Harden a Lottery Pick? Hardly...

[PoolBoy]

if harden goes pro he is an unquestioned top 10. I just hope he stays one more year.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

if harden goes pro he is an unquestioned top 10. I just hope he stays one more year.

I hope he comes back. It'll make ASU that much better and he'll be a better pro in the long run, IMHO.

 

[Gee!]

I hope he comes back. It'll make ASU that much better and he'll be a better pro in the long run, IMHO.

I dont see how it makes ASU better.. Better than this year? Or better than ASU would be without him? The latter would be true, but I dont see them being better than this year.. And I also dont see how it would make him a better pro.. I think he's gotten as much as he's gonna get outta college and would be an idiot to turn down a lottery pick in this years weak draft than to wait a year and go in the mid to later part of the 1st round next year.. But, he did go to ASU, so his intelligence aint what youd call astounding..

 

[Mainstreet]

As for Harden, I always saw his faults... They are:

- No speed/quickness. He's looks extremely slow against solid talent...
- Way too inconsistent. I can't recall a supposed Lottery Pick disappearing for the long periods of a game as does Harden.
- No defense at all... His lack of quickness really hurts him here...

I just can't believe Harden is Lottery Pick material. He really should stay one more year. I know he won't and good luck to the team that dishes out the guaranteed millions that come with drafting a Lottery Pick...

I can't understand why Harden is considered a lottery pick. Actually I would not be looking to draft him in the first round at all for the reasons you mention. This must be a really weak draft (except for PGs) because even Pendergraph seems to be on the bubble for the first round. I won't even get into Budinger.

 

[Russ Smith]

I can't understand why Harden is considered a lottery pick. Actually I would not be looking to draft him in the first round at all for the reasons you mention. This must be a really weak draft (except for PGs) because even Pendergraph seems to be on the bubble for the first round. I won't even get into Budinger.

My thing with Harden is I think he's one of those guys that has had to prove at every level that he's good enough. In HS Malik Story was higher rated early on, but Harden became the star. In college he came in highly regarded but everyone said he's not on the Mayo, Rose, Bayless level. Now he's headed to the NBA and again it's he's not athletic enough or he can't play defense etc.

I don't know that we really know yet about his defense, they play zone so how could we know? He gets a lot of steals.

Offensively I think people overlook how much defensive attention he got, very few teams just played ASU straight up man, most used some sort of defense geared to stop Harden, from USC face guarding him with Hackett to UCLA throwing 3 different players at him(jrue, Shipp, Lee) and constantly using Collison to double him(which is why Glasser was so good against UCLA).
He did have Pendergraph inside to help but for Harden to put up those numbers while being absolutely keyed on impressed me.

I don't see him as an instant star, he needs to improve his outside shot, get a quicker release. He'll need to adjust, rookies in the NBA rarely get calls, he got a ton of calls in college driving in and creating/causing contact, he might not get those calls in the NBA early on they may be charges or no calls. But he's just so good at finishing inside with contact and he's a terrific passer so I tend to think he'll eventually be a really good player in the NBA.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

My thing with Harden is I think he's one of those guys that has had to prove at every level that he's good enough. In HS Malik Story was higher rated early on, but Harden became the star. In college he came in highly regarded but everyone said he's not on the Mayo, Rose, Bayless level. Now he's headed to the NBA and again it's he's not athletic enough or he can't play defense etc.

I don't know that we really know yet about his defense, they play zone so how could we know? He gets a lot of steals.

Offensively I think people overlook how much defensive attention he got, very few teams just played ASU straight up man, most used some sort of defense geared to stop Harden, from USC face guarding him with Hackett to UCLA throwing 3 different players at him(jrue, Shipp, Lee) and constantly using Collison to double him(which is why Glasser was so good against UCLA).
He did have Pendergraph inside to help but for Harden to put up those numbers while being absolutely keyed on impressed me.

I don't see him as an instant star, he needs to improve his outside shot, get a quicker release. He'll need to adjust, rookies in the NBA rarely get calls, he got a ton of calls in college driving in and creating/causing contact, he might not get those calls in the NBA early on they may be charges or no calls. But he's just so good at finishing inside with contact and he's a terrific passer so I tend to think he'll eventually be a really good player in the NBA.

Excellent take, and a fair assessment. Anybody who says he is poor defensively obviously hasn't watched him play much. Harden is an above average defender with active hands, and a good understanding of how to get in the passing lanes.