I just don't understand the lack of movement. Take for instance the one play in the first quarter where he found himself basically wide open in the key because he was moving without the ball. It is beyond frustrating watching this team run a play every now and then which works brilliantly, only for them to forget about it for the rest of the game. There was also two instances in this game where Harden had the ball and it looked like he was going to take his defender on - which is what Portland's defense thought as well - resulting in two off ball movements which resulted in shots at the ring. Movement. McHale. It honestly isn't hard.
It is expected. Harden scored the most for rockets in the regular season, opponents will throw their best defensive schemes n players on harden. They have to.
This is true... as is he's just not shooting well and his confidence isn't where it normally is... as is the fact that the lack of getting typical calls he gets has made him gun shy to penetrate and take it to the rack..... BUT..... I disagree his demeanor is as it's been all year. I disagree these are the ONLY things wrong. To me, a perfect example is the last play in game 4... when Bev brings the ball up... with SEVEN SECONDS TO PLAY... FROM THE BACK COURT? No way. No way "normal" Harden allows that to happen. There's not enough time to run a play from the back court with 7 seconds to play. 99% of the time, Harden DEMANDS the ball and brings it up himself in that situation. Could McHale or Finch called for Bev to bring it up due to them fearing a double team? Sure, but who's our best playmaker in that situation? Harden. Something's definitely not right and it "feels" like it started after he took 35 shots in game 3. This, after we fed Dwight play after play to start out game 2, which turned out to be a loss. May be nothing there, but those two aren't interacting like they normally do either. The immediate passing of the ball. The standing around and distancing himself from the play alltogether. The consistency in which we are seeing these things happen - tells me it's more than just Matthews and Batum. I rarely buy into the rumors and mess that people try to start. Of course our locker room isn't good after going down 0-2, losing two home games to start a series. Guys yelling at guys, etc... that's part of it. People blow that stuff out of proportion. But, at least to my eyes... Harden isn't himself. And, if he is... we're in trouble. We go nowhere with THIS Harden. He's got to be mentally tougher and while he can't force things, he still must be more aggressive.
He looks spaced out but played better defensively tonight and the reverse layup + 3 at the end of the game were big.
Harden will NEVER play off the ball. He is not quick enough and they don't use a lot of screens to free the player.
actually head scratching is more of a sign of frustration or stress versus thinking. it's probably safe to assume that he knew he screwed up and isn't happy about it.
But when those guys are allowed excessive physical contact without a foul call, it makes it harder to score. Example: Kevin Durant is struggling against the physical belting that Tony Allen are being allowed to put on him. He's shooting poorly (50-125) and has taken less than 8fts per game in the post season (and that's in 4 overtime games from 5). Durant HAS managed to score at close to 50% vs Memphis (and Allen) before, and in the playoffs before. But if it is allowed to get more physical, it's harder for him to get to his spots. Some of the 'D' that has been seen so far on Harden (and Durant) has been 'interesting'
Absolutely agree, this is a big part of it. Plus Stotts has Harden's guy whoever it is making Harden play defense by going to them more frequently and making Harden play defense or look bad trying. I think this has him out of sorts. His struggles got to be eating at him but I wouldn't be surprised if his bad play has spilled into the locker room. I have never seen Harden handle criticism well. He is usually the first guy to scream at boneheaded plays by Lin but the last to accept criticism. I've noticed that the only person he regularly talks to is Lin (Parsons too but Lin much more). He even has been more polite to Lin when he screws up. And the one person he seems never to talk to is Howard. That could mean nothing. Just saying what I see. Whatever it is I did notice Harden post and repost Howard tonight and that worked great. In fact it was best repost of Howard I have seen all season and it helped us put the Blazers away. So maybe will see more of that. Maybe whatever it was it was just a bump in the road. When your losing and not playing well that can make the best of man irritable. So probably nothing just big men getting a little testy. That's normal stuff.
I think he's frustrated with his play and now that he's considered a star he's seeing the expectations put on him. I don't think he'll be happy/relieved unless they win this series. I guarantee you if we win he'll look different in the next series
the huddle was 7 players. lin, jones, parsons, asik, daniels….plus howard (who was out of the game)…..and plus i believe jordan hamilton (whose back was to the camera)
I do not care what is wrong with him, he doesn't show he cares so it obviously does not bother him. Lin and Howard on the other hand clearly show they are pissed off and want to perform better, as an individual and as a team. Harden just points fingers and thinks everything is okay. Losers will always have a loser mentality and when the going gets tough for Harden, he just crumbles. I wish I had that segment of Rudy T about being pushed into a corner and how our Rockets of 93-95 showed what they were made of..that is something Harden should be viewing!!
Harden has always been able to be neutralized by a plus defender. Even during the regular season, if his oppoonent decided to body up on him, play him physical, and take away his left, then for the most part he would struggle. A big part of his game relies on selling fouls to the refs by ways of flopping, and when he isn't getting those calls, then his scoring average takes a huge dip. In short, Harden's game has its flaws, and the playoff magnifies those flaws. What's worse is he doesn't care to play defense much at all. I never thought it's a matter of ability. He's got decent quickness, length, and strength, to be at least an average defender, but he simply chose not to be involved on defense. The biggest difference between Harden and Lin is that one's more naturally gifted but low on desire while the other makes effort on both ends but is simply limited skill wise. Wish we all could have a star that we can embrace, but Harden sure is making it hard with his game day effort, or the lack thereof.
I'm sure he's embarrassed, but I do buy into the idea that he's upset about the offense going through Howard so much. You can see it on the court. When Howard gets the ball in the post, Harden just stops dead in his tracks several steps behind the 3 point line and watches. Howard certainly can't pass out of the post to Harden if he's going to do that.
i dont know man, getting to the finals will mean facing better defensive teams and better defensive players than this. if these guys are forcing him to shoot 30% what would the spurs, clippers, thunder, blazers, pacers, or heat do to him? and what would that mean for our chances of ever advancing with him as the #1 guy? i think its the fact that they aren't calling the same fouls on his drives... and so he stopped driving and started settling for contested outside shots. fixing his struggles is pretty simple, and i dont know why we dont see more of this, but the H&H PnR worked well for him, as did a 2 times he moved without the ball last night (once on a backdoor cut for a score, and another time on a pin down screen for an open mid range jumper) this should be a large part of our offense. the harden iso is pointless when he won't drive / get fouled. it has become 5 seconds of standing around, followed by 3 more seconds of fancy dribbling, followed by a step back contested long range shot. it hurts our offense as much as he has been a liability on defense. maybe a better coach can get him to buy into the off-ball stuff more (limit the iso where everything stops / actually get him open looks for high % shots) and teach him some defense. or maybe he's just not a playoff performer for whatever reason. but this series was a huge red flag for me. the quick fix is changing the coach, and if they doesn't work, explore the idea that he may not be worth holding onto with that max contract if we can't get him to perform in the playoffs.
