James Harden attends State Farm All-Star Saturday Night - NBA All-Star Weekend 2015 at Barclays Center on February 14, 2015 in New York, New York.[/caption]During their training camp session today, head coach Mike D’Antoni named James Harden the full-time point guard for the upcoming season.
“He's more or less responsible giving rhythm to the team, that's what a point guard does. He's going to be on the ball and he's going to be distributing the ball and it will take some adjusting. He's got a lot more responsibilities as a point guard. A playcaller, a good basketball mind, he's already telling guys we can do this we can do that.”- Mike D’Antoni
While this is a big step for Harden, this is also something that he is somewhat used to. For the majority of the past few seasons, Harden has been the primary ball-handler for the Rockets. The main adjustment he will look to make is bringing the ball up every possession and the play-calling ability. Everything that happens on offense now will run straight through Harden.
This is a big step forward for the relationship between D’Antoni and Harden. Since becoming the head coach, D’Antoni has done an excellent job of forming a positive and healthy relationship with Harden. He has drawn comparisons between Harden and Steve Nash, which should have Rockets fans excited for the future. They have watched film together consistently and D’Antoni has shown Harden how he compares to Nash in terms of passing and playmaking. With him now being the full-time point guard, the possibility of Harden averaging 10 APG next season is extremely high.
The biggest question with this situation is the defensive end. While Harden will be labeled as point guards, he could still be defending the shooting guards, which is his natural position. Patrick Beverley will now be the shooting guard, which will be interesting to watch. On the defensive end, Harden and Beverley could just switch positions and guard their natural positions.
Harden knows that the media has been on him for his defense. If he indeed chooses to guard the point guards, it could be a big step for him. Everyone knows that Harden is a good defender. He would have to be laser focused when guarding players such as Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul. It could make him more focused and aware on the defensive end, which would say a lot about the attention he has paid to his effort on the defensive end of the court.
The Rockets have already started training camp and will begin preseason play on October 2nd against the Shanghai Sharks.
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