Harden needs the epiphany that dream had after the 91/92 season. He found his inner peace and went on to become the dominate player that brought this city two rings. Until then. Yep. No trust.
Nobody is a bigger James Harden fan than I am, but I think I'm ready to agree that I don't trust him in late game situations at this point, at least without Chris Paul or another 2nd star. I trust Harden as a player and I want him on the Rockets obviously, but in late game situations trying to hold on to a lead? Can't do that anymore. Too much evidence. These meltdowns happen far too often, and have been a problem since the McHale days. Clearly the problem starts with James Harden, and honestly there's no sense in thinking that it's going to be fixed, because nothing ever changes. Same meltdowns happen every time. Unfortunately, I have a tough time believing in our playoff ceiling because of it. Tonight was a completely depressing game in that regard. Really made me take off my blinders.
We need to be honest about the root cause of Harden's meltdown late in games. It's because of his reliance on foul-drawing tactics and inability to hit big shots under pressure (especially vs elite defenders.) Maybe, just maybe, Harden is not as great as we think he is without the refs blowing whistle in his favor. I know it sucks, but how much more evidence do people need? Harden might not be that guy who can take this team to the promised land, and maybe it's time to accept that fact. Why is this important? Because once we accept Harden is not that guy, lots of possibilities open up; such as handing over the keys to another player, or even moving on from him. If we just keep putting blind faith in Harden, then nothing will ever change and nothing will get accomplished.
Post is bollocks. He has had so many near triple doubles, near 60 point games, etc... and he could care less. He's even said as such on post game.
ok.... but in all honesty. I't doesnt matter if your a kid or an adult. If you lose 3 games in a row to OFFENSIVE FOULS there is something going on. I don't know if this is a coincidence
Some knee-jerk reactions on here. Harden carries an enormous burden and we owe all of our success to him. He’s made poor decisions..I texted my family at the end of tonight’s game and said “Harden is acting stupid” but I believe he can learn from his mistakes. There are plenty of bonheaded athletes out there. I’ve never grouped harden with that category. He’s a humble guy with common sense..you can tell he’s hungry to win. Things happen
According to that Bobby Marks tweet, enforcing this on Harden as been a league change that was ushered in along with the other Harden rule. They weren’t calling this before, and now they are.
Sadly, when your game is based a lot on ref-baiting, these things will happen. Sure some of the calls were unfair, but how about the calls prior to that, you could see it was frustrating the Celtics. Players like Harden need the calls to have huge numbers, and we all know what happens when he doesn't get the calls. Someone said it best in the game thread, you live by ref-baiting you die by ref-baiting.
Dude is playing like such a cancer. CP3 got us back in to the game, then he goes into his iso / turnover hero ball mode and ****s us. Then when CP3 asks for the balls he brushes him off and ****s up again. Good god what a shitty attitude from a player
