Seriously, what is it? Is he allowing his bad shooting to affect his mood to the point of whining to his teammates about every mistake? Was he not ready to start the season and just thought they or he could coast through the first few weeks? Is it those offensive fouls? Is it not getting his calls and that's why he thought he could just fall on the floor at the end of the game? What I do know is while it's probably several reasons in the poll, he needs to snap out of it and make sure he doesn't get his teammates' nerves, cause he would be on mine. When you play well, carry the team on offense and yell at me or show me my mistakes then fine, but not when you're not showing up on either end in terms of scoring and putting in effort on working off the ball nor to guard your man, box out or help. I like how the refs are not falling for his antics so far and hope that continues, but I do acknowledge that there seems to be a focus on Harden and not on others who also lower their shoulder or throw out the forearm. The lay-up where the defender got hit in the face was a bang-bang play and Harden simply protected the ball, so I'm sure in his head he's thinking he cannot do anything anymore, so he's frustrated and pouting a bit. Somehow I'd like to think this is just his usual behaviour when he's not shooting well and he's always been vocal to teammates when the other team scores. He always has let referees frustrate him, so that's also not really new, but last night he didn't even argue that much. It was almost like he gave up on even trying and it showed on defense as well. Thoughts?
It's not anything I'm worried about. The refs are calling it a little differently, none of it in his favor. As he's trying to adjust he's missing shots he knows he can make, over and over. He'll get in the gym and iron the shot out, and once he's hitting the shot he'll adapt to the refs like he always has.
It's actually not the shooting that I'm worried about or started this thread for, it's the bad effort he's showing on defense and whining to his teammates too much partly because of it that does.
He's playing like dog **** so far. I cringe when he shoots. He's careless with the ball and seems out of shape to be honest. I'm not worried though, he started slow last year too IIRC.
You won't even remember his body language for these first 2 games when he's saving our ass in Nov-Dec.
I think the bad body language has always been there, it just got magnified cuz his shooting is ass. Even when Harden was saving our team IIRC he has always had bad body language, that's the main reason he and CP3 started fighting CP3 is asking him to move around and Harden is telling him "your old ass can't tell me what to do". My opinion after watching him and the Rockets almost exclusively these past few years it's his version of stat hunting. Like some players who care about stats have bad habits for example Marcus Camby wouldn't close out on his guy on defense and let his opponent take the shot so he can block it. WB obviously ignored all defense in OKC cuz he wants the opponents to take shots so he can get the rebs. Harden as I have observed him used to coast on defense so he can have more energy on offense. But since last year he also started playing some defense, at least he doesn't let his man blow by him easily anymore. So he is expending energy both on offense and defense, when does he rest so he can have energy to pump up his stats? Obviously it is when others are holding the ball he can fade into the background and get some rest so that when its his turn he can do that step back 3 over and over again. It's def a bad habit I'm hoping that WB being the dog that he is influences Harden for the better. The time when Harden starts moving on cuts and off the ball is the time when the Rox's offense go up several levels.
These offensive fouls are TROUBLING Later in the season people will be b****ing about him not driving or anything this will be the reason why They are simply trying to train him to not use part of his game or get in his head to be wearyof his moves those little minor things add up and can cause misses which use to be makes Rocket River
It takes him awhile to get going. He's getting older, the off-season partying takes longer to get over
But what about all his workout off-season videos working on his one legged step back? He looks large this beginning of the season. It's going to take him a month to burn some of his excess weight.
Maybe should've focused less on that gimmicky one-legged shot and try to work on his handles, defensive stance, boxing out...
he looked so good in preseason I can't believe he has come out been the opposite the first two games. i thought for sure he was ready to dominate early and keep us afloat while westbrook adjusted. james is killing us right now.
I do think it's a rhythm thing. He got used to dribble the ball for 15 seconds and now he is asked to do it less. It will take a few games to get the muscle memory back to his catch and shoot or faster pull ups. But his body language is annoying, especially next to Westbrook. With Paul they were both like that so you could not notice it as much. He needs to shut up and dribble (less dribbles)
He's adjusting to the pace right now...his legs aren't there for his three bc he's having to use his explosiveness more consistently through out the game (which should show how impressive Russ' conditioning is). This is gonna be amazing in the long-run because he's gonna be in the best condition of his life come these playoffs.