With the 2016-17 NBA season approaching, Houston Rockets superstar shooting guard James Harden is ecstatic about his team. From Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:
“It’s not even close,” Harden said of the mentality heading into camp compared to last season. “We’ve doing something I haven’t since I’ve been here in Houston. Just trying to shake things up, just trying to make sure we really know each other in and out on and off the court. I think that will translate to a better team.”
Optimism in the NBA when summer gives way to fall comes more reliably than a change in the weather, but Harden said last season’s disharmony was “an extremely big problem.”
“On any team, in any sport, if you don’t have the entire team on one page, the entire team having one goal, you’re not going to be successful,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to build here in Houston. We have several new guys we want them to come and feel like this is a great group and we’re going to build this together.”
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When asked by an audience member about Dwight Howard’s departure, he said that his goal is to win with whatever teammates he has. But when asked about what he hopes to accomplish beginning with Saturday’s first practices, he said, “To build something that I haven’t had since I’ve been here, that’s everybody on the same page, everybody in the same boat.”
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“This entire summer I thought about last season, how there was a terrible taste in my mouth,” Harden said. “I wanted to come back, get the guys together. I wanted to get the guys together, in Vegas in mid-July and in Miami (last month) just to hang out. I think the better you are off the court, the better you will be on the court. Just worked out with the guys, went to a concert, had dinner with the guys. It’s going to carry over to the court. This summer is really a team bonding thing.”
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“I’ve been training all summer,” Harden said. “Last season wasn’t great at all. It was very disappointing. I don’t want to let that happen two years in a row. I’ve been in the gym working out to get my mind, body and soul right.”
It really sounds like Harden’s head is in the right place, which is huge for the Rockets. This team will go as far as James Harden takes them. If he plays as well as he has in the past, this could be a team that goes as far as the conference finals.
