lol...this made me laugh. Thanks, I really needed that. It just isn't the lose, it's how bad Harden played that irks me. I would have been okay losing a close game, even if he played decently.
I think the dude is just tired. No one in the NBA has carried a greater load them him over the last 7 months. Not even close. Remember Lebron took an in season vacation. Did the greats of the past ever get tired and perform like this? Maybe not... But they also were never surrounded with the same inadequate level of offense teammates. Been said before... I mean they tried going to Dwight in the post a bunch this game. He sucked too. They had one magnificent quarter without him. Aside from that, the only player who was consistently above average offensively the entire post season other than Harden was Ariza. Everyone else varied like crazy and was generally bad. Think about that. DMo would have helped here. Bev would have helped here as it improves depth. few have done so much with so little over the course of a season. 56 wins. WCF. Injuries galore. This is a team that was "supposed" to finish 7th, 8th or worse. And THEN who they did have got injured. I think this is obvious. He wasn't just missing shots. He was dribbling the ball off his leg, repeatedly. Shrinking? Maybe... Except in 3 of 5 elimination games he was great... Even amazing. except he's come up huge in the clutch many times before. If you've played basketball tired before you know you get sloppy. He's beyond tired. 81 games, high minutes, high usage. This game is on Harden... In the sense he wasn't good. But the series loss is on the rest of the team.
Its not the fact we lost. I don't think many thought we would beat the warriors. Its not that he missed shots. Its how he approached the game that is most worrying. And it happens way way way too often. It worries me as a fan...I've never seen a #1 option and MVP candidate crumble like he did.
It's the fact that he did not even attempt to run the offense in the fourth. Harden doesn't have to shot but he at least can get to the line or break down the defense. Do something.
Let's hope that season long fatigue is the reason for this dysmal performance. In his defense, he carried the team this whole year. If this is the case, it makes it all the more important to bring a couple of playmakers to help him out.
Something about Harden's demeanour during the game and the post-interview makes me think he might be a locker room cancer waiting to happen. His scoring prowess may be hiding a character flaw. Team leader partying before a pivotal game 3 still boggles my mind
Harden was exhausted. As in, bone-weary, can't-think-straight exhausted. He needs help out there and maybe this'll dick-slap Morey into action.
Nay, it's just Harden. He's the only player that allowed to play this way. McHale, 3 years ago, said, sometime you just have to allow him to play through his mistakes. He literally have allowed that for the past 3 seasons. Harden has done nearly everything. Pretty much only thing left for him is to improve his carelessness. Defense can take a step back to that. He can't depend on the coaching staff to help him out. They won't, they don't have that ability to. He need to mistake it out.
Have you heard or read teammates imply anything of the sort? Probably best to not read too much into his demeanor post game.