~{ James Harden's Philadelphia 76ers }~

I thought he'd learn with CP3 here but he just doesn't have the killer gene when it matters most. He'll be out partying away rather than reflecting and changing himself. He never truly takes ownership of the team and his issues. He's no winner. Quits when its tough.

 

the same CP3 who has 37 points and 18 TO in the last 3 games?

 

A wise uncle once (actually numerous) times said….

 

I think Embiid is going to have to find a way out of there. I don't think Doc Rivers is a winning coach either and I'm not entirely sure Morey gets it. Especially if they end up hiring MDA again

 

He’s been injured in literally every single playoffs. Makes no difference who’s coaching or anything, without joel they cannot and will not win anything. Their season ended when he injured his hand

 

embiid throwing him under the bus lmao

 

And I can’t even argue with him..

 

their season ended when they started tanking 10 years ago...theres no substitute for winning!

 

Nobody questions CP3 for his mental ablities. If I'm right his series is still alive. Lets see if a shrinks in the second half of close out or the entire game. Harden has been epic in many ways.

 

Harden disappeared in the 2nd half in 5 out of 6 games

Game 1 he had 4 points (1/4 FG) in 15 minutes

Game 2 he had 4 points (1/5 FG) in 20 minutes

Game 3 he had 2 points (1/5 FG) in 18 minutes

Game 5 he had 4 points (1/5 FG) in 16 minutes

Game 6 he had 0 points (0/2 FG) in 22 minutes

 

All he needed to do is keep his weight down and stay in Houston. Would have become a Rockets legend. Now I can only compare him to TMac. Weak minded, timmid. The monster years he built in Houston will be forgotten with everything that happened after 2020. Getting Russ onto his team was the nail in the coffin. Getting fat and out of shape is another tell that mentally hes not there

 

Harden should take a year off to play baseball, then he would come back refreshed and win a couple of chips

 

He is not the player he once was, but underperforming in the playoffs (especially late in series and late in games) has been his tendency for many years.

 

Agreed. Paul's shortcomings has always been more of the physical sense than mental. He's also not a prolific scorer. Can he uncork a 30 point game? Sure but he's not the guy that you go to for 25-30 a night. His job is to set the table for his team to score. Last night's abomination was due to the fact that no one was hitting anything for the Suns.

 

Embiid is speaking facts. I don't think he was throwing Harden under the bus. If James feel like this is a slight then he should just go join another team because his Houston-Super Saiyan days are long gone. Can he still be a valuable contributor? Sure but on this Sixers team he better realize that the pecking order on the offensive end has him behind Embiid, Maxey and probably Harris.

 

CP3 has had great closeout games though. Just off the top of my head, there's Game 7 vs the Spurs in 2015 and Game 5 vs the Jazz in 2018.

And it's not like he didn't get criticism earlier in his career for never getting past the 2nd round. But he more than shut up the naysayers in 2018, last year, and (probably) this season.

 

It’s a given at this point that Harden in the playoffs needs to be factored in as a non factor to the point where you need a coach who can leverage that in a way that has him in a system as a decoy.

But at the sand time I think Philly fans are severely underrating the value Harden will have for them next year to put Embiid on ice during the regular season and have Hardens there nightly to win you games which I think he’s still capable of as long as he can get back in shape.

You don’t throw the baby out with the bath water and nobody needs a regular season crutch like Philly does. As great as Embiid is (and honestly he’s part of the problem too in this series and his injuries are partially on him not being smart falling on the floor on every play etc) he’s a very unreliable regular season star player because getting 58 wins vs 49 wins is a massively important factor in seeding that matters in a series like this.

So I get the Harden hate today because he’s forever going to deserve the playoff stinker title, but there’s also alot of overreaction too.

 

Harden: "So um....I'm gonna decline my player option so we can get a long term extension worked out right Daryl?"
Morey: "If you do that you're walking away from $47 million....."
Harden: "But then I can re-sign with the team for a lot more than that right Daryl?"
Morey: "You couuuld...provided that we offer you that kind of contract....I mean $47 million is a lot to turn down"
Harden: "So you're saying I should pick up the player option and you guys would give me a max after next season?"
Morey: "I can't predict the future james...but another option is for you to decline the player option and we give you a 5 year deal"
Harden: "That's what I'm talking abo-"
Morey: "At 5-6 million per?"

 

I wonder if he declines and shoots for a 5 yr $150M somewhere while he still can. Scary hours.