How is it disingenuous to say we haven't seen Harden affecting a game and playing more like Nash and stockton. A harden that's barely shooting but still impacting the game is something we haven't seen. That's not a criticism. Not everything is meant as an insult towards your favorite player. If you don't think it's something new we are seeing, cool. We are free to disagree... But don't call my views disingenuous and casual.
Harden playing like this is NOT how the Nets will compete for a title. He always trying to prove people wrong it seems. Forget the narratives and just play your game.
Irving took no shots in the 4th (0 points), until a last second useless one. He gave up, once TOR started trapping him.
Wow lamelo ball with 34 points 8 assist 14-24 shooting 4 for 7 from 3. Looks like my uneducated predictions of him being another lonzo might be way off.
He was getting double-teamed for half the game. When he did attack the basket, they had 2 on him in the paint. He didn't really have wide open shots. The game is on Nash. He allowed them to go off. He left Jordan out for pretty much the whole 2nd half. Not sure why they didn't double-team Lowry in that 4th quarter. When you need paint protection and key rebounds, you can't go small ball. Also, when you allow 8 more turnovers, you're going to lose most games. They were very sloppy tonight. But yeah, Nash isn't impressing me at all. He did a good job against the Clippers. Good timeouts and better rotation plays. But in the games I've seen, he doesn't seem to know what he's doing. He can thank Harden, KD and Kyrie for why the Nets are winning their games. Anyway.... this is proving that Nets are the most inconsistent team in the league. They have no decent role players besides Green and Harris. It looks like the Nets can't deal with the double-teaming. Kyrie was definitely struggling with it. Harden got double-teamed for most of that game.... and his teammates kinda just stood around not knowing what to do with it. Embiid is about to score 50 plus points against them because they can never deal with a big man..... and Embiid is as good as a big man as you can get. When you're letting players like Siakam and Adebayo score 30 plus points against you, you know you have big problems in the paint. I'm wondering why he's leaving Jordan out for the complete 2nd half.
Because he could always pass like that. Its not anything new. He's always been impacting with his passing It is a casual opinion(and you are someone who's watched Harden night in and out). Harden is just shooting less. He's always been able to impact the game with his passing. Its not about an insult. Its just about people who didnt watch the Rockets and think this some type of "new" player. No its the same player, who's passing more and scoring less with a different roster construction. I do disagree. And Im calling your point about this being a "Harden" we've never really seen disingenuous(and I dont mean that in a vitriolic way, sorry if it came across that way) because we've seen him pass like this before. Its just common sense for the best passer on the team to well pass more and take less shots. Its not some revelation. No Rockets fans are surprised about him being him playing like this because well....he's made many plays like he's done in Houston, only at a greater frequency.
When has Harden EVER needed wide-open shots to score? When has Harden EVER not had the whole defense keyed in on him? C'mon, man. It's on him.
How are you able to determine if my viewpoints and opinions are genuine or sincere. When did you become the arbiter of truth?
They double-teamed him as soon as he got over the half-court. He can't force a shot there. When he had a little space, he just missed. He had 12 assists and made things happen. Kyrie on the other hand.... really didn't. I suppose Harden could have forced his way to the rim more.... but as I said, they were putting players on Harden pretty quickly. This game is on Kyrie more than it is on Harden. He was shocking on the ball. He honestly looked clueless when they double-teamed him. Kyrie has to stick to playing off the ball and scoring. If he does run the point, he has to be very aggressive and shoot the ball quickly. He's not really a playmaker like that. Regardless, the Nets are playing half a game without a big man. You cannot do that and expect to win most games. As you've seen with the Rockets last year, it simply doesn't work. Players like Siakam and Adebayo are having career high scoring games. If they don't get a good defensive big man in, they're not getting past the 2nd round of the playoffs. It doesn't matter how good your offense is if your defense is terrible. It wouldn't surprise me if Embiid gets 50 plus points tomorrow and the Nets lose by 20.
I apologize. I thought we were simply discussing the opinion by the national media as this "brand new" James Harden. I thought the points being made were how people were reacting to this new Harden. I didnt know that you yourself felt he was a newish player.
Harden's proven to be a great playmaker and passer. I personally have never seen him play and affect a game ONLY with his passing and barely ever shooting. Today he played like prime Steve Nash IMO. Lebron is a great passer/playmaker and like Harden and others can affect the game through passing, but I've seldom if ever seen him play an entire game like Nash...
Wizards and Westbrook got blown out again! Another one of my predictions is proving to be totally off lol. I'd thought for sure Beal/Westbrook would get them into the playoffs in the east.
Hmmm, well we can continue discussing this, but only if you want to. I just wanted you to know I wasnt attacking you. Up to you.
Steve Nash is a terrible coach. Even with the way the Nets played against The Raptors and Wizards they would have won those games if he wasn't completely delusional. I love MDA but I'm going to have to include him in here. Small ball does not work without the proper pieces which Brooklyn doesn't have. No reason Shump or Norvelle didn't play when you are get roasted on the offensive glass. He will hold Brooklyn back from a ring just as much as the players efforts will.
