The Benching of James Harden by the Coach Kevin McHale

Agreed Harden wasn't the only one playing terrible defense but he was the one that stuck out like a sore thumb.

You gets no argument from me, I noticed that a lot last season. I gave him a pass because it was his 1st time carrying a team. But now he have plenty of help offensively and defensively. So no excuses now. Dude played solid defense in OKC so I know he is very capable.

 

I think lin did but give credit to their interior defense. lin had a few fruitless attacking due to their bigs, either they blocked or alter shots.

 

I said lets give harden a pass because he was tiired of chasing redick thats why he can't play any defense lol

 

I like it. It was clear Harden wasn't trying at all tonight. Didn't deserve to play.

Hope he comes out better next game.

 

I hate mchales philosophy in general. Instead of makin adjustments throughout the game, he sticks with his simple gameplay win or lose. His benching if harden was mchales way of saying I give up - we lost already. If he had spread his minutes through the game, maybe harden migh have had enough energy to pick things up later. But instead, he insists on just playing harden 38 min + every night. Both teams made major moves this offseason but we are still playing the same way as we were last year for the most part. Meanwhile, you can see how differently the clips are playing - instituting multiple pnrs in a set. They were a team that was lambasted last year for poor chemistry and infighting and now they look like a cohesive unit. I hope but doubt that Mchale can do the same for us. That just sucks.

 

the last one is horrible. all other ones he tried. sometimes he got picked. a few times, he didn't position him very well.

 

Very generous of you to call it "chasing." LOL.

 

Now I'm sad. So you're saying he didn't have an off night but is actually not good? I'd rather think he's hurting/drunk as some others have suggested.

Anyway, Harden is a maximum player. He should give maximum effort every game.

 

WAIT! ... so McHale wasn't be racist ?

 

I know Harden had a heavy load last year and I also cut him more slack last year because he was expected to do a lot. But the problem with one of your best player giving bad effort is that its more contagious than other players giving less effort. Harden probably will never be a shut down player, but good grief, he look like he flat out didn't care last night. Its just one game and your going to have clunkers in a season, but you have to take pride in what you do out there. Reddick made Harden his b**** last night. Not Kobe, not Lebron, not Durrant, but Reddick made Harden his b****. Embarrassing. And instead of Harden at least punishing him on the offensive end by driving on him more and taking him down low, he kept chucking up clunkers. It was just a pathetic game. I just hope he learns from it and is embarrassed enough to do better.

 

Right... We never had a game with harden sitting the entire fourth. And we could had still won it. I thought mchale made a mistake by keeping harden out but he has to make a statement. Even better that it's early in the season. Harden looked like he partied too hard the night before and spent all his energy on some big booties.

 

I think McHale did try to see if Harden can contribute offensively in the 3rd quarter to overcome the defensive liability. But in late 3rd quarter when the gap was 9, a bad pass by Harden lead to a 3PT on the other end. Then he missed a 3PT so the gap as back to 15pts. IMO it's clear to McHale that Harden just didn't have it last night.


Then the closest gap in Q4 was also 9 points. If McHale thought Harden could help close the gap with his offense, he would have put him in by this time

McHale actuallyg prevented Harden from looking at lot worse by playing in the 4th quarter. Harden should thank McHale for protecting him.

It's okay. All stars have bad games. Hopefully Harden will use this game as a motivation to shore up his defensive skills if he aspires to be an MVP someday. Having Kobe, CP3, LeBron going off against you is one thing but he should never let Redick going off against him.

Let's give him a pass and hope Harden will come out ready tonight.

 

Lets hope this benching lights a fire under Harden's ass

 

The game was probably a loss regardless.

The Rockets were in serious foul trouble. Lin had 4 and Brooks had a sprained ankle. The terrible officiating only made things worse.

I'm glad we lost this game and got exposed. Better now than midway through the season, because at least we get 78 games to work on our problems.

 

I also believe Harden was hung over, at least earlier in the day.

 

Yea, LA is a hell of a town...

 

We were only down only 8-9 points with like 6 minutes left. Championship teams don't quit like that. A couple of threes and we are right back in it. Can't stop competing. We had a 41 point second quarter. We can hang with them. On most nights, we win scoring 110+ points.

 

Harden is one of those players that has the athleticism, strength and length to be a decent defender but has bad defensive habits *and* inconsistent effort. A combination of lack of skill and on/off desire.

Here's an article that breaks it down rather nicely. It was written prior to the start of the season.

http://thegoodpoint.com/james-harden-defense/

This particular paragraph sticks in my mind...

The bright side is Harden's defense is fixable *if* he wants to fix it. The only questions in my mind are will he fix it? Will the coaches make it a priority? Will Harden listen?

One can only hope.