That you weren't paying attention a few months ago and are just saying a platitude from years's past. Portland geared their entire defense to keep Harden out of the paint. As Harden couldn't get to rim, his free throw rate plummeted during this past playoff series so bad that free throw rate in playoffs is statistically the same as reg season for his career (.545 reg season vs .540 playoffs.). Now the person you are quoting was probably wrong as well. Harden most likely got the calls as often as he does in the regular season per drive to the basket. Portland defense just limited the opportunities for the calls as Jones and Asik let their man play 2.9 defense.
I think the warriors get way too much praise when things are going well and critics just ignore the fact that most of their wins have been against bottom feeders. The next 5 out of 7 games on their schedule will be a true test, if they get out of that 6-1 than I'll buy that they can be championship contenders, most likely they end up 4-3 or 3-4 and I'll know they aren't there yet. Funny how when the rockets were beating up on everyone, all the media talked about was how our schedule was soft, when the warriors beat up on easy teams, they are hailed as potential title winners, never seen the media love up on a team that hasn't proved themselves yet.
The Rockets offense also were the best in the playoffs last year. When Portland took away Harden, they let others free. There's always cost when focusing too much on one player. In the end, the overall result last playoffs on offense was successful. Concentrating on whether teams will take away Harden is immaterial. As long as the overall offense is successful, then Harden is successful. The Rockets clearly identified the reason for failure last year and it was the defense. That, they certainly addressed better than anyone could've possibly expected.
