Lillard is not on Harden's level as a scorer, and he's nowhere near his level as a passer or facilitator...he will never run a PnR as good as Harden can and would not be as good as Harden was in MDA's system, or any system for that matter his defense is just as sh*tty as Harden's so it's not like he provides positive value on that end either Thank God u are not the GM, and thank God we are not seeing Lillard lead us to 45 win seasons while we hope to make the 2nd round. People get on Harden for his percentages in the playoffs when Dame shoots 40% from the field and under 35% from 3 in the playoffs for his career. He's not ballin in the postseason either.
Listen. I know we all DREAMED of having a superstar before Harden got here. I know Daryl Morey had wet dreams of getting a elite player until he stole Harden from OKC. I get it. Rockets fans don't want to digress back to being a team of no names. But I'll tell ya, those teams of no names (Brooks, Scola, Hayes, Landry, Battier etc..) all played hard EVERY game, EVERY possession. They NEVER quit. This Rockets team, with Harden, doesn't have that same pedigree. They will never be a gritty team with Harden as the main guy. Right now would be the perfect time to get his azz outta Houston...
someone that wants to trade harden for a toaster and some low picks probably doesn't have great risk/reward management. Js.
Is it too much to ask for a more athletic and passionate player who doesn't shrink during big games as the face of our franchise? I don't think so.
You're assessment of Lillard says you haven't watched the man play that much. You probably just did a quick google search, glanced at his numbers and came up with this ridiculous conclusion. First off Lillard, may or may not be a better scorer. They both put the ball in the basket at a high level. The difference is Lillard's numbers are on a team that isn't nearly as good as ours. The system he's in isn't in the same category as MDA's. So you gotta understand if Lillard's already scoring 27pts in a offense that's average at best, he'll probably come here and lead the league in scoring under MDA. His assist will go up as well. But the BIGGEST difference is the EFFORT. We know in Lillard we're getting a player that's going to want to win. Harden doesn't want it, he's a quitter (this is not the 1st time he's mailed in in). Give me a superstar who'll give it 100% every game
Well your little assumption is wrong. Lillard is not the better scorer, period. He is not a better scorer than 14-15 Harden or 15-16 Harden, and Harden wasn't in MDA's system those seasons. The Blazers offense is average at best? Lol, u have no idea what you're talking about. The Blazers run a lot of nice off ball stuff, and they are always around the top 10 in offensive efficiency. This year they were 11th. Last season they were 7th. The year before that they were 8th. The year before that they were 5th. So average at best? Yeah, no... The Blazers aren't nearly as good as us? Another statement that isn't reality. Nurkic would be our best Big BY FAR. McCollum would easily be our 2nd best player and it isn't even close. We overachieved. We were barely supposed to make the playoffs this year and were supposed to be a .500 team. Or did u already forget that? Give Harden a CJ McCollum and a big like Nurkic and watch him win 60 games. Maybe u should do a quick google search before spouting alternative facts.
Lillard might not be the better player, but he has way bigger heart than Harden. So sick and tired of seeing our so-called superstar disappear during big games. As the OP already pointed out, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." The fact is Harden's style of play just doesn't translate that well in the playoffs, hence we will always be handicapped by his poor post-season performance.
Good thing you weren't running the Rockets back in the day because following your logic it would have been time to trade Olajuwon around 91 or so.
Portland is medicore at best. They barely made the playoffs this year, and will be fighting for a 8th seed next year too. We're a better team with a better system that fits our players. The whole system is predicated off James Harden. If you read my post I never said Lillard was the superior scorer or even a better player. With Lillard you're getting a player that can score just as much, but actually TRIES. You can work around the pros & cons when you're superstar gives a MAXIMUM effort and has the respect of his teammates. Yes I'd trade James Harden, a player known to QUIT for guys who other guys who play hard
You do realize the ONLY reason he was holding them was because he too often loses his man when guarding the perimeter, right?
for any player who won't choke when it really matters, and who doesn't pathetically quit in front of the national audience.
This is exactly the thread I would have expected to read had Clutchfans been up and running after Rockets failed to make playoffs in 1992; it appeared Dream had faked an injury; and he demanded a trade.
The reason he was guarding them while they're steady dumping the ball into rhe post is because MDA got outcoached by Popovich for the 2nd straight game. Harden was pitiful but D'Antoni 's rotations and gameplan were STUPID. Putting Harden down low means you're basically surrendering the boards and thus they got pounded on the glass and couldn't " Play with pace". He surrendered the pace of the game to SA. Aldridge and Gasol are two of the most skilled bigs in the NBA and you're asking james to stop them when they're the focal points of SA's offense? To compound it MDA was reluctant to double which meant Anderson, Harden and Caplea were toast. MDA's 7 man rotation was ridiculous as well, especially when the guys playing are struggling vs a bigger lineup. MDA overplayed the "mad scientist " routine and got his ass kicked by good old fashion rebounding, defense, and matchup exploitation. Harden's no show was the death blow to the whole scenario, but MDA was as bad as Harden was the last two games.
I don't care how good he is (or can be if he cares). I hate him and just want him gone. He spat on Houston with those last two games.
There is a first for everything. I actually agreed with penultimate (after Sir Charles) braying ass Stephen A. Smith's postmortem: "there should be an investigation." Harden should be drug-tested for cause, examined by a neurologist, and surveilled for mob ties. If there's no fixable explanation for his "effort" last night, he should be traded. I've been a Rockets fan since the franchise moved to Houston, and I've never seen such a catastrophic, season-ending melt-down by our team leader-- except, of course, for that last time Harden did it, when he turned his jersey number into the all-time playoff turnover record (though there seems to be a media conspiracy to say he only had 12 TOs). If he's our PG, we got no chance. Trade him, or move him back to his natural position, where he'd be most useful (since defense matters) coming off the bench as a "microwave." We need a lot more killer instinct on this team-- Morey, that starts with you!
THANK YOU!!! At last someone who actually watched the game without getting drunk on the red koolaid! Once I saw that SA was defending the Rockets' PNR with just two guys, I knew they were toast because having listened to the MDA post-game pressers, I knew he wouldn't adjust to this strategy and would, instead, double down on what wasn't working. Putting Harden in that position where the SA bigs were able to lean and pound on him not only was stupid but had to take its toll and had to be responsible for Harden's diminished attitude last night. Having played the entire season flying up and down court, drawing fouls and swooping to the basket, Harden was faced with playing a game where nothing was going right for him and his team. Last night, Pop poured quicksand onto the court, forced the Rox to play a half-court game and it worked to perfection as the Rox had no answers - they just kept jacking up shots (and blowing layups). Which is why Pop's teams have beaten him 5 straight times in the playoffs. Need more? Three of the Rockets lowest scoring games (which were losses) were to - you guessed it - SA. With that victory, Pop has now beaten every team in the Western Conference during the playoffs and that's no small feat and definitely not a fluke.
