Harden was cheating in the lane on that 3. I don't think he was ever within 15 feet of him the entire play. Who was so good on the Suns that he had to help like that. Ironically, on the big Notre Dame 3, the Butler defender did the exact the same thing later that night, hanging out in the lane and exposing the 3. Against a team like Phe-honix there needs to be individual defensive accountability and pride. I did not see it out there last night.
Harden has been cheating back too much lately. He should not be our 'support defender' He needs to stop that ***** immediately Rocket River
fchowd has a point. I'm probably as big a fan of Harden out there, but it gets unbearable on CF sometimes. I actually don't care about the loss yesterday, you win some ---you lose some, its hard to sweep, but people need to stop getting sand in their vaginas when somebody points out the fact that Harden had a bad game. Great players are criticized, and he is being held in that tier of Kobe, Lebron, KD, Duncan, etc other past MVPs. The "he's tired" excuse and other stuff needs to be stopped. He had a bad game, stop making excuses, its actually an insult to the other greats to ever say that about them...so lets just hope he makes that push and ultimately helps the rockets achieve the ULTIMATE GOAL (HINT* NOT MVP HINT*) which is playoff success.
I agree with this completely. I was pissed about the loss because we played pretty terribly defensively, but sometimes the other team just outplays you. Oh well. 82 games and the Rockets are still in a great spot. As for Harden, I agree as well. Dude is entitled to a few bad games, and the whole "tired" thing is fine, but it's no real excuse. That's his role on the team and he either gets it done or he doesn't. The only thing that's annoying is when Harden has a bad game and people make these absurd claims about all these flaws he has, when it's just a matter of having a bad game and that's it. Dude's one of the 5 best players in the league. He's not above criticism at all, but he also deserves the benefit of the doubt more often than not. I know that's only a small amount of people who do that, but still annoying nonetheless.
Exactly. Was he tired the first 17 games of the season when he was putting up similar numbers and averages to this post all star game stretch? NO. Just a bad stretch of games that happen. Still one of the best in the game.
I was at the game last night and Harden just wasn't into the game. He looked disengaged especially when Tucker got very physical with him. Yes we all know these greats have their bad games to. But it was the way Harden looked out there is what probably triggered some of these negative comments from some fans. Dude lol didn't grab a rebound until late in the 3rd. He was back to reaching on defense instead of moving his feet. One play he missed a three pointer and his man Tucker took off down the court resulting in uncontested dunk. J. Sizzle that's terrible bro.
That's all fine and good. I'm not defending Harden's performance last night. He was not good. No doubt about it. I'm just saying that Harden's earned the benefit of the doubt. He's literally the last thing I'm worried about with the Rockets this season.
A lot of "disengaged" quotes like this about Harden in recent losses. Becoming as popular as the 'Harden went to the club last night' excuse after losses. Memphis, Portland, Utah, Phoenix But at least the whistle was blowing and he got nearly half of his 50 points from the free throw line on Championship Legends night! But but but he's tired! Then go sit your ass down. We know the coach won't.
Harden played badly last night in order to prove that he is the true MVP. Unlike that other guy's team, the Rockets don't win without Harden playing well. This shows he is valuable.
I was there too and I agree. He looked like he didn't give a sh-t. He was aggressive early in the 1st and 3rd quarters. Otherwise the rest of the time, he was lazy on offense playing ISO-ball and jacking up contested 3-pointers and not really trying on D. He probably was tired, but also I've seen him have these games. If he's not getting whistles and the refs are allowing the defender to be physical with him, he mentally checks out and stops trying. He did the same thing a while back in that game at home against the Mavs where Rondo was guarding him in the 2nd half(Josh Smith saved us in that one). Harden better get over that cuz the refs almost always allow defenders to get away with more in the postseason. If he thinks he's gonna get 25 free throws a game, he's kidding himself.
Winding down the regular season. These gripes or praises won't matter if they lose in first round again
We could have won this game if Smith was ok and Harden would've stayed on the bench "resting". The supporting cast is very strong and its time give them more respect. Heroball makes it look exactly whats it called but we dont need that. It makes it easy for people to think "oh harden is carrying this team, this team is trash, hes the mvp".
I understand that completely. I am also a big time fan of Harden. The youngsta is very special and has the potential to be one of the all time greats. But with that being said, he still has to given max effort. I can understand your shot not falling but you have to step up in other areas. We all know he can do it because we've seen him do that before.
