James Harden Exposing THE REAL REASON For The Slow Start

James Harden drives and does his usual under arm hook going into a jump shot, buuut he doesn’t get the call, resulting with a bad miss. This is one of the reasons for his horrible start to the season, but not the main one. In fact, Harden himself revealed what’s actually holding him back. Let’s break down his early season woes. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. At the start, we have to mention how the new rules are impacting Harden’s performance. Throughout his career, James has been getting close to 9 free throws per game. With some seasons even getting close to 12 attempts from the line. So compare that to a measly 3 foul shots per game at the start of this season. That’s a huge reduction. And we can see on these highlights that the refs no longer react to his flailings and arm hooks. So it’s pretty obvious that he finally got exposed right? He was a horrible player all along and the only way he could score was by doing all of these ridiculous moves to get the foul. Right?! Of course not. Couldn’t be further from the truth. Harden’s real problem in these first 5 games is the fact that he looks slower, out of rhythm and definitely not as aggressive. So he revealed to the media what’s the real reason behind this, in the postgame interview following that ugly loss from Miami. If you ask me, not training in the summer, and not being in game shape looking like he is right now, that’s impacting him far more than any rule changes. I 100% believe in everything he said as the main reason for this awful start. Now, here’s the interesting thing. This situation reminds me of another terrible start that he had in Houston. In 2018, almost a quarter into the season, the Rockets found themselves at the bottom of the western conference, second to last only above Phoenix. There were some people going as far as questioning if this team can even fight to get in the playoffs. Especially after Chris Paul injured his hamstring during that stretch. So with his team’s future hanging in the balance and all the offensive load falling solely on his shoulders James Harden went into overdrive. According to his coach at the time Mike D’Antoni, the beard increased the intensity of his training regime to a whole new level. He would come in early to do some lifting. Then before video sessions he would run the arena stairs, and after the 90 minute practice with the team, he had intense 1 on 1 games with his teammates. P.J. Tucker and Gerald Green would get extra physical with him and double team him- simulating real game situations. So just as he started doing all of this, the Rockets went on a phenomenal run. So from 11 and 13 being second to last, they ended the season at 53 and 29 securing home court advantage. This superhero statline at the end of the season confirms that his hard work truly paid off. So what I’m trying to say with this comparison is the fact that this is not an issue of Harden not working hard or not trying or not wanting to put in effort. This is a matter of physical as well as physiological limitations that come after a long process of recovering from an injury. James Harden will 100% get back to his old self. And he will get back with a vengeance. With this Brooklyn Nets team, he even has far more room to go at his own pace and not rush or risk anything. You’ll definitely see the free throws go up, as he gets his explosiveness and the decisiveness to attack the basket strong. What I don’t like however, is the lack of effort and fight from the entire team. This loss to the Heat came mainly because they got out hustled. Miami had a ton of open looks in transition, and even fast breaks after a Nets score. That’s inexcusable. Dwyane Deadmon fought against multiple Brooklyn players and got putbacks off of offensive rebounds resulting in points that shouldn’t be there. So all in all, of course the Nets are still in control and this is just 5 games, but these are the issues that they have, both individually and as a team, that need to be addressed. At the end, huge shoutout to Patty Mills. Yesterday I jokingly said that now that I made a video about his terrific shooting, I expect him to go 1 for 9 in his next games. Dude really went 1 for 9 against Miami hitting nothing but the backboard on a wide open shot. I can not believe that I jinxed him that bad. This is unbelievable. Anyway, let me know in the comments what do you think about the James Harden situation. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.