Harden playing in slow motion?

He's tired, McHale overused him

 

I really think Harden's conditioning isn't that good.

That or he has a medical condition.

He plays basketball like he's playing football. He's not a go-go-go players. He's stop/start kind of guy who loafs around and then will give a big burst of energy.

Something else I've been saying since the beginning of the year.

He needs to work on that or go get checked out to see what's wrong, because for a 24 year old he should have more energy to play with.

But all that said, McHale is not the coach Harden needs. Kevin doesn't seem to have a good feel for what's going on within a game. His adjustments and strategy seem to be non-existent. Harden shouldn't have to iso to get a majority of his points...

Run some type of offense in the half court man...This free flowing stuff is all fine and well, but when the "ball gets sticky" get your ass up off the bench and give these guys some direction. You can't just keep doing the same thing over and over again and hope for different results....unless you're insane.

And McHale ain't insane because if he was he wouldn't be afraid to put his foot up these guys asses.

McHale also needs to try out some different players. He's a dunderhead man.

But yeah....Harden needs to be better. He needs to be better conditioned or go to the doctor and see what's wrong.

 

Ames Haren lost his J and never had D.

 

what we are witnessing has nothing to do with stamina....people need to let that go. he played 2 games in 4 days. He doesn't play defense and he isn't attacking. had 8 days off before that. No, the young man seems to not be able to step up when the lights are brightest.

 

Go back and watch the first quarter of last night's game. I picked it up on the third series.

You could tell that the coaches were dictating that Dwight get the ball. The rest of the team runs down and sets up for Dwight to get the ball in the post. Harden? He is walking the court, completely disinterested in the game. He knew he wasn't going to get the ball so he basically didn't play basketball. Then after Dwight's first miss, Harden brings the ball up the court and all of a sudden he's playing again and he dribbled around and was determined to take a shot no matter what.

Same thing occurred throughout the game. Harden was walking the court most of the game on offense, didn't want to bring the ball up when the ball was going to Dwight, etc. Honestly it was the most selfish game I've ever seen from a player on the Rockets. Jacking up stupid 3s early in the shot clock instead of moving the ball around, standing around if Dwight had the ball, etc.

The biggest issue with that on Harden is that if he isn't a factor on offense then he is basically the worst player in the NBA. His defense is atrocious so if he doesn't move around on offense and play a role, he might as well be on the bench.

 

All of this crying about Harden is just BS.

How hard is it to see that the whole problem is the coaching? Sure he was pissed that Mchale didn't make any adjustments on either end of the floor.

 

His game won't age well unless he develops a consistent post-up/mid-range component (sort of what Jordan did during their second 3-peat run).

He also relies on drawing contact/getting to the foul line way too much... when that doesn't happen (and it hasn't happened the last two playoffs for him), he goes even further into a funk.

 

So, it's totally irresponsible conjecture, but I wonder if Harden is an alcoholic.

His clubbing exploits are well known, and he's been clearly hungover in some games (the first LA game this year is a good example). It is also a very common trait of true alcoholics that they get "tight" at the worst times as a way to deal with pressure. And, I agree with premise of this thread ... it isn't just a shooting slump. Harden looks slow, out of sorts, and ... well ... drunk/hungover.

It wouldn't be unknown in the NBA (Steve Francis, Vin Baker, etc.).

And, before you flame me, I will admit that I have a good deal of experience in the subject as a recovering alcoholic myself.

 

I'll start the flaming. What a stupid post, a player doesn't play well so maybe he is an alcoholic????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

wow, pretty deep post, never thought of that...you've got harden's struggles broken down to a science

 

I think the issue is with both of them. A good team can still survive their best player having a bad night with good coaching and adjustments, I blame both home losses on Mchale more than Harden because he can't make adjustments.

The comparison of Portland and Houston's coaching is a good one, Portland runs their sets perfectly to a T and plays efficient offensive basketball while Mchale has Harden ISO from beyond the 3 with 4 seconds on the shot clock out of an inbound. Unless LMA has a mismatch or a quick post at least 4 guys are touching the ball for Portland every possession. We may get 2 guys involved on most trips down.

 

Bingo.

 

Ok. I'll just say: No, I don't think that's the issue.

 

I don't think the out of shape thing is it at all. I remember thinking late in the season that he looked like he was in a great condition and moving very fluidly. I think his confidence is low right now and unfortunately we don't have a good set of plays to get a player some easy shots so he's going to have to break out of it on his own.

I'd be pretty shocked if he continues to play this poorly. We've gone through some funks throughout the season but always broken out of them. This time it may just be too late, though.

 

+100. I think Harden is just lazy...maybe he is conserving his energy for offensive bursts and does not want to waste on D. That would be my mentality when I play basketball if I was focused on scoring. I'm the man so I have to score so I will give it my all on offense.

I noticed Bev inbounded the ball to Lin instead of Harden in the 4th quarter lol. dat snake

 

I'm a huge Harden homer and apologist, but you can't put this on McHale. Harden is flat out choking..

 

Harden plays among the highest amount of minutes in the league. Yet I believe that the SportsVu data shows that distance that Harden moves per minute is among the lowest in the league. That lack of distance traveled is remarkable for a guard. I think he naturally has bad endurance. But the coaches have enabled him. All along they should have cut his minutes somewhat but told him that they expected him to move without the ball more on offense and bring his A game on defense every game. Ultimately, I think it is a coaching problem.

 

But of course Harden deserves blame too.

 

I'm reacting to a larger pattern. But, go ahead and flame away.

I think there are a few more question marks available somewhere in your keyboard.