Joining the 76ers from the Nets, Harden has been the focus of attention this season, but his performance in Philadelphia has not been very good, and he only got the first 30+ of his Philadelphia career against the Bucks in the last game. In the game representing the 76ers, Harden also faced a lot of criticism when he was invisible at a critical moment, including the 76ers.
The first is coach Rivers, who is a little dissatisfied with Harden's keenness to create fouls, and after the loss to the Suns, he said: "We have to adapt to the referee's blowing penalties, they may now blow some fouls in the regular season, but as the playoffs approach, those blown or not blown fouls will not eventually blow, so we have to try to score every offense." ”
In that game, Harden was 2 of 11 and was well educated by former teammate Paul, who scored points in a row at key moments, which also made Harden's slump at key moments more amplified.
In the last game against the Bucks, Harden finally played, shooting 9-of-17, 4-of-10 from three-point range, 10-of-12 from the free throw line, and had 32 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists. Rivers was also satisfied after the game, and he wanted Harden to focus on scoring and do what he was good at. Joining Philadelphia, Harden played very deliberately, and he could never find a balance in offense and organization, after all, there was Embiid here, which he needed to adapt to.
Rivers is also right, Harden really shouldn't focus on creating fouls, he should take every opportunity and send the ball into the basket. It should also be noted that Harden is really no longer the Harden of the Rockets period, the breakthrough explosive power is not enough, coupled with no whistle, the efficiency is greatly reduced. Today's Harden should regain the skills of the middle distance, not only the breakthrough or the three points, the middle distance is still very useful at key moments.
After Rivers, Embiid called out to Harden again, "Harden plays well, but we need him to play that every game." We need to find a way to win, we need everyone, especially Harden, so we need to be on the same page. Like I said, we're trying to make sure we have a chance to win the title, so we have to play well every game. ”
The meaning is obvious, Harden wants to continue to perform strongly, not to break out and collapse. Looking at it this way, Harden really doesn't have to stay with the 76ers for a long time, at least the coach and Embiid are not used to him.