24 points 12 assists 6 boards 5 blocks on 7-15 shooting. He did his part. Unfortunately Kyrie was way off ...
Harden has been the NBA's leading scorer for the past 3 seasons. What the hell is he doing letting someone else on his team take double his shot attempts? Not even Durant should be taking something like 28 shots to Harden's 14, much less Kyrie.
To be fair to Kyrie, he's been very efficient with his shots this season, so why shouldn't he take a lot of shots? It's not like Harden isn't scoring. He's still averaging 24 points whilst getting 12 assists. It just means he's been more of a playmaker for guys like Kyrie and Durant, which I think will benefit the team more. Maybe he should shoot a little more, but he's doing enough for the offense as it is. The problem isn't the offense, it's the defense. It's so bad. They're getting killed in the paint in every game. If they had one good 3 and D player and a good defensive center, they wouldn't lose. The problem is.... Kyrie isn't a good perimeter defender and he gets exposed too much. Despite Jordan being 6ft 11 and 265lbs, he's far too soft and doesn't get as many rebounds as his height suggests. Harris isn't a great defender. Green does okay, but has never been that great of a defender. Durant is probably their best defender, but he can't do it all on his own. Harden is a very good post defender, but he's only 6ft 5. They have serious problems with the defense. Also, they need an experienced coach who knows what he's doing. You can have 3 of the best scorers in the business, but it won't count for much if you can't get stops. Defense beats offense every time.
Harden taking 14 shots to Irving's 28 is definetly a problem. As of now Harden is not playing like his MVP self. He's wasting possessions giving the ball up to Shamet,Harris,TLC who can drive and fumble the ball.
This team is a mess. Harden has done his part. He's been passive but he's not playing bad at all. The only hope they have it trading Joe and Spencer for some type of defense. Nash is an awful awful coach.
For an MVP-caliber, max-contract player, playing passive IS playing bad. I think he'll turn things around once he gets in shape.
If your defensive anchor is Deandre Jordan, you are in trouble. Nets need at least 1 wing defender and 1 big defender.
While the Pistons loss is bad, the Pistons are the weirdest bad team I've maybe ever seen so far this season. They're like 6-18, but I think every single one of their wins has come against a pretty good team... In fact they almost swept the Lakers.
I don't mind Kyrie taking 28 shots if he's shooting around 54% this season. Harden could be more aggressive and shoot more, but it still isn't going to make them win their games. They're losing because of their defense. Even if Harden shoots 6 more shots and makes around half of them, he's probably only going to score about 6 to 9 more points. The Nets are losing games by 10 points for most of their losses. They've lost 6 of their last 11, and 4 of those losses have been by 10 points or more. There's not much Harden can do if he has someone like Durant and Kyrie in his team. He can't be a ball hog and shoot 25 plus shots as he did with us. Besides, he doesn't have to do that whilst he has efficient shooters like Durant and Kyrie around him. They just need decent defenders and a good defensive center and they'll be good. They also need more chemistry. I seem to remember when the Heat started off rough back in 2010, they eventually got it together and became a strong team. Might just take time.
So when they get bounced with no ring this year are the HOFs still gonna go with the not enough help narrative: “He needs 4 HOF teammates, not two!!!!! “
Dude is shooting a career high in almost every statistical category, its likely that this wont hold up. Most likely he's gonna be somewhere between what he has been what he was tonight with awful defense. Then Harden will have to average 35 with more shot attempts without Durant. This is not a roster where you only take 14 shots, it simply is not. Harden needs to go MVP mode for them to actually win without, even with Durant. He's the only one who bends defenses AND makes the right reads out of them. Him being more of a scoring threat will make their offense better and open up more for them. He can take more shots than what he has been doing,especially on this team especially when their offense only scored 107 points. He should be getting the second most shots on this team....and he should def handle the ball the most(which he does). He's simply their best offensive player. But you are right, their defense is their biggest issues. , .....I dont think this defense is salvageable without trades. But honestly, Harden has not looked right all year save for a couple of games. He just looks weird and passive. He's also not getting enough separation on his shots either, he hasn't been drawing fouls at an elite rate and his finishing at the rim leaves a lot to be desired.
The Nets wouldn't lose if they had Green and a decent defensive center in their team. They would only need decent bench players. It isn't the same thing at all. Curry had at least 2 very good defenders next to him at all times. The best defender the Nets had out there tonight was Harden. Harden isn't a bad defender, but he's not elite. That pretty much says it all.
Nets are a hot mess. They definitely need better leadership, and Harden shouldn’t be taking half as many shots as Kyrie, but the bigger issue is that they let Detroit shoot 56% against them for the game AND got out rebounded AND turned it over more AND got to the line less. I mean, they were thoroughly outplayed by a bad 6 win 18 loss team.
