Huh? He was being fair. Up 2-0 against both the Mavs and Jazz and choked it away. Rockets made the playoffs just 5 times in 13 years before Harden too…looks like we’re about to get a 2nd serving of that at least we didn’t manage to lose 20 straight in B2B seasons…not sure if that had ever been done before
After starting 17 games this season, Blake Griffin has been removed the rotation of the Brooklyn Nets. Griffin has sat the past two games after Steve Nash inserted LaMarcus Aldridge into the starting lineup. "No, I mean listen, [Aldridge] has been playing unbelievable," Griffin said. "So, I totally get starting him, especially Joe [Harris] has been out, and I totally get that. "Being completely out of it, though, I didn't necessarily see that coming. But that's not my decision. As players it's our job to do whatever coaches see best, so at this point that's what it is." Griffin was a productive player for the Nets last season, but he's struggled this season. "Well, I feel for him," Steve Nash said. "That's not easy. You know it's tough when you go through a rough stretch of play and the world kind of caves in on you a little bit. I've been there and understand it. We have to give other guys an opportunity at this point, but Blake's had a great attitude. I really admire him for being positive through this and keeping himself ready so if his opportunity comes back, he can have an impact."
nice but let us tank to get another guy like this guy! yeah! people never learn...you can even draft an allstar and it still leads you nowhere tanking is not the way....
Griffin looked like he had revived his effectiveness in limited minutes last season after looking totally washed in Detroit. I thought he had been dogging it to get out from the Pistons. Maybe he is washed after all.
“That sounds more of like an excuse to me.” — Shaq “I don’t know what the hell he was saying. That makes zero sense whatsoever. He’s been there awhile now. Dude, y’all ain’t got but two players. Y’all got two guys and some JAGs.” - Chuck
Does tanking guarantee a championship? No it doesn't ofcourse it doesn't. But tanking is the best chance to get a superstar which is def important for a championship. This is especially important when, you are not necessarily a destination that a superstar will want to come play ESPECIALLY when you are currently lacking a superstar AND are a losing team. I really don't think of lebron and Giannis were free agents and called stone to say we want to team up on Houston, stone would be like no thanks tanking is the route we want. This isn't even tanking. The team just sucks, I really don't think being a mediocre team consistently is the way. We tried that way and it sucked.
lol you so wrong on multiple levels.....lololoool tanking doesnt get you the best chance at superstar...the expertise and hardwork does... stone did better with 16th pick than almost any other GM with top 5 picks in last few years he did better with a single 16th pick than morey in his entire decade and a half here its not where you pick its who you pick...WRITE THIS DOWN and tattoo this on the palm of your hand so you automatically stop next time before you even think about rooting for the tank here.... and the teams recent good play refutes your opinion that this team sucks, they wining huge despite bad coaching, injuries and rotations... THIS TEAM RICH IN TALENT
i think harden is pacing himself and saving his health to be ready for the playoffs...i dont think he has anything more to prove in regular season....the playoffs basketball is the real thing for him right now
Nets Open To Kyrie Irving Trade; 76ers Seen As James Harden Suitor The Brooklyn Nets haven't ruled out trading star guard Kyrie Irving. While the Nets aren't making calls about trading Irving, they are taking them from other teams. Irving has yet to play this season. Because of his unvaccinated status, Irving isn't eligible to play in Nets home games. Brooklyn's leadership decided that they would not let Irving be a part-time player and have chosen to sit him entirely. Also of concern is James Harden's future in Brooklyn. Harden did not sign an extension prior to the deadline to get one done. He has a player option for the 2022-23 that he is expected to decline in favor of signing a long-term deal. The Philadelphia 76ers reportedly have Harden on their list of 30 players they'd accept in a Ben Simmons trade. Sixers president Daryl Morey previously tried to trade for Harden and has an affinity for the star from their Houston Rockets days.
[…] Not all his numbers have plummeted, but several are low enough to ask what may be this season’s most urgent question: when it comes to Harden’s fluctuating play, how much is temporary and what is permanent? In 2018 and 2019, Harden finished first in Estimated Plus-Minus, a catch-all metric that calculates a player’s impact while accounting for everyone else on the floor. In 2020 he was second. Last year he was 16th and right now he’s 17th. His drives, pick-and-roll efficiency and scoring are all down to levels that should worry a team that, sans Irving, needs Harden to create as he did three years ago. Harden is taking only 14.4 shots per game, over two fewer than a year ago and a whopping 10 below his career high. (Tallying fewer than 20 points in a game isn’t the sole mark of irreversible decline, but it’s a neat round number Harden once crossed in his sleep. This season he’s failed to reach it 11 times in 21 tries. Last year it was 13. The season before? Seven. The two seasons combined prior to that? Six.) Thanks to the three-point line and some stellar work in isolation—albeit at half the volume of what it was just two seasons ago—Harden's true shooting percentage is more or less very good (62.3% over the last 10 games). And after a slow start, he’s beginning to draw fouls and get to the line like he used to. His free-throw rate is one of this season’s 15 best, and the percentage of his points earned at the line jumped from 22.5 in Brooklyn’s first 10 games to 36.5 in 11 to 20—a mark that’s high even for him. But he’s still not on the attack as often as he has to be. In the five years heading into this season he averaged 17.8 drives per game. Right now he’s down to 14.3, while 46.7% of them end with a pass. He’s driven the ball more over the past 10 games, but that pass percentage hasn’t dropped to where it was when he pretty much lived at the rim in Houston. […] Only 18.2% of his shots are coming within three feet of the basket. Harden’s previous career low was 23.5%, and in 2020 it was 24.3%. (This is unlikely to remain so dramatic but also indicative of the talent that’s around him: Harden’s shooting splits in the restricted area with Durant on and off the floor are wild—he’s shooting 70.7% with Durant and 38.5% without.) Harden’s turnover rate is also a career high, and in pick-and-rolls he’s coughing the ball up nearly a third of the time, according to Synergy Sports. That’s up 13% from last season. Every turnover isn’t the same, but a bunch are some variant of the one below, where Harden anticipates a double team or cuts his drive short because his teammates can’t quite create enough space for him to pick up steam. Harden doesn’t want to challenge JaVale McGee and when you stop and note where Phoenix’s help defenders are, it’s hard to blame him. In getting back to whether he’s in decline or simply working his way out of a physically impaired rut that’s compounded by a supporting cast that doesn't bring the same amount of gravity he normally enjoys, it’s possible both factors are to blame. That’s not to say Harden won’t ever recapture the strength and finesse that was apparent just a season ago, when he spent lengthy stretches as Brooklyn’s most valuable player. But even if he does bounce back this season and reasserts himself as an All-NBA force and bonafide top 10 player, these first 21 games will still exist as a glimpse for the Nets of what Harden will likely become. And far too often, for a player who can sign one of the priciest contracts in NBA history this summer, it hasn’t been a pretty sight.
He may be in decline, he carried a MASSIVE load with the Rockets and has a lot of minutes and mileage on his body..... however, no one really is considering that he is coming off an injury that limited him all through the off season and limited what he could do to work on his game.
