Just about every week this offseason a negative story has come out regarding the Rockets. It's gone from James Harden doesn't play D, to Chandler being offended by being treated like an asset even when he wasn't, when Bosh signed in Miami suddenly 'nobody' wanted to play for Houston, and now this week we've got the Dwight Howard traffic violations story. Most media organisations rank the Rockets pretty low in Western Conference playoff predictions - you'd be hard pressed to find anyone tipping them to be in the top 4, despite having arguably the best C and SG in the league. It seems like any other team with those two players, if they weren't as polarising as Harden and Dwight, would be over-hyped as championship contenders, no matter what the supporting cast. Teams like Golden State and Dallas get more love than we do, but I'd argue the Rockets are better than both of them, and they'll probably prove that this year. Why don't we ever read anything like that in the mainstream press? I've been a Rockets fan since the early 90s and I've never seen anything like it. The level of vitriol towards our team, not just from the press, but from casual and hardcore fans alike, is unprecedented. But why? It's not like the Rockets have accomplished anything to become so hated. Most of the time it's the best teams that are the least liked, purely because they are successful. But we haven't had any real success in a long while. Does it all come back to Dwight? The way he left Orlando always gets brought up as a reason why the national media doesn't like him, hence they don't want to give him credit, but surely that's not a valid reason to skew every story that comes out as a negative appraisal of the Rockets. And why are the media so upset about him changing his mind a few times, more than two years ago? Isn't he entitled to do what he wants? As soon as we got Dwight, the ever-influential Bill Simmons and his Grantland cronies jumped off the Rockets bandwagon. We went from an exciting, must-watch league pass team to a team largely considered to be boring, even though the style of play didn't really change that much. The team is still one of the highest-octane offenses in the league, racking up lots of three pointers, dunks and layups. Sure, we post Dwight up a lot more than we did Asik, and we shoot a lot of free throws, but he sure does gets thrown a lot of alley-oops. Terrence Jones too. The Rockets were damn close to the Clippers on the dunk count last year, but where are the highlight compilations? Where's the cool nickname like Lob City? Could the negative press be because Morey won't throw any reporters a bone regarding potential transactions or the direction of the team? It's well documented that he keeps his cards close to his chest - maybe this has rubbed the media the wrong way. He won't be part of their boys club, so they won't write anything positive about the team. I've only got one other theory, and it's a bit out there. Could it be because the Rockets, as an organisation, are one of the least aesthetically-pleasing in the league? From the uniforms, to the logo, to the court design, the Rockets are among the worst in the NBA. Only the die-hard Rockets fans would buy any merchandise, casual fans just aren't interested in rocking a giant R. All of these reasons seem a bit flimsy - so am I missing something? Why do you guys reckon the Rockets have become so disliked in such a short time?
I think James Harden hate has overtaken Dwight hate 10x. All because of a video lol I realize he's not a good defender but his lapses tend to get way overblown now. Like with team USA nobody acknowledges his overall good defensive play but let him make one mistake and everyone losses their minds *Joker Voice*. Idk Im trying to tune it out at this point let the team's play shut them up.
Harden, Howard, Beverley, and Morey are disliked by many. At least people have interest in the Rockets. Some teams have nothing written about them good or bad. People want to make the Rockets into villains, I'm OK with it.
Arrogance. From fans, to the "smartest GM", to perceived prima donna players, to talk of championships after having accomplished nothing... the Rockets just rub people the wrong way.
It's better to be hated than have a irelevent team who gets ZERO national media attention. Everyone just needs to enjoy having dwight, james and morey while they last, all you have to look at is the yao-tmac era and how that ended
i'm not really worried about the media but the so called rockets fans here who prioritize hardens few defensive lapses over his overall impact and dominance offensive and defensively to the team USA's journey to get the gold medal are really annoying
Karl Malone, Stockton, Hornacek, Ostertag, Russel, Foster - Hated by all except Utah fans. Hated (by me as well) but they were in the finals hunt every year. I think we can endure it with our group. Let them hate us and we will just keep on winning.
Replace "smartest" with "aggressive" and you've described half the teams in the league. The Warriors, the Blazers, the Nets, the Cavs, the Clippers...
There's a number of factors over Harden and Howard. Look at how Asik declared he wanted to leave when Howard was signed. Then the whole Lin fan fair which caused a lot of Rocket in-fighting between fans on-line (pro Lin fans). The way Morey frequently trades players like a poker game. (And then tries to get them back lol). Beverley's aggressive nature ie injuring Westbrook. I think all these factors have the press paint a negative picture of us. Then there's the whole Parson's trade and 'how Morey blew it' perception. Because Lin and Harden were so popular and well known, losing those 2 also create a perception that we've gone backwards (regardless of reality). Had we brought on Bosch and kept Parsons, the media would be declaring we're champion contenders.
We're a team that likes to acquire players that have disgruntles with their current/ former teams. It started with Francis and his demand for a trade to even Tracy Mcgrady who wanted out of Orlando. We gave them Francis, Mobley, and Cato who didn't stay long for them nor give them much. We slapped the Lakers and Orlando by taking Dwight from them and slowed their rebuilding process. We took Harden away from OKC by giving an offer they felt they couldn't refuse. Jeremy Lamb has yet to play up to Harden's par and Kevin Martin left them the following year. Morey has pretty much raped, pillaged, and spit on most organization' hopes and dreams. If we acquire Rondo or Deron Williams somehow that'll add another team, city and possibly state that hates us. So yeah we're going to get some negative media attention. Are we as bad as the Portland Jailblazers of the last decade? I'd say No. Are we hated as bad as the Jazz of the 90's with their sleezy defensive bear hugging tactics? I'd say No to that too. But we are definitely hated like that pimple on your Ass. Morey's tactics are ruthless to our advantage and we should just be glad he's on our side. Like I've said in a previous post. Let them hate us, let them fear us, but they will soon respect what we are doing.
1) Rockets have hated players. Dwight dissed ORL and thought holy Lakers. He jokes too much. Harden's defense is laughed at. Word on the street says most players worth anything don't want to play with either. 2) Crap playoff success. We list in 1st round, with HCA, as a favorite. 3) Justin Timberlake aka Parsons bounced. Popular player said good riddance... to a division rival. Damn. Rockets currently don't deserve Western powerhouse respect... much less league-wide respect. We're not dead. These circumstances don't equal our demise. We just need to perform better.
I see people ranking Rockets low, as being a different issue from potshots taken against morey, harden, howard etc. They may criticize those guys, but there is still a lot of respect. But even with all that talent at C and SG, and a stellar GM, the Rockets still have a lot to prove because of 1. their playoffs last year. 2. McHale 3. Their seeming lack of consistency and composure sometimes.
I feel like it's bash on Harden summer.... Just saw this one Twitter http://grantland.com/the-triangle/grantland-exclusive-redacted-nba-scouting-reports/
But it makes perfect sense though. Someone aught to ask Harden if he has any Game of Thrones theories, for real, see if he starts staring off into space again.
I hope this can be the right boost for Rockets, too bring the hammer down on each of WC teams and crush them in to pieces.
How about this...get over it. If how the media perceives us bothers you, get over it. The media is always looking for the negative because it sells. Get over it.
you're right. rockets are better off without harden and howard yeah Asik is starter material. had nothing to do with howard. LOFs are scum Westbrook does the same thing if you truly watch NBA how does not overpaying a role player be blowing it? harden's gone too? yep we badly needed a spark plug
