Harden sucks

9 missed 3s and 10 turnovers. That generates a ton of possessions for the other team. Averages suggest that's like spotting the other team 13+ points through transition opportunities and bonus possessions.

This isn't just a "lol whatevs!" situation. But we've seen enough greatness from him that we're all waiting for the next game to be 'the turnaround'.

 

Just too many bad possessions with pounding the rock, launching a heavily contested step back, and a long rebound leading to an easy opposing basket.

Damn the math, take a few elbow jumpers.

 

He may not be 100%, but also keep in mind he has the ball a lot less now. At the beginning of the season people were worried about his spot up shooting for example. It was not a big issue because he dominated the ball anyway, now that Westbrook controls more of the offense it looks like he is struggling to find his in rhythm shots.

Harden likes to dance with the ball that helps him get in rhythm, he may have to tweak his game just a bit and find another way to get in rhythm, like Russell worked on getting a new free throw routine.

 

Not really, if look at it in terms on numbers alone yes. After re-watching the game and breaking it down while bad many of his turnovers didn’t lead to points. Also his assist steals created points. His shooting is a concern tho, it’s flat and he’s not generating much separation on his moves.

 

I'd day his dribbling is a bit of a concern as well, people are up in his space too because he's as fast with his handles.

 

Cool, but if they didn't lead to points they still took away points for us. It's just tough to watch; a lot of them are unnecessary lazy passes.

 

I agree but like I said when you break down what happened it becomes clear that while not at his best Harden wasn’t the main reason we lost.
The big thing that comes out of these loses to bad teams is how they’re defending us.
PJ, House have to hit that corner three, like I mentioned in another post, Knicks and Hornets were camping in the lane illegally at times giving us the three.
Once in the playoffs better teams will do the same but better. We have to soften up the interior

 

But what about the 30 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds and 2 steals he got for the team? That makes up for us his 10 turnovers and 9 missed 3pt shots.... and then some. And the other team are not going to score from every missed 3pt shot or turnover. When you work it out, it's only 5 more turnovers and 6 more missed 3pt shots if you go by what he averages per game. And it's not like he's been getting a lot of turnovers in the past 2 months. He's only been averaging around 4 turnovers per game since the start of January. So you can maybe only nitpick about his 3pt misses.... but as I said, he more than makes up for those misses by other means.

You guys are so quick to look at the negatives, but you ignore the positives he adds to the team.

 

Blurr- That game is a good example as to why we needed Westbrook as he would have taken it to them on the inside and opened up easier 3s for Harden and others

Once Russ back, I think Harden will shoot well as it frees him up and will get easy looks

 

There’s a couple of reasons there, when he’s dribbling at the top of the key of elbow 3 he’s watching the defense shift. Now again just like the Knicks game he and MD were pointing out to the refs when the Hornets were illegal but to no avail. The other is of course to set up his shot or drive. I’m not worried about that, what’s more concerning is his first step is slow. The defense gets back into the paint (They’re not committed to the corner so they’re closer) quickly and Harden doesn’t have the burst before the lane closes. In simplest terms, we have no spacing. This were Westbrook thrives he’s so explosive when the window opens he’s there.
We have issues and they hopefully solve themselves or by changing the starters. At this point I’m not against starting Green in place of PJ.

 

see where harden is on defense... poor rotation, opponents just blow by him, or he just let his man shoot.
Har_en has no D. I have been saying this for years.

 

have you seen any data on Harden shooting regular 3s vs step back 3s?

I would love to see what that looks like if you come across it somewhere

harden was a great 3 point shooter when he played for the Thunder (39% before he joined us) when they had Durant and Russ freeing him up but this year, it is one of his worst years % wise (granted on high volume)

I would love to find a way to get him some easier looks and his % higher

 

Yea, I've been noticing that too lanes are becoming really clogged lately, we dont have space thats ruining our rhythm. Hmm....is PJ responsible for the spacing issues you think? I think people respect his shot enough from the corner not to leave him consistently, no?

 

The problem is that he’s just too skinny right now. He needs to put some lbs back on, we need husky Harden back.

 

So basically what you’re saying is that opposing fans are right and he wouldn’t be anything special without all the free throws he seeks out by tricking the refs?

I guess I think more highly of Harden than you. I expect a super star to be better than a high volume chucking, ball stopping turnover machine who’s only redeemable quality is getting to the line. Sounds like a border line rotation player.

James is an mvp caliber player my friend, put some respect on his name.

 

He doesn't suck, he just chooses to play in a way that is less effective than if he played the "correct" way. And he's out of shape.

 

He needs to go past 250 pounds. The ideal guard weight.

 

Exactly. He's a very skilled man who limits himself to a very monotonous style where the issue is exacerbated by him being heavier than he's ever been in his life.