Yes small size..., but over the 1st three games he is only averaging 6fts/g vs last year where he was getting 11fts a game. Its not like he is shooting less, but it seems like the refs aren't calling some of the things they used to call. This has caused his TS% to drop to 56%. Is this a short term thing or are the refs are out to get harden since he is the poster child for FTs.
There is clearly an emphasis on Harden, likely some offseason memo. Its fairly obvious he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt at all anymore. I can understand the 3pt foul changes, but they have gone too far with this.
In my opinion, the NBA is about storylines. They work under the premise that storylines bring in revenue even if those storylines are manufactured by the media/NBA themselves. Part of that is creating & controlling these storylines. Safe to say Westbrook isn't going to have the same numbers playing with PG & Melo. Lebron's not going to have the same season statistically. KD maybe, but the consensus is ppl will get tired of talking about how great GS is. But we KNOW Harden will have another MVP caliber season and probably a great regular season record with considerably less talent than KD, WB, Curry or Lebron. Is ESPN prepared to be forced to talk about Harden being the best player in the NBA? Is the NBA ready to not kiss Lebron, Curry's or Westbrook's azzes all season? Lets says Harden averages a league best 31pts, 11assist & 8rebs this season, while winning 60 games, the media will HAVE to acknowledge the Rockets and NOT talk about their favorites (GS, Spurs, Cleveland & OKC). The NBA will have to get creative in marketing someone other than Lebron, WB & Steph. So what does the NBA do? The implement Harden rules that specifically take away his ability to draw fouls lol. Yes I went full conspiracy mode on this one
Officiating in general over the whole league has been poor this year. There was clearly some sort of directive sent down -- in addition to the Harden rule, to start calling certain things differently. -Travels -Offensive fouls -Over the back These have been the three that have stuck out to me so far. The players are going to have to adjust, but the refs need to get on the same page, it has really been all over the place. No consistency.
The implementation of something called "The Harden Rule" over the offseason has absolutely caused refs to overcompensate on how they ref James Harden. It will be this way for at least a few more weeks.
When you try to con the officials... dont expect them to do you any favors... Whether its flopping or hooking defenders and pulling them into you... or whatever.... Too many players are too shortsighted in their efforts to get a cheap call... You might fool the official and get that unwarranted call at the time... but they review tape and see where they were used... nobody likes being taken advantage of - so there's bound to be blow back.... That's why you play the game the right way.... and not doing whatever you can in the moment... jus sayin...
I think they are over compensating He also doesn't seem to be trying to draw as many fouls, like 3pt fouls
I was worried that "The Harden Rule" would cause less fouls to be called for James, including a lot there are legitimate fouls.
I know this doesn't have anything to do with "the way games are officiated", but the ref clearly got in the way of game last night. Then he turned the ball over to the Grizzlies when it was his fault. I mean, WTF?
Yep. I haven't seen Harden bait guys at the 3pt line, just mainly drives to the basket with obvious hacks that aren't getting called...because "Harden." I agree that this will even out later on, but for now, it is frustrating.
there have been a few times where I thought he should’ve been given a continuation but didn’t get one, and there’s also been a few times where I thought he should’ve been at the line but they called the foul on the floor Harden is averaging just 6 free throw attempts a game through the 1st 4 games of the season. How many 4 game stretches has he had where he shot such a low number of free throws? They probably are targeting him because he was the main catalyst for why these new rules were created.
forget the fouls when he drives. he's not even getting calls at the last 5 minutes. Harden is money all over the floor, and everyone knows this, so they end up hand-checking and fouling the s*** out of him near the end of regulation. i have don't know how many times that has happened. it's to the point where i think Harden just passes the ball at the end because he's so afraid of the refs not calling those fouls.
bump. it is a bit ridiculous that he's barely cracking the top 25 in free throw attempts. still early in the season, but dang man. also pretty obvious that he's working harder to follow through and finish at the rim. spoilered for size... Spoiler
Who cares dude is still averaging 27 so the garbage argument that harden cant score without the free throws is false and garbage.
