Showing posts with label Harden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harden. Show all posts

Friday, August 26, 2016

James Harden organizing players-only minicamp with Rockets

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For the second consecutive year, James Harden is looking to get a jump on preparing for the upcoming season with a players-only minicamp.

According to Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston, Harden has rounded up his Houston Rockets teammates for some pre-camp workouts beginning next week. Corey Brewer says Harden has been responsible for all the planning and organization.

“James is doing everything,” Brewer said. “He is showing he wants to be a leader. He’s the franchise player. He signed the extension. So it’s his team, and he’s doing all the right things to do what we need to do to have a chance to win championships.”

Harden did the same thing last season, and the Rockets got off to a painfully slow start. However, this is a new team. Dwight Howard has moved on and Harden signed a lucrative extension.

“We want to send a message that we’re ready to go,” Brewer added. “We’re going to work our butts off. All the guys have been working hard this summer. Last year was a year that we didn’t like. Everybody has a bitter taste in their mouth. So we can’t wait to get started.”

There’s a potential hurricane forecast for Miami this weekend, which is where Harden wanted to hold the minicamp. He may have to alter the plans because of that.

Harden’s leadership ability has been questioned in the past, but his teammates seem to respect him. Now that his supposedly icy relationship with Howard won’t be an issue, perhaps the Rockets can develop better chemistry. Getting an early start can only help.

H/T Pro Basketball Talk


Basketball – Larry Brown Sports
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#Harden, #James, #Minicamp, #Organizing, #PlayersOnly, #Rockets - #Basketball

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

James Harden signature adidas shoes get mocked

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James Harden adidas shoes

James Harden is finally getting his own signature shoe from adidas. That’s the good news. The bad news is the shoes are getting roasted by folks online worse than the Steph Curry shoes from Under Armour.

Sneaker Watch posted photos Monday of the all new adidas Harden 1 in “triple black,” and the reviews based on aesthetics are not positive.

Here’s a look at them:

The shoes, which are due out in December, are getting heavily mocked. Take a look at the jokes:

It’s worth noting that the white version looks a lot better.

If you liked those jokes, you’ll appreciate how the internet mocked Steph Curry’s shoes.


Basketball – Larry Brown Sports
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#Adidas, #Harden, #James, #Mocked, #Shoes, #Signature - #Basketball

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

James Harden gets personal logo from Adidas

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james-harden-rockets

Last year, James Harden signed a lucrative endorsement deal with Adidas. On Tuesday, the sportswear manufacturer unveiled a personal logo for the Rockets star.

Adidas used one of its Twitter accounts to give the world a look at the logo in a video the packs a lot of visual effects into 17 seconds.


Accompanying the video in the tweet is a suggestion to head to the @projectharden page on Instagram for more. It’s there we find an explanation for the Harden Mark.

📷 INKWELL 📷

A photo posted by Project Harden (@projectharden) on Aug 9, 2016 at 10:06am PDT

Knowing what it stands for is good. However, some aren’t even sure what they’re looking at.

Earlier this summer, Reebok released J.J. Watt’s first signature shoe, which prominently features his logo. Now, we’ll have to wait and see what shoe Harden’s brand new logo appears on.


Basketball – Larry Brown Sports
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#Adidas, #From, #Gets, #Harden, #James, #Logo, #Personal - #Basketball

Monday, August 1, 2016

Kevin Durant: James Harden is underappreciated outside of NBA

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Kevin-Durant-James-Harden

James Harden is a year removed from nearly winning MVP, but Kevin Durant feels that his former teammate doesn’t get his due from observers.

On Sunday, Durant said that Harden is one of the best players in the game and bemoaned his absence from All-NBA consideration.

“Nobody really appreciates what he does except for the players in our league,” Durant said, via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “Everybody on the outside doesn’t really appreciate what he brings. Anybody that can put up 29 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and not make the All-NBA team, that’s like a sin to even think about not putting a guy like that on the All-NBA team.

“As a player and someone that played with him and a fan of the game I was (angry) because somebody is right here in front of you and you can’t appreciate him. If he were to retire tomorrow, we would have so many stories and videos about how great he is, but he’s here right now doing it. Appreciate what he brings.”

Durant is right that Harden is an elite player who stuffs the stat sheet. It’s his defensive struggles and some criticism of his intangibles, however, that have kept him from being recognized as a consistent, consensus All-NBA talent.


Basketball – Larry Brown Sports
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#Durant, #Harden, #James, #Kevin, #Outside, #Underappreciated - #Basketball

Kevin Durant Says ‘Nobody Appreciates’ James Harden Except His Peers

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james harden, kevin durant

USA TODAY Sports




James Harden is a veritable lightning rod for criticism. He’s been called selfish. He’s been accused of being a bad teammate and a coach-killer. And reveling in his lackadaisical defensive efforts has become one of America’s favorite pastimes. He’s quickly become one of the most unlikable stars in the league, and playing alongside the equally-unlikable Dwight Howard the past few seasons hasn’t helped his cause.

But it’s gotten so bad that some folks want to diminish his accomplishments on the basketball court. And it’s not just the fans. Despite posting up huge numbers this season, Harden failed to make an All-NBA team, and this after finishing second in MVP voting last season after logging eerily-similar numbers. But the Rockets were one of the most disappointing teams in 2016, and many saw that litany of aforementioned faults as one of, if not the, root cause of it.

It’s a different story, however, when it comes to the people who actually have to play against him on the basketball court. In fact, Harden was voted MVP by his peers at the first annual Players Awards last summer, and one former teammate now more than ever still thinks he doesn’t get his due.






Harden, however, appears poised for a bounce-back season. After jettisoning Howard, the organization didn’t make much of a splash in free agency this summer, but they added a few solid pieces (namely long-range sniper Ryan Anderson) who should help them in the win column.

With Harden recommitting to the team on a long-term contract extension and a new coach in Mike D’Antoni to revitalize a stagnate offense, the Rockets should rediscover at least a little bit of that swagger they showed two seasons ago when they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals.

For Harden, winning will likely be the only way to silence his critics.

(h/t Pro Basketball Talk)

Sports – UPROXX
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#Nobody, #Appreciates, #Durant, #Except, #Harden, #James, #Kevin, #Peers, #Says - #Basketball