We need to have a serious discussion about James Harden

[moderndarwin]

Is he actually injured still or does a hammy injury linger this long?

He seems fine to me and I’ve watched more Harden than I’d care to (being a Warriors fan).

It just seems like he’s out of shape + a bit slower and less explosive due to that. And he’s still putting up stats and the Nets are winning mostly.

Give it 2.5 or 3 months and no injury setbacks and he’ll drop 7-10 lbs i imagine just through normal NBA basketball. And he’ll be back to a wrecking ball top tier level 1 basketball player. His flaws won’t change but the difference between being 90% and 100% is a big difference. His biggest asset was his ability to attack all game long with endurance and strength. Right now he doesn’t have that so he’s settling. Once that comes back it creates a good feeling of confidence in the game and other stuff like jumpers naturally go in more.

I don’t get what this deep dive is. Anyone’s that’s played basketball knows how it feels to play out of shape..all facets of the game are impacted until you play for a few months and get back into feeling prime shape.

[HEAT33]

Because they calling less fouls for him.
Wait until they start calling his travels, then he will be bench player. Especially with his awful defense

[Zvaart]

So now he's not worried about meaningless regular season games. It's all about postseason

This is so funny, as this is what he is known for: chocking in the postseason

[Sane]

He hit an NBA court 15 games ago with no training camp and no summer workouts. He's going to be putting up regular 40's in the second half, just look at his Rockets career.

He's right to chill, he was the NBA minutes leader his entire tenure with the Rockets and carried arguably the biggest single player load in the NBA that whole time. He has let these injuries linger and re-emerge. I think he's doing the right thing at his age as long as he commits to being in shape for the second half. He knows more than anyone there's no point arriving at the playoffs exhausted.

[JN61]

Because they calling less fouls for him.
Wait until they start calling his travels, then he will be bench player. Especially with his awful defense

Giannis might not be able to dribble if they start calling travelling. Especially if calling carrying on top of it. They will lose half of their taller superstars if they start enforcing actual basketball rules. Before some 20 year old gets mad about my post. I talk about Basketball rules, not the NBA rules.

[og15]

Because they calling less fouls for him.
Wait until they start calling his travels, then he will be bench player. Especially with his awful defense

Giannis might not be able to dribble if they start calling travelling. Especially if calling carrying on top of it. They will lose half of their taller superstars if they start enforcing actual basketball rules. Before some 20 year old gets mad about my post. I talk about Basketball rules, not the NBA rules.

The problem becomes where you make the cut off for "basketball rules", and why are you deciding that this is the cut off point. That's always the difficulty.

[Educator]

He has actually been a lot better the past few games. He has been able to get to the rim. In the past four games he has actually taken 12 free throws, 11 free throws, 5 free throws, and 15 free throws. He looks like he's getting there. As it is he is still averaging roughly 20ppg, 8 rpg, 9 apg with a PER of 21. It's not like he has been awful. He just hasn't been the top player we are accustomed to.

If we need to have a serious discussion about Harden, then we also need to have serious discussions about Lillard, Tatum, and Beal, who have been way worse. It's like the Monstars have stolen a bunch of players' powers this year.

[John Murdoch]

I havent watched any nets games outside of the opener but cmon he will turn it around. I guess in a way it makes me feel better to see that the Lakers arent the only ones struggling to adjust

[mattao313]

He looks fat and slow imo

Sent from my moto g play (2021) using RealGM mobile app

[Raonak]

[code][/code]The biggest problem is how bad his defense has become.

[dickfox]

Should probably retire

[Atmanne]

Harden's true shooting percentage and free throw rate are now basically what it was last year (he's averaging one less free throw but he's also shooting less). The main issue now is that his turnover rate has spiked.

[Educator]

Harden's true shooting percentage and free throw rate are now basically what it was last year (he's averaging one less free throw but he's also shooting less). The main issue now is that his turnover rate has spiked.

Part of that is due to his recovery from his hamstring injury but another part of that is that he is not playing with a lob threat anymore.