I'll put my neck on the line, and probably be wrong, but I think Harden was so successful because he wasn't ever the no. 1 target for the defence. You saw what happened when Miami targeted him in the playoffs.

Of course, but his numbers speak for themselves. His skill set is fantastic and he still has huge room for improvement. He isn't a lights out athlete but he's such a skilled player. He was easily the best '6' in the league and he's easily one of the best SGs. Bearing in mind he still has 10+ years left in his career, I can see him easily being a regular all star throughout his career and easily a franchise player.

But he ain't gonna be a "6" in Houston. He's gonna start, and be the number 1 option.

And a very good starter he'll be. Get him the right bigs and they've easily got themselves an all-star who could seriously flourish. I really like Harden, his numbers were great, he was unselfish but willing to take on shots, he oozes brains and he gets better every game. The only thing he needs to work on now is his defence and becoming the number one option. It's a change of role in a way but it isn't, when he comes on he often becomes the go-to guy for the Thunder, he just has to do it more regularly. He's not an instant Kobe, but for me he's got potential to easily be better than Joe Johnson or Brandon Roy, two established all-star 2 guards who were/are franchise players. Whether he could be a Kobe or a Wade will soon be seen as he becomes the man at Houston, but I really like him and I think they should have tried to get rid of Perkins to create more room to keep him.

Perkins is an integral part of what the Thunder do defensively. Harden is a decent player and will be the franchise player in Houston. I agree with the Roy type comparison, not JJ though as he is/was biz. If Lin stop's the stupid shots and can feed Harden the way he fed Novak on the perimeter then he could have crazy numbers.

Perkins is a good player but Ibaka is the star for them defensively. For me the Thunder often performed better with Perk off the floor, simply because he would sometimes be too lethargic as a defender. I imagine they could have got somebody decent in return for Perk. It was never going to be easy for them to get rid of one of the stars, but I still can't believe they've got so little in return.

It's the Knicks year AGAIN this year.








Nah, it will be Lakers v Heat.

How did that taste Lebron. Totally untouchable last night. Melo still slipped into selfish Melo though. Great show with all the injuries.

This place has died off recently. Here's a few pics from my trip to MSG on Friday night to liven it up a bit

Great stuff mate. Hoping to go myself next year. Drubbed the Fakers last night. Melo showing why he's MVP.

I've never had much interest in the NBA up to now but i've decided to give it a go this season with no NHL to watch.Never had a favourite team before but have chosen Atlanta Hawks to be my NBA team,didn't want to have a 'big name' team like the Knicks or Lakers and didn't want to jump on the OKC bandwagon so picked a team that while they probably won't win the title they're not one of the worst teams in the league.