Harden is shooting 5 - 23 fg...
Definitely, he should be ripped. Worst shooting game of the season, pretty much. I think the first time this season he has had more FGA than points. And Lin started to get it going and made the game close. They just couldn't transition over to a Lin based offense even though Harden was stinking up the place shooting. Second game in a row with bad shooting.
But one should note he had 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. So he was doing more than bricking yesterday.
Yes he was off and should of passed the ball.
But unlike the others mentioned he's not playing with an ALLSTAR or in Russels position a superstar .
I think he shouldn't beripped for these performance IMO Lin or any other offensive option on that team is not reliable and a tough shot by harden is better than a better shot from Lin Omer or parsons
That is all good in well. He shot terrible but he missed a bunch of open shots in the flow of the game. He didn't force it to much and he also grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 7 assists. So while it is fine to point out he shot terribly tonight mention that he at least tried to do other things and didn't sulk because he wasn't shooting great.
Also, I think we are going to see Harden hit a bit of a wall here. He's playing 7 more minutes a game and has the pressure directly on him every minute of it. He seemed a bit tired last night. I would give him a slight break considering this is his first year as a number 1 option, playing more minutes, on a team with not many playmakers. He is doing admirably and has honestly overachieved thus far this season.
If the norm is Harden shooting 5-23 then I'd agree with the poster, but it happens to every player, occasionally they will have a terrible shooting night. However, it seems to happen to Westbrook a heck of a lot more then it does Harden. I don't think it was fair to suggest Harden shouldn't have taken the shots he did when he has been doing the exact same thing to be successful all year with note worthy efficiency.
Of course it happens to Westbrook more often. Westbrook is a less efficient scorer than Harden. There is no comparison between them. Harden has been one of the most efficient scoring guards in the league now for the last three years. Westbrook is just about average in his efficiency, but he takes a huge number of shots and so has a top scoring average when you look at points per game. Everyone knows this, right?
I'm not suggesting that Harden take less shots in general. This was just a tough night. And Lin had scored like 3 consecutive plays in a row. There just didn't seem to be a reason to go to Harden ISO plays down the stretch that night.
It's almost as if you were waiting for his first terrible shooting night of the season to post this. He's one of the most efficient players in the league and he had one bad shooting night on the back end of a back-to-back while guarded by Shawn Marion, big deal?
He still put up 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and got to the line for 12 shots. He shot 5-23 but still put up 20 points, which is very difficult to do.
Again, everyone is going to have a bad game once in a while, it's human nature. Only difference between when Westbrook, Kobe, or Carmelo do it, they don't snag 8 boards, get 3 steals, or dish out 7 assists while shutting down O.J. Mayo.
This isn't his first bad game and it definitely won't be his last, but don't make a post as if it has become the norm for James Harden.
If Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony get ripped for it...
... it's time to rip James Harden, too. He missed 3 easy layups and had a 4th blocked in the the last 5 minutes.