Oh man there was some spicy jesting going on in this thread in its prime. Anyways lets talk more about this guy in this forum now please. Jalen Green off the block looks like he could have been a decent wide receiver with a little bit more mass. His cuts to the basket are MJ like. Edit: Can't forget that pass. This team will be stupid not to spam Sengun and Green two man game where Sengun plays at the high post and Green uses his near league best or possibly league best explosion off ball.
Yeah I don’t get the disrespect these people are giving him. Love him or not he balled and I remember even with one eye in that warriors series couple years ago he was the man. Sure he came up short but he has a lot of great games and performances to offset it. Harden had little help on the roster thanks to Morey’s genius. Ariza Tucker and company couldn’t dribble drive and merely spot up shooters. The roster had a lot of limitations and the style played further limited their success. But it was still a great ride and you can’t take Harden’s accomplishments from him.
In 2032, these bitter exes are going to be in here yelling “see, Harden is averaging 0/0/0 this season!” I’m sorry he doesn’t call you anymore little buddy.
Oh lookie here another perfect receipt with spot on analysis. ^^^^^ that was from page 15. Here we are 2 seasons later. Jimmy Butler still killing it, Harden sucks even worse and still not a Champion and I’m still undefeated. No wonder why the fanbois hate me. Lol especially @HP3 in this thread. Lol @ Harden talking about having heart and a dog in him. As if he ever knew anything about those things.
The team was built to complement Harden's iso game and so surrounded him with shooters. Without the ball Harden pretty much just watched others play. He lacked the effort to break away from his defenders. He wanted to be the shooter and the passer and control the tempo of the game. But when things got conservative and defenders locked him up, he chose to give up controlling the offense and jacked up tough shots or give up the ball completely. Either you want to be the superstar of the team and lead or outright just say you are merely a shooter and a PG. It seems he did not want to give up his status as the No.1 guy and neither did Morey/D'Antoni. It does not matter where Harden goes, his unadjustable unique style of play is not going to win a championship when he is given the role to lead and people should have simply stopped having so many expectations of him.
Thats not all he needs. As i said the team lacked dynamic scorers. Other than CP3 and Gordon off the bench the other players were primarily spot up shooters who couldn’t get their own shot or dribble drive to the paint consistently and effectively when Harden or CP3/Westbrook was locked up. There just weren’t enough effective scorers on the team. The style played meaning the over emphasis on threes, lack of movement, and over reliance on Harden hindered this team. This us directly attributed to Morey and MDA.
If Green continues his trajectory of improved handles and playmaking, what will be so amazing about him is that his offensive game will be so versatile where he can pair up with almost any star because he will eventually be an elite iso scorer AND an elite off ball player due to his ridiculous explosion off the ball and ability to rise and shoot over most defenders effortlessly. Imagine if Sengun got drafted here still if we kept Harden. His high post passing ability would be useless on this team because Harden isn't going to do the type of play I posted a few comments up. Most stars can fit with Green well unlike Harden. He needs a specific type of cast around him to be a star level player from here on out especially.
I agree Green moves very well without the ball whereas Harden’s off ball game is lacking. But Harden’s play since he left Houston is baffling to me. In his last year in Houston he played 9 games. He was dominant in the first 3 scoring at least 30 in those games. Then he played the next 6 much like he has played with the Nets and Sixers in terms of being more of a facilitator and playmaker vice scoring threat. It’s interesting to note that maybe this was how he envisioned his role moving forward with a stacked roster in Brooklyn? Maybe he was adapting to this facilitator role and gave us a glimpse of it in his last 6 games in Houston? He was putting up double digit assist games and consistent scoring and avg 25ppg 10ast 8reb in FEB 21 and 27/11/9 in MAR21 before his hamstring injury. Finishing with 24/11/8 in 2021 with the Nets most of these games were without Durant. Pretty great numbers. His numbers went down first 2 months this season with Nets then he put up similar numbers to what he did in Brooklyn last year 26/11/9 in DEC and 24/10/7 in JAN. His numbers declined with Philly as he avg 21/10/7 in 2.5 months or so there. He then avg 18/8/5 in this year’s playoffs. I don’t know what the reason is but his scoring output isn’t the same and his numbers down with Philly and significantly in the playoffs. He deferred a lot to Embiid except for a couple games where he looked like the old Harden. So the capability and capacity is there for him but the question is why has his performance declined? Just as we saw in those 3 great first games he is played in his last year in Houston he is capable but we have seen a different version this year. At 32 years old Is it health related? Wear and tear? Lack of desire to play? Deferring to other players? The Harden conundrum is interesting to me.
Bro I don’t even post about it anymore, who he is was obvious 3 yrs ago, if anybody is still having an “aha!” Moment there’s prettt slow . He played slightly worse than he did with us but this is how he always played in the post season . Maybe his dick riders can finally leave thsi forum
James Harden indeed has had multiple 40 pt games in the playoffs lol, he also has had multiple choke jobs in elimination games....
1-8 in his last 9 when facing elimination to be exact. Talk about an ultimate front runner. WOOF! 22 Heat 4-9 FG, 11 points, 4 turnovers -16 and ZERO points in 2nd half 21 Bucks 5-17 (2-12 3pt), 4 turnovers -2 20 Lakers 12-20 (2-8 3pt), 6 turnovers -29 20 Thunder 4-15 (1-9 3pt), 4 turnovers +9 19 Warriors 11-25 (6-15 3pt), 6 turnovers -10 18 Warriors 12-29 (2-13 3pt), 5 turnovers -13 17 Spurs 2-11 (2-9 3pt), 6 turnovers -28 16 Warriors 12-23 (3-7 3pt), 7 turnovers -27 15 Warriors 2-11 (0-3 3pt), 12 turnovers -4 The clueless dummy fan club will defend him all summer and believe in a Championship when the season starts again. Vicious cycle.
Jimmy Butler scored 8 points in an elimination against Harden in 2018. No one out there finds a way to win with each and every opportunity. Also no one remembers that when they’re arguing their side. Jimmy, much like Harden… has zero chips.
To equate the two is completely disingenuous. Everybody has bad games, harden has quitting games. It’s so consistent that ignoring it has to be a conscious process. you don’t show up out of shape to camp on purpose to force a trade if you’re a winner. You don’t consistently walk back to grab a rebound and quit on your team by taking 2 shots in the second half. All of the sixers and their fan base, Joel embiid are seeing it clear as day, rockets fans for some reason can’t
Jimmy Butler had only been back for a couple weeks or so from a torn meniscus and he returned to an imploding Wolves team with a bunch of immature young guys that didn’t care. He didn’t have to come back at all. Nobody constantly made bogus claims like better than KD, Curry, Giannis, Lebron etc over the years for Jimmy Butler or dared to put him on those guys level like they did with Harden. Just look at the early parts of this thread when some merely suggested Butler was on Harden’s level. Jimmy Butler is the epitome of an underdog, consistent hard worker, guy that plays with a chip on his shoulder that’s improved his game year after year and the ultimate competitor. He’s a guy that takes pride in taking care of his body and plays with a lot of heart. The two are complete opposites. Only thing that’s comparable is their age. Butler and harden are the same age. Yet one of them has declined and looks a shell of himself and the other is still on top of his game and playing at the highest level. Butler had no business beating a team with 2 supposed MVP’s in the last 5 years while missing his starting PG and his best teammate being Bam or a 6th man…. yet he made it look EASY. Again, the two are NOT the same. Like at all.
@don grahamleone This right here exactly, I'd like to add that there is a huge misconception mainly from the Harden sympathizers that its win it all or you suck. Its not the case at all, there are many greats that played the game and never won a ring. They aren't seen as chokers, they aren't seen as quitters. Some had to face a superior player like Barkley did with Hakeem and MJ. Harden is nothing like Barkley, Harden is a diva and a quitter. The issue is not that Harden plays hard and carries his team til the very end only for it to end with a devastating loss. Its that the man constantly gets blown the f$ck out every year when you would think Harden needs to take over. By halftime in the last game Harden was done, by halftime! Before the playoffs even started he himself stated he had nothing to prove... He does not care, his fans care more about him winning a chip than he does. This is why I consider Harden to be a bum ass choking quitter. Because you know Butler will lay it all down on line when it comes to it, will he win it all? Maybe, maybe not but I can sure ass hell guarantee Butler will go down fighting. Harden has never been that and never will be that. He quit on The Rockets because "they just aren't good enough" He quit on The Nets and He quit on Philly. He is not good enough and he won't be seen as a great that never got a ring. He will always be remembered as the bearded dude with some of the worst playoff performances ever.
