The James Harden Thread (2019-20)

Statlanta · Post #301 » by **Statlanta** » Fri Sep 4, 2020 7:13 pm

Legacy defining series right now. If he beats LeBron nobody will just fly swatter his career like a Steve Nash.
Defense will be the key though just like it was in Game 7 with all these defensive minded contenders

therealbig3 · Post #302 » by **therealbig3** » Fri Sep 4, 2020 8:41 pm

He really needs to play amazing for him to wipe off that blemish of a first round in order to get a top 5 spot in POY, imo. Otherwise, I don't see why he deserves a spot over Luka. Don't think there was a clear difference between the two at all during the RS.

GSP · Post #303 » by **GSP** » Fri Sep 4, 2020 10:26 pm

This isn't legacy defining. We all the type of player Harden is specially in the playoffs and do or die games. He's just not that guy. He just got outplayed on both ends in a game 7 by an undrafted rookie

Next season he will be averaging 33-35 points a game again and the same ppl will say he's playing at a level or higher than prime Kobe/Wade and the same ppl will look like morons after the playoffs like every years. **** is like clockwork lmao

After Houston gets clobbered I'm interested in what happens with him and the team

I think dantoni is gone. Wonder if they still keep microball and Russ

ShotCreator · Post #304 » by **ShotCreator** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 1:09 am

Statlanta wrote:Legacy defining series right now. If he beats LeBron nobody will just fly swatter his career like a Steve Nash.
Defense will be the key though just like it was in Game 7 with all these defensive minded contenders

Just winning this series won’t do what you think.

Goalposts will certainly be moved. If they got dropped by the Clippers in the WCF, nobody will care.

JordansBulls · Post #305 » by **JordansBulls** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 2:24 am

Harden upsetting Lebron and AD would do wonders for his career. It would be like Dirk in 2011.

Woodsanity · Post #306 » by **Woodsanity** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 2:29 am

therealbig3 wrote:He really needs to play amazing for him to wipe off that blemish of a first round in order to get a top 5 spot in POY, imo. Otherwise, I don't see why he deserves a spot over Luka. Don't think there was a clear difference between the two at all during the RS.

He really did not play poorly in the first round he actually played fairly good overall. Defense was much better than usual, but honestly Westbrook was a complete disaster and almost cost them the series. If Westbrook didn't play they would have probably won in 6.

I'm actually semi-impressed by Harden this season and it has nothing to do with offense. When he does poorly offensively he is actually contributing in other aspects now.

freethedevil · Post #307 » by **freethedevil** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 3:09 am

people better not forget how awful he was against okc like they did with his performance against the jazz last playoffs.

Woodsanity · Post #308 » by **Woodsanity** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 3:17 am

freethedevil wrote:people better not forget how awful he was against okc like they did with his performance against the jazz last playoffs.

Harden is a perennial playoff underperformer but the Thunder series isn't a good example to use against him imo. He actually played well on both ends in that series. He was awful offensively in game 7 but had some key defensive plays that won the game.
Westbrook basically threw game 6

freethedevil · Post #309 » by **freethedevil** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 3:20 am

Woodsanity wrote:
freethedevil wrote:people better not forget how awful he was against okc like they did with his performance against the jazz last playoffs.

Harden is a perennial playoff underperformer but the Thunder series isn't a good example to use against him imo. He actually played well on both ends in that series. He was awful offensively in game 7 but had some key defensive plays that won the game.
Westbrook basically threw game 6

hmaybe i'm overreating to the last two games. Could you post his ts for the first 5?

70sFan · Post #310 » by **70sFan** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 3:25 am

Harden is really good in this game, Lakers don't have anyone like Dort to slow him down.

Krodis · Post #311 » by **Krodis** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 3:39 am

This looks like the first series in a while where things are just easy for Harden.

ShotCreator · Post #312 » by **ShotCreator** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 4:00 am

freethedevil wrote:people better not forget how awful he was against okc like they did with his performance against the jazz last playoffs.

He was pretty much amazing against OKC.

K_chile22 · Post #313 » by **K_chile22** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 5:11 am

freethedevil wrote:
Woodsanity wrote:
freethedevil wrote:people better not forget how awful he was against okc like they did with his performance against the jazz last playoffs.

Harden is a perennial playoff underperformer but the Thunder series isn't a good example to use against him imo. He actually played well on both ends in that series. He was awful offensively in game 7 but had some key defensive plays that won the game.
Westbrook basically threw game 6

hmaybe i'm overreating to the last two games. Could you post his ts for the first 5?

I mean he still finished at nearly 62% TS for the series and Dort defended him better than anyone I've ever seen

freethedevil · Post #314 » by **freethedevil** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 5:23 am

K_chile22 wrote:
freethedevil wrote:
Woodsanity wrote:Harden is a perennial playoff underperformer but the Thunder series isn't a good example to use against him imo. He actually played well on both ends in that series. He was awful offensively in game 7 but had some key defensive plays that won the game.
Westbrook basically threw game 6

hmaybe i'm overreating to the last two games. Could you post his ts for the first 5?
I mean he still finished at nearly 62% TS for the series and Dort defended him better than anyone I've ever seen

Okay, i'll accept it then. He has shown some defensive goodness and he probably deserves some credit for the rockets magically being the league's best defense.

Harden is offically a top 3 player unless he chokes vs the lakers.

TheGOATRises007 · Post #315 » by **TheGOATRises007** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 6:02 am

Harden should feast on the Lakers all series.

They don't have anyone that can defend him.

Lebron doesn't have the lateral quickness at his age to stop him either and it'd just unnecessarily burn him out.

Dupp · Post #316 » by **Dupp** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 6:05 am

Harden was great obviously. Let’s see how he fairs if the series gets into a tight spot and there’s pressure.

freethedevil wrote:people better not forget how awful he was against okc like they did with his performance against the jazz last playoffs.

He wasn’t awful vs the jazz though.. but yeah he was fairly bad vs okc

Bergmaniac · Post #317 » by **Bergmaniac** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 12:03 pm

I don't understand the claims that he was bad in the OKC series, he averaged 29.6 PPG on 62% TS%, 8.0 assists and 6.3 boards and played very good D. His on/off splits were amazing too. He had a great series overall. Yeah, he shot poorly in Game 7, but still had 9 assists, played excellent D and made the game winning block.

A shame that Westbrook is not in his February form and clearly not 100%, they would have been a real contender, but now I can't see them beating both the Lakers and Clippers, even beating the Lakers only seems very unlikely no matter how great Harden plays.

HeartBreakKid · Post #318 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 12:05 pm

Bergmaniac wrote:I don't understand the claims that he was bad in the OKC series, he averaged 29.6 PPG on 62% TS%, 8.0 assists and 6.3 boards and played very good D. His on/off splits were amazing too. He had a great series overall. Yeah, he shot poorly in Game 7, but still had 9 assists, played excellent D and made the game winning block.

A shame that Westbrook is not in his February form and clearly not 100%, they would have been a real contender, but now I can't see them beating both the Lakers and Clippers, even beating the Lakers only seems very unlikely no matter how great Harden plays.

He was excellent in the OKC series, but people like to define series by game 7s and other silly story-time crap.

K_chile22 · Post #319 » by **K_chile22** » Sat Sep 5, 2020 5:48 pm

I think the nuanced Harden take in the playoffs is: on the aggregate, he's been great for most of his postseasons, but he has a propensity to shrink with his back against the wall. Should count against him vs other top tier players, but the points count the same at the end of the game whether they happened in the first or the fourth

JordansBulls · Post #320 » by **JordansBulls** » Mon Sep 7, 2020 3:14 am

Westbrook blew this game.