I know you hate them. The coach hates them. He complains about the ball being sticky. He said holding on to the ball the last game was not what they drew up. I hate them as well. With that said, Harden deserves props. The great players aren't just great because of their skill, but also their mentality. They are stubborn to a fault. They take on the responsibility and burden of the entire team, sometimes even to the detriment of the team. Every great player goes through this before learning from it. Because if they did not have this mindset, they would not be great in the first place. Hakeem was criticized for being selfish before he learned to trust his teammates. How many isos and missed game winners did Jordan take? Kevin Durant shot 35% from the field his first playoffs series as the top dog. Harden is a 23 year old 1st year starter and budding superstar. I cringe when he isos at the end of games, just like you. But I am also glad that he takes it upon himself to win games. I'm glad that he is not afraid to carry that burden. The responsibility of the franchise and the city on his shoulders. The glory and the ridicule. Harden will get better from this. Either trusting his teammates more, trusting the system more, or simply getting better himself and making those shots. This is what making the playoffs was all about, learning and growing.
"But I am also glad that he takes it upon himself to win games. I'm glad that he is not afraid to carry that burden. The responsibility of the franchise and the city on his shoulders. The glory and the ridicule." This sentence says it all .. i was going to say this too.
The shots he got out of the end-game Isos last night weren't terrible. On one he clearly got fouled on the arm, and the second time down he got good look from midrange but he just missed. I can live with those. I don't mind him taking shots down the stretch, but he has to do a better job of taking care of the ball. He had 7 TOs at half time last night. He did a much better job in the second half.
The problem in my opinion is that Harden didn't drive at all and at least give himself a good chance at getting a quality shot. Even Shaq of all people noticed it.
The point isn't whether his isos are good or bad. I think at this stage of his career, going 1-on-5 is a bad move. He just is not good enough to consistently pull it off(very few are). The point is, in the closing minutes of an elimination game with the entire season on the line, with all the pressure, I want my franchise player to embrace that moment and have the confidence, the fearlessness, the cojones, to put the team on his back. Even if doing so is a bad move at this point of his career because he is not good enough yet, I want him to have that mentality. Because while you can work on your jumpshot in the offseason, while you can work on your footwork in the offseason, while you can work on your ball handling in the offseason; that mentality, that mindset, that killer instinct is something you either have or will never have. How we actually execute at the end of games we can always work on later.
Harden has shown he's not afraid to take the last shot and is willing to shoulder the blame when he screws up in the closing minutes. Mcgrady would never turn the ball over in critical moments like James did in game 3 but he also would always pass up that final shot and tried to defer any blame. I'll settle for harden.
Yes, I agree with the OP. Think about it... LeBron James (when he was younger) would always pass the ball or not take the game-winning shot with the game on the line. Wasn't he like 0-8 in making game-winning shots not too long ago? The media would always crucify him and he would react to it by not taking the last shot or missing. Also, even in the all-star game he passed off to someone else rather than taking it himself. It wasn't until this last championship he's been having the cojones to take the last shot instead of passing it off to someone else. Robert Horry is another example of a person with the balls to take the shot and being clutch. It wasn't until the later part of his career he ended up being this go-to person. When he was with the Rockets his first few years there were never plays drawn up for him to take a 3 pointer for the win. Harden is doing it now so you can expect failure to happen. It's all about confidence and having the ability to know you can make the shot. That comes down to experience and Harden is only 23 years old and in the first year of being "the man" on his team.
I dont mind the Harden mind set, but he should just switch it up a bit more...stop jacking up shots...if youre gonna iso, at least draw the defense...take the 15 footer on a stop and pop...you do realize that if Harden adds a mid range game to his skillset he would be impossible to guard... He has to play better situationally... He has to learn what to do when you're up by 1, 2, 3, or 4 points in a game with 2 minutes left to play...and that is totally on coaching and in game situation training... 1. When you're up by one go for the 2 point shot at the rim, bc you draw attention to the paint, a shooter can get free...and if you convert, a 3 point shot wont end the game... 2 When you're up by 2, I still would go for the easier shot and therefore attack the rim...and the resulting play can net a 2 possession game. 3. When youre up by 3 or 4 points, it is more beneficial to go for the 3 point shot, bc u force the opposition to respond with a 3.; and could result in a 3 possession game... When your down, you have to always go for the easier shot first, and when absolutely necessary take the harder 3 point shot. The goal is to try closing the gap to 1 or 2 points first... Bottom line, during those moments in timeouts, and during those crunch and high intensity periods, this is the responsibility of the coaching staff to break down the importance of shot selection. In this short time that i have watch Harden in his career as a starter here in Houston, he has gone from actually completing the act of the drive to the rim and looking for the refs to bail him out...That is a terrible habit and completely takes away youre confidence as a bball player...you have to always know that in pressure situations, the aggressor is almost always rewarded, and his goal is to attack the rim with the purpose of completing the play with a score...The great ones all do it...and Harden has shown glimmers of this particular talent...i just wish he thinks a bit more...
Statistically he's been a great iso player this year and was elite last year, but he's wilted in those clutch moments except for the Spurs game. Needs to be a better closer for us.
I am a big Harden fan. He is clearly the main reason we showed so much improvement this year. But giving him props for taking bad shot after bad shot is stupid. He has played terrible most of this series and the props goes mostly to Asik, Parsons and Beverly. Not to mention Garcia and Delfino off the bench. All harden has done is take us out of most games. Yes he is double teamed but he makes so many trurnovers and they are the most ridiculous stupid turnovers at the most ill advised times. He sometimes forces the issue by taking it to the rim but I would much rather see that than watch him ISO at the top of the key and then pass with 3 seconds left. Terble, terble,terble No props for Harden for this playoffs. He earned props from me for most of the regular season. He hasn't earned **** for the playoffs. Let's hope he turns that around. He is overdue.
We need to find out a way to get a better shot than that. Star player or not. I hate the fact that the refs fail to call the that in the NBA. You have a player like Harden who clearly misses because of the contact and you don't make the call. Then you bring in instant replay to nullify the out of bounds call.
A lot of players have the stubbornness you speak of, but only a few warrant it. Tyreke Evans often has that stubbornness, as does Monta Ellis and so did Marbury. The list goes on. There is some truth to your post -- all the great players (especially the wing players) had that selfishness, and everyone of them grew into the role slowly and painfully and also learned to trust their teammates while keeping that mentality. However, what seperates a Jordan from a JR Smith is not the mentality you speak of, but the ability to back it up. Like you I am glad Harden has the mind set that is necessary to become one of the league's best, but this mentality, while a necessary component to greatness, does not guarantee it. Harden could end up in the same category as players like Francis, Marbury, Sprewell, JR Smith -- players who had the mindset of great players, but could never become the type of player that could lead a team to elite status. So, I do indeed join you in commending the leadership and selfishness of Harden -- however, the fear people have is not just that he might lose another game for us, but that he might be on the path of talented headstrong burn out instead of the path of greatness and championships. To determine that the only thing we can rely on is patience and time -- personally I am very optimistic in regard to Harden, and I predict and all NBA 1st team selection for him next season and many years to come...but we can't be sure.
This brand of hero-ball, to me, is not indicative of Harden being a mature or fearless player. It simplifies the possession to one variable -- ball goes in or it doesn't. This makes it easy to get a shot off, without regard to whether its a good shot. It requires a lot more confidence and will-power to penetrate, draw in defense, and then accept the responsibility of having to make a split-second decision in reaction to the defense. It takes more courage to trust an open teammate to hit the shot and risk being called passive/soft when that teammate misses, rather than to launch a bad, contested shot.
There is a total difference...Lebron is an excellent best shot creator and taker...what i mean is that he will either create the best opportunity for a player or he will take it himself...He has shown to consistently make the right bball play...and even though he doesnt take the shot(like kobe), he puts his team in the right situation to win...As a coach, i dont think you can ask for more...Lebron is now doing both at a high level...and hence why he is the best player in the game today...
When a player commits 10 turnovers and continues to make the same mistakes that leads to those turnovers that player is a selfish black hole that doesn't care about team success as long as he gets his. Rockets need to stop trying to force their offense through Harden, he's too 1 dimensional, predictable and turnover prone, he does not make his team mates better the way the media leads you to believe.
Nowhere am I condoning his actual play. I said I hated it. I do not like his hero-ball, either. But, this is something that all greats go through. Stubbornness is not a virtue, but it is a shared trait of all the great ones. What you are talking about, trusting his teammates and the system, is something every great player had to grow into and learn for himself.
But he's done that as well. Early on in the season against Miami he passed to Parsons, who passed to Lin for an open shot. In one of the last games in the season, I think it was the Phoenix or LA game, he didn't take a shot in the last 2 minutes. In game 3, he passed to Delfino. We lost all 3 of those games by the way. It's just a matter of him making the right decisions. He's not the closer we need him to be right now.
