James Harden is the next Paul Pierce
James Harden (Arizona State)
*Reprinted from Dime #49’s NBA Draft Preview*
Paul Pierce isn’t one of those pros that prodigies aspire to be like. Kobe, D-Wade, LeBron, ‘Melo — these are the scorers that every high school and college kid between 6-4 and 6-8 patterns their game after. Pierce doesn’t really work for them. He’s not what you’d call sleek or smooth, and he’s probably cracked NBA.com’s daily Top 10 less often than Hedo Turkoglu.
But in the case of James Harden, who else but Pierce could he follow? The 6-5, 220-pound Cali native is built similar to a young Pierce, and his game is the same blend of joystick moves, strong takes to the cup, soft jumpers, an ability to draw fouls and live at the line, and underrated defense.
Up until March Madness, the only difference — aside from Harden being a lefty and Pierce getting buckets right-handed — was that Harden had yet to face significant adversity on the big stage. He rarely ever lost a game in high school, then walked onto Arizona State’s campus as the Big Man. But after ending his sophomore year on a bad note, averaging 9.6 points on 22 percent shooting (6-for-27 FG) in a three-game stretch that included the Pac-10 title game and two NCAA Tournament games, for the first time in a long time, Harden’s skills had come into question.
And if that lasting impression causes a Draft Night drop — just like Pierce — it could also spark that fire in Harden to spend the next decade punishing those who doubted him. Just like Pierce. And as good as he was in college, Harden’s game is made to be even more successful in the pros. Just like Pierce.
June 24th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
BigBlack says:
harden is the truth no.2!DUNNO!!!!!!!!!waris
June 24th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Nah he’s more like the next Michael Redd.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
LB says:
I read somewhere that Harden was also pudgy when he was a kid, and was a role player early in his high school career, just like Paul Pierce was
June 24th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Claw says:
Being an ASU Alum here’s my commentary. Harden was solid during the season but against top talent he would struggle, mostly the tournament he was flippin terrible.
I thought he would drop but his stock has actually increased which has been surprising. I just don’t know if he’ll be that good of a pro, thinking more Bo Kimble.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Brown says:
I think Harden’s the second-best prospect in this draft. I can see Memphis passing on him, but OKC shouldn’t. If he falls past #3, I’ll be surprised. Minnesota should nab him if he’s available.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Yoooo says:
He wasnt that good in tournament time because he had NO ONE else on his team. ASU was sorry as hell. Coaches designed defenses to stop him and him only. Pierce was on a loaded Kansas squad. Harden didnt play with any other NBA players.
June 24th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
So Harden disappeared in the PAC 10 tourney and NCAA tourney because other teams game planned to stop him? But he’s still really good?
Didnt Curry take DAVIDSON to the sweet 16? Man he must have had some quality teammates there…
Hmmm
I’d say more like the next Eddie House.
I’ll pass- Give me Tyreke, Flynn and Steph. Guess I like guys who step up on a big stage regardless if the other the team was trying to stop him.
June 24th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
jay says:
I can see the Pierce comparisons somewhat. Who hasn’t. It’s a very widely held comparison. I think at the same age though, Pierce was a better athlete, he was thinner, more explosive. Harden right now is physically similar to a 29 year old Pierce.
I like Harden a lot. He doesn’t have an offensive weakness, he’s an underrated athlete, he has great length, he can put three or four moves together in one sequence which is something only the elite scorers can do in a game setting.
But the thing with Pierce is that there were aspects of Pierce’s athleticism that were elite. He didn’t have great straight ahead full court speed and he was a good but not great leaper but his lateral agility is among the best I’ve seen and his first step was outstanding. Athleticism works that way sometimes, just because a guy can jump 40 inches doesn’t mean he has a great first step or because a guy can is fast in the open court his first step is lightning quick.
Two examples of Pierce’s athleticism from the 2008 playoffs that have rarely been done: One, he picked up Lebron in the open court, one on one, and took a charge on him. I don’t think anyone but Pierce has ever done that. I mean, Lebron is unstoppable in the open court, he’s going to at least get to the free throw line and Pierce was quick enough to get in front of him and square him up. Two, he blocked Kobe’s turnaround in a one-on-on post setup–you can’t do that if you’re not a great athlete.
June 24th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
flavur says:
Paul Pierce + Manu Ginobli = James Harden the #5 pick for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
ponky_alolor says:
And so was Greg Oden the second coming of Bill Russell….
I mean Harden’s probably a mix of Manu and the Truth but I think that’s all misplaced hype at some point. This is all the draft’s fault hehehe.
June 25th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Sasquatch says:
Funny enough to notice, today is dell curry ’s birthday..Draft day..what a gift son..
June 25th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Ekstor says:
Some bad comparisons here… Eddie House? Michael Redd? Did Harden suddenly turn into a 3-pt specialist?
June 25th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
QQ says:
If i was Dell Curry, all i’d want for my bday is for his wife to dome me for a couple of hours, then follow it up with some vicious animal-style boning. ya digggg?
June 28th, 2009 at 4:14 am
larry says:
harden is like him self or clost to elgin baylor