Nba, James Harden: what happened to the real Beard?

He has a long beard, the iconic one that has won thousands of fans around the world. He wears the tank top with Harden on the back. But he bears no resemblance to James Harden, at least not the devastating offensive weapon that when he played in Houston put together a production not seen since Wilt Chamberlain. This is the version of the Beard that Philadelphia would need in the series against Miami, which began without Joel Embiid. Except Harden can’t be that kind of player anymore.

the flop

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The demonstration came in Game-1 between Sixers and Heat. He needed more from Harden, he needed him to take charge of the team at an attacking level as he did in the good old days, he needed a game as a phenomenon. Instead the Barba stopped at 16 points with 5/13 shooting, with only 4 trips to the line and without ever the feeling of being able to dominate. “For sure I can be more aggressive – he said -. Miami was very physical with me, the defenders made me feel their presence every time I touched the ball. I have to find a way to improve ”. Doc Rivers defends him: “It’s not just James – says the coach -: without Embiid it’s a question of the team. It’s who we are, a team, and we have to play as such: Harden has to score more, but we have to help him ”.

the numbers in the playoffs

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It is not a one-night stand, the effect of a particularly effective defense. Harden is averaging 18.6 points per game in these playoffs, his lowest figure since he left Oklahoma City in 2012 to become a star in Houston. Against the Raptors in the first round he reached a maximum of 22 points (three times), with the consolation of 10.2 assists on average. But against Toronto he was the shoulder of Joel Embiid, the metronome of a team whose attack does not revolve around him but at the center that is now trying to heal from a concussion and an orbital fracture in his right eye. Against Miami he must be the center of the attack. And Harden hasn’t been that player for a long time.

evolution

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The serial scorer remained in Houston, in the 8 games at 25 points average before the break that brought him to Brooklyn in January 2021. It is to the Nets that Harden began his evolution, choosing the path of playmaking and sacrificing offensive production to live with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. But his offensive involution is also a consequence of physical troubles: landed in Philadelphia, Harden stopped to work off a muscle problem that had been tormenting him for a month. Barba has never been a fan of training, of the sculpted physique, but he has always compensated with his offensive talent. Now, in addition to not looking particularly fit, he seems to have lost the explosiveness, the ability to get to the iron with ease, to hypnotize the defender with feints and then strike with a triple death. As if years of extravagance outside the field were presenting the bill, on the threshold of 33 years.

in philadelphia

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The version of Harden seen so far in the playoffs is the same as seen in Philadelphia: from February onwards, Barba played 21 games with the Sixers, dropping his offensive production to 21 points on average, shooting 40.2% from the field and 32.6% from three (both of his worst figures ever). Only the assists did not go down: 10.5 per game, in line with the last two seasons. This is the Beard that Philadelphia wanted to aim for the title with by making him number 2 in Embiid. Except that now, with the Cameroonian out, Phila would need old Harden, the one he shot in flurry and managed the weight of the attack by himself. That Beard, however, seems to have definitively disappeared. Overwhelmed by ailments, by an unruly life, by physical wear. And unable to return to resemble himself.