Needs to focus on helping his team even when he doesn't have the ball in his hands. Take a page out of Curry and Thompson's playbook and do more work before the catch to make things easier on himself. Needs to realize that when he dribbles between his legs 10 times and jacks up a contested shot, no matter how good he is at it, that's the shot the defense wants him to take and he is letting them off the hook . And would help if Morey brought in a real pg so that our second best playmaker isn't Josh Smith.
Harden's performance tonight was unprecedented. At no point did Lebron have a worse game in his playoff career. In fact, no star player has. He had arguably the worst performance in a single playoff game by a star player in NBA history.
Probably hyperbole... But even if not... Name a star player who has done as much with as little talent around him, in as injury ravaged a season, in as deep a conference, as Harden did... Over the last 30 years?? You'll be hard pressed to find one. Lebron comes closest... Until you notice it's the East... Where a Dwight Howard led team once made the Finals... Give the man some help and i promise you it will all seem like he's magically more amazing all the time. Lol at the Harden b****ing.
No hyperbole. 2-11 and 13 turnovers is a historically bad game and arguably the worst playoff game by a all-nba first team player in NBA history. I dare you to find me a worse performance. If one can't vent frustration and be labeled as 'b****ing' then what sort of performance in your eyes warrants 'b****ing'? And stop undercutting the level of talent this team has around Harden. Yes, our pg position is horrible but Harden has arguably the best center in the league on his team. Lebron had no one on his team that you can say with a straight face was arguably the best player at his respective position during his first Cavs stint.
If LeBron is the guy you have to throw out to prove a point you know Harden is doing something right.
Harden's game four was also one of the best playoff performances ever and games 1 &2 weren't too shabby either. The problem isn't that he ALWAYS runs from the moment - it's that he is wildly inconsistent in the moment. For every game he loses for a team in the playoffs, there is another where he single handedly saved his team.
His main issue to me is. . . . . If the refs ALLOW people to foul him on his first drives . .. 1st quarter or 2nd Then he won't drive as much or as hard Rocket River
I've been pretty critical of Harden But there's no denying that he gets better every off season and brings something new each year. This year he improved his defense and leadership. Nobody would've guessed he would've finished as runner up for MVP and carried us to 2nd seed. I'm excited to see what he brings next year.
Harden has Howard to learn from. You guys remember when Howard used to commit those silly fouls and miss free throws that would make you want to pull your hair out? Time fixes everything. Not really.... Seriously, I think Harden is what he is. He likes to pass the ball in pressure situations. That tells me we need to add more shooters in the off season.
I don't know. that's why i said "probably" hyperbole. I'm not about to go through years and decades of deep playoff performances by star players to see if one was worse. James' was clearly bad, no need to label it the worst, since that doesn't really matter. Bad is bad. I care not about the turnover record. If he was as "disinterested" or lacking in heart as some have made it out, he wouldn't have that record, as he would have pulled a Kobe "I'm going to pass all game and just stand here at the top of the key" moment (speaking of which... there's an example... much worse, imo, since it was Kobe purposefully being a jackass... and he's an 'ultimate' winner, right?). To be clear, I am ok with b****ing about his game. it was bad. I am not ok with b****ing about his heart, or attitude or how he might be part of the problem. And I find the Dwight Howard praise threads completely laughable. Once again, Dwight was useless offensively. This has become more than a trend. You simply CAN not go to Dwight offensively other than on lobs, and PnRs. You have to take him out of the game at random times because he's so bad at free throws. he does one thing well... we get it, he cleans up our defensive mistakes. Guess what? Other teams have players that do the same. Jordan, Bogut and Green, Gasol, Mozgof. yes, Dwight is up there with all those guys... but then he's paid way more than any of them. um... no. I'm not sure exactly what you've been watching? Our PGs throughout the playoffs were Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni. This is in a league, mind you, where EVERYBODY has an all-star or near all-star level PG, where PGs have won MVP after MVP over the last decade (Nash, Rose, Curry... CP3 should have one year), and in a league where GUARD PLAY has become increasingly more and more and more important. Our PFs were Josh Smith and Terrence Jones. One who was let go by his former team. Who even the most optimistic of Rockets fans think in their head, WTF!, every time he throws up a shot. One who is also HORRIBLE at free throws, isn't a great rebounder and has low basektball IQ. And he's the one that had to be inserted into the starting lineup midway through the post-season. Their bench then becomes either TJones or Smith, plus Brewer, plus Prigioni, and the one bright spot, Capela. Brewer had 1 good quarter the entire playoffs. One. He became a horrible free throw shooter all of a sudden. He was out of his element defensively. Etc. I actually LIKE Prigioni's style, and his effort, but it's clear he just doesn't have the athleticism to cut it deep into the playoffs. he at least made smart decisions, but still wasn't effective. The Rockets bench WAS deep. Until DMo and Bev went down. Dwight has his own issues. I DEFINITELY appreciate his positives... but you have to build a dominant roster, and the dude just makes way too much money for what he doesn't bring to the table. Basically, give me Harden, Ariza and Capela on my cap, with cap room for the rest, and I bet DM could put together a better team. No, I don't bet... I know. If it was possible to do that, I would jettison almost every other player. I "might" keep DMo.. only because it's not clear how he would perform in a deep playoff run... would his strengths show up, or his flaws? That doesn't say a lot about the team. Meanwhile, give GS that opportunity. Ask them if they could just wash away contracts from their cap, would they? And you're probably looking at only 1... David Lee. They need to figure out how to keep their players. Just like the Clippers need to figure out how to keep Jordan and get better, etc. As a Rockets fan, and this isn't to discount the really really nice playoff run they just had... I'd still rather they be able to get rid of players. Ariza is great. Check. this has gotten to long.. but basically you are crazy if you think that the rest of this Rockets roster was "great". And to compare to Lebron and his talent is laughable. The East has been laughable for 15 years now. I suspect the Rockets would be in the Finals if they played in the East. That doesn't make the team magically better.
