Hmm, sorry if I'm not being persuaded by these two arguments: 1. People who call out Harden are just HATERS. [/Taylor Swift style] 2. The team was bad. Harden is a pretty big part of the team.. if you think back, you might remember that he also had a very questionable off season. (Hint: it included a massive shoe deal, a lot of celebrity debauchery, and his coach calling him out for his shape during training camp). Let's be real. Harden has major flaws... they don't disappear if you put your fingers in your ears and yell "haters". As fans, we should be crossing our fingers really hard that Harden shows up fired up this year.
huh? Nobody hates Harden. We aren't like Tinman and Tmac. We want this team to succeed. What we want/need is Harden to put some effort on the defensive end of the court. When he does that, we'll stop "piling on."
the name of the game is WINNING - not stat padding... So explain to me how James was so much better than the majority of everyone else... and the game is played on BOTH ends of the court it's not pick and chose what you want to do... There's plenty of blame to go around for last season (coaching fiasco, poor shooting, D12 checking out, etc...) and rather than be a leader who helps the team rise above the distractions, James contributed to the mess. People can point at stats all they want but James is pretty much given the power to take any and all opportunities to excel (as opposed to other guys that only GET the ball due to Harden's good graces) - so he SHOULD put up stellar numbers - the whole gameplan (if ever there was one) is catered to him...
And Dwight was the best Rockets player in last year's playoffs, or very close to. And if all it took was Harden, why did we only just make the playoffs, got easily bounced in the 1st round, and had to fire a head coach 11 games into the season.
You may be right on some of these issues, but ask yourself why would Morey say in an interview that this was an issue and it needs to be addressed next season? Perhaps you're willing to let the e
he never put "some" effort in all defensive plays? can you give proof on that? what can you say on the level on effort he puts in playmaking, passing, scoring, attacking the rim, getting contact, and rebounding?
do you think the rockets' wins last season was because of harden or despite of him? name a player which you can switch james harden with which you feel could have given the rockets significantly more wins while giving the other team significantly more losses and not being exhasted and injured after the season?
Listen newbie cakes I want the ROCKETS to succeed. Why would I care about a player who regrets leaving Toronto? Harden is frustrating because we know that he's significantly better and more reliable than Tracy McGrady. McGrady only played 20 playoff games. Can you imagine if you newbie Rockets fan had a superstar who played so little?? I want you to watch Clutch City and see what a real superstar for the rockets does.
LOL jealous about his shoe deal and celebrity status? that is the very definition of hating you think James not getting a shoe deal, commercials, celebrity status would have stopped beverly, ariza, smith, terry, jones from sucking, DMO's back injury, howard being a p***y, mchale and jb not having a clue? rockets been winning because of harden not the other way around
Maybe we should ask harden to wave his hands around in the air really fast so the basketball laymen think he's playing better defense. You know, since looking the part means more than actually playing the part.
Its clear that Harden has to follow the road, the road that leads us where the healing waters flow. Couldn't help myself. I agree with that notion. There has literally been a media witch-hunt to make this guy look bad. I watched every game this season, James Harden was spectacular. It frustrates me to see all these followers talking about he needs to play defense, its obvious they're just following the media trend. Can his defense be better, sure it can, is it as bad as the media portrays? Not even close. Its annoying especially to see people who call themselves Rockets fans but crap all over the franchise player
You do know that Harden isn't over leaving Oklahoma City correct? He's expressed that several times. So one would think he regrets leaving the Thunder as well. And don't you know Tracy still loves the Rockets. Dude still comes to a lot of Rockets games.
Quote me when harden said he regrets signing with the rockets Give me written proof All Tracy fans reply with hypothetical situations That's why they'll never be real fans
Yes, he sits down in the front row wearing nice clothes... just like he did every other game in his last two years with the Rockets. same thing.
Harden has lots of faults. maybe the most for a Rockets star, but he's durable and proven. he has not reach Tmac or Steve Francis decline yet or a combination of both, so we're lucky in that sense.
I've said it before. Energy is a kind of talent too. Pat Beverley wouldn't have been an NBA player if he wasn't a high energy guy. If Harden doesn't have enough energy to play on both ends, then he is just not an elite talent in that facet of being a professional basketball player. Klay Thompson dropped 40 points while playing solid defense. Kawhi Leonard plays great defense while also being one of the main guys on offense. But I believe that Harden's problem is not energy. It's focus. He just cannot seem to stay focused when he is not on the ball. This is true on both offensive and defensive ends. He is actually a decent on ball defender. He is just a piss poor team defender. He constantly loses his man while ball watching. Focus is probably also the reason why he doesn't like playing off ball. Playing off ball requires staying focused when you are not having the ball. He can't do that, not for a long stretch.
I think if you swapped james for any number of players (Klay, Butler, etc) and spread the ball out a little more and got more guys engaged on a nightly basis we could have delivered the same mediocre results...
