To be fair, you're being a bit presumptuous. He didn't say, and no one here has said, Harden is the reason we play bad. No, hes a big reasons were 2 seed.... But the main point of DD's post is Hardens D, not his offense. I Think he's played fantastic on offense except he needed a lesson in humility to reshape how he was approaching the game. That's it. Go Rockets!!!
there's not a lot to show, he's been sitting outside the play on barnes most of the time, whilst the clippers run their offense as basically a 4 on 4, high pnr with cp3 and blake, with redick as the outlet and dj as an oop man. Redick shot 16/24 and 9/13 from 3 in games 3 and 4, blake shot 17/31, and dj went 32 and 32
awesome OP. hopefully harden learned that we need to shoot 80% all game and for the clippers to shoot 20%
In my opinion, Jimmy has been TOO passive. He needs to be aggressive on offense and defense, and get the refs working in his favor Kobe style... Continue to drive and verbally work the refs over.
i've been thinking the same thing as DD……our defense hasn't been the same the past couple months and harden stepping off the pedal has been a big part of that. he needs to stick to his man for us to win this game.
Geez, no one hates Harden, I just want him to learn from his mistakes and commit to defense. The team plays better when the ball moves, and he plays defense - nothing more - no hate, only hope. DD
DD, it is difficult to change those habits even if the player has the will to do it. It requires a whole change of the approach, a daily change of habits, with the consequent pressure from their coaches to put him on the right track. You must work on his own awareness, you must work on his defensive technique... It is an arduous tough work that takes time and effort from both parties. Of course he's not changing it in one game. He can't. Habits are a b****.
Above all, don't give up. If he wants to raise his game a little higher, he needs to compete every possession. If he's flustered or playing bad, go ask the coaches or teammates what he can do differently.
I agree sometimes it just takes time, a maturation process, etc. I am hoping he watched with a purpose and saw how much better the team is when it commits to defense, and plays team ball on offense. DD
Nobody deny this, we are thrilled what Smith did for us in game 6, but to this team he is not Smith, he is the franchise player, he will decide how far this team can go. All DD saying is he can do more and we saw he had done it at the beginning of the season.
Hardens D was sad in about 3 of these games in this series but he's not solely to blame or praise for the outcomes. He's the primary facilitator but this series has very much been a team series. Game 1 is the ultimate example of team energy and intensity translating to the win. Griffin was great but they don't win that game without all the support players shooting lights out and playing good team D, running in transition etc. So whatever the outcomes today it's not fair to blame or praise Harden or McHale especially. Sure they stick out more because of what their roles are but let's face it. The TEAM needs to come out guns blazing hitting shots, scramble like crazy on D, run the break, and get back in transition.
There's really nothing for Harden to learn from the offensive display...Smith kind of hogged the ball and happened to nail his shots. If we make our 3's at an alarming rate, we will build a substantial lead. On defense, yes, team defense matters and Harden needs to do his part.
