Refs have made some bad calls, but I dont think that has anything to do with it. His shot isnt falling and he's feeling bad about it and it shows. He gets frustrated and then the dumb takes over. Harden is going to get calls his way, but he needs to get out of the habit of looking for them as much as he does and just play ball. No one said anything about his weight in pre season either. The refs didn't just all of a sudden start Harden hunting. Difference is, in pre season he was feeling good because his shot was falling now that it isnt he's feeling sorry for himself. He needs to man up and keep playing hard and learn to be relentless even when his threes arent on target. That's all.
yeah we hope so but harden never runs the floor so I doubt that he will change much. When Tillman said that harden and Westbrook can argue with each other and no feelings will get hurt that told me something happen with harden and Paul and with the type of guy Tillman is if this doesn’t work and harden doesn’t up his play in the playoffs I can see him being traded.
If he's struggling & not in shape, he needs to let WB control more of the game and pick & choose his spots better. Even if WB is off he does so many things we still have a chance. When Harden's off he just doesn't compete hard. MDA needs to let WB start the game handling the ball to set the tone
I think he’s out of shape + out of rhythm playing that fast and not dribbling for 18 seconds every other possession.
Not one person said bcuz of Westbrook. For the first time in hardens time here in Houston it looks like he isn’t the best player on the team at this moment RIGHT NOW. Maybe just maybe Westbrook = Alpha And harden adjusting to that right now.
he's just so pig headed that he needs to be the one to score. he knows that he can break out of a slump at any time and its true...but when you see him dribble into double teams and turn it over, dribble into a good defense and then turn it over you know he has issues......if russ did the same thing he'd be crucified....its why ppl don't like playing with harden...he's so fixated on being the MVP, catching kobe and Jordan five years from now that he plays like **** and the whole team suffers..... did you see that ****ing turnover at the end of the game when russ was running up the floor, but he didn't pass it to him and instead dribbles into a double team and turns the ****ing ball over and they scored? why? you've been off the whole game? he still wants to hit the big shot so he doesn't look bad....he wasn't even happy that we won, he was just pissed that he looked bad.... he's thinking about what the press will say after the game and fans like us.... who ****ing cares? we trying to win the ball game...give the ****ing ball up.
Literally nothing to do with it lol. This will always be Harden's team...he's only missing his jumper, which will be fine once he's adjusted to the pace and he gets his legs back. People love to look too deep into very simple things.
Feels like Harden does this at the start of every season..... He’ll work his way out of it eventually but it would be nice if it started next game..........
Lol the preseason was just a week ago where he dominated, now he’s in a shooting slump and he’s out of shape. That quickly
This is far from a perfect comparison, but watching Harden/Russ together reminded me a bit of when LeBron and Wade first started together. Obviously the circumstances and their positions were vastly different, but both pairs were friends with some overlap in skillsets, and both were used to high USG rates prior to teaming up. LeBron and Harden were the more gifted/efficient ones of the two, but also knocked by the public for their "hunger," while Wade/Russ were the older, less fazed ones (but had more wear/tear on their bodies). Both Wade (then) and Westbrook had one mode -- and that was go-mode, which made the adjustment less difficult for them. Both LeBron (then) and Harden now are more prone to over-thinking/analyzing, so the adjustment may take some more time. But like with Miami, Westbrook needs to let Harden be #1, instead of doing the 1a/1b thing that didn't work for LeBron/Wade in their first finals vs Dallas -- as Bron took a step back when the roles weren't clearly defined. But once Bron became comfortable in that #1 spot, the rest became history, and having Wade there definitely helped teach him how to win. Hopefully the same happens with Harden/Russ. [edit] I will say LeBron developed a strong off-ball game in Miami, which helped him a lot, and it's hard to see Harden doing the same. But with Harden's shooting ability, all is not lost.
He always starts slow. This year, we have Russ versus a gimpy and over the hill CP3 to take up the slack.
I agree with your assessment of the Russ/Harden pairing except I think Russ is actually letting Harden be a #1 until he has no choice but to put the team on his shoulders when Harden is struggling. If you notice Russ waits until Harden is sitting or the 4th to open the ninth gate. The biggest runs last night against the Pels came when Harden was sitting and in the 4th.
I’m not worried about Harden. But last night was an embarrassing performance. Can’t have any of those against legitimate teams.
I have no problem Harden being Harden (offensively). I just don’t understand as a professional (in any profession), if something is not working well in the time being, why not try a different strategy? As talented as he is, he should easily find another way to score instead of of going 2-18 in 3s, you would have thought somewhere 2-12, he would be like “hmmm, I don’t have my 3 point shot tonight, let me try something else.”...... but no.
