Clippers commentator: Harden is manipulating the game... CHEATING it

[STATUTORY]

https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1113661465175777285


"I just feel like this style, what Harden does, is manipulating the game somehow. Almost like cheating it somehow," MacLean said.

"And I don't really have a thought beyond that other than I'm watching something that isn't basketball.”

this old man put it perfectly, what James Harden is doing just isn't basketball. This style of boxscore manipulation started with Lebron and Harden took it to the logical conclusion.

[AirTupac]

Its funny how the same retards stan both players. Posters like Smoke and those dray alts or whatever who are absolutely brain dead.... says something about it doesn't it?

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Kind of harsh but sometimes the truth is.

Harden plays like a puppet. Like someone behind a 2K controller exploiting the game :oldlol:

[FKAri]

Notice the commentator is not talking about the flopping/foul baiting aspect of Harden's game. He's just talking about the lack of ball movement and ball dominance. Funny cuz this is the same shit hating old heads were saying about MJ in the 80's. And then MJ shat on their heroes :oldlol:
MJ shut them up by winning. Harden needs to win a ring at least once if he wants to do the same. As for the flopping and foul baiting? I have no issue with Harden but I do have an issue with the league rewarding it as much as it does.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Notice the commentator is not talking about the flopping/foul baiting aspect of Harden's game. He's just talking about the lack of ball movement and ball dominance. Funny cuz this is the same shit hating old heads were saying about MJ in the 80's. And then MJ shat on their heroes :oldlol:
MJ shut them up by winning. Harden needs to win a ring at least once if he wants to do the same. As for the flopping and foul baiting? I have no issue with Harden but I do have an issue with the league rewarding it as much as it does.

The fouls and freethrows go without being said.

Harden's game is essentially threes and layups. Not a lot of flavor. He doesn't play much off the basketball, and his time of possession is probably crazy. Its got to be higher than LeBron's...right?

[STATUTORY]

The fouls and freethrows go without being said.

Harden's game is essentially threes and layups. Not a lot of flavor from someone that cant play without the basketball. What is Harden's time of possession by the way? Its got to be higher than LeBron's.

Yup, MJ was ADDING to the game, Harden is actively subtracting from it and reducing it to its most exploitable components

huge difference

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Yup, MJ was ADDING to the game, Harden is actively subtracting from it and reducing it to its most exploitable components

huge difference

I edited that post.

Saying he cant play off the basketball was hyperbole on my part. Harden can and does.

Not @ Jordan level though if that's the comparison.

[FKAri]

The fouls and freethrows go without being said.

Harden's game is essentially threes and layups. Not a lot of flavor from someone that cant play without the basketball. What is Harden's time of possession by the way? Its got to be higher than LeBron's.
Watching Harden play does feel...dirty. But the league manipulated the game to this point to allow it to happen. What got the ball rolling in this direction was Stern wanting MJ 2.0 so bad. I can't blame Harden for his intelligent exploitation. Ultimately, don't hate the player; hate the game. And ya I hate what the game has become.

[305Baller]

harden is a cheat code cause he can hit the three ball

dont hate the player hate the game

[sdot_thadon]

It's not Beautiful basketball, but somewhere along the way he mastered leveraging the rules of his era(in the regular season anyway) and deserves some credit for doing so. If he's ever able to win a title playing this way then all the criticism gets flushed more or less. He's far from the 1st player to be criticized due to his play style and won't be the last.

[qrich]

Don MacLean is one of the smarter analysts out there. Unfortunately, he's boring as **** and has a tendency to call it as it is, which a lot of folks don't like.

[iamgine]

It's a very common opinion on Harden's game.

[sbw19]

Beside flopping, I can't fault him for playing a style that makes him extremely productive, if a bit limited in what he can do with it in the playoffs.

It's MDA and Houston's analytics guys that's forced this horrible 50+ 3s playstyle that's unbearable to watch. Blame them, not Harden.

[superduper]

As much of a fan of King James that I am, even I gotta admit Harden is the biggest ball hog I've seen. He takes Bran ball to a whole new level

[SamuraiSWISH]

Harden and Westbitch play for box score. Not W’s. They took LeBron’s focus on stats and extrapolated it. Durant took LeBron’s bitch colluding and deck stacking and extrapolated it.

[tpols]

Notice the commentator is not talking about the flopping/foul baiting aspect of Harden's game. He's just talking about the lack of ball movement and ball dominance. Funny cuz this is the same shit hating old heads were saying about MJ in the 80's. And then MJ shat on their heroes :oldlol:
MJ shut them up by winning. Harden needs to win a ring at least once if he wants to do the same. As for the flopping and foul baiting? I have no issue with Harden but I do have an issue with the league rewarding it as much as it does.


The difference is mj could dominate the ball or play off ball... Harden doesnt have an off ball switch. He needs a long survey and 5 dribbles to do anything. That stifles teamwork and leads to a poor brand of ball.

[Proctor]

Don MacLean is one of the smarter analysts out there. Unfortunately, he's boring as **** and has a tendency to call it as it is, which a lot of folks don't like.
This. I could fall asleep listening to him talk, but he’s not stupid. In this case, he’s absolutely right too.

Harden will be exposed in the playoffs again and the Rockets will go as far as that passive aggressive tree stump CP0 takes them.

[Phoenix]

Notice the commentator is not talking about the flopping/foul baiting aspect of Harden's game. He's just talking about the lack of ball movement and ball dominance. Funny cuz this is the same shit hating old heads were saying about MJ in the 80's. And then MJ shat on their heroes :oldlol:
MJ shut them up by winning. Harden needs to win a ring at least once if he wants to do the same. As for the flopping and foul baiting? I have no issue with Harden but I do have an issue with the league rewarding it as much as it does.

MJ was dominating off the ball when the Bulls won their titles, that's why that team was able to be 'good'( the whole 55 win thing) with him gone. Players were employed as more than drive and kick assist targets and instead played an organic brand of ball based on the Triangle's nuances. The way how Harden plays ball, I can see his team sucking without him in the same light as Lebron's when he's not there, because the players are there mostly at Harden's iso-heavy beckoning, instead of an offense that emphasizes ball/player movement and allows for others to make intelligent decisions on their own.

That said, I don't blame him for manipulating the rules. He's doing what he can get away with. It sucks for those of us who've been around for a while, but until it's neutralized either by rule changes or teams adapt he'd be a fool not to continue bending the rules as far as he can. I don't like his style, but whatever.

[Rudeboy3]

As much of a fan of King James that I am, even I gotta admit Harden is the biggest ball hog I've seen. He takes Bran ball to a whole new level
Finally you say something that isn't stupid

[Mask the Embiid]

This. I could fall asleep listening to him talk, but he’s not stupid. In this case, he’s absolutely right too.

Harden will be exposed in the playoffs again and the Rockets will go as far as that passive aggressive tree stump CP0 takes them.
How will DeRozan and the Spurs do in the playoffs?

[LoneyROY7]

Harden is a cheat code. :applause:

[qrich]

[QUOTE=Proctor]This. I could fall asleep listening to him talk, but he

[scuzzy]

Harden is great at exploiting defenders, his anticipation is one of a kind

Whether his strategy is entertaining is subjective

Shaq's game was boring as hell, sheer physically size throwing bodies around with a simple spin move, apply force and your getting a elbow to the ribs or jaw and he's living at the free throw line. No one was crying about it

[kennethgriffen]

harden isn't manipulating the rules. the rules changed


the rules today aren't real basketball... so when a guy dominates fake basketball of course his game will look fake

[3ball]

https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1113661465175777285



this old man put it perfectly, what James Harden is doing just isn't basketball. This style of boxscore manipulation started with Lebron and Harden took it to the logical conclusion.


https://media.giphy.com/media/u2Hsg4MfGLwly/giphy.gif

[Marikina]

Don MacLean of all people is in no position to lecture anyone on cheating in basketball.

[tontoz]

McLean comes off as a bitter old man, get off my lawn type.

Harden is averaging 36 ppg with a TS of 61.5%. He is the best iso scorer in the game an the Rockets are taking full advantage of that.

Get over it.

The post above is referring to McLean's suspension for steroids. Glass houses..

[BigShotBob]

Doesn't Harden still have more Free Throws made than Field Goals?

[Smook A.]

Don MacLean, the first man in NBA history to be suspended over steroid use, is complaining about someone else cheating... :roll:

[egokiller]

https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1113661465175777285



this old man put it perfectly, what James Harden is doing just isn't basketball. This style of boxscore manipulation started with Lebron and Harden took it to the logical conclusion.

What's funny is how the harden fucc boi fans were arguing with me last week about how great he would be in any era. Nope.

[Smoke117]

Even setting aside the ft's and ref baiting, there is nothing entertaining about Harden's game...unless you enjoy watching a guy dribbling for 5 secs and then take a step back 3pter 10 times a game and make basic layups.

[solar.hands]

How will DeRozan and the Spurs do in the playoffs?
Derozan and the playoffs... thats not even a question.

[3ball]

Notice the commentator is not talking about the flopping/foul baiting aspect of Harden's game. He's just talking about the lack of ball movement and ball dominance. Funny cuz this is the same shit hating old heads were saying about MJ in the 80's. And then MJ shat on their heroes :oldlol:
MJ shut them up by winning. Harden needs to win a ring at least once if he wants to do the same. As for the flopping and foul baiting? I have no issue with Harden but I do have an issue with the league rewarding it as much as it does.
You're conflating high shot attempts (MJ) with ball-dominance (harden and today's players)

There's a big difference - people complained about MJ's shot attempts, but not his ball-domination because MJ wasn't bringing the ball up court and was a highly-assisted player, as off-guards typically are

Harden is a low-assisted player (and therefore low ball movement) and ball-dominator.. MJ wasn't that

No one even used the term "ball-dominination" back then because no one dribbled like today's guards and wings

You never saw MJ come down and dribble the air out every play... The offensive sets were different and didn't call for that - there was no spread floor and dribbling 15-20 seconds of the shot clock every play.. there just wasn't
.

[AlternativeAcc.]

I don't think anyone other than the players and smart fans know how hard it is to do what Harden does. To be so skilled that you piss off people for your style of play speaks to how unstoppable Harden is in the regular season. This is a compliment

[Mr.GOAT2408]

The fouls and freethrows go without being said.

Harden's game is essentially threes and layups. Not a lot of flavor. He doesn't play much off the basketball, and his time of possession is probably crazy. Its got to be higher than LeBron's...right?
Time of Possession - 9.4 seconds, 2nd place is Lillard with 7.7. LeBron is 11th at 6.3

Seconds per touch - 6.39 seconds, 2nd place is Lillard with 5.68. LeBron is 17th at 4.52

I'm just going off of guys that play 30+ min and 50+ games but it doesn't change much, he handles the ball way more than anyone. Him Westbrook, Wall have historically handled the ball way too much since tracking data has been accessible :facepalm

I'll give the Rockets management props though, they've built a team where it can win games. Postseason games though...

[Vragrant]

Its not cheating, but his style of play is shameless, and despicable. You know if defenders are forced to play with their hands above their shoulders and give him several feet of space, something is off. His style of play is setting a dangerous precedent. They really need to address this and allow more contact into the game.

Also for someone who is built like a tank, he HATES physicality. I've seen him several times absolutely lose it over some incidental contact. I remember a game in Sac this year when he got upset over a guy grazing his beard. Really? Probably a result of his mental makeup and getting coddled by the officiating.

[Bronbron23]

https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1113661465175777285



this old man put it perfectly, what James Harden is doing just isn't basketball. This style of boxscore manipulation started with Lebron and Harden took it to the logical conclusion.
I'm not a harden fan but that's just stupid. How is he cheating the game? He's just taking advantage of the weak defensive era he's in. You can't blame him.

[bobopenguin]

I'm not a harden fan but that's just stupid. How is he cheating the game? He's just taking advantage of the weak defensive era he's in. You can't blame him.

ppl dont come to arena to watch FT practice.
have some sense of decency.

[Vragrant]

ppl dont come to arena to watch FT practice.
have some sense of decency.

Exactly. When the announcer says it doesn't look like basketball, he kind of has a point. When you have defenders playing way off him with their hands way outstretched in the air, because they're petrified off touching him that isn't good. If the rules don't allow a player too face any resistance, that isn't good for the game.

Plus we all know how success breeds copycats. Pretty soon were' looking at flag football out there. Although the playoffs entirely different, so's theres that.