Welcome James Harden!

Mik317 · Post #1121 » by **Mik317** » Wed Apr 27, 2022 1:04 pm

when they fire Doc the coach will be MDA

mjkvol · Post #1122 » by **mjkvol** » Wed Apr 27, 2022 1:06 pm

eyeatoma wrote:Harden has not performed great in pressure situations. However he does have a strong record average wise in the playoffs. We're not seeing that from him. I think that's more his body breaking down rather than it being whether he has intajibles. Atleast get is to crunch time, he's not even able to do that right now.

The 'intangibles' thing is a bunch of gobbledygook crap - build the kind of team that will help the Harden of today, not this figment of people's imagination that will suddenly appear, and he will be more than fine. Pretending that he's going to all of a sudden produce 36-12-12 kind of performances because of a certain kind of mentality is beyond foolish.

76ciology · Post #1123 » by **76ciology** » Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:00 pm

I want Udonis Haslem to be our coach. So when Embiid plays like an ass, he can scare him straight. :lol:

Ferry Avenue · Post #1124 » by **Ferry Avenue** » Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:23 pm

eyeatoma wrote:
Ferry Avenue wrote:
eyeatoma wrote:

I think that's what needs to be done, this is ridiculous. Jo is injured and has all the attention on him, time to step the **** up.

Ah, but there's the central problem with James Harden and why it limits the team: he's not a "step up" kind of guy. Embiid is asking Harden to be Jimmy Butler, and of course the team needs that, but Harden is not Jimmy Butler. Harden is a great player physically speaking, but he doesn't have that mentality.

The personalities of these players across the NBA have a lot to do with whether their teams are championship-caliber. You can bet that when Nick Nurse is devising his defensive strategy and allocating so much attention to Joel Embiid, he's appraising the likelihood with which James Harden will respond to that by taking the game over and winning, and making an appraisal in that regard similar to the one I'm making here.
Yeah well said, Harden has not performed great in pressure situations. However he does have a strong record average wise in the playoffs. We're not seeing that from him. I think that's more his body breaking down rather than it being whether he has intajibles. Atleast get is to crunch time, he's not even able to do that right now.

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It's both. He's limited physically in comparison to his former self, and like always he shows little or no change in his drive or effort as a function of game situation. Again he's not a Jimmy Butler who finds his team down on the scoreboard and elevates his game and takes it upon himself to be the prime mover in a comeback. This is why Embiid has to tell him to be more aggressive -- Embiid, like anyone else watching, can easily see that Harden doesn't respond to team adversity by ratcheting up his game.

To make the distinction here clearer, Embiid isn't saying "why aren't you the James Harden from 2016 who can average 35 points a game" -- Embiid is saying "why do you end up with only 15 points on 11 shots when the opposing defense is selling out to guard me and we're getting the **** kicked out of us?"

It's the lack of "dog" in Harden that Embiid is responding to here. And that absence in Harden is team-limiting and will always be. I don't care who you surround him with, he will continue not to possess those characteristics. So someone else better be able to provide that at some point, if this team hopes to become championship material.

76thBearCub · Post #1125 » by **76thBearCub** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:37 pm

What does it even mean for Harden to be more aggressive? His barrels into the lane end in a turnover or offensive foul an offensive amount of the time. And the cutesy 3 pointers are way less cute when they're whiffing. Anyway, I'd just like to bitch a little more...

Post #1126 » by **Foshan** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:15 pm

76thBearCub wrote:What does it even mean for Harden to be more aggressive? His barrels into the lane end in a turnover or offensive foul an offensive amount of the time. And the cutesy 3 pointers are way less cute when they're whiffing. Anyway, I'd just like to bitch a little more...

IMO it is as simple as shooting the swing three he gets wide open and doesn’t shoot. It’s like he doesn’t know how to shoot a three unless he dribbled 6x or step backs/side.

He ends up hesitating, waiting for the defender to close out so he can attack one on one

phillynative · Post #1127 » by **phillynative** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:27 pm

Foshan wrote:
76thBearCub wrote:What does it even mean for Harden to be more aggressive? His barrels into the lane end in a turnover or offensive foul an offensive amount of the time. And the cutesy 3 pointers are way less cute when they're whiffing. Anyway, I'd just like to bitch a little more...

IMO it is as simple as shooting the swing three he gets wide open and doesn’t shoot. It’s like he doesn’t know how to shoot a three unless he dribbled 6x or step backs/side.

He ends up hesitating, waiting for the defender to close out so he can attack one on one

This is probably the best way for him to contribute more offensively.

Jailblazers7 · Post #1128 » by **Jailblazers7** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:46 pm

Foshan wrote:
76thBearCub wrote:What does it even mean for Harden to be more aggressive? His barrels into the lane end in a turnover or offensive foul an offensive amount of the time. And the cutesy 3 pointers are way less cute when they're whiffing. Anyway, I'd just like to bitch a little more...

IMO it is as simple as shooting the swing three he gets wide open and doesn’t shoot. It’s like he doesn’t know how to shoot a three unless he dribbled 6x or step backs/side.

He ends up hesitating, waiting for the defender to close out so he can attack one on one

Honestly, Embiid is a major culprit here too but he’s still good enough to bail himself out by making a tough shot (unlike Harden). It’s just dumb offense that makes us easier to guard and needs to stop.

76thBearCub · Post #1129 » by **76thBearCub** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 11:14 pm

Foshan wrote:
76thBearCub wrote:What does it even mean for Harden to be more aggressive? His barrels into the lane end in a turnover or offensive foul an offensive amount of the time. And the cutesy 3 pointers are way less cute when they're whiffing. Anyway, I'd just like to bitch a little more...

IMO it is as simple as shooting the swing three he gets wide open and doesn’t shoot. It’s like he doesn’t know how to shoot a three unless he dribbled 6x or step backs/side.

He ends up hesitating, waiting for the defender to close out so he can attack one on one

That would be nice but doubt he has an epiphany all of a sudden.

elchengue20 · Post #1130 » by **elchengue20** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 12:43 am

He looks rejuvenated in this game.

I dont know why, but hes more explosive today and that changes his whole game.

76ciology · Post #1131 » by **76ciology** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 12:45 am

Read on Twitter

Read this thread for Harden fans

Post #1132 » by **Foshan** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 1:49 am

elchengue20 wrote:He looks rejuvenated in this game.

I dont know why, but hes more explosive today and that changes his whole game.

It looked like the Raptors changed their approach to covering him. In the first quarter they switched but never sent help, and James just took the guy 1 on 1, help rarely came (the dunk!) or came very late.

I think it went to their heads a bit how much he was struggling against the gang beating he was taking in the lane, and so they switched it up... and paid for it. but i could be wrong.

elchengue20 · Post #1133 » by **elchengue20** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 2:29 am

But he has struggled for weeks now to take guys one on one, either by not getting past them or by having no lift when finishing.

Today he was more explosive and blew past guys often, even finishing with a dunk.

He looked more like the Harden from the first few games here than the one we have seen the last month.

mjkvol · Post #1134 » by **mjkvol** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 3:05 am

elchengue20 wrote:But he has struggled for weeks now to take guys one on one, either by not getting past them or by having no lift when finishing.

Today he was more explosive and blew past guys often, even finishing with a dunk.

He looked more like the Harden from the first few games here than the one we have seen the last month.

But he really hasn't had a problem beating guys off the dribble, it's finishing at the rim that's been the issue. A big part of that is having no lob threat, and the Raptor defense collapsing on him on the drive. They didn't send help, and he made them pay. They seemed to decide to just play him straight up, and he took advantage.

Or maybe it's as simple as him finding his "dog mentality".

Kolkmania · Post #1135 » by **Kolkmania** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 11:18 am

mjkvol wrote:
elchengue20 wrote:But he has struggled for weeks now to take guys one on one, either by not getting past them or by having no lift when finishing.

Today he was more explosive and blew past guys often, even finishing with a dunk.

He looked more like the Harden from the first few games here than the one we have seen the last month.

But he really hasn't had a problem beating guys off the dribble, it's finishing at the rim that's been the issue. A big part of that is having no lob threat, and the Raptor defense collapsing on him on the drive. They didn't send help, and he made them pay. They seemed to decide to just play him straight up, and he took advantage.

Or maybe it's as simple as him finding his "dog mentality".

I agree I don't think he lacked burst during this series. He's just so ground-bound around the rim that every attempt got blocked or required insane difficulty.
IIRC the last season at Houston, Morey went full 5-out with trading Capela for RoCo. At that point he didn't have a consistent lob threat as well, but it didn't really affect his numbers.

Ferry Avenue · Post #1136 » by **Ferry Avenue** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 11:21 am

elchengue20 wrote:He looks rejuvenated in this game.

I dont know why, but hes more explosive today and that changes his whole game.

I believe we would call that "peer pressure."

marcush · Post #1137 » by **marcush** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 11:29 am

Great to watch those one in 10 games where he has some athleticism.

Ferry Avenue · Post #1138 » by **Ferry Avenue** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 12:06 pm

76thBearCub wrote:What does it even mean for Harden to be more aggressive? His barrels into the lane end in a turnover or offensive foul an offensive amount of the time. And the cutesy 3 pointers are way less cute when they're whiffing. Anyway, I'd just like to bitch a little more...

I believe that if he simply appears to want to spearhead the team by elevating his game, alongside his typical contribution, that will be all that's needed.

The last thing you want as a player is to be getting your ass kicked and feel like one of your key teammates isn't feeling that like you are and having it drive him to do anything about it. Harden in the game 5 embarrassment appeared that way.

In game 6 however he was an entirely different animal. His physical contribution wasn't significantly different from his norm, but his appearance of being driven to contribute and win certainly was. That's what the team needs from him. That's what other players feed off of and what then elevates the game of an entire team.

fkd215 · Post #1139 » by **fkd215** » Sat Apr 30, 2022 5:41 pm

With Embiid out this Miami series becomes an important moment for Harden. Can he step up and carry the team in Embiid's absence? It'll be interesting to see, right before we potentially commit a quarter of a billion dollars to him.

mjkvol · Post #1140 » by **mjkvol** » Sun May 1, 2022 12:34 am

fkd215 wrote:With Embiid out this Miami series becomes an important moment for Harden. Can he step up and carry the team in Embiid's absence? It'll be interesting to see, right before we potentially commit a quarter of a billion dollars to him.

He doesn't need to carry the team, and besides, that Harden is long gone and not coming back. If he does exactly what he did in game 6, just set the tone and then be a playmaker, either getting his own shot if it's there or putting a shooter or Maxey in position to attack. We need big games from Maxey, Harris, and one or two shooters as well as Harden if we're going to win in Miami without Embiid.