Lol alright. This is so passive aggressive I cant even. Like you know its not true. This year and last year will tell you differently, even 2015 would tell you differently. But its fine if we had someone like a Damian Lillard there is no way a thread like this gets created. You guys just dont like Harden as a player/person its whatever.
This really is where most of it stems from. Just dislike. I’m not certain about Mr. Clutch in the past, but almost every single other poster who joins every single Harden bashing thread has been doing it since the beginning. Always on the first couple pages of every complaint or trade Harden thread throughout the years, wanting to trade him for someone who has turned out to be clearly worse. Never the same complaint, every year something new. Holding him to a higher standard so they can bash him for not getting there all while refusing to admit they hold him to a higher standard. Been a wild 7 years.
I'm familiar with the video, and I posted a thread defending Harden's fourth quarter after that game. What makes a great player truly transcendent is that that they go above and beyond. Harden didn't play poorly -- so I don't really blame him for the loss -- but he also didn't play great when we needed him to.
I was for the trade and loved him 2013-15. Then he dated klhoe, got fat, tanked a season, and decided he was going to play slow with as little movement as possible. There are even quotes if him saying this. Until he gets back to his previous self when he played at a faster pace and wasnt so turnover prone, he deserves criticism imo. Even Austin rivers and cp3 are saying the same things
Ok, great. Then why would you say he lost us game 5, he didnt. He played within the offense. And got us an amazing offensive rating for that quarter. He averaged 34 ppg(with 6 assists and 4 rebounds I believe) on 60 TS%(correct me if im wrong, im serous) .......so where did he not go above and beyond here. He played great when we needed him to....if averaging 34 ppg on 60 TS% cant get you wins, something is wrong. Like everyone talking about Kawhi but hes had like 31 ppg on 63 TS%.......3 ppg less and 3 % higher TS, yea Kawhi might be better but this is on the same level.
I like Harden but he’s not that caliber of player. He doesn’t seem like he would do whatever it takes to win. CP3 urged him to play faster because it was effective at the start of the fourth and he refused.
I think Harden is a fantastic player and so is Kawhi. Strength of supporting casts and of conferences aside, I prefer Kawhi's game more aesthetically. The advanced stats favor Harden in terms of efficiency, but I think Harden's scoring is more reliant on the refs. Kawhi doesn't need optimal shot selection, he can take those midrange shots and still look unstoppable. While Harden is my personal MVP pick and I'm super happy that he's our franchise player, I like Kawhi's playing style more.
I agree with you, I know many people here would not like it, but Kawhi is better overall, and aesthetically
The hate on Kawhi was manufactured by the Spurs. Looking back at it Kawhi's only sin was getting too injured to play lol. He is an easy target because he doesn't do a lot of talking and media play. But looking at how he was able to rally the Raps and pretty much beat the best team in history it shows he really is the best player in the league when healthy.
Kawhi also plays with HOF defense if you are saying Harden's offense is the same as Kawhi's then he is basically half the player Kawhi is. Being a leader doesn't just mean playing great it also means allowing your teammates to go off and succeed. This season Harden has played like a much better Westbrick, yeah ok individual offensive brilliance but it is still ME ball in the end, to the point Cp3 had to talk to him about it. Harden has been pointed out to be disengaged when he is not the one handling the ball, you can see it on the court when the last time he set a pick for someone else? For Harden scoring at a historic level is par for the course, what is above and beyond for him is being active defensively and off the ball. If he did that the Rox would have beaten GSW without KD and Cousins. Man he is already 30 and we've had him for 7 years no excuses.
The Rockets lost game 5. I never said the blame is entirely on him. It’s easy to take each loss in isolation and make excuses. In the end, the Rockets had a golden opportunity to advance when Durant went down and as a team they could not capitalize, and their best player did not elevate his play to help them capitalize. I’m with you in that it’s not fair to assume that Kawhi would have gotten the Rockets any farther if he was in Harden’s place this season. There are game situations where I’d rather have Kawhi than Harden, and vice versa.
If you talk aesthetics, I would like to mention the likes of Ray Allen, Jordan, Tmac, DWade in prime, and young Lebron. And prolly Magic.
I don’t think Kawhi could have dragged an injured rockets team into the playoffs like Harden did this year. However, I think Kawhi is still overall better. I think wings/forwards are just more impactful overall and have a natural advantage when they are very skilled.
