What's wrong with our superstar and will he get his mojo back?

He needs to take one of those Lebron vacations.

 

Some comments and observations:

* this is not super uncommon from superstars of all ilks. Remember, MJ retired... twice.... before coming back. Sure, after winning rings, but still. Kobe b****ed and asked for a trade. Hakeem had his moment with the injury/fake injury (I don't think it was fake, but anyway). Don't get me started on TMac. Pippen. All the superstars that asked for trades, etc, etc. When you think about usage rate, it's not just how much load does a guy carry in a single game, or season, but over many many years. That said, some of the below points are relevant

* it's hard to tell 100%, but he definitely definitely appears hampered. the easiest clue to me is his layup drives. Sure, Whiteside is very long. But there was more than one time last night where he just missed badly a layup, or just couldn't come even close to driving by his guy in his normal bully way. Along those lines... the FTs. Game by game ref'ing can vary. But without question, Harden himself isn't being as physical as he usually is. He's not just not getting calls. Some are missed, but for the most part the FTs are him not shying away, but not "creating" the foul.

* the 3s vs 2s. He's taught himself to be in love with 3s over the last few years. The step back, etc. Per the on-point comments weeks back about plan B, or C.... he's eliminated that form his game. He's got plan A - step back three, or drive. Given either the injury, or whatever, the step back 3 is slightly off, while he's a tad slow on drives and shying away from contact. He becomes relatively easy to guard at this point. Give him slightly more room on the step back three. He's missing, and he's not got the straightline speed of some superstars to then blow by, especially if he doesn't have the bully ball or explosion at the rim.

* the defense. this has been a problem throughout his career. he's had better years, and worse years. Even when his offense was on this year, he started out the season just never getting back on fast break transition defense, and this has continued. the entire switching defense is because he gets lost easily and too lazy defensively to fight through, rotate properly, etc. It'd be nice to get him back to not horrible levels...

Solutions:

* rest until he is 100% healthy. I think they need to do this VERY strongly. Eg. this is the solution. The roster is flawed anyway. Maybe there's a trade deadline deal that brings it all together, but seems unlikely. If he needs 2 weeks to get fully healthy, give him 2 weeks. If he needs a month, give him a month. PROBLEM: this overlaps the all-star game, and his vanity likely prevents him from "sitting out"... though I could see him attending but not participating... he still gets the all-star starter selection on his resume.

* move EG to the bench. Not related to Harden, but MDA's constant yo-yo'ing of EG is dumb. Against Utah, fine, he had to start. Otherwise, having Harden, Russ and EG out there at the same time doesn't make sense, to me, given they all kind of play the same position and are best with the ball in their hand, and that none of them are great defenders - Russ and EG are passable, but it's overall a below average (well?) PG,SG,SF defensive combo.

* change Harden rotation so he takes the 2nd star rotation minutes. He goes out first, then comes back later. This isn't a demotion so much as an acknowledgement that this rotation slot benefits from coming back in against the other teams bench. Get him rolling again by going against crappier defenders

 

The not getting back on defense thing is getting really old, especially when he thinks he got fouled on the other end. It’s as predictable as the sun rising in the morning that if James doesn’t get a call, he doesn’t hustle back on defense. I don’t mind his supposed defensive deficiencies for the most part because I think they get blown out of proportion sometimes, but I do very much mind when he doesn’t get back on the other end because he’s pouting.

 

Let him rest until after the ASB, which is 2 weeks away. I rather have a 100% healthy Harden for the postseason (even if it's up against the Lakers) than one that's 70-80% right now but will only get worse in the playoffs. Plus, this gives Russ more time to work with the rest of the team and gives Gordon more time to shoot/score.

 

If Harden is physically hurt, resting some games can easily solve the problem.
But if he is mentally hurt, I don’t know what we can do. Harden’s mind is hard to understand sometimes.

 

Harden is definitely physically hurt. He has always looked uninterested for the most part. He is in the biggest slump of his career and it's due to injuries.

 

There could be a connection that the physical pain is actually impacting his mental state. He's trying to overcompensate whatever ailment he has and it's obviously not working. Just hoping ALL parties involved (Harden, MDA, Morey, etc.) will shelve him until after the ASB.

 

A good game for Westbrook is an average game for Harden. If you're letting Westbrook run the show, you're not maximizing your team, but if you don't let Westbrook run the show, you are rendering him useless.

That's not to say that Westbrook has been the problem or anything lately. I think it just shows that the trade was dumb, and the Westbrook/Harden fit simply doesn't work as long as you have an "ISO everything" coaching strategy.

 

No one in this organization has the balls to force Harden to sit. No one. I hope they make me wrong, soon.

I don't know if it's his mentality (he always fights through injuries, it seems), or if he's interested in getting the "scoring title" again (I bring this up as a possibility only, I don't know) in which case his injury is bringing the numbers down anyway....

 

Oh, of course. When I've gone through pain of some sort, it can just deflate you completely.

 

They are all going to get fired soon. MDA, Morey, assistant coaches.

Why care and make a superstar and former MVP in Harden angry?
So they have even less chances to find a new job in the league ?

 

He's getting extremely old probably ready to retire.

 

Harden is not the guy. It’s that simple. He’s an amazing player that can make an organization a lot of money, winning a lot of games and winning scoring titles and being in the MVP hunt.

If you want a championship or leadership, he’s not it.

This is the 3rd star we have put next to him. The fact that it’s not working and never works is a poor reflection on James

 

Its disturbing to see how quickly our fans will turn on Harden, when there is clearly something physically wrong with him.

 

Nevermind the fact that:

1. Howard came to us after having a serious back injury/surgery and was no longer the same Dwight.
2. Chris Paul never played more than 58 games in the regular season during his 2 years here.
3. Westbrook's tenure with Harden is still TBD

James has flaws for sure but he wasn't exactly given in-their-prime sidekicks to work with. A prime Howard with Harden or a prime Paul with Harden? We'd be arguing on where Harden sits in terms of all-time rankings rather than his leadership skills.

 

Doesn’t matter, we’ve made enough excuses for James. Is he the guy or not?

Paul is looking great with the Thunder. Harden didn’t like that he called him out, so got him shipped out. That’s not leadership. That’s a guy who doesn’t want to be accountable.

you making excuses for him is exactly what he wants

 

Nevermind the fact that when we beat the clippers, it was everyone but James that made the comeback because James choked

Nevermind the fact that when we beat the Jazz yo go to the WCF, it was Paul that lifted us with a crazy 4th quarter

Nevermind the fact that in the 4th quarter of game 5 in the WCF with the series tied 2-2, Paul was caught on camera trying to MOTIVATE harden to get his energy up and finish the game strong.

 

Iol it's not even excuses! it's the damn truth. Who would have guessed that Chris Paul would have played ALL 48 games for the Thunder this year? Like honestly? Paul's production was never a question for me--it was his availability or lack thereof. Don't get me wrong--if it doesn't work with Russ and somehow Harden wants Russ gone then yeap James is a lost cause to lead a team .

 

There are chemistry issues, Westbrook getting more touches and shots means it is harder for Harden to find his rhythm from three, Westbrook's numbers look better than they are, he really kills momentum in a game with stupid and out of control plays, his hustle and stat padding when the game is already determined, make his numbers appear better.

The biggest issue for Harden is that Capela and Westbrook's men are in the paint when he tries to drive.

Therefore, unless he is hot from outside, it is really hard to score these days if refs don't send him to the line. Plus defenses can overplay his three, because they are packed in the paint if he drives past his initial man.

Then they try to play small to provide more spacing, and the defense goes down further playing with 6 feet 5 inch power forward (Harden) and 6 feet 5 inch center (Tucker).

This will play out in early playoff exit, new coach, and we will see if humble pie causes buyin to entirely new system because these players should still be getting more out of their abilities - but this is a poorly constructed roster.

 

We blame and accuse media and other fans for being biased and rooting against him, when the fans themselves don't seem to like him in the first place.

Now we are starting to even blame him for his injuries.