Harden is seriously pissing me off... bad passes (to defense or out of bounds) at the most crucial times and gawdalmighty, I WISH HE WOULD PLAY LIKE A MAN AND FINISH - rather than playing for the foul call! that's my kneejerk rant....
well, no one said he was a true #1 option it is just that our team is young and he is the best option on this squad we have cap space so we will be able to get a true #1 option this summer and Harden can become more of a supporting player like he was in OKC and hopefully we will have the same success as OKC
Harden is the #1 option on this team at the moment. You are going to win and lose game, depending on he plays in the last few minutes. One thing I don't like his current game is that there is no urgency in his game when the Rockets are down with one or two minutes left. He just doesn't push the ball up fast enough and takes too much time off the clock. When you are down by several points the goal is try to score as fast as you can and try to get another possession.
I think the truth is that Harden will just be a fools gold if he plays at this level and does not improve his game. There are a few critical flaws to his game at this point (defense, TOs). To say he is a superstar, and same caliber as Wade, Kobe, or James is just too premature. He consistently plays sloppy almost every game at some point.
The truth is people (including our coaching staff) seem to not realize that being a #1 option doesn't mean you have to have the ball on 80% of the time on offensive possessions. We are using Harden wrong, in giving him the ball like he is a PG and expecting magic like... well Magic or Lebron. Normally, offenses built around 1 guy usually fail, this offense we run is built around either Harden scoring or getting to the line. It is inefficient and will probably run Harden into the ground if it continues for too long. Harden getting the lion's share of shots is fine, but the fact is we should have developed one of the other younger scoring options (Lin, Anderson, Brooks, heck even Garcia) behind him to take away from his minutes so he can rest. Right now he is worn down after a long season and opposing teams have more then enough tape to game plan around him. He can and is a legit No.1 option, but just because he is the No.1 option, we shouldn't play like he is the only option like we have been for most of the year.
Harden absolutely has to add the mid-range jumper to his arsenal. That would open up so much more for his game. I really hope he hones in on it during the offseason.
I was expecting a knee jerk reaction thread today, but damn. Bashing our best player because he's not Labron, Kobe or Wade? No one thinks he is. He's in the lower part of the top 10 right now. With Lin out he's basically the focus of the defense all the time. He has to work twice as hard to get shots, and he still manages to score and carry the team at times. If he takes a shot instead of making bad passes on those two possessions I bet we'd see a "Harden needs to pass more" thread. Some of you people amaze me. Go back and watch the Rockets with Lowry as the "star" and tell me how Harden isn't a great player. If he's still making careless mistakes after a few seasons as the lead dog, THEN you can make this thread. He needs help, plain and simple. He's no LBJ, and even LBJ couldn't do it alone in Cleveland.
I noticed he let KD drive by him after he got into foul trouble. He was playing good D but picked up some quick fouls.
Anthony just missed two crucial free throws with 1 minute left. Guess he isn't a no. 1 option either?
Not that i don't disagree with you but thats a bad analogy. Missing free throws != throwing away the ball twice
I think people are saying he can be like Wade Kobe and James. There is also reason to believe he will improve. Look at how much he's improved just since last year. To act like he won't improve or think that he's already reached his ceiling and learned everything about the game at his age and in his first season of being the number 1 option team leader is pretty silly, and goofy for anyone to have expected perfection. Harden is an unselfish player who's shown great potential about when to take over games, but is still learning and makes mistakes. Lebron, Kobe, James, and Wade all made plenty of mistakes as well. Kevin Durant made mistakes too. It's wrong to think making mistakes takes a player out of being able to be the focal point of a team.
Knicks do have better ball handlers on their team though. We just need better team chemistry, guys weren't where guys thought they were.
