Harden really needs a stand out performance in this year's playoffs..No excuse

You are the extreme one not me. You lean on the side of extreme cynic.

I am not an extreme homer. I like to recognize the bad AND the good moments of the rockets.

Are you scared to to show any trust towards the rockets because it is a coping mechanism to ease the pain of defeat? Sure seems that way

 

that's very perceptive of you.

 

Lol you admitted it on a post towards @Tha_Dude

You said that almost verbatim lol. Said it makes it less painful when they lose if your yelling at them from your couch

 

I agree that's pretty much my favorite Harden moment lol but he doesn't have to do this constantly. That's not who he is as a person. This was a huge reaction for him

 

I think I would fit better in a market like New York or Philly. Too bad I grew up in Houston.....

I was at the astros game the other day when greggerson blew that save and wasted DK's gem.

I booed the **** out of him. He deserved it. It's what fans should do.....

 

I love Harden, but I have to agree that he has not elevated his level of play in the postseason for the most part. He usually plays below his regular season standards, and he's had some truly horrific games. His 2015 postseason run was by far the best he's played in the playoffs. We need that level of play at the minimum. We need him to be consistently great, not great in 1 game and then way below average in the next one. He needs to set the tone with his energy and passion. He has to be locked in defensively at all times. He can't have sub par shot selection and force up 7-8 highly contested threes off the dribble that have not been going in all season. He can't have any 4-5 turnover quarters. It's time for him to show everyone why that MVP trophy should've been his and not Westbrook's.

 

How about the Rockets as a whole have a stand out performance in the playoffs this season? Or else the WCF would be considered a fluke by the iditos. Because besides that it's been 1st round exits

 

Man people forget that in 2015 he legit owned Klay. Sure, we lost 4-1, game 3 was forgettable but a couple of plays go our way and who knows. Although I would agree though, feel like the general NBA fans (not the brightest) don't respect Harden because of how he performs in the playoffs, to this day people still call him out for the 2012 Finals.
I have confidence in my mans tho, he's gonna turn doubters around.

 

I do air on optimism too lol. We are both biased. Ill own it.

Screw bein a philly fan doe. Those angry assholes throw crap on the baseball field when they disagree with ump calls haha

Lets just hope rockets win!

 

I think the big issue and the perception of Harden playing "poorly" in the playoffs is that he hasn't taken his game to another level in the playoffs. He plays at the same high level in the playoffs as he does during the regular season. He has some amazing games in the playoffs - Games 1/2 in the WCF, Game 5 vs OKC just off the top of my head. But he has had some bad games (portland series) and probably the most memorable Rockets playoff moment in the last 10 years came with Harden sitting on the bench. All of this IMO creates the perception of him not being a playoff performer.

His Houston playoff stats:
26.9 ppg, 1.9 spg, 6.7 apg, 5.6 rpg 57.8 TS%

Career Hou stats*:
27.4 ppg, 1.7 spg, 7.6 apg, 5.9 rpg 60.8 TS%

*Stats include this season where Harden did average a career high PPG, RPG, APG

I am guessing his playoff stats will increase with the style he is playing now after this season ends. They are pretty much the same with the exception of the sizeable drop in TS%. To me though that is expected with teams defensively locking in on the teams best player.

All this kind of goes back though that he doesnt elevate his playoff games - he sort of just stays James Harden (who again is a top 5 player in the NBA and playoffs IMO). We have been spoiled with players who elevate their games in the playoffs - Hakeem, T-Mac (he may not have won but he did elevate his games), and to a lesser extent Dwight Howard even. We have seen flashes of those moments from Harden in the playoffs but not the consistency across a single series.

IMO if D'Antoni is able to get Harden to tap into those moment and make them constant for the next 2 months then that would be his greatest achievement as a coach. This is easily the best coach Harden has had in Houston (and possibly his entire NBA career) so it will be interesting to see how he develops as a player and leader in the playoffs as a result.

 

His 15 playoffs was amazing. 14 and 16 not so much.

We have to remember not everyone is Hakeem or Jordan. It's not that common to raise your game in almost every playoff series. Look at David Robinson, Karl Malone, even Curry hasn't been better in playoffs than regular season

 

All that's gotta be said is we cannot lose in the first round. This would further drive the narrative that WB is the MVP

 

like other posters have mentioned, i'm more worried about EGO and Ryno in the playoffs.

 

I know crazy how a rookie got destroyed by an All Star PF.

I think we need Gordon and Lou to step up more than Harden. Harden is his own worst enemy.

 

Harden was in a diff world during that conference finals series vs Warriors.

Diff world meaning everything was lost once we got back to Houston for game 3.

Drake. Parties. Strippers. Etc

Seems like he's grown up. He def has to take control and lead the team.

 

Agreed. Like I said just a moment ago, we don't need to Harden to be a scoring machine, but to run the offense like a maestro and play better off the ball. Don't relegate Gordon and Lou to being mostly spot up shooters

 

LeBron didn't get respect until he won a couple chips in Miami. Even that, people were questioning whether he could single handedly "will" a team to a championship. That happened last year in his performance in the Finals against one of the historic best teams.

Guys like Harden, Curry, and Durant won't get the same respect until they have done something like that.

 

how about play tema ball. no bricksters ala lou, eg and ariza. play some ****in defense. staple the words box out to ryan's forehead. stop making harden do everything when they're more than capable of doing morethemselves. if they can do those things

 

Here's him against the Thunder this season: