketball. I like knowing how and why the other team scored, as well as my own. Anyway, James Harden caught some attention last Friday with his eight assist performance in Detroit. He’s also caught a little criticism for his supposed slow start to his rookie year. But I wanted to break out some video to show exactly what Harden brings to the floor and why he’s going to be an absolutely dynamic offensive player for the Thunder. He can score, don’t worry. That stuff will come. But lots of athletic guys can score. What Harden’s got is intelligence, an understanding of the game and the most important thing of all – this thing called feel.
(Big time thanks to reader Johnny for the video.)
Two assists stand out from that sequence more than any other. And they’re not even the flashiest ones. I like Harden’s dish to Etan Thomas for a layup and his little wrap-around bounce pass to Nick Collison for a dunk. But let’s look at a couple of the eight. Read more…
We took a look at a list of goals for the entire Thunder team a couple weeks ago. But let’s get detailed. Let’s get specific. I’m going to dig in and hit on some individual goals for a few players that would define a successful season. So what meters for success should we set for James Harden?
Average at least 25 minutes a game. The top worry for every rookie is the haul of 82 games. It terrifies them. And so for a guy like Harden, not only do we want him to stay healthy, but we want him to be able to take the wear and tear of a season and still be able to play 25-30 good minutes each night. The Thunder’s track record shows they want to let rookies play. Russell Westbrook was seeing legit minutes from opening night on. Kevin Durant and Jeff Green were linchpins for the team in 2007. So there’s a willingness to let rookies play as long as they’re productive. So if Harden is seeing 25 minutes a night that means he’s doing something good.
Knock down open 3s consistently. And by consistently I mean like at least 37 percent of the time. He showed in Summer League that he can hit 3s. He’s not going to shoot a ton of them, but he’ll go 1-2 or 2-5 on a pretty consistent basis methinks. With all the penetration Westbrook will do, a lot of kickouts should be available to Harden. The key is making the shot. That’s something OKC missed (get it? harfharfharf) last year and by missed, I mean like last in the league in 3-point shooting.Read more…
The MidFirst Bank caravan thing had a stop today and gave fans a chance to get to meet the Thunder’s three new guys. And for your info, James Harden will wear No. 13, B.J. Byron Mullens will wear No. 23 and Robert Vaden No. 30.
(Thanks to Jacob Thompson again for the incredible picture.)
And here’s Sam Presti with James Harden today at the caravan:
Also, Sam Presti was on Tirico and Van Pelt yesterday and here’s that interview for your listening pleasure (h/t to J.G.).
(Hola campers. Your Saturday open thread. Enjoy yourself.)
So we added a new face to the Thunder roster Thursday night if you hadn’t heard. His name is James Harden and he plays basketball for a living. And let me tell you, besides being an excellent dresser and a pretty dang good hoops player, he’s also a fairly interesting interview. I love watching Harden play – his game is so complete. A smooth jumper, excellent slashing skills, an dynamic passer and a willingness to just play within the flow of the game. I’m excited for next year. Can you tell?
Somehow, I think we all knew this is where we’d be. We all had visions of black floppy hair streaking up the court and busting out a fancy-pants pass, but I think deep down, we knew James Harden was going to be the name called with the third pick.
It’s kind of a weird feeling honestly. I’d been calling for Harden for almost two months now. I don’t think there’s any player that fits us better than him. Oklahoma City was statistically the worst team at shooting guard in the league last season. Harden is talented and can do multiple things. He’s can step on the court tomorrow and make this team better. I truly think he’s going to be a fantastic player. Read more…
