I like the fact that with a depleted roster, he's not trying to force things by over shooting. I've noticed in the 1st half lately - he seems to be trying to get his teammates involved first before unleashing in the 2nd half with his shots. Even when his shot isn't falling, he manages to contribute in other areas. Becoming a true leader.
Let's not start sucking each others dicks just yet. Harden isn't a finished product yet, it's good that he seems to be taking his job more seriously now but he still hasn't gotten out of the first round yet as a central piece of a team. Folks use to rip T-Mac for it all the time, and for good reason. Harden puts up some nice numbers against eastern conference teams, so do most stars. Against solid competition from the west he still has moments where he stands around with the ball, unsure of what to do with it. A real superstar should be able to get theirs no matter what team they play against, that's what makes a superstar, imo. Harden isn't a superstar yet because there are still teams (team"s" as in plural, more than one) out there who can shut him down and take away his comfort zones. Maybe it's a confidence thing, maybe some of those teams have gotten too far inside his head. Maybe he just isn't as good as we think he is, at least not yet. What I would really like to see from Harden at some point this season is a growth game against a team that we haven't had much success against recently. Such as the Grizz or Clips or Blazers. I want to see Harden step up and dump 50 points in a winning effort on one of those teams this year. I want to see some level of anger and utter clown stompage of teams who have players that the media and writers consider on par or better than him, such as Curry and Lillard. Specifically, Curry is proving to be the better player than Harden at this point and I want to see Harden get mad at that and show him up, make him look stupid. Maybe I ask for too much, maybe I was spoiled with Akeem. But I just can't take Harden seriously yet as a superstar after watching what Dream did to his opponents. To me, Harden is an All-Star level player but still not a superstar. Not in the same category as Lebron, Durant, Chris Paul, etc. Harden is still a tier behind those guys.
Main difference now...I think Harden values every possession. I think this what was lacking last season. Harden understands now how valuable every possession is, losing how the Rockets did in the playoffs should have really hammered that home to him, seeing as how a possession here and a possession there and they move on.
The year OKC went to the finals, he singlehandedly killed the Spurs in the western conference finals, so yes, he can carry a playoff team.
He was completely shut down by Portland in the playoffs last year, a series we were favored to win by most. He wet the bed. His story doesn't end there and I believe he will improve this year but the OP is jerking a bit, not sure if it's the knee part of his body being jerked, either.
For better or for worse that is how the legacies of players will always be measured. Harden as co-dog of a team has much work to do, as does Dwight.
We had homecourt though, bro. Harden and Dwight were considered to be superstars going into the series. There is no excuse for dropping both opening games at home to the away team. If we drop one game, no big deal. But we dropped both. These "superstars" need to start playing like superstars if they want any kudos from fans or media. They need to earn it because neither of them are NBA royalty despite what our fans and local media like to make them out to be.
What we saw last night was very interesting. Harden actually playing as the PG. Why anyone would want a PG that would take the ball out of Harden's hands (Rondo) is absolutely beyond me.
Westbrook is a legit superstar, Harden is a fabricated superstar ever since he arrived here. I have not given up on Harden, but he needs to show me that he has the ability to take over games against elite opponents before I will consider him elite. So far, he has only shown me that he can beat scrub teams while getting clown stomped by the elite.
"fabricated" superstar is one of those catch cry words you only see said by kobe stans, and it's always targeted at players that threaten kobe in some way, be it harden or even lebron, it's part of the lingo of kobeground that gives away all you idiots
