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Is James Harden the laziest player in the NBA when he doesn't have a ball in his hand?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by fchowd0311, Oct 25, 2019.

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  1. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    I've never seen a player who is so disengaged with what is happening on the court when the ball isn't in his hands on offense. The amount of times he slow walks up the half court while the Rockets are right in the middle of a half court offensive set in mind boggling. How can a head coach allow this?

    Seriously, imagine Pop if he was the head coach. I'm pretty confident Harden would be benched. No way he would let that **** fly.

    Obviously I've brought this up before to the disagreement of some very vicarious Harden fans who have insulted me for bringing up this point before but this has gotten worse ever new season. He wasn't THIS bad without the ball a few seasons ago. This what Dantoni does. He brings zero accountability towards his stars.

    The question is whether this is sheer laziness or whether it's a cardio and conditioning issue. Is he too heavy? Because it's beyond pathetic with how useless he is without the ball. The offense is always going to have stagnation runs like last night to get teams back in it when the offense is so predictable with Harden just standing around without the ball.
     
    #1 fchowd0311, Oct 25, 2019
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  2. YOLO

    YOLO Member

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    no this is just who he is as a player and what he evolved into. after all he did become this mvp caliber player. it doesn't matter what coach it is. being an off ball player hasn't been a part of harden for years and it's not gonna change
     
    #2 YOLO, Oct 25, 2019
  3. malakas

    malakas Member

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    You obviously haven't seen fat OJ Mayo.

    Or JR Smith who left the court during gametime to go greet an opponent and got scored on.
     
    #3 malakas, Oct 25, 2019
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  4. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    I haven't because I don't care about them and they aren't superstars on the Houston Rockets.

    JR Smith would not be in the NBA if he was this lazy without the ball because NBA coaches would cut him. He isn't talented enough to get away with it.
     
    #4 fchowd0311, Oct 25, 2019
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  5. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    I guarantee you that Pop wouldn't tolerate this.

    I'm not asking him to be Reggie Miller or Rip Hamilton. What he is doing on the court off the ball is equivalent to a obese asthma striken man trying to play full court basketball.
     
    #5 fchowd0311, Oct 25, 2019
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  6. malakas

    malakas Member

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    Well he wasn't cut after it.

     
    #6 malakas, Oct 25, 2019
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  7. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    Don't play stupid please. I'm not discussing one off incidents. I'm discussing patterns that occur every game night on almost every possession when Harden doesn't have the ball on offense.

    JR Smith would be cut from the NBA if he played off ball the same way Harden does on a routine basis.
     
    #7 fchowd0311, Oct 25, 2019
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  8. YOLO

    YOLO Member

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    and who's to say what type of player harden would be under Pop. point is harden is who he is now. We all want him to add off the ball play a bit but reality is that's just not much of a thing for him. He can say it over and over but until he actually puts the effort into it, nothing will really change in regards to it
     
    #8 YOLO, Oct 25, 2019
  9. vlaurelio

    vlaurelio Contributing Member

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    so your gripe is really with MDA being laziest coach in the league
     
    #9 vlaurelio, Oct 25, 2019
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  10. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    And as fans we should criticize him for not putting in that effort instead of coddling him like many fans on the GARM do.
     
    #10 fchowd0311, Oct 25, 2019
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  11. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    MDA is definitely an enabler. He enables bad habits because he wants to be seen as easy to work with.
     
    #11 fchowd0311, Oct 25, 2019
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  12. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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    LeBron doesnt do much when he is off the ball. Harden is who he is. Need to adapt to him.
     
    #12 Air Langhi, Oct 25, 2019
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  13. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Contributing Member

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    He's just doing what he's supposed to do in the Rocket's half-court offensive scheme.
     
    #13 ima_drummer2k, Oct 25, 2019
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  14. YOLO

    YOLO Member

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    I don't coddle him. I somewhat agree that adding movement off ball absolutely helps. all the stars in the league are able to do it. it can lead to a lot of easy buckets and even different looks for teammates. But ototh it's just something I've come to accept for awhile now.
     
    #14 YOLO, Oct 25, 2019
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  15. vlaurelio

    vlaurelio Contributing Member

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    LOL so now Harden is the laziest most coddled player in the league
     
    #15 vlaurelio, Oct 25, 2019
  16. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    He's the laziest player when he doesn't have the ball in his hands and many of his fans here do coddle him with excuses for his absurd play off the ball.

    He works hard on his game. Can't deny that. But he works hard on only one aspect of basketball it seems like and that's scoring with the ball. He isn't lazy in terms of work ethic. I used to say that about him. His problem is he has a one track mind when it comes to working on his game.
     
    #16 fchowd0311, Oct 25, 2019
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  17. malakas

    malakas Member

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    but you asked if Harden is the laziest player and I already gave you two examples that were far more lazy than Harden.
    If you want stars, then Drummond and Embiid. Embiid last year, was in such bad condition that a lot of games he barely bothered to run down the court when the ball didn't go to him.
     
    #17 malakas, Oct 25, 2019
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  18. ksny15

    ksny15 Member

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    Top 10 for sure
     
    #18 ksny15, Oct 25, 2019
  19. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    You gave one off incidents. Those aren't examples of a pattern of behavior.

    Again, JR Smith would not be in the NBA if he played off ball the way Harden does on a routine basis.
     
    #19 fchowd0311, Oct 25, 2019
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  20. Mr. Clutch

    Mr. Clutch Contributing Member

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    He's decided to be like this ever since he dated Khloe.

    And also to jack up too many 3s when he's not great at it (and bad at it in the playoffs)
     
    #20 Mr. Clutch, Oct 25, 2019
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