My hate ? I actually like harden but been noticing things he needs to improve on since last season which he has actually got worse at, we been down this road again & again and he has actually regressed as of now, it's good you guys have faith But I'm realistic... I speak on championships & playoff basketball, that's all I care about. If no changes are made soon it will take a few years, can't believe y'all really going at me tonight ? just take the L and move on
harden is better than kmart for sure, lamb is too young and haven't got the mins or shot attempts freedom to compare him to harden
Harden is usually dependable on the 4th and has won us many games in the past so I would not say he is anti clutch. He just needs to consistantly try and get his team mates involved in certain situations on the 4th and not try to suck all the defense on himself when he goes on hero ball mode and not pass it out when there is a more efficient shot that is available. It will be interesting to see how Harden performs in the next few games, there will be a lot of discussions on this team during the couple of days of break. Will Harden listen and be open in elevating himself to the next level? Or will Harden be consumed in trying to prove he is the best scoring SG in the league? Only time will tell.
You're reasoning that he could not win with Durant and Westbrook and that equates to him not being a winner is insane considering Harden played a massive part in getting them to the finals and has proven to e a playoffs performer. Infact this season i'm pretty sure he also has been our best fourth quarter performer as well.In majority of the wins h has stepped up greatly. He carried us in both the wins in san Antonio. He was massive in Golden State he was huge in our win in Portland, he was huge in the Pelicans and Grizzlies wins. Is he the guy with the best shot selection? no, but I say for the most part this season he has deliverd. He had a 26 point second half for Christ sake. We looked like utter garbage until his 16 point third quarter outburst got us back in it.
Harden wouldn't have needed to score 38 if he wasn't a complete turnstile on defense in the first half. It was noted by EVERYBODY. The people in the game thread, the Commentators DURING the game, NBA.com AFTER the game. EVERYONE saw that Harden was basically letting everyone waltz past him or shoot without being contested. And Harden didn't do squat until he got ticked because he got called on a technical foul... in other words, he was putting forth minimal effort on Defense or Offense until he "felt" like it. That's on top of his super special freeze out of the team for 6 consecutive plays to end the 4th quarter. And his 3 with 1:20, screen or not was a BAD SHOT because the Shot Clock was **EARLY**. He can get an open 3 off a screen or step back jumper ANY time during the game. We're up 1 point and he takes a 3 early in the shot clock? That's just BAD basketball, no matter how you cut it whether it goes in or not. Tonight's problem had nothing to do with fatigue, or the schedule. The team was crisp on defense except for Harden. The team moved the ball well except for Harden. Harden decided to go Hero Ball when it wasn't necessary and that cost us the game. Yes, not everyone shot perfectly. Parsons missed some FT's. However... missing FT's happens. It's Not a basketball choice. You shoot, they go in or they don't. Hero ball is a *choice*. No defensive effort is a *choice*. And that's what hurt us the most this game. http://www.nba.com/games/20131231/SACHOU/gameinfo.html?ls=slt That's it in a nutshell. Not an illusion, not a conspiracy of fans against Harden, it's what EVERYONE saw -- including the commentators and reporters. Stop making excuses for our "Superstar" player. He KNOWS better. He's DONE better in previous games. Harden played STUPID basketball and that's 100% on him.
I blame Harden's play in crunch time on the Coach. Reasoning being, if Harden is not running the set play that McHale called, then he should have benched him period. Six straight possession Harden called his own number, and came up empty each time. After the 2nd failed possession McHale should have did something. Hey but then again, Is McHale drawing up plays or is this the only play he thinks will net us a win Harden's Iso-ball...hm,mmmmm
Whether he has that mentality or not he can still involve teammates more. There's no bigger superstar on the planet than LeBron James and so many times in close games LeBron will make the pass to an open teammate and trust him to knock down the shot. Harden's got Parsons, Howard and Lin on the team, all can knock down clutch 4Q shots, and if he's concerned about them fouling Howard that's not a concern with Parsons or Lin. But LeBron, if he were on this team would pass it to Jones or Casspi too, and they'd probably knock down the shot because he showed trust in them. Harden's taking it on himself too much and he ignore teammates when he gets into that mode.
This thread is r****ded. It has nothing to do with whether or not he's clutch and everything to do with his inability to trust his teammates. Whats with jacking up shots like Kobe Bryant, and freezing out teammates? Not cool man.
Kinda related tbh, he always refuse to trust his teammates only when the game is close and down the stretch.
Watch LeBron James find the open man. Why is it that he can find shooters. Yeah, he takes it himself, sometimes, but he will also find the open man (and has been criticized for it in the past but still has a tendency to do so)
And rightfully so. as the designated superstar, you take all the hits for losses, just like you take the sccolades for wins.
You have it nailed. 1/2 way thru the 3 quarter I was thinking about Rudy T wishing he was here to teach these players to feed the ball to Howard in the post. We are wasting scoring opportunity. Wonder if Rudy T wants his job back.
Harden = iso ball, No D Maybe maturity in the coming years will take care of it, but right now that is all we'll get from him.
