1st thread ever for me. Don't get me wrong, James Harden frustrates me beyond comprehension. His lazy defense, bad help defense, forcing passes through key holes, giving up after turn overs he commits, and losing aggression when he has a physical defender. All those things frustrate me but he's still a superstar. I see these Harden bashing threads after a loss and it's sad. I mean, do players like Harden grow on trees? Can you literally just discard one player and instantly replace them with a better player? Obviously the answer is no. So to clutch fans, appreciate your superstar. We haven't had one in a long time. So chill with the knee jerk threads.
Harden will keep the Rox relevant but he's not the type of player that can take an organization to a championship without another legit star preferably another perimeter star player. That after a while can be frustrating if you're wanting to feel like your team has a chance to win it all.
I'm with u OP, I'm so pissed right now, but we wouldn't even be here without him. He's still easily a top 5 player in the NBA even with all of his flaws. 3 main things I think he needs to clean up 1. his turnovers: some of them are just mindless...u can't be getting stripped from behind twice by Jonathan Simmons and having 3 turnovers in OT 2. his shot selection: he now fancies himself as some elite 3 point sniper for some reason and keeps jacking them up like he's Curry while making them like he's Westbrook...15 of his 24 shots tonight were from deep and he only made 4 of them while going 7-9 from inside the arc 3. propensity to take way too long to start his move or initiate the offense during crunch time
I would hope not. He weighs like 225 with good posture? He'd break the branch. hehehehehehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehhehehe. I like it.
What year do any of you think that the Rockets should have won the Championship with Harden Pick the year where we really should have won . . where we lost to an inferior team? 2012–13 82 45 37 .549 3rd, Southwest Lost First Round, 2–4 (Thunder) < #1 seeded Thunder 2013–14 82 54 28 .659 2nd, Southwest Lost First Round, 2–4 (Trail Blazers) <-- HAD the same record but we had the Tie Breaker 2014–15 82 56 26 .683 1st, Southwest Lost in Conference Finals, 1–4 (Warriors)< #1 seeded Warriors 2015–16 82 41 41 .500 4th, Southwest Lost First Round, 1–4 (Warriors) < #1 seeded Warriors This year we are going against the #2 seeded Spurs who won 61 games. The Portland Series is probably the only one were underacheived . . . . . maybe Just let me know where I am wrong? Where am I lying? Rocket River
People give up far too easily here. We've had guys say Paul George is better, seriously, look it up. We had people say OJ Mayo...yes.....OJ Mayo is better than Harden. Dudes always reacting to the moment, let them. This team is in a good spot now, even if we lose to the Spurs we are in a good spot. Better than about 25 other teams. We are in this spot thanks to Harden more than anything. A generational player that we'll be lucky to have on our team a decade after he retires. Just enjoy the ride, the memories, etc and remember, Dirk was a choker until he won his championship.
I mean, u can say that about every superstar in the NBA. Even Lebron needed a Wade and Bosh or a Kyrie and Love next to him. Harden + role players is not enough to win a chip.
I don't think anyone here is saying that Harden is Trash but needs another Superstar. Just like Kawahi Leonard does. Put harden on the spurs, they are deadly, put Leonard on the Rockets, they are deadly.
How many players in the past 3 drafts have the potential to be better than Harden is now? Towns maybe?? I don't think anyone else comes close. Harden is a bona fide superstar and when you have one you build around them because any other possible move would be a downgrade.
True. Lebron still lead a worse roster than the Rox to the finals though earlier on in his career. I'm just not a real believer in Harden being the best number 1 on a real contender.
Exactly. Kobe couldn't win without elite bigs, Lebron couldn't win without elite perimeter help, Jordan had one of the top 5 SF's of all time in Pippen plus other HOF help like Rodman, Curry has 3 teammates who will likely make the HOF barring injury, who exactly does Harden have??? People have unrealistic expectations for Harden, imo. He's one of the best offensive players the game has ever seen but even that isn't enough to win you a title in 2017. Were is Westbitch right now? Oh yeah, he's fishing.
"not the type of player"? No team has done this in 10+ years since the Wade Heat. Basically nobody living on the planet currently us that type of player.
The mental lapses he has during games drives me nuts. Turnovers at crucial points of the games, lazy passes, trying to draw the foul instead of just going up strong, and the matador defense are things he WILL have to clean up if he wants to get to the next level. He is an amazing player, but like some of the other greats (Lebron) he has to learn what it takes to win at the highest level. Lebron used to get killed for being a choker and deferring to his teammates. It's frustrating because everyone here knows that if he can clean those things up, he can bring a championship to Houston. He is that special.
I agree it takes more than one star in today's nba with super teams. I guess my biggest point I'm trying to make is I just don't like Harden as a number 1.
Yeah, but the East was incredibly pathetic when he did that. The only team worth talking about back then was the Pistons. He had no shot of winning the title that year, and he got swept in the finals. There's only like 3 or 4 players in the NBA that are better than Harden, and the Rockets won't be getting any of them. He can be the best player on a contending team, but he better have at least 1 other top 10 guy next him as well as a legit 3rd option.
