Harden is not to blame for this series. Not more then anybody else is on this team. 25 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assist, 1 steal, shooting 45/45/95 in 35 minutes per game this series. His only downside has been turnovers (5.5 per) and sub par defense. He's been as solid as ever. Thing is people are expecting him to turn into god mode Westbrook/Kobe because his teammates aren't helping much at all, but that's just not who Harden is. It's hard enough for the dude to put up the numbers he does when the whole clippers defense is built around stopping him, it's up to the rest of his teammates to help him win games after he puts in his output, but nobody else is stepping up.
Harden should def go full Westbrook and just throw up any and everything. Every play should be harden driving to the hoop - every play - every!
Stats are misleading. When the Clips made their runs, Harden was invisible. Remember, these games are straight up blowouts in the semifinals. They're not even remotely competitive. Yes, the whole team is to blame. But as the best player, you gotta at least have your team "in" it. Clips aren't even trying.
Maybe it's because they have Griffin and Jordan two insanely athletic shot blocking big men manning the paint? Or because every time Harden gets the ball he's doubled? Or because every time he takes it in he's hammered, and half the times the refs don't call it because they don't want to give Harden too many FT's? If you add all of those together, you understand why Harden would rather just take a mid range J, or a 3 pointer. In order for the lanes to be open his teammates have to be a threat, they aren't. All the clippers are focused on is retaining Harden, because nobody else on our roster can do **** on offense.
From what I've gathered, people would prefer that Harden actively make the wrong play just so they can think he's making some sort of impact. Hilarious.
No but can the whole clippers team guard Harden 5 on 1? Absolutely, that's what they have been doing. Harden only attempted 12 shots tonight, why? Because every time he got the ball he was doubled, every time he drove everybody closed in on him. The whole Clippers defense is geared to getting the ball out of Hardens hands, and it's been working. The only way to beat that defense is to have other players step up and hit shots when Harden is doubled, they simply haven't.
People would actually rather he just chuck up shots like Westbrook and Kobe. In their minds this is never a wrong play, just go all out and it will show you are trying...
Clippers entire scheme is to "zone" Harden and leave the corners. Harden is usually making the right decision by hitting the weak side corner but we either drive into Jordan or miss the 3. Harden is not the problem, it's the pieces. Clips are taking away our best punch and we don't have a counter punch. Dwight isn't effective as a counter punch because he's under the basket clogging up the lane.
Last year it was Wes Matthews and this year He's getting schooled by JJ Reddick and Austin Rivers on BOTH sides of the court. Think about that for a second. Dude is a regular season superstar only. I hate to make comparisons but nobody disappears quite like Harden in the playoffs. Look back at all the great 2 guards in the playoffs and they always "got theirs". Drexler, Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, Iverson, Carter, McGrady, Wade and I purposely left off the goat for obvious reasons. None of these guys would EVER get shut down by freaking Reddick and Rivers and make them look like max players on offense. I've defended and supported Harden way too long. He is not who I thought he was. - _ -
All these excuses. "He's getting trapped and doubled!" Welcome to the life of a superstar. Stay aggressive anyway. That's what he's not doing, and his passive play is what's pissing some of us off. Harden is passive offensively and garbage defensively right now. Stop making excuses for his play.
It's not about the stats that Harden is putting up, it's about his lack of defense and being too passive on offense. The james harden who carried us with 40 point games and good defense when everybody was hurt needs to come back.
What are you guys expecting from Harden? Dude didn't put up a great overall game but he was still the best player out there. Do you guys realize how much the Clippers are trying to funnel Harden into Jordan? What it does is if Harden drives he still be stripped. If he isn't stripped he is blocked by Jordan. If he passes he is intercepted or at least deflected. Nearly all of his points he gets are difficult, ballsy shots. I wish Howard could be more assertive but the guy is still doing all is can. What we need is off ball screens and cuts to the basket. No more relying strictly on jump shots. Damn if we had DMO we could stretch the floor just a little bit to get someone like brewer constant dunks. At least that would be the dream
