Eh. Screw the media. They have never shown respect. After our title in 94 SI had to be strong armed into printing something on the rockets title and then only 300,000 to be released in Houston only. So Harden being on the receiving end of it is nothing new. Good news is that Harden seems to have a chip on his shoulder last year as he should. Last year, while he put up numbers, was not a good year for James. Started out by dating that flake Khole and then what boils down to empty stats. This year he seems hungry. Hope it holds.
It started when it was noticed how laughable Harden's defense was. I can understand the media slander at a guy who only play(s)(ed) one side of the ball. That said, I am a Harden fan and his reputation will improve immensely if he can demonstrate a good work ethic on the defensive side of the ball.
That's more proof that they don't really watch Harden's games other than some silly vine clips of him making defensive mistakes, because obviously he plays some defense, just not that good. And there are many worse defenders than him in this league, names like Lillard and Irving comes to mind. Imagine if Harden literally played zero defense, we would give up like 180 points per game. Obviously, that's not the case and Harden's defensive rating and other metrics show that he's a pretty average to below average defender. So in no way Harden deserves this level of hate, it's just a byproduct of scapegoating in the social media era we live in.
This. Anyone who watches First Take deserves the **** that will get shoved in their face. What a sad waste of someone's time.
I actually agree with Stephen A. Smith to wait and see against more elite defenses. I completely don't agree with the other guy. And 21st on D deserves more credit considering the players playing.
How about beating the Spurs in San Antonio and shredding the two-time Defensive Player of the Year?? The Spurs have historically have had a good (if not, great) defense and are currently at 8th in defensive rating this season.
These were definitely my immediate thoughts, principally #1. They're middle of the league in pace, not shooting the ball in 8 seconds or less every time as SAS implies. Because SAS clearly isn't actually paying attention. If he was paying attention, he'd further know that even with that average pace, the offense is as much if not more of prior year's offense than MDAs. I think they do focus on running a little more, and do have way more fluidity in their paycalling and plays. But's its not a crazy motion offense reminiscent of the Suns, or even the current GSW. It's a mix of solid plays, emphasis on moving the ball that they are actually listening to more often, the addition of legitimate offensive players in Andersen and Gordon, and moving Harden to PG officially. That all being the case, it further confuses me as to the MDA hire. Perhaps his brand name has the players buying in. But all of the above could have been accomplished with other head coaches that might also for whatever reason have the players buying in more on teh defensive end. That said, its fun and all to bash MDA for his lack of focus on defense... but no one is turning these players into defensive stalwarts.
They suck! They obviously are biased and don't really watch the Rockets. I wanted to PUNCH that dude in the face, both of them!
I expected the defense to come around more slowly than the offense. We must remember that the defense SUCKED before MDA got here, and that's before losing Dwight to guard the paint to whatever degree. They have shown glimpses of playing solid defense occasionally, and holding the Spurs to under 100 was a full game of it. If the defense can moderately improve by the playoffs, and the offense continue to get even more explosive, the Rockets will be a tough out in the playoffs for any NBA team, and might surprise the league....IF!
Ok so who in H town thought for one minute we had a championship team on our hands after Dwight split ? no body. The team is definitely exceeding expectations in many ways, and considering our no 1 defensive player has not played one minute, and DMo has not come in yet, there is justifiable excitement. I luv watching them now. The movement without the ball and the crazy patterns harden is running in the offense also is just another level. If we sweep the Spurs, yeah it will get a little attention. Being tied for first in our division doesn't suck either.
There is absolutely no reason to watch first take now that skip is gone. Its literally just Stephen A screaming for two hours while Max plays point -counterpoint. On top of that, nothing they said made sense, "Harden is only good because MDA's system inflates player stats" because we all know that the warriors system is holding Curry back. And of course they had to feed the national media narrative "the Rockets don't care about defense". They're both idiots. These are people that only watch clips of nationally televised games, their opinions are worthless. The only good thing on espn is his and hers, maybe pti but thats it. The reason I like Skip is because Skip doesn't do anything else but watch sports and talk sports so if he says something especially when I know he watches every single Spurs game, I know he believes it and its not because theirs a producer in his ear saying "use the word bloviate in your next argument"
It's absurd. If anyone on the left coast were putting up these numbers, they would be anointing them as the greatest of all time. Who cares about coach, system, opponents, etc.? These numbers are ridiculous for a rec league, much less the NBA.
Stephen a smith commentating during the pacquiao vs vargas fight was uncomfortable to listen. Wanted to Bradley to punch him in the face so badly.
Heard that Disney has been struggling to earn a profit with ESPN due to all the cord cutting. This makes me hope ESPN and their POS agenda continues to tank
Yesterday on Highly Questionable, Around the Horn, and PTI were all giving love to Harden and the Rockets for their win in SA. It was "weirdly refreshing" seeing that from that channel.
I'm trying to wrap my mind around this new "system inflated" stats narrative. They never once said Nash's stats were inflated due to MDA's system. Nash was the main facilitator; Nash was the one who got people in the right place to succeed. So what if the Rockets system calls for players to get shots up quickly, YOU STILL HAVE TO MAKE SHOTS. Remember when the Rockets defense was rated LAST? Now it's 21st trending up.
I watched those shows. I remember something a bit differently. There were some good things about Harden because his stats are undeniable, but their statements were dripping with skepticism and incredulity moving forward..
I know what you're referring to; it was about Harden's self-confidence about directly calling himself the "best player in the NBA". The part that was refreshing was that they didn't grill him mercilessly about defense, like they usually would do. I understand wanting to see if this pace holds up for the full 82+ season, but if it does (and I personally think it will), he would be at the top of the list for the MVP award.
