Than I promise you that you haven't been following. Mchale, Feigen, Watkins over the last 2 years have mentioned that Harden puts in a lot of time in practice and is the only player that is still getting shots up even after practice is over. But again if you don't like Harden and want to believe he is lazy off the court, not much I can do to change that
When empirically an NBA guard runs the same amount per game as an NBA center, yes I reasonably should assume he is either a.lazy b.has some lung capacity issues maybe attributed to cigarettes or asthma. So, please forgive me for not believing fluff pieces about Harden's 'amazing work ethic'. For all we know he's working on his euro step, pull up 3 and 'i'm cooking' gestures and not doing any significant cardio which to me is his number problem if his lack of movement and hustle in game isn't due to laziness but physical constraint. By all mean,s be the naive gullible individual you are to believe in stupid fluff interviews from head coaches like Mchale. You honestly think Mchale, knowing his demeanor, will tell the press that Harden is lazy? You know how staged and redundant NBA interviews are? "Coach, what do the Rockets need to do to play better in the second half?" "Well, we need to hustle more and play better defense." "Coach, tell me about Harden's MVP level season and how he has reached that level?" "Well you see he's such a hard worker and blah blah... more general vague statements... blah blah... more fluff." You have the rare 'tell it like it is' coach like Pop but those are exceptions to the rule. You take these interviews seriously?? LOL
Harden got to much talent to waste it on a Kardasian p***y. Stick to strippers and save all the dramatic energy for the BB court.
This is such a terrible response. The guy points to actual evidence that Harden works hard and you just dismiss it all because you believe the people complimenting Harden are too bias to tell the truth. Why would Feigen and Watkins go out of their way to hype up Harden? They have no real reason not to be honest.
It would actually be a bigger story for them if Harden was showing up hungover and refuse to practice so yeah you're right. But these people really hate Harden and logic really isn't something they're big on.
And then they will hate him again when he only passes to Durant when there is less than 4 seconds left on the shot clock.
When the average defensive speed(feet per minute traveled on the defensive end) is in the bottom twenty in the league and he is the only one of two guards who play significant minutes in the bottom twenty while the rest are big men, yes absolutely ****ing yes, I'm going to question his work ethic mainly on the cardio front.
It's OK to question his work ethic but when you are debating something you can't just ignore proof to the contrary. Maybe his problem is mental this year.
The only credible evidence is on the court play. NBA interviews between a journalist and player or coach 99% of the time is nothing more than fluff and 'pc' garbage. Mchale telling me Harden is a hard worker ain't telling me anything.
Players who hustle on the court have work ethic. Players who don't hustle, don't. Unfortunately for you, modern instrumentation allows us to empirically measure 'hustle' and Harden is in the bottom 4 in the entire NBA including players who played 10 minutes or less this NBA season amongst backcourt players in average speed on the defensive end. Mr. "Player harder" *clap clap* stating that Harden practices hard in an interview tells me ****.
Practice is a part of work ethic isn't it? Especially when everyone is saying he's always drunk and not practicing.Harden also plays high minutes and scores the second most points in the league. Maybe we are expecting a bit much from him?
When a player especially your favorite team's leader is notorious for lack of effort on defense goes to a strip club at 2 in the morning after a loss with celebrities how can you not question work ethic or at the very least his dedication to the game? This is a reoccurring issue. The dude loves to party. He loves the night life. He loves the NBA lifestyle. I wouldn't care if his defensive effort was there. It isn't. Stop giving the minutes excuse. Jimmy Butler plays the same amount of minutes and is an elite defender.
Team leader? lol Here we go again. Harden is no leader. He's a single 26 yr old millionaire, lol. Again Harden is a great scorer but he's never been a good defender. Your expectations are out of wack with reality. We need new coaches and more talent. Either we add another superstar or we get two dimensional players thats just what has to happen.
I'm looking at the Ave Def speed stats on NBA.com and I see that James Harden is at 3.50. Other guards around him include John Wall (3.53), Stephen Curry (3.55), Russell Westbrook (3.57), Jeff Teague (3.49), Tyreke Evans (3.42). Harden's certainly not a good defender. But, what are these stats supposed to mean about his hustle and work ethic? Wall, Curry, and Westbrook are all premier guards with similar stats. Maybe I don't fully understand the meaning of the stat
I definitely believe in him . He is in a slump . He is not getting calls he has gotten up to this year . The effort and focus isn't at as high of a level as last year . Also I'm curious what happened over the off season . There were reports that he hurt himself and couldn't train as hard . As much as people want to focus on the kardashians and fame etc , James becoming selfish . I just don't think character changes that much over one summer . If it has , there is a shot for him to going back and being the same old James too . The guy last year was a top 3 player , and the 2 years before that was a top 3-5 offensive guy . Even when his shot was off he could get to the basket with the best of them . Now it seems he doesn't want to attack as much . Whether this is James wanting to save his body or just laziness or idiocy I dunno , but he needs to go back to attacking even if not getting calls . You just don't get back anywhere near enough value for trading a superstar level player like James . If traded , I assume that he is going to make us look very bad almost no matter what we get in return . Ppl will say that change of scenery is what caused James to play better , but we could provide that ourselves by coaching him differently and giving him new strategies as well and reinforcing what he does well . If put on the market teams will be lining up to get him and it won't matter that they bid against each other . If James is healthy he is a top 10 player and if his shot is on in any given game he is top 3 . If he is going all out legit MVP . That's just how it is . When you have a talent like his , you don't give up on him because of half a season of sub-par production . You fix it .
