Yeah thats on mda and jeff and the rest of the coaching staff. The whole team wasnt ready for that pulling and grabbing full court press that boston employed
I know this is pretty obvious and far be it from me to tell Harden what he needs to do on the court but what I'd like to see in the playoffs is that he CONTINUE TO FINISH TO THE RIM when he's fouled on a drive instead of stopping and looking around. He needs to continue to barrel through like the tank SG he is. If he starts "stopping" as soon as he's tapped on the arms or bumped it's going to be a long game/series for him.
Hate? This is probably why you should stay off lol. Based solely on his performance in game 6, body language, mannerism, effort level, he QUIT. There is no room for hate here. Passing up wide open shots & throwing the ball out of bounds is not due to fatigue (especially in the 1st quarter). Stop making silly excuses
I like this Idea. When Harden starts to slap at the defender and push the defender, I dread it. You know he is frustrated when he starts to do that stuff. Harden forgets how to play basketball when he gets frustrated; he completely loses himself. Every little bit counts, IMO. MDA should try to press with Luc, PJ, or Ariza one of these practices to get Harden ready for it. Harden losing his cool and losing sight of the big picture is probably the only flaw in his game.
I don't think people understand how much this may have affected him..... after both situations he just glazed over..... James doesn't for spite or hatred..... he plays better when there's love and appreciation.... he'll get what he deserves this year and i bet we see a different player and demeanor from him...
The point is to torture him mentally, not physically. You don't have to do this for an hour at a time. But you have to provoke him, make him feel invaded and insulted and wronged without recourse. Smart didn't unravel Harden by exhausting him. He unraveled him by infuriating him.
I also think Harden should not be bringing the ball up every possession, especially on inbound plays. CP3, Gordon and Green can all bring up the ball and are quicker than Harden at beating pressure defense in our backcourt.
Good points. I don't trust Green bringing up the ball, but CP must be the first option. That is why he was brought to Houston in the first place. Gordon should the 3rd option, but when Harden is under pressure, he should be the second option, even though he is prone to turnovers. Gordon has been starting whenever Chris is out. This is helping him to gain confidence.
Hopefully, the antidote to lesser players getting physical and trash talking to get into Harden's head will be CP3 pulling him aside and saying, "Don't let them pull that shite. You're better than that. Get it together NOW."
Only CP3 can do this. And he must do this every day in practice. He commands respect. Harden will listen to him, even though he won't like it. You are correct, his fragile ego needs to be addressed on every possession. This is the only way to strengthen him going into the playoffs. The Toronto performance gave me some hope. He kept on fighting despite getting hurt. He still needs a long way to go. Don't the Houston Rockets have a sports psychologist? If not, then it's a big shortcoming, that DM didn't address.
Harden also needs to address his diet and stamina going into the playoffs. He has to be mentally prepared that he can't get complete rest. The entire team has to help him out, going into the playoffs. Everyone needs to give more than 100 percent in every possession, including Harden and Chris.
Thanks for mentioning me @heypartner and also want to thank @Will for liking your original post. I don't have time to respond to this thread in detail, but I will mention that there is a difference between being physical and maiming someone. Point 1 I'm not exactly the most physically coordinated person, but I got some skills and I used to play streetball with the guys in high school some 20+ odd years ago. Since I was not the most talented person on the court, I had to make up for my lack of talent with physicality. I never let anyone shoot from their sweet spot or gain position for a rebound. I played basketball like a linebacker, but I knew the difference playing tough, physical basketball versus pestering someone and /or trying to injure them. Since I knew the difference, I never injured anyone. In regards to the play where James Harden got hit in the head by Pau Gasol in game five of last years playoffs, that was clearly an intentional elbow to the head. I used to think that James Harden quit, and even posted a couple of comments to that effect, but now I'm convinced that he was concussed. If someone doesn't believe me, go outside and go through the motions of trying to block a shot or grabbing a rebound. The first time, go up with both arms in the air. The second time, go up with one arm in the air and the second arm extended out. What you will realize is that, when you jump the second time, you are going to be off balance, and you are off balance because it's not a natural motion. I cannot even begin to remember the names of all the players that San Antonio under Greg Popovich has maimed. The most famous of which is Robert Horry's hip check to Steve Nash. The only thing we can hope for is that the league punishes players who intentionally try to hurt other players more severely. Point 2 There is nothing you can do about injuries. it is part of the game. There are plenty of teams that could've won championships but didn't because the players got injured. The first team that comes to mind is the 87 Celtics. There is no way the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Celtics in the finals that year if the Celtics were healthy. I think Kevin McHale actually played with a broken foot in that series. We probably beat the Lakers in 2009 and advance toward the championship if Yao had been healthy. If we had a healthy team in 1996, (I believe both Robert Horry and Sam Casell were injured that year), we would have made it back to the finals and not traded them for Charles Barkley. (I need to double check who was injured that year, so don't quote me on this) The Rockets teams with an injury prone Ralph Sampson were completely different from when he was healthy. The Orlando Magic would have been a completely different team with a healthy Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway. In regards to injuries during the playoffs, luck plays a huge part, and then if your guys do get injured, you just have to hope that they return quickly or you are deep enough to weather the storm. Point 3 The way you deal with players that nag you when they play defense is to get physical. If you don't match the physicality of the other team, it takes you out of the game mentally. Players tend to back down and become less aggressive and in some cases even passive when confronted with physical defense. The way to deal with other teams becoming physical is to match their physicality. The best way to understand this is to watch teams that have gone on to one championship and see the difference in the way they played when they were less physical versus when they were more physical. Here are a few examples to watch: The Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA championship in 1983. they also acquired Moses Malone the year before that issue was the best rebounder in the game along with being one of the better scores in the game. Just watch how Dr. J played in the playoffs in the early 80s against the Celtics before they got Moses Malone. Another good example is the Bulls teams of the late 80s and early 90s. The Bulls could never get by the Celtics or the Pistons in the late 1980s. besides the fact that the Bulls added Scottie Pippen alongside Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson as the coach, if you compare the series between the Bulls and the Pistons in the late 80s where the Pistons beat the Bulls versus the series when the Bulls beat the Pistons in the early 90s, you will notice the Bulls matched the physicality of the Pistons as well as the Knicks who had Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and Patrick Ewing. During the 94 finals, watch how Vernon Maxwell, Robert Horry, Mario Ellie, Otis Thorpe, Hakeem Olajuwon and Carl Herrera matched up against John Starks, Derek Harper, Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason. A really good example is when the Bulls lost to the Magic in 95. They did not have a power forward that could match physically with the Magic. They then go out and get Dennis Rodman and go on to win another three NBA Championships. Point 4 There is a physiological aspect of the game that many people don't understand and why all championship teams, even if the team has super-talented players on the roster, are different when they have an alpha dog rottweiler on the team. It allows the rest of the team up their game and helps them be mentally tough enough to man up and not back down against opposing players. The Astros were a completely different team with Justin Verlander, even though they were already super talented. It is why the Rockets teams had guys like Bonzi Wells (2008) and Ron Artest (Aka Metta World Peace 2009) on the team. It is why guys like Bob Sura, who played very few minutes in the 2004 season but had such a huge impact on the team, that the team kept hoping he would return for a couple more years. The Warriors are a completely different team without Draymond Green. With Draymond Green on the team, the Warriors are a tough physical team, but without him on the team, the Warriors can be bullied. The Rockets are a completely different team with Chris Paul, PJ Tucker and Luc Richard Mbah A Moute. In addition to CP, PJ and Luc, we also have Trevor and Nene. Chris Paul is the ultimate alpha dog rottweiler. Final Point and My advice Have Harden actually get more physical with guys like Marcus Smart. They either back down or get worn out physically and play like crap on offense. I seriously doubt Marcus plays the tough guy all game long with he has to match up against Trevor, Luc and PJ and Kyrie Irving comes back from Injury. The Rockets could also set a hard pick in the back court against Smart or whoever is guarding Harden. This is assuming, the Celtics make it to the finals, but I think it will be either Toronto or Cleveland. Video on how to deal with bullies in the NBA Example: Blake Griffin turns into a p***y after being a bully.
I'd like to see Harden trust CP3 to get the ball and bring it up the court more. That's why we have two point guards right? To relieve pressure?
