Which one is it? Did they stop him or is he slumping? You seem to be confused as to which one you think it is. Also if you are saying they stopped him, I wasn't referring to this one game and if it's a slump, slumping can be cause by tired legs and tired mentality. He needs rest to get his shot back.
It's both. Was he tired to start the season when he shot like crap and seemed a bit disinterested? If he was then how did he start playing at a historic pace without any rest? It was just a slump that he eventually played out of. He has been in a slump recently and then ran into one of the defenders who gives him a lot of trouble last night. When you combine the two you get crap performances like last night. Some of you are looking for a reason that isn't there. A 45/37/85 shooter doesn't shoot those percentages exactly every game. There are peaks and valleys throughout a season that lead to averages. I just don't buy that being tired is why he has had a rough stretch of 10 games. Bad stretches happen. He started the season like crap. Played an excellent stretch after that and has found himself in a slump again. My money is on him playing himself back out of it soon.
We are still fighting for seeding, Hawks and GSW have the 1 seed locked up, they can afford to rest guys. As long as MEM has at least a two game lead on the #2 spot they can rest guys too.
Seeding changes daily in the West, it doesnt matter who we play or whether we have home court or not, if everyone is broken down, tired and can't play.
Missing wide open shots and free throws is not simply a slump. You could argue that about his shot but he is also missing layups.
That doesn't make sense. He shot like crap to start the season. There was no reason for him to be tired then. So he was just missing. A slump. And if you are adamant that you only shoot bad like this when you are tired and that you need rest to break out of it, explain what happened earlier this year. He was awful and then with no rest became unstoppable. He's a career 85% free throw shooter. His best season was last year at .866 he's at .865 this year. His 90+% earlier this season isn't who he is. What we are seeing is a regression to the mean.
A lot of people shoot like crap at the beginning of the season and yes it does make sense because they not in game shape yet. http://houston.cbslocal.com/2015/03/18/elie-looks-like-james-harden-has-been-getting-a-little-tired/ Mario Elie who apparently still watches the Rockets religiously says we dropped some games because Harden is tired. I'm sorry but I will listen to the opinion of a Rockets legend who actually used to the play the game over yours.
I disagree, I'd say that HCA is very important as it usually is and we have a significantly greater chance of advancing if we play the likes of Dallas and OKC in the first round which requires at least a 2/3 seed. Dwight and Jones should be extra fresh and I don't see why Harden should have any issues with fatigue, he is 25 for crying out loud. If we rest guys I could easily see us falling out of HCA which would not bode well for playoff success in my opinion.
I could definitely see this, limiting his minutes until Dwight gets back and maybe giving him back 2 backs off.
Harden played all summer. He was in game shape. If he was tired from playing in the summer then the thought that he needs rest to play out of it is debunked by the fact that he got zero rest and started playing amazingly.
The Grizz were only a couple of games ahead of us when they decided to rest. I'm obviously not saying stop playing him the rest of the season but maybe a wee would do him some good.
Playing in the Olympics is not like playing in the NBA full time the way Mchale plays him. He was playing with superstars and playing less minutes, his shot was also off then too because he wasn't in game shape yet. If you play basketball you know it takes awhile after you stop playing to get in game shape and get your shot back. AND LIKE I SAID I WILL TAKE MARIO ELIE'S OPINION OVER YOURS ANY DAY sorry, lol.
So just so I get this straight, it is your belief that without rest Harden will play like this the rest of the season and the playoffs? Right? Because if it's not just a slump and he doesn't get rest then there is no explanation for him to start playing better than he has the last 10 games.
Here's the thing though : seeding will be the difference between a first round exit, or actually reaching the second round. 2nd seed means facing the Mavs, 3rd seed means facing the Spurs, and 4th seed means facing the Clippers - and if they're able to beat the Clippers, which I wouldn't be very confident over, they'd have to face the Warriors in the second round.
