How is he going to get the right balance between rest and practice in such a short period of time is the biggest question? The one thing I don't want to see James doing is throwing up a lot of 3's from the beginning. An all round balanced effort from everyone is needed.
His defense has been amazing. When CP3 had it going, it was okay for him to focus on defense. I'm not gonna whine about him missing shots cause he was super engaged and contributed in other ways. Now without CP3, he's gonna have to play much better offensively obviously.
James Harden is learning how to play elite defense right in front of our eyes! His shots are off because of that. 0-20 for threes, yet Rockets beat Warriors twice in a row!
I honestly have no idea how anyone could be upset with Harden. The guy works his tail off. Last night during the game they even did a sideline report about how he has spent hours in the gym after games and on days off, even in Golden State. When they got back to Houston he went straight to Toyota Center to get to work. Where I think he has truly evolved is his mindset. His off nights on offense used to completely destroy him mentally. He would check out of games in his mind, especially on defense. But you can tell he has flipped that mindset. Now if he is struggling he tries to find other ways to change the game. That's what a true leader does. And the people saying "should-be MVPs" should be able to play great D without losing anything on offense are delusional. LeBron, the "greatest player in the world" has been absolute trash on defense this year because he is forced to carry the load on offense. The Warriors all of a sudden struggle to hit open shots, why? Because the Rockets make them work hard on defense. It's unbelievably difficult to play extremely hard on defense and then go on the other end and carry most of the load of the offense. Harden has done an incredibly admirable job of trying to do both.
Yeah, like every other superstar when they get better talent around them. The programs are laughing that KD saying he needs more talent around him. More than 3 all stars!?!
theres plenty of reasons to be critical of harden. hes not immune to it. thats ridiculous. theres a difference between criticism and just plane hating on him.
career high 30.4 pts with 8.8 assists and playoffs 28.1 pts with 6.7 assists sure do look like he's devolved this year
He can evolve to HARGOD but only in limited spurts. He needs to build up his rage meter to get there again and it's more likely to happen on the road.
Obviously... nobody is immune to criticism. But people act like he is a terrible player everytime he misses a shot. I would understand the ridiculous hate if this were, say, 2014-15 and Harden was still spending every single night in clubs like he couldnt possible care less about basketball, but this guy works unbelievably hard to make sure he is ready. He's come a LONG WAY.
and you said you have no idea how anyone could be upset with harden last night. well theres reasons for it. and theres nothing wrong with that. atleast allow yourself to see he did play badly and at the same time its good he found a way to contribute. but that doesn't excuse him by any means.
Harden's evolution will be complete when he tells Morey to take a seat and let him do whatever he wants on offense. It's so sad to watch Harden give up his midrange game because of the analytical nonsense of 3>2. In a game where Harden was 0-11 on 3PT shots, shorting his shots hitting the front of the rim because his legs were tired, it would have been a blessing if Harden just took two steps inside the 3PT line and pulled his trademark deadly step-back from 16 feet. When your defense hold the Warriors under 100, then a even 2-point midrange shot on offense is monumental. Harden has limited his offensive repertoire by listening to Morey. Time for Harden to take his game back from the nerds.
One thing that I don't feel the organization has addressed, that is severely hampering Harden both offensively and emotionally... particularly in the last 2 games, is about what happens when the 3 is not falling? I hear Reggie Miller (who I hate) saying that shooters just have to keep shooting. Well, when it is a 7 game series and every quarter is critically important, that may not be the case. I'm thankful CP3 has been unreal and they can help each other through offensive slumps, but the Rockets still have a puzzle to solve. Our offensive strategy is clearly effective... most of the time. But, we've won quite a few playoff games DESPITE our offensive strategy failing us completely. The most obvious example is when CP3 went nuts from mid-range in one Jazz game, which was the sole reason we won that one. I want to know what stats say about the best thing to do when you can't buy a 3-pointer. I want to know what stats say about what the best actions to take are when you need to get out of a slump. If we have an enlightened view of what a world-class offense looks like when it is working, then why don't we have a world-class view of what happens when things break and what the best way to fix them is DURING A GAME? Tying this back to the OP, this is where Harden needs to improve to be a complete player now.
You're right, I guess it came across too literal. I didnt mean it as Harden is perfect. I just meant it as it's really hard to be upset at a guy for missing shots when you know he is putting in an unbelievable amount of work on it.
I wonder how much of this is on MDA too. Remember Utah. Take whatever the defense gives you. CP3 is magic from mid range, Harden can shoot a few too. If they go in, it may give him the confidence to make 3 point shots too.
