James Harden was Paid Off

I've had 48 hours to calm down, but the feelings are still very strong. Something happened that caused James Harden to play like an NBDL player over the last weeks of his NCAA career. Harden is supposed to be a top five pick in this year's NBA draft, but you wouldn't know it if you only caught the last three games of Arizona State's season.

Let's start with Saturday, March 14th when ASU took on USC in the Pac-10 final. The Sun Devils were sitting on a comfortable 15-point half time lead and all looked well. USC came out with a second half press that threw off ASU's typically methodical offense. Whether it was PG Derek Glasser's lack of confidence or coach Herb Sendek's direction, James Harden started bringing the ball up the floor. With a couple well placed turnovers here and poor shots there, USC was on their way to an epic comeback. The game rested in the balance when Harden twice took the ball to the basket, leading to one off-balanced layup attempt and one offensive foul. Who knew I'd be calling for some of that aggression a week later, but we'll get to that. Harden's blunders were too much for his teammates to overcome, but it's hard to do anything when your best player decides to be the selfish aggressor. Maybe Harden was attempting to compensate for his measly nine points in his team's biggest game of the season to date. Maybe he was trying to get to the line more than his two previous attempts, a number which was his second lowest since January. Or maybe there was another reason...

Harden's 1 for 8 shooting against Temple in the first round of the NCAA Tournament was inconsequential because it was only Temple and the Sun Devils controlled most of the game. The second round game against Syracuse, however, was not a game ASU could afford Harden to be absent from. Yet at halftime, the Sun Devils were down nine points and there sat James Harden with a first half bagel. Four shots were all Harden took in the first half, all from the same spot at the top of the circle. How could a player known for his slick drives to the basket be relegated to jump shots from the perimeter? Should a coach have to remind his best player, the top five draft pick, that he might be playing in his last college game? I think not. Everyone knows ASU's fate rested in the hands of their best player, except Small Game James looked as if he had partied too hard in South Beach the night before. Or maybe there was another reason...

Some may call me bitter, but I'm actually going to go as far as to say that I'm stupid. I pride myself on the "eye test" with teams and ASU failed miserably in that category when I watched them in the second half of the Pac-10 final. ASU had looked sharp at multiple points in the season, but that second half screamed out for the team to be devalued. My memory was too short when a couple days later I advanced them to the Elite Eight in my bracket. The efficiency numbers were good, the opponents in their region weren't as strong as the opponents for other #6 seeds in other regions, and they should've been motivated after the Pac-10 disappointment. This was a team was poised to make a run with their effective zone defense, proficient three-point shooting, and Wooden Award candidate. Unfortunately they ran into a Syracuse team that was playing too well to be defeated. Or maybe there was another reason...

James Harden was paid off.