Fumbling the ball when Game 2 was there for the taking is not "absurdly good." Harden has played like an All Star. LeBron and Curry have played "absurdly good."
He really has, but the media will just focus on his lowest scoring games and virtually ignore his amazing performances.
He's been garbage. He's given the ball every possession and told to drive into the lane and try to score or get fouled, and to not worry about playing any defense, at all. He's primed for offensive success. He has an amazing first step to his left and step-back. He gets to the line and makes his FTs. But, otherwise, he is a garbage player. He reminds me very much of TMac in that regard.
True that. Also, MJ did not get all those rings before he got paired with Quitten. It takes time, hard work, and a lot of luck.
You're right of course. It isn't fair to judge 25 year old James Harden's accomplishments to what Dream was able to do over his entire career. I guess a 35 point loss at home in the conference finals had me feeling nostalgic for better times. But the 97 Rockets with 3 great players couldn't get past Utah in the conference finals. I still maintain that Harden hasn't been "great" in the playoffs as a whole, but he is a better player than he was a year ago. And it is my hope that he will continue to improve. It just seems that he hasn't imposed his will on series the way you'd expect.