I get the calls were bad but Harden let it frustrate him and he has to overcome that. You can't control the refs but you can control your composure and focus.
Hold up...I just realized he was ejected. I just have walked out of the room before that happened. WTactualF? I can't remember the last time I saw such lopsided bull **** from the refs. Was it all from the same guy?
That foul on Lou Williams that should clearly have been Evans' 6th foul felt very much like corruption. That was the worst call I've seen in memory because it was such an obvious one, the whole arena saw the replay and that Williams wasn't even close enough to touch a Rockets player and they'd obviously just called the wrong number/name. And so the plus-20 Evans gets to play out the rest of the game when everything says he should have been ejected. WHY DO WE HAVE INSTANT REPLAY?! If that's the way games can go it makes me not even want to watch. The officiating has been horrible all season but giving Evans' foul to Williams was an historically bad call and had a huge impact on the rest of the game. I don't follow NBA games to watch the refs.
He scored 51 on an extremely efficient night. “Letting it get to him” is so annoying. Overcome it? He had turnovers that were entirely that the refs took the ball out of his hands. You can’t do anything about that, you can’t play through it. He didn’t act out until the game was over and he made a statement by fouling out and getting a technical. Before that he was extremely aggressive and kept attacking the rim to the tune of 51 points.
i mentioned this in the game thread last nite -- pat fraher is the ref that cuttino called the worst in the league in at least one postgame interview. and from early on last nite his bias was very obvious, not least to james who was in his ear from the get-go. for longtime nba viewers, it's also pretty obvious that some calls cannot possibly be deemed as just mistakes. these are the best refs in the world. if we see it, then they definitely see it. it's just all too convenient that when HOU is most vulnerable is when obviously wrong calls rain down on us. HOU is not a featured team and harden is not one of the chosen ones for league promotion. we are an inconvenient nuissance for the league office and it's just that simple.
Anyone know if the league has given flopping fine to that player yet? I forgot where to look on nba.com
I don't care what he did after the game, it was the stuff during the game I didn't like. The constant yapping with the refs every ball stoppage wasn't helping his cause at all. And he clearly was playing frustrated and trying to force the action which defenders took advantage of to get ticky tack fouls. That flop was a best acting award, but it was predicated by his frustration and pushing off right in front of the ref. It was a foul technically and you have to accept that officiating isn't fair. But if he is busy thinking about the calls and being robbed, he's not focused on winning and his decision making late in the 4th showed it.
Fine amount is well worth the purchase. Harden should let it be known. Let the talking heads discuss a conspiracy against him. Discuss the suspect MVP and All-NBA finishes. Discuss improved defense save the last few games.
His first half was great but harden did not have a good second half. He was lackadaisical in the third and obviously frustrated with the refs by the fourth. He allowed the refs to impact his mindset and game. He stopped playing smart and tried to force things and when he didn’t get the calls, he showed a lot of quit. I don’t care how many points he has in a loss like that. It was the clippers. We shouldn’t have let them stick around in the first half and we shouldn’t have let them win.
This isnt something new and IMO is probably hardens biggest flaw. Weather ts the refs, the defense, his teammates not hitting open shots. He always seem to let negativity linger and affect him.CP3 was kind of a cure because when harden sat cp would lead the team back, or open up our lead even more. That helped him regain that positive energy. The perfect example is our game vs the blazers. He scored 47 but in the 3rd he was real bad. came back with 9 min in the 4th and dominated. He cant let **** keep lingering, move past it and keep driving and doing what u do best
The "tune them out" "play through it" etc. narrative is so bizarre to me. Imagine being an accountant working on a spreadsheet and someone keeps pulling the cord out of your computer before you can save your work. Just work through it, don't complain, focus on your job and what you can control! lol
Its not the same whatsoever....let the coach worry about the refs, u dont need to occupy your mind with something u have nothing to do with. Your complete focus should ONLY be about the game nothing else, thats how you play 48 straight minutes of solid basketball without many mental lapses.
More like your boss came in and made you work on Saturday and you showed up but b****ed constantly about it instead of just sucking it up and doing it so you can get out of there.
That's not a fair analogy. The bad refs don't make Harden play when he doesn't want to, it literally takes away possessions. The more the refs don't make the calls the more he gets fouled and those become turnovers. Just ignore it! It's the same when people say "don't complain about balls and strikes!" Officials completely change the game. Instead of a 3-1 count it's suddenly 1-2 and you would say "don't worry about it, don't let it get to you!" Harden has to play the game completely different than everyone in the league right now because the league doesn't like him getting fouls.
Again, people say this but great players have always worked the refs. Duncan was a notorious whiner, Kobe chewed the refs out, Jordan got onto the refs, hell Tom Brady screams at the refs.
You dont care harden did everything physically possible to win the past 2 games given the rockets depleted lineup?
Seriously. He's out there as a one man army surrounded by guys who can't create off the dribble and is missing his only above the rim player. He gets layered over on that with terrible officiating and somehow he "showed quit" by putting up 51 on an efficient night. He did all he possibly could. Did he get frustrated? Heck yeah he did and if he didn't get frustrated I'd wonder if he cared about life lol. Guys are actively trying to flop against him there in the fourth and the refs are biting, they are refusing to give him continuation calls and then giving them to other team and offering up lies as an explanation. That would frustrated anyone. Yet he still kept driving despite a defense that showed zero respect to anyone around him.
