Ethan Khoza presents a YouTube workout titled "James Harden Workout - Basketball Workout (Best Basketball Moves + Drills!)" that analyzes why James Harden is an elite ISO scorer and lays out drills to practice Harden-style moves. Key points: Harden uses size-up dribbles to bait defenders, changes speeds to blow by defenders, counters recoveries with snatch-backs and step-backs, can finish strongly at the rim, and combines elite handling with shooting and passing. The workout focuses on footwork, size-up situations, and practicing change-of-speed to implement these moves into a player's game.
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While I think that Kevin Durant is the best overall scorer in the NBA, in my opinion James Harden is the best ISO scorer in the league. He's incredible at changing speeds, his ball handling is as good as anyone's and he's an incredible shooter from anywhere, literally anywhere. And on top of that, he's a tremendous passer. NBA defenses have no answer for him and he's carried the Rockets on his back on a couple of playoff runs the past few years before we get to the workout, lets break down what makes James Harden so effective as a scorer in ISO situations. James Harden almost always uses size up dribbles to lull his defender to sleep. His defender is hypersensitive to what Harden might do, so throwing in any sort of eye or head fake is enough to get his defender to raise up. And on top of that, Harden is great at blowing by his defender after setting him up with the size up. This workout will involve a lot of size up situations. Before our moves it's important to note the change of speeds. The size of dribble should be relaxed so that your defender mirrors you and relaxes before you quickly change speeds and blow by them. He also has a lot of go to moves that counter any possible reaction that the defense could have. If the defender recovers after a blow by he might snatch back into a step back. If his defender is too far off, he'll just step back right away and if he gets by his man and gets a full head of steam to the rim, it's over. This workout is going to break down some of his moves and give you a step by step plan on how to practice them and implement them into your own game. Some of these are tough, but if you can master them, you'll be incredibly hard to guard. Make sure you really pay attention to the footwork as that is maybe the most important part of doing these moves effectively. Alright, let's get to it. Sam.
