It's a boring offseason now that no one really has anything to complain about. Let's get a discussion started. Why is there this notion that Harden disappears in the playoffs? I understand that he had a bad series against Miami with OKC and struggled against Portland last season. However, statistically he has gotten better being the 1st option each year since being a Rocket. Playoffs from 2012 - 2015: PPG: 26.3 > 26.8 > 27.2 FG%: 39% > 38% > 44% TS%: 55%> 52% > 62% Ast: 4.5 > 5.8 > 7.5 Ast%: 21 > 21.5 > 35 (This alone shows how much the team depended on him.) FTA: 11 > 8.3 > 10.5 Turnovers obviously jumped a bit this year cause of how much creating was needed from him. He generally hovers around the 6-7 rebound rate and his FT attempts show that he still gets to the line despite the misconception that he gets there less in the playoffs. Sure he might have had a bad game here or there but when a team only has to focus on him on defense in a 7 games series that should be expected. The last GSW game left a bad image for everyone to focus on, unfortunately. I'd like him to be more dominant, obviously, but besides that he puts up good numbers while carrying a heavy load (hah) in the west. Discuss.
If Harden has one bad game we never hear the end of it. I thought Harden was magnificent in the playoffs last year.
Being the face of the team you get all the credit and all the criticism. Is it unfair? Maybe, but that's what comes with being a star player.
Yeah i agree i feel we came the closest to beating GS all of our games where 2 points ish except for the last one because blowout. but yes sir you are spot on.
I remember at the time thinking that he was being very passive throughout the playoffs UNLESS he got off to a big start. A few months later, I can take a step back and appreciate everything he had to do for us to win and see that he did a pretty remarkable job managing himself game to game to provide maximum output. I don't think there's much difference between Regular Season Harden and Playoffs Harden. But that's OK because championships are won by role players stepping up in the playoffs. And if last season is any indication, Playoff A3za and Playoff Dwight(I know he's not a role player) are very real things. Hell, Playoff Capela might even be a thing.
Harden has had a taste of playoff success as the top dog. He is hungry for an NBA championship. The best is yet to come.
If I was him I'd retire already, hundreds of millions guaranteed, dates the biggest bottoms in the world, been to finals. Why would he be hungry?
I presume your post is ironic, but in the case that it's not I'll say this - clearly you don't know what it feels like to be really good at something. If he retired he would regret it thinking of 'what could've been'.
Harden didn't just have a "bad" game last year, he had the worst game any player has ever had in the Playoffs, and coming from an MVP candidate, that was inexcusable. If Harden played mediocre that game the Rockets could have won.
I don't think he was magnificent. He was good and at times very good. I do think the best is yet to come from him he just has to cut the turnovers down...
Cuz he shows up drunk after a long night with the big booty strippers and in playoffs everything gets magnified including his hangover
This whole "Playoff _______" thing started when Rondo was s*** in the regular season and media talking heads were assuring us that in the playoffs he would be fantastic because... well... because. And now we know that to not be the case. So why does the "Playoff _______" meme still exist?
we didn't have a balance team and heavily rely on harden throughout the whole season and playoffs. 1 player can do so much, and he played great despite him being the main focus every game. some people's expectation are so unrealistic. anywho can't wait to see how ty adds to the rocket's dimension
You guys are being soft on him. Numbers aren't everything. He looked disinterested at times and WAY to careless. 13 turnovers while being aggressive is one thing. 13 turnovers while being passive & looking disinterested in a elimination game is concerning. Let's also not forget game 6 of the Clippers series (which was also a elimination game). Had Brewer & Smith not went bat chit crazy, Harden would've had a terrible ending not playing the entire 4th quarter in a game his team needed him most. It baffles me how one game he looks motivated, then the next he looks lost & as if his mind is elsewhere
Harden played an extreme amount of basketball last year if you include the Olympic stuff he did. Anyone with eyes could see he was dog tired by the playoffs from carrying the rockets and doing damn near everything for us to be in a position to win games. The bounce he had in January and February when he was winning player of the month awards was not their to end the year. Even Lebron gassed out towards the end as he didn't hit any 3s for a long stretch in the playoffs and shot very poorly in the finals because his legs were gone as were our very own hardens. The depth on the team should help keep james fresh the guy missed only 1 game because of suspension he played almost 100 games and was still out there looking like the best player on the court for 3/5 games against GSW the eventual NBA championships. The thing is he had to play like that last year I mean we started cannan and black for a while to start the season and he kept us in position to grab the 2 seed. If we can have better health and with the added depth and playmaking harden should be able to get more rest throughout the season and be as fresh as ever come playoff time. The guys 25 only been the lead dog for 3 years has never avg less then 25/5/5 on 60% ts since he got here. The flack this guy gets from the media and even some of our fans is terrible. He's a hof talent young and wants too be the best player in the NBA, and the best thing about that is he actually has a chance at it which is pretty amazing.
