James Harden Is Showing His Potential | James Harden Rare Photos | James Harden Pics | James Harden Images | After All-Star Break

Harden is finally starting to show why
he was the # 3 overall pick in the 2009 draft

James Harden's game is finally starting to translate to NBA success.


After being selected 3rd overall in the 2009 draft, James Harden has not lived up to the expectations that a prospect taken that high has. This has not been an issue for his team, however, because of the successes of other young talents placed around him: Durtant, Westbrook, and Ibaka. This was a perfect situation for a player like Harden, who has an old school style of play, looking to set up team mates opposed to creating his own shot.

At Arizona St. he was a prolific scorer for his two years in college. When he came out he was also touted as having under estimated athletic ability and great passing ability and vision. I saw him in person, at Mac Court in Eugene, as he tore apart the Ducks single handedly. He scored 44 points effortlessly. When I looked at his stats the next day I noticed how efficient he was. He scored a large portion of his points at the free throw line, while shooting a very few amount of shots to score such a high amount.

So far in his NBA career Harden has struggled to find his niche. He has become the Thunder's sixth man, along with Ibaka. His first year he struggled with his efficiency, shooting only 40% from the field and not producing many assists or steals. So far this year, to the chagrin of Thunder fans, he has mostly produced the same as last year. As far as role players in the NBA go, he is effective, although one would wish he would shoot a higher percentage, or specialize in one thing such as three point shooting.

Although his production is not where many would like to see it be, Harden has shown flashes of brilliance this year. When Durant was injured at the beginning of the year Harden started, and scored 20 points 2 or 3 games straight. The difference was that he was needed to be a scorer, because of the lack of offensive production from Sefaolosha and their other role players. I hoped that once he went back to the bench he would continue his improved play and continue his new found aggressiveness, but this did not happen. He reverted back to the mediocre averages from a year ago.

During the all-star break Harden had a huge game in the sophomore-rookie challenge. I think this may have given him some confidence coming out of the break. At the same time, Jeff Green was shipped to Boston. This left a void in scoring that needed to be filled. In the five games since the break Harden has upped his production to 17 points per game, improved his shooting percentage, and is getting to the line and making 95% of his free throws.

How Krasinski Said Goodbye To Carell On ‘The Office’ | Today Latest Story

We’ve known Michael Scott was leaving Dunder Mifflin for awhile, so we’ve had time to mentally prepare ourselves. The cast of “The Office” has known even longer, but they weren’t prepared to get emotional on Steve Carell’s last day. While promoting the romantic comedy Something Borrowed, John Krasinski shared his own tearful farewell.

(Click Here To See Video Of Will Ferrell’s Debut On “The Office.”)

“I definitely cried on the last day,” Krasinski said. “Wasn’t expecting it and then the last scene of the day was our goodbye of characters. We hadn’t said goodbye and so that was an incredibly existential black hole. It was like way too much happening. So there were definitely tears.”

The show has wrapped for the season but it was several weeks ago that Carell wrapped. Krasinski describes his feelings graphically. “Brutal, in no uncertain terms which I only say because it wasn’t so clear when it was happening. I think I was under the impression of my logical brain saying, ‘This is just what happens. People move on and they have contracts that expire and there’s nothing personal’. Then you realize that a huge part of your show, a huge part of your everyday life, a huge part of the energy around you every day is gone. It’s just sad to lose a friend like that. It was tough but it’s all fantastic and our energy level on set is tremendous and we all feel incredibly excited about what’s to come. Everybody was talking about a spinoff 2 ½, three years ago. This is the show sans Steve. It’s ‘The Office 2.’”

When Will Ferrell appeared last week as the new boss, Jim and Pam’s storyline had them showing off their baby a little too much for his tastes. They won’t beat that joke any further. Instead they’ll find all new ways to annoy their new boss.

“No, I think that played out in the episode, or at least was highlighted in that episode and we definitely find other relationship avenues to take.”

“The Office” airs Thursday nights at 9 on NBC.