We single them out when they play good. But we don't want to single them out when they play bad? Sorry I ain't that stupid to believe they are all playing badly and without effort. Harden has played his tail off all season. Just dogging out minutes and wins night after night for us. Now you're going to turn on him in the playoffs and accuse him of lacking effort? Talk about trolling. Talk about being foolish. Harden has proven he bleeds basketball character. This message board is proving your foolishness.
I'm guessing holic things Jones is the worst of the starters energy wise, and he might be right (I voted for Terry 'cause he's the oldest and slowest, worst at defense), but Jones has undeniably been better than Smith this round. Keep Jones and lose Smith, Jones can be a Smith-like wild card off the bench without the self-destruction Lin-esque turnovers.
In this series Jones has averaged: 9 points per game 4.75 rebounds per game 0.5 steals per game 1 block per game 1 turnover per game while shooting 40% on 2 pointers (14/35) 0% on 3-pointers (0/3) 66.67% from the FT line (8/12) in 23+ minutes a game while the team is -48 with him on the court. In this series Josh Smith has averaged: 6.25 points per game 6 rebounds per game 0.75 steals per game 0.75 blocks per game 1.5 turnovers per game while shooting 36.36% on 2 pointers (14/35) 11.1% on pointers (1/9) 40% from the FT line (6/15) in 18 minutes a game while the team is -20 with him on the court. LOL at Jones being better than Smith this round. Smith doesn't start. And what a standard to measure Jones against to justify his crappy performance. More foolishness. I'm not even going to address the defensive side of the court. If you think Jones has been remotely good on that end then you've got a serious eye and mental condition.
Seems like PG and PF has been our weakness for the last several years. Maybe someday we'll address it.
if were talking energy in terms of leadership. its james harden by far. there's no sense of urgency, there no communication with him. Teams follows after their leader. playoff JH has not given much energy and emotion at all in this series. that cannot happen if youre supposed to be a leader. but I know OP created this so people could say TJ. he may not be playing well but he's definitely playing with more energy than JH and that's sad
Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like we're competitive until the point we go to the bench which indicates our starters are doing their jobs until things spiral out of control. We were supposed to have the bench advantage but like a beaten dog, I've learned that when Crawford checks in I'm about to get a thrashing. I don't know why McHale hasn't ditched the old rotation completely. With as many fouls that are going around just play Harden 45mpg.
James Harden 140:56 played -43 Dwight Howard 131:18 played -47 Trevor Ariza 153:57 played -51 Jason Terry 117:33 played -55 Terrence Jones 93:22 played -48
You've got to be kidding. Tell me specifically what you are seeing/not seeing in Hardens play that makes you think he is not playing with energy? What is he not doing in this series that he was doing against Dallas and in the regular season?
ive already summed it up as far as this series. hes completely out of it in terms of energy and leadership
Harden's defensive lapses and periods of total inaction and disinterest in the game stand out way more than anything Jones does because he's the main superstar and max level player. It's really bad optics for him, thus the poll listing Harden at the top. I'm surprised you're having a difficult time understanding something so simple.
That's bull. Not a stitch of evidence of it. He's not doing anything different in terms of leadership and energy than what he did against Dallas and during the regular season.
yeah this is actually pretty surprising you're not seeing it while this is pretty evident to many others. this is not the same JH at all.
Then you don't understand what's happening out there. Harden is having to help off on Blake because Blake is dominating his match up. Hence Harden is getting stuck out of position and rubbed off on a point guard match up that doesn't favor him. The problem is the players around Harden and our game strategy. Like Harden is gonna fall out of bed after the Dallas series and yawn and decide not to play defense against the Clippers, and not demonstrate leadership against the Clippers. Don't insult my intelligence with that crock.
Throughout the season Harden has gotten his teammates off early and taken over down the stretch. He's doing nothing differently.
Lol. The Jopat Jones trolling continues. Once again It's Jones' Fault. I actually voted for Terry because in relation to output at his position in the NBA in the second round of the playoffs he's falling short on both ends and the perimeter d is where we are seeing the biggest gap. So energy or not, he's not displaying an adequate amount in relation to his peers and the importance of the position. It's unfair to judge him but it's the reality. Sure Jones, Ariza, and others have underperformed too though. It's foolish to vote for just one person here as if they are to blame for everything. Energy... I don't really know what that means. I see production or lack thereof mostly at the PG spot in relation to what you see across the league with contending teams. Conley, Curry, Wall, CP3/Rivers(ugh seriously), Irving, Rose, ..... And then there is Jason Terry.
