I wasn't arguing to trade him (unless the pelicans want to give us Anthony Davis) I agree the talent is there and he is a top 5 talent. First option is to get him back to what he was 2014-15 and before when he had much more energy and was penetrating and pushing the pace much more, plus playing better d and with fewer turnovers. Also moved off the ball some and shot fewer threes at a higher percentage
Hate? No. Disappointed? Most certainly. You can only witness those types of performances in crucial games before you get fed up. Offensively, he needs to go back to the elbow post game when he is struggling. I seriously think he shot maybe 5 all season. This was unstoppable 2 seasons ago. He also needs to play off ball a team times so he has enough energy not to be a black hole on defense.
No Mathlocker. He didn't **** the bed in game 6. He didn't show up at all. There's a vast difference between these two. There are chockers. There are "franchise" players whose talent isn't enough. There are even superstars who get exposed because there are huge holes in their game that in a playoff set are laid bare for the other team to take advantage of. There are players who can't handle the pressure. There are players who lack the experience and get overwhelmed in the big stage. There are failures every year in young and old in roleplayers and superstars. BUT at least they try. Harden didn't try. From the first minute of the game until he fouled out he didn't try. If you think that ppl here overreact, are hysteric and excessive maybe that's what you don't understand. This is not a reaction to a loss. This isn't even a reaction to a simple choke. This is a reaction to his quitting. And the ones who should be most angry about it is the Rockets fans. The right response is not to support this and stand by him. He disrespected us fans of the team, and the game. I can't support someone like that. Period. When the talent is there but there is no heart I can't stand by that player and support him ESPECIALLY if he wears the jersey of my teams. As for discreding what he achieved in the RS...honestly I couldn't care less. MVP is an individual achievement. ALL NBA first team is an individual achievement. I don't care. I am not a Harden only fan. I am a Rocket fan. I care when it matters in the playoffs, the franchise player at the very least to show up. Even if in the end we lose, at least to lose knowing we did the best we could.
The stars will always get the blame when the ship goes down, or in Harden's case, when they fail to even get on the ship when its time to leave port. Harden still has some mental flaws that he needs to deal with before taking the next step forward. The good news is that similar things happened with others who came before him (Lebron, Kobe, Dirk, etc) and they ended up winning. Harden definitely was a no-call,no-show in game 6 though. That's not acceptable and I hope it doesn't hurt our chances for attracting other star players. He could certainly use some more all-star help, and hopefully Morey finds a way to get us a Paul George type player who can shoulder an offense on his own while still being productive at the defensive end. I never expected Harden to take us all the way on his own, but the way he checked out mentally will leave a bad taste in my mouth for quite some time.
No. i'll give him another year to right the wrongs of game 6. Harden is not getting traded anytime soon so we have to hope for the best because he has unlimited ability .
I think hate is too strong a verb for such a passive subject. More like "disdain" or "disrespect." Whatever, I don't see how a Rockets fan can invest in Harden.
Dude has cemented his legacy in htown sports history. He quit in an elimination game 6, at home and against a depleted Spurs team no less. This was the worst debacle in htown sports history. Yes bigger that one or that one. How we know dude won't go Space Jam on us again? That's just it. We don't! Side eye for life.
The latest Lowe Post has some insight into his end of game 5 and game 6 performance. Something's that might make you rethink whether he quit or not. Who knows. As if it's some sort of surprise I think you are insane if you want this guy gone.
1) Harden does give us a fighting chance against Non-Warriors teams. That's fairly obvious. 2) Of course he's lacking another star 3) Why do people only remember Game 6 of the LAC series? He was good in most of the other games, we won the series, and Harden was flawless in Game 7 to seal the deal.
Strategic rest implies maybe not playing or trying to play every game, even through injury, while also having one of the 5 heaviest workloads in the NBA. I hope that happens as well.
1) I think he had two bad games in 6 games. Couple of ok ones and one or two great games. It is obvious enough but not good enough. I dun even think the Spurs played their best basketball. I dun even think Westbrook did play his best. Same thing could have been said about Harden but this is a constant in his playoff career. 2) Well, ok. 3) People always remember the bad, that is how ppl are wired because the good is not tangible enough. We get no trophy. As I said in another thread he used up all his energy in the regular season and his energy level cannot compete with other elite superstars who can elevate their games into another stratosphere. It is what it is. This has been going on for quite some time.
Nobody remembers game 5 and game 7 were elimination games in that clippers series too. Game 5 harden had a triple double, game 7 he closed it out. It had happened but were only trained to remember the other series.
His 2015 playoffs we really good except for a couple of bad games. He was playing really hard and well
Lmao. C'mon man. Nobody "elevates their game to another stratosphere" in the playoffs. (okay, maybe Lebron, maybe the greatest athlete and basketball player of all time). It'd be nice if Clutchfans could at least try to calm down on the hyperboles. I think Harden needs to, as D'Antoni put it, strategically rest a little more often. It just helps in the long run in terms of overall body management. Sounds like that's the plan for next year, which is good.
The worst part of this is it's gonna take at least a year before Harden redeems himself. Even if he has a good regular season next year, people are still going to doubt him because it is just as likely that Harden disappears during important playoff games. From a talent perspective, Harden has too many holes in his game to lift this team to a championship level with only bunch of role-players by his side. Hakeem and Tim Duncan were able to do that, but they were complete players on both ends of the floor. Harden is not even complete offensively, because he relies too much on the foul-calls, turns the ball over at an excessive rate, doesn't (or can't) play off-ball, and his 3PT shooting is in decline. Harden is a very good player, but he's not as great as some people here consider him as, and it would certainly take more than Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon for us to make noises in the playoffs. It's time to readjust our expectations as to how far Harden can carry his team as the single best option.
I think Harden needed some rest. He put it all out there game 5 ( be it in a losing effort without Kawhi .) Also, I think him knowing he got a his shot blocked by Ginobli killed his spirits. We cant give up on James. If we look back on some of the games we lost against the spurs , our role players DID NOT SHOW UP. 40+ points with a loss? Thats the role players. EGO has to score, Lou has to score , Ryno has to score . And NeNe being gone was also a big factor defensively. Lastly a thing I want to put out is, if a player shoots 14+ free throws in the regular season, and then 7+ in the series, there obviously is gonna be a decline. Thats James' bread and butter . He needa to see the free throws fall to get in his rhythm and the refa and spurs would not give him that. I have not given up on James or the Rockets.
Now? Go check game threads. In leading to his 2nd deserved MVP award he was dogged by poster after poster for every misstep. I know people are just passionate, I get it (I don't but whatever) people gotta vent sometimes but the treatment he gets around here by presumed fans is pretty astonishing. Sometimes? I meant to say regularly. He is regularly crucified around here for everything he does. Idk what to call it even, homerism kinda but like...hate. Obsessed with complaining or something. A big glass of stfu for some folks lol
Reeko is actually a moron just like yourself, believe it or not. If you think that rooting against a loser on your team is the same as rooting for a franchise to fail, you two can both F yourselves. WHY THE F WOULD I BOTHER ROOTING AGAINST A PLAYER ON MY TEAM UNLESS I ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT THE FRANCHISE ITSELF SO WHOLEHEARTEDLY, YOU CLOSED-MINDED IMBECILE. You're a true fan alright, just like the one's that arrive late due to traffic, and don't fill up the bottom bowl, yet drink beer and cuss at the players like you're a part owner and really know whats going on. I'm almost sure that's you, you reek of it. Now, I left Reeko alone because of his age, and English may not be his first language, not an insult, I just honestly believe that may be the case. But you? I'm more than happy to tee off on your punk ass. Damn, you typed "tho," nevermind... Edit: Some recent posts from this guy: "Dude, slow your roll," Yo dis sux," and "No homo?" Wow, can someone please have an intellectual conversation with me about this?! I guess this is what I get by posting on an internet forum, but for the love of all things holy, please don't respond to my posts if you have said any of the above things in any of your posts here, thanks in advance.
