He definitely controls the ball a whole hell of a lot more. He thinks he's not earning his money if his hands aren't on the ball.
It is not only Parson's that feel this way. DH has also put it out there in the media. He didn't specifically say Harden, but you can read between the lines As I stated previously, it's not Harden's fault, but the coach. http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2013/12/dwight-howard-calls-rockets-effort-in-loss-piss-poor/ Following a 97-88 home loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard blasted his team’s effort (or lack thereof) in comments to the media. Per CSN Houston and NBA.com: “Despite having their worst-shooting performance of the season and committing 23 turnovers, Howard was more displeased about the effort he saw from his team. ‘It was piss-poor effort out there on defense and offense,’ Dwight Howard said. ‘The ball stuck tonight and we didn’t move it and we can’t win that way. They just played harder than us. It’s got to be important for guys to come out and play the same way every night. Guys have to come out and play, no matter how many guys are out. (Guys need) to play as hard as you can and trust the next guy to come in and play the same way. They outworked us.’ In the ultra-competitive western conference, where every team but Minnesota (9-10), Sacramento (4-12) and Utah (4-16) is at or above .500, Howard is well-aware that losses like the last two must be avoided. ‘We can’t give away games like this, it’ll come back and bite us later on in the season,’ Howard said. ‘We have to learn that no matter how guys we have out there, shorthanded and all, we have to play the same way. Play hard and play aggressive. We know what we need to do, if we don’t do it, we’re going to continue to lose.’ [...] It is only the second time this season that the Rockets have lost back-to-back games and, at 13-7, they are still the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. So it was less a blaring alarm bell than a humming undercurrent reminder that a wannabe playoff contender needs more than summertime signings and headlines to turn into the real thing.”
McHale talks about the ball getting "sticky" all the time....everyone does. I bet Harden himself has said something about ball movement at one point in time. If you actually listen the interview and stop taking it out of context, you'd realize that he could have been sitting right next to Harden the entire time. It wasn't bashing him at all. The team needs to stop deferring to Harden, play more aggressive, move without the ball more, and make an emphasis to move the rock. That's common knowledge, and there is nothing detrimental to the team by saying that in public. Its more detrimental to the team to say nothing, and act like they are perfect.
First of all what Parsons said makes sense and isn't in any way a negative towards Harden. When the leader best shot maker, and playmaker on the team is out, it only makes sense that it will be more balanced, and everyone will need to step up a little to make up for the loss of Harden. As far as what Howard said, that isn't an attack on Harden either. Statistics have shown that Lin has the tendency to dominate the ball more than Harden does. Harden is by no means perfect on offense, and certainly not on defense, but this has nothing to do with Harden's weaknesses and is an attempt to make a big deal out of nothing.
Parsons did not say anything wrong. Harden may be the leader on the court but I believe Parsons to be the leader off it seeing as he is the longest tenured rocket and has good PR skills
I highly doubt that. If you guys notice, Harden is the most efficient at getting Howard the ball. In the last two games, Howard would have scored under 15 points if it wasn't for the hack a Howard methods. Harden throws the best alley oops to Howard and the attention he gets on offense opens up a lot of scoring opportunities for Howard. In the first quarter of the San Antonio game...the ball moved around very well, maybe too well, because no one was taking or making shots...thats why we went down early. (Thank You TJ) And the same Quote that everybody is talking about, Parson also mention how great of a player Harden is, and said that what he was saying was not a shot to him. He was just being honest. Howard gets on guys like that too during the game. When he goes into his post moves, a lot of guys just stand there and look instead of making cuts on the perimeter or into the weak side of the paint. So dont just blame it all on Harden
Except that the coach is a pushover. Not that McHale needs to blast Harden to the media. Funny that McHale complains about the ball being "sticky" (here's looking at you, James) but plays the same guy 40 mpg: hero ball! save us! Um, er.... Sorry, but Chandler simply knows he plays as an important cog in the team. He isn't the complete machine. Everyone knows Dwight needs more touches. McHale does point that out from time to time. James Harden's a great player. Hopefully when he gets announced to the All Star game today, fully guaranteeing year 5 of his extension (and about ten million bucks), he'll quit chasing his personal numbers a bit. I don't think he always does it on purpose; he does have time to figure out how to share his toys with the other kids. Fingers crossed.
There are certain things you don't do period. You might not agree but this could have an effect on this team in the long run. I've seen it happened plenty of times in the NBA. Agreed they do need to stop deferring to Harden but like you said they are not perfect. Dude gets hot they will defer sometimes and ball watch. Who said they were perfect? I know this is a young team going through their growing pains. When Tracy stated that Chuck Hayes needed to do a better job and making layups. ( dont remember the exist words.) A lot of people said he threw his teammate under the bus.
I still haven't heard the audio myself, but this is what I figured. And this is a common phenomenon when a team loses its primary scorer for a short period of time. The worst I've ever seen of this was in the McGrady days, when it would seem like he'd be given the ball and then the other 4 guys would just stand around, waiting for him to do something. Not all the time, but many times. Also, personally, I have a hard time believing that Harden would not defer to his teammates when they are shooting 55% from the field and 43% from downtown. Maybe that's just my bias because I'm a big fan of his, but I don't see that happening. They key will be: how can we get this kind of ball and player movement and aggression from the supporting cast when Harden is back? That will be on the coaches to figure out. Obviously, Lin won't shoot 57% every game, DMo won't get a double-double in 26 minutes of play, Dwight won't shoot 82% from the free throw line, and Brooks won't always be a +12. But if the supporting cast plays well, we are a dangerous team. I hope the coaches can piece it all together before the playoffs. As a little side note, something I'd like to see Harden do more is let Lin bring the ball up to see if he can get to the basket before the defense is set. They're both good at getting to the basket before the defense has a chance to set up after missed baskets, but after made baskets Harden doesn't push the ball as hard. I know it's harder to score quickly after a made basket, but what's the harm in letting Lin sprint down the court to see if he can slip by everyone for an easy lay-in? If it doesn't work, then Lin can kick it back out to Harden at the top of the key and we can start the offense from that point. I would especially like this if Lin is playing limited minutes and can afford to push himself that hard.
Maybe Mchale is not listening and the players are frustrated - like the fans. I always wondered how Popovich would handle Harden.
Bill Worrell: "Without Harden, the Rockets are an efficient machine." Bill Worrell: "Without Harden, the Rockets are an efficient machine." Per last night's broadcast.
Look for Harden tries to prove himself and go ISO all night when he comes back. Hope the dude learns faster to trust his teammates and play team ball. He can be so much better.
Maybe it is just chemistry and not some flaw of any one person. These players are big in presence out there together, and they have to find their space and timing. It's not surprising that they HAVE to move the ball better when Harden isn't there, any more surprising than it is that they as a team tend not to when he's there because they don't always have to. This is part of the growing process of your new team of promising young players. Quit freaking out.
McHale is really powerful, no suspense in the final game tied suspense alive. Had the last two or three points the Mavericks do not throw in, he would be shame on it
We're going to need Harden when we play teams with good defense. Spurs perimeter defense has been atrocious last several games due to injuries, and Dallas is just bad
