Mentally incapable of handling the pressure when things are falling apart. We've seen this multiple times, shouldn't surprise anyone. He's the muscle...CP3 is here to be the brains. CP3's smile of disbelief at the first offensive said it all....
Didn’t watch the game. Was this basically a repeat of the last game, where the rookie drew those offensive fouls? Sounds so.
He could have taken a step towards the inbound pass, you are correct. I don't understand Harden to be honest. It's like he's so lazy that he needs 100x the energy just to overcome his inertia.
Respect the game. Flashy crossover dribbles where you waive the ball in front of hungry defenders, barreling into contact, and pushing off. The refs are doing the best they can. You are the one dribbling the ball. Make quicker, smarter decisions, please. Just admit that this game got away from you. Swallow hard. Get better. Chris Paul, get well soon. You need to calm James down.
Leave the guy alone, hes like the next big scorer next to like roberson, hes gonna have a tough career with out a side kick.
I'm actually not mad at Harden. I think it is a foul, Smart embellished though. However, Harden does this all the time and never gets called. It really isn't Hardens fault if he thinks this isn't a foul, it's the amateur inconsistency of NBA officiating that led him to assume so. Officiating is always going to be poor, not because it's 'hard' or 'can't be improved'. It's because improvement starts at the very top, and at the very top the NBA's oversight of their NBA officials is absolutely pathetic.
This has been a frequent issue with Harden late in games. He pushes off all the time to get free on the inbounds. And it's been called quite a bit. I don't think it ever cost them a game before(at least not in this manner), but it's inexplicable to me. It's more due to his laziness than any good defense being played by the opposing team. And let's not forget he also did it earlier when the Rockets had to burn those 2 timeouts in order to get the ball into him before he was fouled and made those 2 free throws. He barely made any effort to get free in order to receive the pass or at least act as a decoy so someone else could get the ball. I think this game more than any other this season exemplifies why this will be Chris Paul's team late in games. James simply doesn't know how to respond when the defense gets physical and the refs swallow the whistle. He goes into shutdown mode which he basically did tonight resorting to dribbling out the clock and jacking up prayers from downtown(2 of which were answered).
Harden is not a leader and never will be. As long as Houston keeps trying to put together a team around Harden, the failures will keep coming. It is time to evaluate Morey's work, which continues to collect failures and more failures.
We had two timeouts when we were inbounding. Ariza had to call BOTH timeouts because Harden stood there like a ****ing plant. Marcus Smart is a disgrace to the game of basketball. But Harden is ****ing pathetic with his lethargic off-ball movement. Actually, I wish I can say he was lethargic. That would be an improvement over standing there and doing NOTHING. Absolute disgrace. The entire team should be ****ing ashamed.
I agree with you in part. But to be a team leader you have to be able to prove it on the court. If your leader spends more time injured than on the court ... the problem is really serious.
I was so angry and disappointed after game 5 and 6, I was pretty convinced I couldn't trust James Harden. I walked back on this because how great Harden has been this season, but this games just reminds me of game 5 and 6. It pains me to say that I might be back to not trusting Harden again... It just feels like I'm hoping Harden doesn't **** up instead of knowing he won't.. One of my favorite hobbies was whining about Harden's MVP candidacy too..
This is a great post, and if i rememebr correctly it did cost us a game last year. The same shove and i think it was smart too. I just wish he can grow out of the "i dare you to call a foul mentality" or the "i dare you not to call a foul" mentality because that is when he plays bad and becomes passive. Our team as a whole whine and complain too much.. i know the refs are bad but enough is enough. Let your head coach do the complaining and worry about playing ffs. Those little things take away from the focus you need to play smart, but we always seem to let our emotions get the better of us. I hope it changes man
No problem with Harden's behavior. Those arent fouls, especially not on any other NBA superstar. He gets treated uniquely and its shitty. Smart is not some gritty, tough player, he was incapable of doing his job at the end of the game and tricked the refs into doing it for him, disgusting
