He played awful yet the Rockets won in 5 with defenses specifically designed to slow him down. Also came up huge in the 4th on both ends of the court even when shooting at a poor clip. I think Harden isn't getting the calls he typically does in the regular season and that's what is hurting his efficiency. I do think despite the criticism against him, he really is fouled on a lot of no call possessions. It's unfortunate that the refs are more inclined to swallow the whistle in the postseason even if the defender really is fouling him on a possession. I do think he will come up big and will need to display some heroics to beat the Warriors in the next series. I do hope he is making adjustments to his midrange shot and is scheming ways to punish the unconventional defensive schemes he's faced this post season.
This biggest difference this year is he’s actually trying really hard defensively. Even more so than last year. He’s still not going to be able to defend Steph or KD. But he’s trying. Conversely... he’s constantly in foul trouble. In any case.... offensively, the strange defense clearly has him frustrated. It helps when the Jazz have Gobert inside and Favors too. Both guys are VERY good at contesting shots and did foul him regularly but usually after the shot so he only got foul calls sporadically. The one move he should be able to add to combat this is deceleration and step backs at the mid range. Deceleration is one of the things he’s typically good at. Decelerate and go backwards into a foul. That said... the strange defense didn’t pay off for the Jazz. You might say but they guarded him well the last three games. Sure... after first getting blown out in the first two. AND... I think the defense impacted their offense. They were so focused on their defensive strategy they weren’t out of rhythm offensively. Mitchell obviously struggled. It’s hard to either have to get switched into Harden and figure out the right iso defensive strategy, or to have to one on one guard CP3, who veteran moved CP3 over and over, or to play the appropriate help defense to a new style. AND to do that while being the absolute guy offensively. It’s just incredibly hard to do all that. It’s much easier when there’s a bunch of all stars and a bunch of HOFs on the team. Mitchell is a great player. Rubio lulls you into a sense of security l, Crowder and Ingles are fun players to root for, they all play “hard”... but that team isn’t going anywhere anytime soon if they can’t add talent around Mitchell. If they can, they’d be ridiculously good.
Oh, one more thing, +/- is a tough stat. Especially on a game by game basis. But Harden was +19 for the game, highest on the team. As I said tough stat... CP3 was just +8, but then played more with the bad part of the Rockets bench tonight. But the fact is, when harden was on the court tonight, the Rockets dominated this game.
Bad 3pt shooting night..... better elsewhere. I'm glad we've got the best defensive team out of the way. Now Harden can go to town on the Warriors. They simply cannot defend Harden the same way the Jazz can.
The fouls he is used to aren't being called. Maybe the free throws help get him into rhythm. After so many years in the playoffs you'd think he already understands that will happen every year in the playoffs.
Yeah I watched him struggle for a quarter and then go 9 of 15 from the field after quarter time and rip the Jazz heart out in the clutch yet again. lol this bump backfired on ur sorry ass
MVP in the pressure less regular season. Garage in the post season He can't be the alpha anymore. Get Jimmy Butler that dude isnt small
Harden played great. He has NO supporting cast. At all. You can't compare to the Warriors. It's easier for Steph or Klay to go off when they have 3 or 4 guys on the court that require attention at all times. The fall goes on Morey and MDA for the team and rotations that they have put together.
Harden did NOT play great he pushed off for an uneccesary offensive foul, he doesn't rotate correctly leading to Thompson's 3, and he threw the ball to them on an inbounds play. He is just not disciplined enough to lead a championship team - great individual scorer - not a leader. DD
McHale only got us out of the 2nd round by benching this bum while down by 20 against the Clips. D'antoni should've done the same.
