Agreed that his mid range game is money, for all the good Moreyball brings having a devastating mid range threat will never do you wrong.
The problem with what you wrote is that he has nothing specifically that he needs to improve in a major way in terms of moves or things like that which players work on in the off-season. His psyche is what's the problem and the passivity at some key moments and games. The question then becomes how does one work on that and get that fixed?
Kwahi, Magic, Kareem, Duncan. Way under 25 to show damage in the playoffs. I just dont feel age is a factor sometimes and in this case, I feel Harden has had a lot of growing pains and experiences to understand.
Sit him on the bench like McHale did in the 4th qtr against the Clippers where they came back and won the game. When Harden is disengaged, he's a detriment to the team, not only on offense but also on defense because everyone else has to pick up the slack. It was annoying when he did it in the regular season, but watching him do it in the post season is frustrating as hell. I'd much rather watch our bench players giving all-out effort and go down swinging, than watch our superstar half-assing it and playing lazy to finish out the game.
Agree. That's what my question is as well. His game does improve every year but mentally he has had situations where he is literally like the 12th man on the bench. Great players understand when to shine and take over. I feel he gets down a lot.
Simply don't let him to the main star player of the team. He is not a franchise star proven again and again with the Rockets. Morey and McFail doing this same experiment over and over to expect a different outcome just show they are crazy.
Bench our best player to win? That Clippers game was once in a lifetime. It may mentally prepared for game 7 against Clipps but in reality you always need your main guy in the game. I just wonder what is said to him during timeouts and tough situations. He seems to be the only one lost and out of it. This is not just based on tonights performance.
haha here we go...... I knew someone would bring this up. Did you watch Jordan during those runs? Who he faced? and how he played?
can't change his personality, just assemble a team that is consistent around him who says everyone has to be Jordan or Duncan or Hakeem, Harden can just be a Chris Bosh
You can say this about really any player. Hakeem was nearly traded away in the early 90s because of his attitude. Jordan was perceived as a guy who'd never get over the hump back when he was statistically one of the best players in the game. There is always something to work on. If nothing else, Harden has shown he is willing to work on them. That's all you can ask.
