Shabazz Muhammad = James Harden?
there are so many style similarites where watching them they loook similar. Same left hand dominant, body type, their shooting stroke is identical. Im not against the comparison. But the fact is harden is a far better ball handler then shabazz. He can change directions much better. Shabazz is 2-3 dribbles max and if he doesnt have it he needs to give it up or take the shot. Plus shabazz is already more physical around the paint then even a more mature harden.
Maybe, they have some similarities as they are both built strong and are not flashy finishers but they both attack the rim and finish strong, they both are very good shooters when standing stil. I think alot of people dont like the comparison to Harden seeing as how he is now a superstar but they fail to realize how inconsistent he was his first 2 years. Would like to see bazz work on his off hand dribble an his ability to finish with his right hand as he showed flashes tonight, but if I had the #1 pick I would take him his potential is sky high.
I feel shabazz has a higher ceiling. Not to take away anything from James Harden who ballin, he doesn't show that intensity man defense, and I feel that is a huge plus to bazz game. Bazz showed the clutch gene on that spot up 3 in ot, he looked good today. Not to hijack your post but that man Kyle Anderson is trash, idk why yall riding him to hard, ya'll talking about magic johnson and &$#%#&@! i see a slow ass poor mans tyreke evans. Let me go start a thread on how trash he is yes im drunk goodnight world
As of right now he doesnt have the handles or the ability to create for teammates. Howlands system is very weird in that russell westbrook only averaged 13 points and 4 assists in his last year there. It tends to hide some players skills. I would like to see shabazz run the offense more and see if he has the ability to make plays for other players.
Today's UCLA system is not the same as the system's in the past. This team is very poor defensively, so they can't play that slow down, half court style.
Shabazz running the offense would be really bad. The major difference b/t Harden and Shabazz is that one is a creator and one is a finisher. To me that's enough to dismiss the comparison. Shabazz is perfectly fine getting his within the flow of the offense. He can be a prolific scorer whether they run plays for him or not.
Shabazz is not like Harden simply because he can't create his own offense yet. This is mainly due to his ball handling skill not being elite yet, however workout videos come out of him weekly showing him working on it. It will come in time, but he also doesn't have the vision Harden does.
And Westbrook averaged 13 ppg because he played with love, collison, shipp(Very good college player), and Mbah a moute. Westbrook also was a late bloomer, he was only a 3 star and he couldn't dunk untill his senior year in highschool(he had a big growth spurt his senior year as well). Despite all this Westbrook still won pac 10 dpoy and was a top 5 draft pick. I think Howland disguising college player's talent is simply a myth.
Howlands system wasn't that much different from G'Town's system in that they use to play at such a slow plodding pace and shared the ball that it was nearly impossible to put up big numbers consistently.
But I do feel like Jrue Holiday could of been a much better college player had he gone somewhere else. Holiday had a mature game going to UCLA and never really got a chance to do anything.
i have a different feelings about Shabazz..
when you watch them scoring then YES the comparison is great you can take ball handling but Bazz will improve and they are just to similar in other parts of attacking..
but everything else are so different i mean those small things..
while Bazz is such a great scorer that because of it ALONE i would take him number1 but to be in Davis,Wall,Rose ect. level prospect wise he is just TOO unversitile..
i mean 6'6 with up to 7feet wingspan is even greater than Harden's or last year's lengthy prospect Lamb's length, he is agressive and athletic too, and he only grabs 4.6rebs zero blocks in 10games and only 5steals, and offcourse the biggest difference offensivelly is i can't imagine Harden avg less than 1assist on any level..
Besides both being left handed they are different players. James Harden is a crafty scorer who is great off the bounce and in pick and roll situations. James Harden also is really good in creating for others. Bazz is more of a power guard. He constantly seeks to get quick post ups in transition. As someone earlier pointed out Bazz is more of a 2-3 dribble guy then he picks the ball up. Shiftiness and craft are not his strong suit. He is a bull and a physical guard who seeks out contact. So while both are left handed and good scorers I do not see many similarities in their games. I am seeing why he was highly regarded. I was on here a few weeks ago and acknowledged that Shabazz was out of shape but wanted to wait to see how he performed when he lost weight. He is looking a lot better.
At the next level he will want to improve his ball handling and ability to make plays for others. I have no doubt that he can make that improvement.
shabazz is harden
pressey is poor mans chris paul
anthony bennett-paul millsap
noels-marcus camby
c.zeller-chris kaman
plumlee-tom guggliotta
ben mclemore-ray allen
cj mccullough-steph curry
polythress-marvin william
archie goodwin- dominique jones
isiah austin- will go to orlando
mcadoo-derrick williams
I don't really see it. I'll admit, I was intially very disappointed with Shabazz after watching his first two games. I heard so much hype and I was dumbfounded as to why he was so out of shape, but he's turned it on and really scored the ball well against Missouri last night. That being said, I think people forget how athletic James Harden really is...
His max vert was 37'' and his 3/4 court sprint was the 7th fastest in his draft class and a very impressive 3.13 seconds. James Harden was also nearly a 4 assist per game player during his freshman year and a guy who stole the ball over twice a game. Bazz to me, looks like a one trick pony, at this point in his development. He can score the ball a variety of different ways, rebound adequately for his position, but he does little on defense or distributing the ball to warrant any comparisons to Harden, even when he was the same age.
While he might be a one-trick pony at this stage of his development. That one trick is scoring the ball and being the go-to-scorer in every game and any given situation. If I could be a one-trick pony, I'd prefer to be what he currently is.
That said, while Harden was athletic at the combine, he doesn't use athleticism on the court, which is where it counts. He, like Brandon Roy, gets by on his IQ, fundamentals, and footwork. Something Shabazz Muhammad has nearly mastered, which is ridiculous given his age.
Scoring and rebounding-wise, he is James Harden. Harden is a better ball-handler and passer though but to be honest, Bazz has years to improve that and might as well end up being as good as Harden in 5 years.
What? Wallace was the top high school player in the country based off nis athleticism, defense and dunkimg. Wallace aka Crash was always a high level energy p ayer who made his name on defense. It took him like 5 years in the league.to even learn how to shoot. Wallace could get 15 points a game without ever taking a jumper.
Bazz doesnt p ay with that energy and will never be that level a shooter. Like Melo, Bazz is a strong, sturdy, crafty scorer with a smooth shot. He can shoot from range and finish in traffic. He also has the potential to do wat Melo did for Cuse and catch fire come Tourny time and lead UCLA to a Chip.
Valid or not?