Harden: "Dwight and I are the cornerstones of the Rockets. The rest of the guys are role players..."

Funny how players forget they are public figures. Once you come close to insinuating anything negative it's going to get rehashed over and over in whatever permutation thinkable whether you meant it or not.

Anyhow, what matters is it translates to their game when the season starts. If the cornerstones don't perform then they need to acknowledge that they are not better than people who are role players. I almost forgot bball was a team sport.

 

It seems the best arguments for the media are when the person is overseas and unaware such an argument is taking place.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>What did I say? RT <a href="https://twitter.com/Real_Sean_Ross">@Real_Sean_Ross</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/JHarden13">@JHarden13</a> real dick move to say about your boy parsons.</p>&mdash; James Harden (@JHarden13) <a href="https://twitter.com/JHarden13/statuses/492687792661487616">July 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Then of course, he doesn't shirk from the issue, but at the same time seems to be unaware the league's only roll player is also in Dallas

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Of course! RT <a href="https://twitter.com/dhud8">@dhud8</a>: Just wondering <a href="https://twitter.com/JHarden13">@JHarden13</a> did you consider your self as a roll player on OKC?</p>&mdash; James Harden (@JHarden13) <a href="https://twitter.com/JHarden13/statuses/492686396411219968">July 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Remember in 09, when the Rockets were facing the Lakers? Remember when Kobe messed Yao's knee up and Yao still came back and closed the game?

That's what I consider a corner stone.

 

Yep, who stayed in the corner.

 

What's a roll player?

 

Maybe Harden thought "roll player" is the player who does the rolling in Pick and Roll. And he thought "cornerstone" is the player who stands like a stone to shoot the corner 3.

 

More like a roll eater.

 

How come nobody mentions that the reason GS won't trade Klay Thompson is because they need him and Iggy to play D so they can hide Step Curry's weak and brittle body on defense so that he can carry their offense? Elevating Curry over Harden is nothing more than trolling because Curry's defense is no better and yet no one makes a big deal out of it. Everybody loves CP3 but how many times has he been past the 2nd round? 0 is the answer. Melo couldn't make the playoffs in the East and he has 6 more years of not playing defense than Harden. Unlike Melo and Curry, Harden actually demonstrated good defensive play on OKC as he was tasked with guarding the Kobes and LeBrons of the world. It damn sure wasn't KD and although Harden didn't start he finished the game with the starters replacing Thabo and his defensive responsibilities in the 2nd and 4th quarters. Harden has played in the Finals unlike anybody else on this list of maybes so obviously he was not a detriment to his OKC making a run. They haven't got as far since he left. Just a little food for thought for those who are b****ing for no rhyme or reason.

 

And by the way I agree with your post J Hard. Just trying to put some context to the situation. This board suffers from wandering eyes too often. All the whiners want the other team's star as if obtaining him automatically wins us a title. The only player that makes you a title contender upon arrival is LeBron. And guess who offensive skill set is most similar to LeBron's in the NBA? No one else, not even the supposed 2nd and 3rd best players in Durant or Paul make you a contender replacing Harden on this team one for one. And count me on record for taking elite offense over elite defense any day. Nobody is bending over backwards to make Iggy or Tony Allen a franchise player or Pat Bev on our team.

 

To illustrate the point I just made. Shout out to JMAD21 for posting in another thread.

http://youtu.be/63TDVWnZ5K8

 

That video was him being a "role player" in OKC. And if OKC had paid him he would still be in this "role" guarding the other teams best perimeter player, leaving the heavy lifting on offense to KD and Russ, and not making a peep about it like The Cornerstone Chandler Parsons has. That video hardly fits the narrative of these ridiculous posters on Clutchfans so I'm sure the trolls and Harden haters will disregard and continue with their agenda.

 

It shouldn't have been said but Harden is right. Parsons may be similar statistically to the pre-Houston Harden, but that's where the similarity ends. Parsons benefited from the system and playing with Harden, D12, Lin --players who were often double teamed. Parsons cannot create his own shot as well as Harden could back in OKC, and he largely benefited in hitting open shots off of double teams. You may see a slight increase in his offensive stats but that's going to be a product of him taking a hell of a lot more shots. More than likely his fg% will also drop significantly due to his desire to be a star player.

 

If the only thing for statistically we're using are box scores, then 3rd year Parsons is about the same as 3rd year Harden and about the same as 4th year Evan Turner.

But that really just emphasizes why box score comparisons don't tell much of anything.

 

And Tyreke Evans had much better box score stats than Harden their 1st 3 years including winning rookie. It is now proven Harden is a much better player. Harden's ability to be versatile and play as a role player when needed and as a lead player when needed is why Presti drafted him over Evans in the first place. A lot of people that are critical forget there was a 3 year period of Harden's career not with the Rockets and he kept head down and mouth shut much more than loud mouth Parsons. But then again his OKC time doesn't fit their agenda and narrative so they act as if it never happened.

 

Harden can play great D when he wants, he has one of the quickest first steps in the league, so we all know he is quick and smart. But he doesn't always play defense because the coach lets him get away with it. Coach is too nice, look at Pop, he gets after anyone, superstar or not if they miss their defensive assignment. And as a superstar/roleplayer you have to understand that the coach is their to make you better not be your buddy. Hope this year is different with our defense.

 

I'll admit it. I don't really like Harden.

Part of it is his portrayed persona. How can you like a guy, when there are like 1000 photos of him at stripclubs. Is he really a terrible person? Of course I don't know, nor do I really care. All I know is I don't like that image of him, and my views of him is jaded. Heck, I can't really tell if he really wants to win. I never questioned that with Yao, Dwight, or even T-Mac. I know it's unfair, but that's how it is.

Then there's his play on the court. He is amazingly talented, but his defense just sucks. End of story. I can't take my eyes off how bad it is. BUT...I still think we can win a championship with Harden. He's just too talented to part ways with, and Morey knows this. This is why Ariza and Beverly are here. We are on the right track.

 

The problem is, even if all this is true, most of the other options have flaws as well.

If we traded Harden for Kevin Love, you'd probably be posting the same thing about him a year from now.

 

And if this trade happens who handles the ball and creates offense? Bev? Harden is the engine that drives this offense. LeBron is the only other player with his combo of sheer scoring and passing/playmaking. Better scorers (Durant and Melo) are not creators. Better creators are not scorers. Except LeBron in both cases.

 

Lol he's a 24 year old man with tens of millions of dollars. What exactly SHOULD he be doing with his spare time and how does two pictures of him hanging out with a stripper make him a bad person?