Donovan Mitchell Has Some Words For The Officiating And James Harden
You know what? I couldn’t love this move more. Actually, I lied. I could. I wish Donovan Mitchell said this at the podium or to James Harden’s face or to Mike D’Antoni or to the officials. Just let it all out.
Now, this may have not been the best game to go ahead and let the frustration out if you’re Mitchell. Harden shot just 8 free throws in Game 4, opposed to the 10 he averaged during the regular season. He did however draw a pretty, pretty questionable call on Dante Exum in the first quarter though.
Ultimately, I get it though. There’s a lot of complaining about how Harden is able to draw fouls and whether you agree with it or not it’s part of the game. I do think the majority of times the correct call is made though Harden draws a few calls with his neck snap and flopping. But, again, it’s like any other sport. If a ref is going to continue to call it why not continue to do it? It’s similar to a WR falling down and begging for a PI call.
Now what I do want to see is Mitchell take this frustration out in Game 5 and go right at Harden. Mitchell hasn’t been necessarily great this series but he’s had to play a different role with Ricky Rubio missing time. That said he still has that scorer’s mentality and I want to see him get ISO’d on Harden try to yam on him and then talk all the shit. Use lines like this directly to his face and play a bit cocky.
Now here’s 3 minutes of James Harden flopping: