This man always surprises us, delights us and comes up with a new exciting stuff in the new season. How you envision his game next year?
I think he will take it to another level. Although he was inconsistent in the playoffs, he showed stretches of dominance we've never seen from him before. There were countless times when Harden looked like the best player on the court playing against Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. If James continues to make the improvements he seems to do every off-season, I don't see why he cant be vying for best player in league come the end of next year.
I hope he comes back with a more reliable midrange and post up game...that way he can take advantage of all areas of the court and not be so predictable no need to restrict yourself to just layups and threes when you’re a player of his caliber
If they would give him the actual foul calls they missed we would've beat GS. We are lucky to have Harden and it blows my mind there are actually people on this site that think differently.
Even while being in shape I could see him shedding a few more pounds to make him leaner and possibly keep his stamina at it's peak for a bit longer... especially to end the season and begin the playoffs.
yep total no-show year in year out right? sort this by player and see who has consistently carried his team in the playoffs https://www.basketball-reference.co...tat=ast_per_g&c2comp=gt&c2val=4.5&order_by=ws and you know he's only second to Lebron this year right https://www.basketball-reference.co...al=4.5&c3stat=g&c3comp=gt&c3val=7&order_by=ws hardens' flaw: he's only second to Lebron rocket's flaw: since Harden got here, take out every team's best player and rockets aren't even a playoffs team
and I'll add to that the coach & coaching staff, him, cp3, and the rest of the team should pace themselves next year and be better prepared and ready for the playoffs
after winning his MVP i think he'll coast through the regular season and conserve more energy for the playoffs. hope someone in the analytics office shows him a breakdown of the shooting rip-thru move and how the league killed it in the playoffs, so he stops doing it.
I'll know he's a changed man when he starts looking mad instead of confused. And now that he's MVP the new Harden needs to cuss out some journalists from time to time for being so damn disrespectful. Its better to be feared than loved. No one currently fears the beard, and that's the problem.
Great thread--- You always wonder if he might just fall-off given the amount of effort he plays with during the regular season. The 41-41 season was brutal and he took a hit to his credibility given the Kardashian situation and mediocre regular season play. '16-'17 great regular season only to lose the MVP due to Russ's triple doubles. Absolutely crashed and burned in the playoffs. '17-'18 played tough throughout the season, improved handles and 3 point shooting (step-back), secured the MVP (in all likelihood), had a deep run and played okay, but not great, and regained some credibility, he did his part and put up shots but can blame the inefficiency from weak legs and nobody else to take the ball in games 6-7. GS efficiency on shooting off screens doesn't get fouls on illegal picks/movement. While we rely on dribble drive iso or pick and roll-- contact in the paint is not called, resulting in turnovers or missed shot opportunities. Can understand why Harden relied on the step-back. (Outside agenda is also to improve support shooters, since the penetration dish missed 27 straight 3s) '18-'19 D'Antoni will need to scheme alternative looks to sprinkle in on existing offense. Harden may look to work on post -ups at the free-thrown line or baseline, instead of purely face-up dribble drive. If he is able to improve his explosiveness any (questionable), he could go over the top of traffic. One reason Jordan and Lebron are always so effective in the playoffs.
Hope he works on off-the-ball cuts. I don't need very many per game, but Capela can hit him from up high and you have to find more ways for CP3 to get the ball directly to Harden in organic scoring situations. A small wrinkle that would make the game easier on everyone.
I kind of wish he would stop adding wrinkles to his game and just work on getting more consistent with the wrinkles he has. More consistent 3 point shooting. More consistent fewer turnover nights. More consistent full game solid defense nights.
