Beijing time on October 17, James Harden signed a two-year salary cut of 68 million yuan for renewal contract, but he still needs to prove himself in the new season because he is not a superstar like Curry James who has achieved success.
Last season's Playoffs , Harden was criticized too much. So why would a player who averaged 18.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per game in the playoffs be criticized? Not to mention that he is still a model worker who averages 40 minutes per game. In fact, Harden’s biggest problem is that he cannot play the key ball.
Under what circumstances do the so-called superstars and superstars generally distinguish? What is the difference between a super giant at the historical level and an ordinary All-Star player? This difference cannot be seen in the regular season. Many people watch , Butler, , is a marginal star who averages 21 points and 6 rebounds per game, but in the playoffs, Butler is simply super amazing, averaging 28+7+6, which is the gap.
Superstars often have a stronger ability to seize opportunities at the turning point of their historical status in more critical games. When you seize these opportunities, history will remember you, and when you can't grasp them, you will be the player who can only fail. And this kind of opportunity for historical turning points is not available every year, and such opportunities will only become fewer and fewer. In the torrent of history, when you seize all opportunities, you are the top super giant at the historical level. If you seize some of you are the superstars of NBA, and when you can hardly grasp all turning points, key scenes and opportunities, you are just a little better than ordinary All-Stars.
And this is Harden's biggest problem. Every time he plays a key ball, he needs to remember history, Harden has not done this. In the playoffs last season, let’s see Harden’s performance in the fourth quarter against the Raptors series. His total score in the 4th quarter was like this. In the 1st quarter, 0 points in the 4th quarter, zero points in the second half, two points in the second half, two points in the 3rd second half, two points in the 4th quarter, two points in the 4th quarter, 16 points in the 5th quarter, zero points in the 4th quarter, and zero points in the 4th quarter of the 6th quarter.
That is to say, in the 6 games, Harden's total score in the fourth quarter was only 20 points, but in addition to Game 4, there are 5 games left. How many points does his total score in the fourth quarter have? It's 4 points, 4 points in the last quarter of 5 games, averaging 0.8 points per game. The last moment is the most impressive critical moment. You may be able to score 20 points in front, but what impresses you must be a final kill or a key goal, but Harden really can't do it at this time.
When you can't play the key ball and you need to shoot the ball the most, you will be the gods if you score, but if you can't play, you will impress many people and always remember how you missed this ball. Like when Leonard led the Raptors to the championship in , everyone remembered the final shot of the storm in the tiebreak that Kat completed the tiebreaker. Who would remember that Leonard made 16 of 39 shots in that game? No one remembers this kind of data, only his final shot. This is the key turning point. How can you, Harden, scored 4 points in 5 games in the 4th quarter?
Not to mention the historical turning points left to Harden in his career, including the last goal against Trail Blazers who was defeated by Lillard , including the 15-year home game against the Warriors, scoring 14 points and 12 mistakes at critical moments, creating a historical record of playoff turnovers, and shooting 2 of 11 shots in the game. Including 2017, Tianwangshan was blocked by Ginobili and was sent off for 6 mistakes in Game 6.
includes the battle against the Warriors , which is the classic fire battle in 2018. Harden Tianwangshan made 0 of 11 three-pointers. In the 7th game, you need to stand up and prove your historical turning point. If you win, you will overthrow the Warriors Dynasty and become famous. As a result, you will lead the team to 0 of 27 three-pointers and 0 of 10 three-pointers and were reversed by the Warriors.In 2019, he was eliminated by Curry with one hand. Curry scored 33 points in the second half, and Harden was invisible, including the battle of Tianwangshan in Nets playing Bucks . He made 10 shots and 0 of 8 three-pointers in the last game. In the final game, Antetokounmpo missed 17 shots and sent Antetokounmpo into the Eastern Conference Finals.
So what can this say? This is the turning point, this is the opportunity. If you grasp it, you will be great. Harden's career is the background emperor of the Warriors, the background emperor of Curry or the background emperor of Antetokounmpo. If others grasp it, they will win the championship. If you are not sure, then do you think he can't be criticized?
