That's probably why he made that comment this year, and not last year... I "think" you're comment is really to the point of "maybe next year" or the "next year" because guys can turn it around. And... obviously. I'm not sold on his comment in the first place. Lillard was NOT GOOD against Denver, on the whole, and his game 7 was atrociously bad... but that will be forgotten because of CJ. But that's probably a better argument than he was bad before this year.
and did that stop them from coming back and learning. nope. its a process. they've obviously took their experiences and even without their starting big, him and cj have grown into players that want to thrive in the big moments. we've already seen lillard isn't afraid of it before but now cj is coming into his own.
Cj was primarily was the reason but lillard definitely had some moments where he came up big for portland yesterday
The point real is 1 out of your mind game to win a crucial playoff game is better than 0. Harden is at 0 and I doubt it changes when he's over 30. Hope I'm wrong but you can only carry so much water for the guy.
I mean, he rebounded and assisted without turning the ball over. But 3-17 is 3-17. His biggest impact was recognizing that and letting CJ do his team while he was more of a classic PG. Plus Jamal sucked too, so maybe there is some defense there...
and the shots he made came at critical times. he struggled for most of the game yeah but still came up big when they needed it.
Oh my god, you didnt even watch did you? OUR OFFENSE WAS FINE, it was the defense, good lord. Harden made the right plays.
I definitely don't hold water for him myself, lol... That said, narrative doesn't always reflect reality. Cause Harden has those games. The less "crucial" ones. See Game 1 against Minny last year. Game 4 against GSW in 2015 - probably his best playoff game ever and it was an elimination game. Game 3 this year was crucial, and he delivered. But on the whole he has more flops and fizzes, in even more crucial games, and certainly doesn't have that "obvious", narrative creating playoff series, game or legacy. Bear in mind, I've wanted to move on from Harden for 2 years - since SAS game 6....
This 100%. I love Harden and think he is one of the best players of his generation, but he is too passive in some situations. Part of it is on the coach, by not ueging him to play faster, part is on him just always casually walking up the ball. Game 5 Durant went down, any player should see it as a opportunity to kill them and Harden went in to a passive, pass out of traps situation, knowing CP3 and Capela were useless. I kind of wanted Harden to unload 40 shots that game after Durant went down, even if we lost, at least that would show some sense of urgency. Imagine if he got in to the set earlier, disrupting the try to trap (like Curry did a few times), that would be nice.
I mean, I guess 2 of his 3 makes came in the 4th. Harden scored what, 10 or 12 in the 4th? If any other "star" type player put up that performance, they'd be crucified... but for the win. And even with a win, we'd be saying, Harden just isn't a playoff performer, he needs a CP3. Lillard is not criticized with the likes of real superstar players, but he's also not always valued like they are either. He's on that second tier, imo, which is fine.
Define "crucial playoff games" though. Because it sounds like you mean he has yet to carry his team in an upset over a favored opponent in a series. He's had tons of huge playoff games. Lot of first round matchups, Clippers Game 7, Warriors Game 1-2 in 2015, Warriors Game 1 and 4 in 2018. The list is longer than most would like to acknowledge, and I understand he has some of the worst flame-outs you'll ever see that definitely color the perception of his playoff resume, and that is warranted, but it's unfair to say he's at zero. And I also think the criticism is valid at this point. I'm done with the moral victories as well. I just want to be fair about it at the same time.
Again, stop comparing Harden to Hakeem. Harden is not Hakeem. There is a reason why Hakeem is a top 10 player of all time, the greatest Rocket ever, and the greatest C ever...
he fears the big moments. that's why the post says that and killer instinct are the only things holding him back in the postseason
I'm sorry but the title of this thread is outright dumb. If it was "The Difference between Harden and OTHER superstars..." fine. But as it is it implies that Harden is not a superstar player. Seriously, stop with the hyperbole and overreaction. If Harden were to be traded there would be 29 other teams interested and it would be a daily topic on ESPN. The guy has multiple commercials. Is the leading man for a shoe company. His games bring in high ratings. On the court he's accomplished things that many of these so called superstars that everyone is rushing to put over him have yet to do. People have to get over it at some point. It's hard winning rings, it's hard just getting to the finals, he didn't do it this year. Hakeem didn't do it until he was 31. Let's hope the Rockets fix their team, fill their holes, and things break better for us next year.
Harden is not the problem. He's taken on a load that would crack most. Give him better more talented teammates besides Tucker's grit and hustle to work with. The Warriors had so much officiating help at critical moments maybe that was too much to overcome.
Not when 3 pt shooting is factored, or fouls. A better metric is PPSA (Points per shot attempt). You could get foulded on every shot, miss them all because of it, yet score 2 pts on free throws each possession, as well as put the rest of your team in the bonus, AND put all their players in foul trouble. Where does all that show up in just FG%?
