James Harden WAS just what the Clippers needed

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Published 2024-01-27
The Clippers are 21-4 in January and February behind the best offense in the NBA. In this enhanced segment from the Thinking Basketball podcast, Ben and Cody break down James Harden's role as a point guard for Ty Lue's offense and why his pass-first style has fit so well with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

-Full episode-
YouTube:    • The top passers in the NBA | Thinking...  
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1cLade2ipCC6yrIfxYFQtV
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/247-the-top-passers-…

Support at Patreon: www.patreon.com/thinkingbasketball
Book: www.amazon.com/Thinking-Basketball-Ben-Taylor/dp/1…
Podcast: player.fm/series/thinking-basketball or at www.stitcher.com/podcast/ben-taylor/thinking-baske…
Website: www.backpicks.com/
Twitter: @elgee35

Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.

Stats courtesy:
www.pbpstats.com/ @bballport
www.basketball-reference.com/
stats.nba.com/
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Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.

#thinkingbasketball

All Comments (21)
  • The editing on this is CLEAN. So satisfying watching the commentary perfectly synced with plays that show off exactly what Ben and Cody are describing
  • "Am not a system player ,Am the system ". Dude knew what he was talking about for sure
  • @EhhSenpai
    He been one of the best if not the best passer for many years. A lot of people just weren't familiar with his game because they either didn't watch him enough, believed narratives, or let his scoring over shadow how great his passing is
  • @TulioMCano
    Just makes me think that Ty Lue is incredibly underrated man has them playing for each other like no one could
  • @lgnance
    5:49 “James Harden’s passing is so much more expansive than I am remembering.” He always played like this. During his Houston years he was the center of the offense and also the primary facilitator/playmaker, he didn’t develop all of this passing ability overnight.
  • @thelegendoof8744
    ‪When “superteams don’t work” - Thinking Basketball…‬ harden is the truth
  • @taXicity
    I will admit that i wrote off clippers as soon as they announced the trade. I'm so happy i was wrong because this clippers team slaps hard. Must see tv for all basketball fans.
  • @Kewon14
    One thing i think isnt mentioned enough is the drastic change of pace between ball handlers. Harden will start the game with a methodical approach. Then Russ comes off the bench at 100 mph while putting insane pressure on the rim. I feel like the extreme difference between those 2 is what helps the Clippers offense stay very good even without harden on the floor.
  • @DreamKrazy2028
    James finally is finding his footing with this system. It’s made to highlight his strengths and hide weaknesses. Don’t know if he’ll find success in the playoffs, but as long they take the pressure off him to where he can play his game freely, he should be fine!!!
  • Time is fluid. I can't believe a few weeks ago everyone wrote off the clippers after the trade, and then Russ went to the bench for the team, helping them get to the rhythm they have now, force feeding a lot of people their words.
  • @zeldascholes2216
    Cody's podcast analysis of that Paul George corner pocket three, without watching the video, was pristine
  • @jameshoops10
    1:46 i bursted out laughing where cody almost slipped up and said pound town 😂
  • @TopVibeFitness
    Harden a top 7 passer??? lol bro is 100% top 3 passer in the league.
  • @KimWe-a-xler
    Harden has shown that he can do things like this before in H-Town as the helio guy. We just tend to forget it because of those insane scoring seasons of all-time high volume scoring, iso, and stepbacks 3s.
  • @DustySticks
    We need to keep emphasizing this as well about Harden. There is this incorrect narrative pushed by Doc Rivers and now people across the basketball media that Harden "changed" after he got snubbed as an All Star and became more selfish in the second half of last season. Ben I believe pointed out recently that there was barely any change to his numbers before and post All Star break. I am not a Harden fan, but I really detest narratives being pushed and presented as facts when they simply are not true at all.
  • @jstar0737
    Sheesh those cut aways were clean! Everything was sync so perfect. You keep that up i might have to start donating money to you guys.
  • @woozerk
    First time watching your channel and you earned me a subscriber with the on-point edits. Perfect sync guys. Good content and quality vids.
  • @5StarGreen
    so we not gonna act like you didnt upload a video with james harden, paul goerge, and kawhi in the thumbnail saying superteams dont work 💀💀
  • @allenross3050
    So much for James harden not being a portable player ehh ben