From the person that brought you "Does not show up in the playoffs"

I'm glad that I was wrong.

He worried me there for a bit with his extended slump post all-star break.

 

Aminu forced him to ditch Harden iso ball and run the pick and roll. Great that we finally have role players that show up in big games where Harden isn't forced to carry the team. Unlike Mr 1st half and out Parsons.

 

He's turned the corner as a player.

 

you forgot to mention one important stat: 65.2 TS% (True Shooting Percentage).

 

He's passed the torch to ariza.

The man is offensively challenged.

Jayzus christ ariza, make some shots, man!

 

Was funny to see a bunch of posters trash him in the game thread and then have him hit that huge 3 that ended the game and then the steal.

 

I have said it all along. A player that can reach the level he has reached for SEASONS at a time doesn't just lose his abilities in the playoffs just because it's the playoffs.

Harden is a monster and a small sample of bad games in the playoffs didn't have me worried a bit.

 

One of the more impressive stats from him: He only missed 2 free throws the entire series. Both from game one where he shot 17.

Amazing.

Also, does anyone else feel like Harden didn't play as amazing as he could have? I mean.. the stats prove he played either about the same or better than he usually does even with the low FG percentages in the first two games(his ts% was still pretty solid those games.)

That makes me a little excited. I'm going to love to see how either the Clippers or Spurs guard him. It's like he's learning and getting smarter during the middle of the series.

Our 25 year old is growing up

 

20/20 from ariza this series, wow. u would think he'd leave that bs in the regular season but he brought it twice aas hard in the playoffs! if he couldnt make wide open threes, how's he gonna make them with someone's hand in his face next series?

he can still redeem himself but the odds are heavily stacked against him.

 

Idk. It's like, he has nothing to bring to the on the offense when his shots are not falling. He's not slashing like he used to when he was on the lakers or the first stint with Houston.

I can recall he had a few posters back in '09-'10 season. Now I barely see him attack the basket and dunk on someone. He's not even that old.

 

48% from the field and 44% from three with washington last playoffs.
29% from the field and 22% from three in this years playoffs, against a tema that's not even good on defense. wow

there's zero sense is what ariza's doing right now, none.

 

The game threads (which I participate in as well, semi-regularly) are like the instantaneous gas mileage display on cars. One split-second you're doing 100+ mpg, the next split-second 2 mpg. Like your car's pointless counter which responds to every single feathering of the throttle, the game threads respond to every single play. It's actually kind of a strangely beautiful thing to see how fast those threads move and to see how the collective opinion and response changes in a heartbeat. Everyone's amped, and it's like being a packed bar without the expensive beer. Everyone settles down the next day. The game threads are fun but not to be taken too seriously, especially by those of us who wrote a bunch of stupid things in them at the time. :grin:

 

What about his personality though?

 

His rebounding numbers took a dive.

 

Yeah, he's probably not as engaged as he could be. Doesn't have that killer instinct.

 

I think that was the funniest thing about what the Mavericks said coming in to the series. They were so confident in Aminu's ability to defend Harden. While Aminu was really good, he could not stop Harden at all.

Anyway, Harden must continue his excellent play. I hope that getting out of the first round and having a great playoff series, lifted a burden off his shoulders so he can play his game all the time.

 

Hard to grab rebounds when there is a giant monster grabbing 15 a game.

 

That has a lot to do with the fact that he's either stuck on Aminu or Dirk a lot of the time. He can't keep either guy boxed out for too long.