This is served as a discussion, not a thread to bash Harden. I understand Harden is probably the best at drawing fouls in the league, which makes him very efficient and lethal, but is he trying to do it too much? A lot of times when Harden try to draw a foul but he couldn't get the call, it becomes a turnover and lead to fast break points for the other side. I've even seen during final seconds clutch time he was trying to draw a foul instead of trying to make the shot. We know referees don't like to give out foul calls during clutch times and playoff. If Harden rely too much on drawing fouls, does that make him less effective when it comes to clutch time and playoff? It's great to be able to draw fouls, but since the whistles can only be blown by the referees, it may not be so good to have our best player on the team to rely too much on the referees. Perhaps, it's better for him at times to try to make the basket instead of trying to draw fouls then make the basket (the Harden way!), this may be especially important during clutch time.
I'm not talking about last night. I think it only happened once last night, it's fine. I'm more concerned about playoffs and clutch times.
Yes. It's an important part of his game though. Along with the beard, they are what makes Harden...Harden. He's not getting as many calls as in the beginning of the season, don't know if its' because the refs are instructed to. I say he shaves off that beard in the playoffs. That'll catch everyone off guard, and maybe refs can't adjust quickly enough.
That is what I am really concerned about. When the game is on the line, Harden almost never gets the call. It's probably better in those situations to try to make the shot rather than trying to draw a foul.
Harden is one of the biggest ref baiters in the NBA. His entire game revolves around getting to the line from "contact". Lots of times he just tosses the ball into the air and falls down looking for the call.Take away that aspect of his game and Harden doesn't have much, which is why in the Playoffs and other games where refs swallow their whistles Harden is completely ineffective.
Yes, a flaw in his game as trying to draw a foul. However, maybe the amount of extra points he gets from drawing contact that otherwise would not be there is evens it out. He just has to keep on control rather than get carried away. Sometimes when he doesn't get a call that is there, he will then try to hard to get a call in return. In those situations he has to be mentally stronger and keep playing the ball.
Yea he does.. Usually when Harden's shot isn't falling he forces the issue at times to draw the fall. And sometimes when he doesn't get it he just stands there while the ball is racing the other way. When he's shooting at a high percentage he doesn't tend to do it...
The ref's swallowed their whistles once the 2 minute mark hit (can't remember if that was before or after the Beverely foul). I hate to say I agree with Chuck but Portland will have a great regular season record but once the play offs hit, a jump shooting team won't get it done. At least we have Dwight Howard in the middle. If we get good value back, Milsap would be ideal but I highly doubt they would trade him, we should do more damage. A lot of teams would have trouble with Aldridge if he's shooting like that. It's like the Jazz that we faced in the Tmac/Yao era. Once Jones figures out how to defend more effectively we should be better matched up against them.
The reason we lost yesterday is because Aldridge was playing like ****ing Larry bird out there, to believe Harden had any of the blame in yesterday loss is completely asinine. Our supposed best 3 point shooters (Casspi & Garcia) have been stinking it up as of late. Our bench sucked last night.
Because he won't change his game if things aren't going his way? Let's be real - if it's obvious the whistles are being blown, Harden will still be great offensively.
Are you freaking kidding me? he and Howard were the only reaons why we didnt get blown by 20. Everytime we got down big Harden got us back to a two or three point deficit.Ony a moron would blame Harden for last nights loss.
