James Harden does not have the heart of a champion.

Yeah - where was CP3's heart of a champion during the final 3 minutes of the game when the Thunder lost? Harden score on a clutch time drive and blocked two shots on the defensive end. CP3 made a bad pass that got deflected and didn't factor into any other plays. What a huge double standard.

 

It IS how it works. If Harden played great for 3 quarters and disappeared in the 4th and they lost, you'd be saying the first three quarters don't matter because they lost and that Harden chokes in the clutch. Now he pulls out the series win in the clutch and you come with this weak sauce logic because it doesn't matter what Harden does, you're going to criticize him. What matters is the win. I (and everyone else in the entire world - including you if you'd be honest) will take the win over 3 quarters of good play.

Harden was essential in the win. He played solid D all game and watch the film of that defensive play at the end of the game. He defended two players - he denied Adams the ball at the rim and used perfect timing and positioning to close out on Dort and get a clean block. It was an MVP moment. It was one of the best defensive plays I've EVER seen in 40 years of watching basketball. And it was the winning play of a Game 7 in the playoffs.

 

For all the people saying he “helped us win”

yeah, sure. He had some big plays that sealed the win.

but what I saw last night was pathetic. I’m the biggest harden fan , always defend him

but that his game last night was inexcusable
Dude didn’t seem interested in the game
It has become clear to me that this guy doesn’t have IT. I’m crying as I type this cuz man, I always believed in him. He deff got saved last night. Had we lost people would be ******** their pants wanting this guy out of here. But we won so he gets a pass. Not with me .... the win was awesome

but harden really really disappointed me. he’s open my eyes to his disastrous plays in “clutch games”


Sad to say he deff doesn’t not that the killer instinct. And this is based off of several years of bad playoff games.

 

that block was a “heart of a champion” moment

yeah, it would’ve been cool to see him drop 40 in a game 7 win, but he made plays defensively including the biggest defensive play of the season

his improvement on the defensive end has been great to see

 

D-rock with the receipts! That’s /thread right there. Let’s lock this garbage up.

Harden haters were hoping for their moment, but unfortunately for them, Harden made the game winning defensive play.

maybe next time haters

lock this sh*t up

 

Last night Harden did everything to close that we said he wasn’t capable of:

- he was off offensively and didn’t quit or sulk

- he scored or assisted on all our final points

- he made a series winning defensive play

Sure, you could try and knock him for how off he was offensively, but he did what needed to be done and deserves credit for that.

 

he was busy helping Lu Dort getting a big contract renewal

 

I've been a huge Harden fan since he entered the league but yesterday through 3 quarters he had me worried that Game 7 would have been his version of TMac's "It's On Me" moment/game. Like maybe this is it...maybe this is the end of the Harden era. Then the block happened. Sure it might be a huge reach to take one defensive stop and say "James, all is forgiven for that shitty game you had on the offensive end that could have cost us the series" but that's what happened. I think @Icehouse hit the nail on the head:

It might not have been pretty but we got the W. Now I hope the league/talkingheads/media can put all of that "Harden doesn't play defense" BS to rest.

 

The fact that this thread even exists shows how little you know about what a heart of a champion looks like. Having a heart of a champion isn't happening to be on fire and dropping 40.....a good number of guys in this league can do that. It's about how you show up when you're NOT able to do what you normally do. It's about staying engaged fot 48 minutes, contributing defensively, and facilitating for teammates so THEY can shine. Kobe would have b**** slapped ANYBODY saying Harden didn't show up like a champion last night. GTFO here with this bullshit.

Also, just in case your head was too far up your own ass, Harden checked into the game with the Rockets down 3 in the 4th. He then proceeded to score or assist on all 13 of the points the Rockets scored, and had the season-defining defensive play to seal the series. That to me looks like a ****ing champion.

 

Team high +9 despite abysmal offense. Tireless effort on the other end. Critical assists and game-winning block in the 4th.

'nough said.

 

He sulked on the offensive end as he became ultra passive passing away the ball when he had a clear one on one advantage.

 

Harden has very odd games in the playoffs at crucial genes where he just magically becomes ultra passive and stands near the half court line on offensive sets. That isn't heart of a champion.

We just squeaked out a game7 win in the first god damn round and now have to face the Lakers and Clippers. Forgive me if I'm not that optimistic with our chances given our first round performance.

 

Harden played with energy and aggression last night and that was the difference. He deserves criticism when he is passive but he wasn’t in game 7.

Kudos Beard.

 

Harden is a great player but is mentally weak in big moments. I have accepted this fact. But that doesn't mean he cannot contribute in big moments. He just doesn't have the true elite, all timer type mentality.

 

When it is your team you will always overreact to situations. Offensively James was horrible yesterday but the team did enough offensively and James had the block that won the game.

Would this thread be spun up if this was game 7 of the NBA finals, and James sucked offensively and blocked LeBron's 3 to win a championship? Just saying.

 

HA HA HA HA HA FOOL!!!

 

Now say that without crying!

 

It is a bummer that I don't expect Harden to dominate start to finish in big games, but he played infinitely better in the fourth than Butler and Giannis yesterday. Giannis is unsurprising, but it seems people often point to Butler as somebody with heart or clutchness or whatever compared to Harden. He's lucky as hell the Heat won yesterday or people would be flaming him hard. Anyway, I thought Harden's sometimes-passiveness was a big part of why the Westbrook trade made sense, and yesterday that seemed validated when Westbrook went on his layup run.

 

Man I'm happy we won...things would be preeeeettttyyyy different today had we lost. The game Harden played was right in line with the hate he receives as faltering in the big moments...but he did have a game clinching block, so we have to applaud him and see what's in store next.

Good thing is we're not expected to win next round, so we're playing with house money as underdogs the entire way....

Shock the world why dont you JH and RW