To me it sounded like Harden had a stuffy nose in his post game interview, like he could have had a cold or something. Whatever the reason, he didn't need to play 30 plus minutes in a game like tonight.
So he goes to Vegas was it when they had those extra days off? Hanging out with Chris Brown and others and now he comes back looking like Rikishi ass ever since. Coincidence or naw? Get your priorities straight James...you're blowing a great chance to be the MVP of the league and attain legendary status. For what exactly? Now is not the time to lose focus. Spoiler
Just give it to Curry already. Harden is clearly gassed. Percentages dropping across the board FG%, 3 point%, TS% while the team has a good chance of dropping out of home court Thanks Morey and McHale
I tend to agree. My sincere worry is that, as the games get more intense, more like the playoffs, his game becomes a little less awe-inspiring. Fewer whistles, much more intense D, and this is what we see. Love him though I do. I don't care about the MVP thing too much at all, but I'd love for us to get the best possible playoff seeding, at least home court.
He's still our MVP. A few off nights is just the calm before the storm. I just pray one of these strippers doesn't shave his beard whilst he sleeps.
Harden's been looking gassed for several weeks now, with intermittent brilliance still sprinkled in. Ironically the media hasn't caught on yet, since they tend to be weeks to months behind in recognizing trends. They're still back at Valentine's day, narratively speaking, where Harden's elite play and the Rockets' rise in the West is starting to overcome the previous Curry narrative from New Years or so. I think the workload for dragging the team to a 2 seed by himself was just too much. He could still surprise me - the last week has not killed his chances if he immediately returns to brilliance - but the momentum doesn't look good.
The problem is that as much as i want to buy in Harden still doesn't understand sometimes. He busted his ass after Portland and Wes Matthews embarrassed him. Talked about hard workouts, practices and leading his mates then he goes to Vegas DURING the season. What the ****. Kobe wouldn't do that, Lebron wouldn't do that, Jordan wouldn't do that let alone AFTER the way the playoffs went down. What's it gonna take for Harden to finally understand that if he wants to be the MVP he has to give his life to basketball? 3 straight first round exits? His play last night was inexcusable. He looked like T-mac in the Toronto game. Just quit.
I don't enjoy him going to Vegas either, no doubt, but I'm not going to question his work ethic or anything after a few poor performances. He isn't one of the 5 best players just off of pure talent (though that helps). The only thing Harden could do at this point that would truly disappoint me is another bad playoff series. The OKC series was understandable. The POR series was disappointing. A 3rd would be downright alarming. Harden's had a near-flawless season, but it's meaningless if he doesn't perform in the postseason. But having said that...it's March. He's probably burned out. Happens to a lot of dudes. I'll need a few more bad games before I get upset over these regular season games. As I said...I'm buying any Harden stock being sold.
Corey Brewer has been our MVP the last couple of games. I can't imagine (or don't want to) how bad we would look without his energy and scoring.
