So what happened after those first 3 Harden games?

[rzzzzz]

Seriously. How did Harden have the team running pretty much like we hoped when he arrived, and why did it stop? Embiid got hurt, and started that way this year. But after a period of adjustment, Harris looked revitalized. And Maxey started out like blazes, and cooled, and started this season like blazes, and cooled and got injured. I really wanted Haliburton from the get go last year, but Harden’s start here made Morey’s determination look genius. And right now its just so hard to watch. IDK

[Mik317]

... i mean we went 0-3 in those games no?

[Jailblazers7]

I think he’s referring to the first 3 Harden games last year when he was averaging like 26 & 12 and we went 3-0. The simple answer is probably that Harden isn’t able to sustain that level of play for a long stretch anymore.

[FireMorey]

The Sixers with Harden in the lineup last year had the NBA's highest offensive rating.

[rzzzzz]

I think he’s referring to the first 3 Harden games last year when he was averaging like 26 & 12 and we went 3-0. The simple answer is probably that Harden isn’t able to sustain that level of play for a long stretch anymore.

Exactly. But why couldn’t/can’t he sustain it? Was he straining his muscles and in danger of spraining/tearing something? I mean he already had pulled his hamstring well before he arrived, which we we hoped would heal during the break. Yet he was hitting other guys with passes in stride like they never saw before. In game 4, did the Nets figure out a simple adjustment that everybody else now use to neutralize that distribution? Plus I definitely don’t expect him to hit all those long balls like he once did. But I thought that with the double teaming that Embiid would get in the box, that Harden would get open looks that even at 33 he would still have the mechanics to put in. Plus there’s Harris’ improvement and Maxey’s speed. I’m flummoxed at how this all can’t be schemed into something less futile.

[Bum Adebayo]

Maybe that was a fluke stretch of games? just like bubble Murray, you are now seeing the real James Soften. I mean, you can't just use a 3 games sample to evaluate his level, we now have a good sample size of games to determine he is washed up.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

I think the idea is for James Harden to transition into more of a point guard/playmaker for this offense. He's an exceptional passer and he can still hit the step back three. The issue with Harden has been a steady decline in athleticism along with injuries, and a rule change when drawing fouls. All three have really brought him back down to earth.
I wouldn't call those first three games a fluke as much as I'd call them "heightened." Everything was new, everyone had some motivation, it's no surprise he played the way he did. The main issue with Harden has always been the playoffs and the fact that he seemingly ghosts the entire situation every single year. In the past he was still a very reliable playoff option offensively, but here in the later stages of his career, he can't be counted on for that type of output anymore. He's now forced to become more of a point guard to prolong his career and he can do that the way Chris Paul has done it, but he's going to have to defer to both Maxey and Embiid at times. Speaking of Maxey, I think Harden has also relied heavily on the impact that he has on the game and vice versa. They aren't as good without each other in the lineup. Harden makes the offense go while Maxey is the explosive guard that pairs nice with him.
I think as of right now, the injuries have been our biggest hold up. When we were healthy to start the season, we weren't on the same page, but I felt like things were getting to that point before the injuries hit us. Unfortunately, we've lost a bunch of time now due to that and it's going to be an insurmountable hill to climb as far as getting some continuity down is concerned. It's just not going to happen this year for us, and the injuries I think are the primary blame. The roster was built on the idea of players complimenting and fitting with each other. You take Harden out of the lineup and PJ Tucker becomes a hustle dirty work type of player and nothing more. No Harden and Maxey's efficiency took a nose dive. No Maxey and Harden has the most athletic wing on the opposing team hounding him without a worry for the entire game. Again, Maxey provides an explosive outlet for Harden. Take Joel away, and PJ Tucker is asked to do too much defensively for us, take Niang away and we have no attitude or instant hits from three coming off the bench. All this is supposed to flow as one unit and it hasn't, and just wont this year. We're looking at the play in tournament this year. Doc being canned in the summer, and Tobias possibly moved as well. If things really fall apart, we could see JoJo on the move and that would wave the white flag towards a rebuild.

[Bum Adebayo]

The rule change when drawing fouls, it seems Embiid is unaffected, in fact it's the best it's ever been at 12 per game. Maybe one can adapt while the other can't? Harden always had a gimmicky offensive game, but his inability to adapt is showing big time, Harden was always overrated player siuuuu

[Mik317]

hamstring and age took his pop on his jumper...making it easier to contest/block. I remember Ben blocking it and it being a big deal. Happens every game now lol.

Harden's brand of basketball is predicated on those shots going in...causing the defenders to press more and thus allowing drives and thus fouls. They can contest it now (and its predictable as hell too) and his drive attempts are those armbar drives he will never get the call for again...making him overall less effective.

Biid hating rolling also doesn't help as team know what the PNR will end up in now too.

[76ciology]

The Harden-Biid PnR has gotten worse as every game goes by.

This started to be promising. Then it started to be clunky to end the season.

By playoffs, big and good teams were denying the action thru switch.

In the offseason, our coaching staff has worked with both Harden and Embiid taking elbow jumpers off the PnR. Well, both Biid and Harden are allergic driving to the lane with their grandpa level vertical.

Then now, they run a PnR just to set-up for either a Harden ISO above the 3pt line or a Biid ISO at the left elbow

[Negrodamus]

It’s hard to watch Kobe/Jordan YouTube videos and then reckon with the fact that Harden is one of our “superstars”. Supremely talented and definitely has a scorers mentality, but god, doesn’t seem to have any kind of killer mentality if that makes sense. It’s incredibly frustrating to watch him take so many step back threes under ill advised circumstances. I hate that he’s still going for those flop foul baits that he would get more regularly prior to the 2021 season. more so than the injuries/age, I think that rule change is what has affected him the most (and Trae). He’s not allowed to go untouched to the rim anymore.

[76ciology]

How do you defend the Biid-Harden PnR? Just zone up from 3pt line up to the elbow because the ball will just be around that area. So what happens is you dont see the defense collapsing much. Then once Biid has the ball, everyone just stands around, defense then would read how they are going to rotate once they double him.

Its just so dumb

[76ciology]

It’s hard to watch Kobe/Jordan YouTube videos and then reckon with the fact that Harden is one of our “superstars”. Supremely talented and definitely has a scorers mentality, but god, doesn’t seem to have any kind of killer mentality if that makes sense. It’s incredibly frustrating to watch him take so many step back threes under ill advised circumstances. I hate that he’s still going for those flop foul baits that he would get more regularly prior to the 2021 season. more so than the injuries/age, I think that rule change is what has affected him the most (and Trae). He’s not allowed to go untouched to the rim anymore.

Partly rule change
Partly health
Partly players are spamming stepbacks that defense has adapt
Partly roster construction and scheme

Remember how ridiculous they defend the “step back” back then, they’d force Harden to his right.

Now everyone is doing stepback. The other night Andrew Nembhard got 31 pts doing with couple of crazy stepbacks.

Harden is also slower now so teams can put longer more athletic wings on him. Teams are also adding length at the 3-4-5 positions.

[76thBearCub]

I thought someone said this would be fun. Well...

[Jailblazers7]

It’s hard to watch Kobe/Jordan YouTube videos and then reckon with the fact that Harden is one of our “superstars”. Supremely talented and definitely has a scorers mentality, but god, doesn’t seem to have any kind of killer mentality if that makes sense. It’s incredibly frustrating to watch him take so many step back threes under ill advised circumstances. I hate that he’s still going for those flop foul baits that he would get more regularly prior to the 2021 season. more so than the injuries/age, I think that rule change is what has affected him the most (and Trae). He’s not allowed to go untouched to the rim anymore.

I know Harden won MVPs and has a sizeable fanbase but I don’t think he was every considered in the Kobe/MJ category of superstars. I think he’s more in the Drexler category just with better stats & more accolades. He just doesn’t have the competitive juice to find another gear. A huge red flag to me has always been that he plays for the foul and not the and 1. Your just not gonna be the best player on a title team with that mentality.

If we were being honest with ourselves, MVP should have went to either Steph, KD, or Lebron every year until Giannis & Jokic exploded. But that’d be boring so instead we get Harden & Westbrook winning MVPs.

[Negrodamus]

It’s hard to watch Kobe/Jordan YouTube videos and then reckon with the fact that Harden is one of our “superstars”. Supremely talented and definitely has a scorers mentality, but god, doesn’t seem to have any kind of killer mentality if that makes sense. It’s incredibly frustrating to watch him take so many step back threes under ill advised circumstances. I hate that he’s still going for those flop foul baits that he would get more regularly prior to the 2021 season. more so than the injuries/age, I think that rule change is what has affected him the most (and Trae). He’s not allowed to go untouched to the rim anymore.

Partly rule change
Partly health
Partly players are spamming stepbacks that defense has adapt
Partly roster construction and scheme

Remember how ridiculous they defend the “step back” back then, they’d force Harden to his right.

Now everyone is doing stepback. The other night Andrew Nembhard got 31 pts doing with couple of crazy stepbacks.

Harden is also slower now so teams can put longer more athletic wings on him. Teams are also adding length at the 3-4-5 positions.

I think it's mostly rule change but the other parts are definitely relevant. He's a guy who has exploited the cheap foul call for most of his career. It completely changes how one defends him.

[Bum Adebayo]

Again the difference is that Embiid can still draw fouls because he has so many ways to draw fouls, unlike Harden who has always been a manufactured star and without flopping and flailing he is just an ordinary player. I admit I was wrong about him and thought his offensive game was very good even without the flopping.

[76ciology]

Around the rim..
56% 0-3ft= bad
33% 3-10ft = bad

2019-2020 season he’s averaging 20 dunks per season on 52% FTr, he had 6 dunks last season and now on pace to get 3 dunks this season with just 40% FTr

His 3PTr is 43%. If you want to play with Biid you need to be bombing 3s without conscience. He should jack if up to 55% like 2019-2020 season.

Its very likely that he will never improve his lift/finishing ability. But he can be at his peak as a shooter now, playing with a lot of talented scorers in the team.