Brian Davis on James Harden: ”Thunder rookie James Harden did not hesitate when I asked him what the biggest 
adjustment has been so far as he transitions from college to professional basketball. “All of the free time,” he replied. No juggling sports and academics here. No early morning practices before classes start. Or squeezing in a couple of hours of reading between your last class and the beginning of practice. Or taking an exam in a hotel meeting room in Corvallis because you have a road game at Oregon State. So what does Harden do in his free time? He goes to basketball games.”
NBA TV has decided to air a few Summer League games for the rest of the week, but don’t get too excited – no Thunder games to be found. But 4 of the 6 that the network is showing involves the New York Knicks though. Thanks for nothing NBA TV. I hate you.
Protect the Paint reviews some studs from the Summer Leagues: ”James Harden – Not too surprising that the player considered by the majority of scouts to be the “most NBA ready” went to his first summer league and was one of the best players on the floor. Averaged 14.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in forming an impressive tandem with Russell Westbrook. Coach Scott Brooks has to be excited and the organization confident they made the right choice in the draft. He flew west and is currently playing in the Las Vegas Summer League. Needs to: Mentally and physically prepare for an 82-game season. His game is complete.” Keep Reading…
interesting one
another year off of the calendar. But the maturing Thunder also used the third overall pick in the first round to select a card-carrying shooting guard named James Harden. What Harden provides is a legitimate two guard whose presence will continue to discourage anyone affiliated with personnel groupings to put Kevin Durant back at shooting guard, where he couldn’t defend a bear in a phone booth.”
Byron Mullens and the death of the big man
If you were 7’2″ and 260 lbs, what sport would you likely play? NASCAR? Golf? And within that sport, what position do you reckon you’d be slotted at? Hint: It doesn’t start with a “G” or an “F” and it rhymes with “renter.” It doesn’t take Jack Ramsey to figure this stuff out.
But don’t tell Byron Mullens this. He said last week in Orlando that he’s no center. He’s a power forward. And I guess I believe him. Because that’s sure how he plays.
We’ve seen Mullens in a total of seven professional games and I can remember only two post moves – one an airballed hook shot and the other a step-back jumper from the block. Out of 53 shot attempts, just two post moves from a 7’2″ guy. Two post moves. For someone that is 86 inches tall. That makes about as much sense as Christian Bale still using his Batman voice when he was talking to Lucius.
But don’t just blame B.J. Byron Nelson James Mullens. Because by all appearances the true center is dying, one seven-footer at a time or as Clark Matthews put it in an email, “The center position should be on the endangered species list next to albino otters.” It’s a basketball epidemic. Or I guess maybe it’s just an evolution in the game. Who knows? We’re seeing more and more Amare’s, Mehmet Okur’s and David Lee’s and less Shaq’s, Al Jefferson’s and Yao Ming’s. Heck, look at guys like Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Nenad Krstic. They’re seven-feet tall but they prefer the pick and pop instead of the post and score.
In Mullens’ defense, he is uniquely gifted for a guy that size. He has nice touch on his jumper and he’s absurdly athletic for his size. He’s not some stiff that just takes up space. He really has the skills of a jumpshooting power forward. But combine that with at least a mediocre post game and match him up against slower, less athletic guys of similar size and wouldn’t he be a matchup nightmare? Well, that’s just what common sense says. Keep Reading…