On Sunday the Nets dropped their second game of the season to the upstart Charlotte Hornets. They lost 111-95 in the home opener and were only able to muster 47 second half points, with just 17 in the 4th. They now sit at just 1-2. Kevin Durant was not the problem. KD had a game high 38 points on 17-of-24 from the field to go with his five rebounds, three assists, and a single steal. But the rest of the team shot just 21-of-63 from the floor.
James Harden has flirted with a triple-double in all three games this season. He doesn't have one yet but he is filling up the box scores. Harden finished with 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. The Beard also had eight turnovers and five personal fouls, not his most efficient game. But the weirdest part of all might have been watching an entire basketball game where Harden only attempted a single free throw.
Harden averaged double digit free throw attempts during seven seasons of his career. His last full go-round in Houston he shot 11.8 FTA per contest. This year? He's only averaging three shots per game from the stripe. What gives?
For one thing, the NBA has made it a point of emphasis to no longer reward offensive players who make “non-basketball” plays.
Remember, just last season, Nets coach Steve Nash was frustrated with the way Atlanta Hawks' star Trae Young was officiated. It appeared Nash mouthed the words “that's not basketball,” last season while witnessing Young draw foul after foul on his “break-check move.” The one where he jumps backwards or sideways into defenders:
Trae Young drew the ire of Nets HC Steve Nash who may have mouthed "that's not basketball". Interesting to see how the NBA goes about officiating this moving forward #ProIntuition
Vid: https://t.co/TJtStbP2mz pic.twitter.com/zEuMcKYPEB
— Intuition Hoops (@IntuitionHoops) January 2, 2021
After the game Sunday against Charlotte, coach Steve Nash was asked about officials not giving Harden calls he is used to receiving.
“Yeah I think he's gotta stick with it,” the head coach said encouraging his de facto point guard. “I feel like he’s unfairly become the poster boy of not calling these fouls. But some of them are definitely fouls still, but [officials are] just so alert and aware and he’s the poster child of these new [rules]. I get it there’s a line but some of them are still fouls. So he’s just gotta stick with it.”
Kevin Durant certainly didn't sound worried about it becoming a trend.
Kevin Durant on James Harden no longer drawing fouls: "I don't think rule changes are affecting anyone's game, to be honest."
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) October 24, 2021
What about Harden himself, is he concerned or frustrated? Harden was asked if he agreed with coach Nash's assessment that officials may be treating him a bit differently because of his reputation.
“Yeah for sure, but I'm not the type to complain about it,” said Harden. “Sometimes I feel like coming into a game it's already predetermined or I already have that stigma of getting foul calls but I just ask for officials to call what they see.”
Beyond the issue of not getting to the line, Harden doesn't quite look like he's 100 percent yet. It's only three games into the year. And he spent a large portion of his summer resting and rehabbing a grade two hamstring issue. It seems he hasn't regained peak performance yet.
After the loss, Harden was asked where he's at physically and in terms of his confidence:
“I’m just getting my confidence back you know, I’m a little hesitant…. you guys can see it,” The Beard admitted. “Going through a lot of ups and downs last year and then coming into training camp healthy, then making sure my conditioning is where it needed to be.”
The Nets star continued:
“Just making sure my confidence continues to build and that's all that maters,” the 2018 MVP added. “Were in game 3 and hopefully my confidence- well not hopefully-but my confidence will rise. It will continue to get better as games go on, I'll get more confident, and I [will] get that burst of speed like I'm normally used to. So no worries at all.”
It sounds like Harden understands that the officials have cracked down on a few of his tricks (like the one where he hooks his arm under a defender's in order to make it look like he's being fouled). But he doesn't seem concerned because he knows he's still going to draw fouls eventually. He's too good of a scorer and play-maker not to, defenders often flail (if not fall) trying to slow him down.
It's interesting although not surprising to hear him give an honest assessment of where he's at physically. He's not quite up to his usual standards and it does sound like that affects his confidence a bit.
But my hunch is that both he and the Nets have decided to take a conservative approach. It's wise to ramp him up slowly. But when that time comes where he regains that burst and doesn't have to worry about the hamstring… look out. And who knows, maybe he'll start getting a few more calls as well.
Follow Us
Subscribe