Exactly that idiot you are replying to is so blinded by his harden hate that he forgot even Durant in once had no chance against this team
Funny, I just told you you missed my point and here you go, completely missing the point yet again. It's not about ruling or leading a team, it's about trusting a guy to lay it all out there on the line and wanting to take those shots late in the 4th. That's all I'm saying. Harden doesn't want the shots when stakes are the highest. Jokic and Butler lost this year, but they went out doing everything they could.
In the 1993-1994 season, Hakeem was THE go-to player on the Rockets much like Harden is and Hakeem got the job done. NBA champions. This was before Clyde came aboard to lighten Hakeem's load. And that was when the NBA had much tougher defenses and hand checking was apart of the game. So it made getting buckets a lot harder. Hakeem played all 80 games of that 93-94 season and avg 41 minutes per game. When the playoffs started he took his game to the next level and feasted on everybody. He didn't have disappearing acts in clutch moments down the stretch like Harden often does in the postseason. Again, Dream played all 80 regular season games, averaged 41 minutes per game in a tougher NBA era and was the only superstar and HOF player on the roster. Harden literally has no excuse. If Hakeem's teamates rode him in all 80 regular season games and 23 postseason games, Harden's teammates can ride his ass too.
Lol, so let’s kill Harden because he’s not Hakeem? U do realize Hakeem is a top 10 player of all time right? That other poster is spot on. Look at the trash summer that Morey had which resulted in Harden having a 40% usage rate during the regular season and needing to play league leading minutes in order to drag us into the playoffs and give us HCA in the 1st round while his other superstar contemporaries play with other high end talent and can chill/take games off.
*And* Dream was also the defensive anchor of the team: 93-94 Defensive Player of the Year (and 93-94 Season MVP *and* 94 Finals MVP)
But he didn’t miss and Philly didn’t win. His team won and he was the reason why. I hope he gets another ring; it’s fun watching a true superstar will his team to victory. I’m done making excuses for Harden. Done rooting for him. He’ll go out being a great offensive player that never won a chip - and he’s probably okay with that given the amount of money he’s made/will make.
The point was to prove that you can't use fatigue and usage rate as an excuse for Harden's postseason history when the greatest Rocket of all time faced similar circumstances in a harder league. Harden may be a back 2 back MVP this season. No excuses.
I love Harden. I think he is an absolute superstar and a great leader for this team. But I also realize that this type of criticism is fair until he wins. If he wants to truly change the narrative, he needs to win it all.
Thank you. The best take I've seen. I been saying this for a while now. He has to be better in the playoffs, than in the regular season to be considered a Superstar. Every other Superstar has elevated their game in the playoffs throughout the history of basketball. Harden plays ok or good at times, but he needs to be great.
I've long been in the very small group that has been ready to move on. But most people stop at that and don't want to look to the reasons. And those reasons aren't: "look at what Kawhi did, why can't Harden do that!!!" type reasons. Kawhi was NOT great offensively. His teammates were even worse, so he chunked shots, and then hit a winner. Harden was actually really good in the 4th quarter. Harden's teammates were equally bad. So why am I in the camp I'm in?? * GSW exist * Even though MUCH improved, Harden still a liability on defense, since he doesn't move very much * way too many turnovers * FTs called differently in the playoffs * the system isn't conducive to letting your role players help more than they can Among others. The reason last year's team was basically "THE" team to do it, was because CP3 was more the "leader" on the court against the Warriors. And that's kind of what James needs. It's not an attack on James... it's just is what it is. He can want to be in the stratified air of MJ, or Bird, or Lebron all he wants, but he just never will be. Frankly, he's done more with less than any of them. But if they ever get more, it will need to be more in the sense that he becomes less, instead of he becomes more. He'll need to step back his ball control, his leadership and become as much 1b or 2 as 1a. And that's fine, too, but with the cap, with CP3's contract, with GSW still existing, etc, etc... well, you know the camp I'm in...
Doesn't even have to win a championship. Just have a really great postseason run. Elevate your own game and that of teammates. Play hard and focused. He did that in 2015. He hasn't done it since. Hakeem and LeBron lost plenty of times in the playoffs but almost always elevated their teams, Thet didn't walk around throwing lazy turnovers.
It’s painfully clear that even Lillard has surpassed Harden as a postseason player. Pretty pathetic but hey, themes the breaks
The main difference is he is not as quick as curry or as tall as the other 3. He simply can't shoot over everyone, he has to take a risky stepback which doesn't always result in a foul call even when fouled. I've said it before and i'll say it again. we need a post player to play with him. harden does the best he can. The right play is to dump it into the post when the are doubling on the perimeter. taking a stepback3 shouldn't be your first option even if you're good at it, its not a high percentage shot. This is why i was all for giving carmelo a shot. the other difference is mental. he is not clutch in the playoffs. he's not kobe or MJ.
