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One thing that stood out to me while watching Game 1 was that Harden was nowhere to be found on offense. The Thunder need him to be the third option, but 5 points isn't cutting it. So what's going on? Is it nerves like he had last year, or is it that he's being ignored in the offensive scheme, or both? I really want to see him have a breakout game, but fear that he won't. Any thoughts on this, or am I alone in my thinking?

Everyone but KD, Russ, and Maynor had poor games. James will have a bounce back game Wednesday methinks. Ibaka too.

Everyone is bound to have "less than par" games every now and then. It's just one game so far, too soon to judge, I say.

James Harden did not get the ball in his hands to make plays. He's the best PnR handler on the team, but he was stuck spotting up most of the time. He only had one non spot up FGA that he made. His four misses were all spot up attempts. Harden needs the ball in his hands more to be effective.

Which isn't to say he did not contribute. He had four assists, a steal, and two blocks in 26 minutes. He moved the ball well when he was in the game. He just didn't have much opportunity outside of the spot ups to contribute. I think we could have really used him down the stretch, though... dunno why Thabo was in there.

James needs to go full (Please Use More Appropriate Word)!!!





YOU NEVER GO FULL (Please Use More Appropriate Word)!!!!!

slick_watts wrote:James Harden did not get the ball in his hands to make plays. He's the best PnR handler on the team, but he was stuck spotting up most of the time. He only had one non spot up FGA that he made. His four misses were all spot up attempts. Harden needs the ball in his hands more to be effective.

Which isn't to say he did not contribute. He had four assists, a steal, and two blocks in 26 minutes. He moved the ball well when he was in the game. He just didn't have much opportunity outside of the spot ups to contribute. I think we could have really used him down the stretch, though... dunno why Thabo was in there.

Oh, I agree with you. I think this is another problem with having an inexperienced coach. It would be interesting to see what would happen with a second-unit switch up of playing Harden at the point and have Nate at the 2, and swapping on defense. While Maynor shot well in Game 1, the fact that he shot the ball at all seems to be the exception, not the rule. Brooks doesn't seem to be willing to change things around to see if they work, which I see as being the Thunder's ultimate downfall. Relying solely on Durant and Westbrook will come back to bite them in the ass eventually.

Oh, and @ wiff. Harden as Mr. T... I'd love to see it.

His beard is too good for him not to have a breakout game in the playoffs.

18/5/1 and only 1 turn over in 28 minutes
5-9 from the field, 6-6 from the line