[lakeshow22Participant]

Who’s more explosive shabazz or James harden? Whos the better athlete?Watching highlights of them both in high school it seems that bazz is more explosive yet James harden has always been a deceptive athlete and people have always underrated his athletism and some even calling it a weakness coming out of A-state. James harden athletism never stood and some say that bazz athletism alone stood out at the high school level which I don’t completely understand. So will bazz athletism stand out more than James harden in the Nba?

[lockdownD]

Are you serious?… James Harden

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Yes. In halfcourt sets I expect it to be average not stand out. He will get more dunks in the NBA? Yes.

[river09Participant]

Personally where they both are at I’ve always thought they are very comparable in terms of athleticism, Harden is more matured at this point but he does have a few years on Shabazz..

[B-ball fanParticipant]

Harden gets tons of elevation on his dunks, way more than Muhammad. And Harden might be the best slashing wing in the NBA, other than LeBron. You don’t become that without having athleticism. Muhammad will look better once he gets in shape, but he isn’t nearly as athletic as Harden.

[ASAP HenryParticipant]

Oh how much a few years change. When Harden came out no one considered him an explosive athlete. He was always sneaky athletically, but never considered elite. Personally I think him and Shabazz are pretty comparable from an athletic standpoint. Both of them are very good athletes, but not elite athletes. I’d probably give them and 8.5/10 in terms of athleticism (jumping, quickness, etc..)

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

Why is Shabazz always compared to Harden? The only thing similar between the two of them is that they are left handed. Harden is one of the best facilitators and shot creators in the league. He handles and passes the ball like a PG. Shabazz is closer to a 4 man then he is a PG. He had like 25 assists all season, he doesnt handle the ball very well. He scores alot of his points in transition and offensive boards.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

Just because Harden used to be underrated athletically doesn’t mean he isn’t athletic now. And Muhammad just doesn’t play very athletic. His lateral speed on defense is very poor, his movement on the court is never particularly fast, and he isn’t a great leaper. Muhammad could become a good athlete, but he isn’t anything special athletically. Harden, on the other hand, really gets up high on some of his dunks and just has a quickness to his movements that Muhammad doesn’t.

[lakeshow22Participant]

So why did Shabazz Muhammad’s athletism stand out SO much more in high school than hardens did, when there both about the same size?

[JoeJoParticipant]

Did he? I didn’t see Harden in high school so I can’t say but I never thought Shabazz looked like an athletic marvel when I saw full games of his. Sure he looked very athletic in highlights but you can’t go off them too much. There are other reasons why Shabazz might have appeared SO much more athletic than Harden. One is age. Shabazz was 19 during his senior year in high school, Harden was 17. That’s not an insignificant difference. Another thing is I think Harden doesn’t get his full due for his athleticism because he doesn’t “look” athletic. A lot of athletic guys have tapered frames and muscle definition; Harden has neither. If you just go by his first step, full court speed, ability to change direction, flexibility and thunderous dunks, Harden is very athletic. Shabazz isn’t close to the athletic Harden is.

Why is there any mystery about Shabazz’s athleticism? Athleticism should be easy to measure, it should be objective. How is his full court speed, first step, lateral quickness, change of direction ability, leaping ability? I thought Shabazz was pretty underwhelming in all those areas. I don’t buy that he wasn’t in shape. He might have been initially but apparently he got himself into shape. Why trust high school highlights or evaluations than how he actually looked against better competition last season?

[BKGingerSnapParticipant]

James Harden was one of the youngest players in his class and just turned 18 when he entered college. He was still developing and hadn’t even begun to grow his beard yet. Shabazz as it turned out is older than we thought meaning we are comparing Shabazz to Harden even though Shabazz was over a year older at the same stage. Now I’m personally a Shabazz supporter and also think every ignores the fact that Harden simply doesn’t try on defense but we have to wait for the draft combine to really get accurate reading on Muhammad’s athleticism. Harden’s athleticism needs to be respected though as he measured a 37” max vertical and had basically the same sprint speed as Ty Lawson (Lawson’s was 3.12 while Harden’s was 3.13).

[FastAndFuriousParticipant]

People’s body develop at an different rate:

Look at Westbrook, he didn’t start dunking until his Senior Year, now he’s possibly the most athletic player in the NBA, def top 3.

Besides Shabazz was old for a Senior, while Harden as someone else pointed out was pretty young his SR year.

Harden’s been in the NBA for 3 years doing all types of workouts, you can always improve your athleticism if you work hard enough, as Harden is def more explosive than he was at AZ State.

[TYOParticipant]

Harden is a better athlete.He has a more explosive first step & is a better leaper. Bazz is a good athlete not great.

[aaucoachParticipant]

does bazz even have a memorable college dunk?

[JoeWolf1]

Harden was damn near the top of his class athletically in the combine. I think Bazz will test “above average”. Athletic ability alone, I think Shabazz’s reminds me of Lance Stephenson. Strong, decent speed, and above average hops, but nothing special.

[Author]

Posts