Is Harden clearly THE man of this team?

Yes, he is. That was the problem last season: Parsons and Lin needed their star time, but that made the team a three-headed dog. Howard's got his rightful place now too.

 

I wish he would buy into the offense... stop holding the ball for 21 seconds.. with that said, he is def the man now that he is playing the D.

 

Good offense beats good defense everytime so yes Harden is the man of this team

 

That was never a problem last year. Revisionist history.

 

I'm pretty sure that's the extent of the offensive game plan by Mchale.

 

for now yeah, he was the man last regular season. but remember dwight stepped up in the playoffs. harden still go this points but couldnt shoot for ****

 

I was with you until this Dallas game. The offense had an actual flow even expanding the lead when Harden was on the bench. The ball didn't stop moving because they knew without Harden no one was going to break anyone off the dribble. It actually looked like they were running sets... Harden comes in and it's 2 screens at the top of the key and straight into ISO mode. I'm convinced now it's Harden who is abandoning Mchale's offense.. I know crazy..

 

agree with this. i almost don't even want to so anything that would give revisionists a forum

 

games like tonight, absolutely. That rebound over TC was crazy, dude led by example. I just hope he doesn't Lin us and fall back.

 

Yes it was a problem. True history.

 

Hardens always been the "MAN" on the team. He was the "MAN" last year.

Hardens problem is translating that to playoff success

 

When it comes to the 4th quarter and playoff, Howard is more reliable. That is the man.

 

We have no playmaker outside of Harden, and we have no rim protector outside of Dwight, so both are equally important, IMO, but it's Harden's team for sure. He single-handedly made the Rockets relevant again.

 

what all the missed free throws in the 4th quarter of the playoffs?. no correction *missed free throws in every 4th quarter of every game. Dwight needs to stop trying to post up. Its just not his game. He needs to just rebound and run pick n rolls.

 

Do it in the playoffs.

 

He certainly is. Dwight could be, but he doesn't bring it day in and day out during the regular season. Harden has single handedly won us three games already this season in addition to the countless games he won for us the past two seasons. He will probably (hopefully) still be a Rockets after Dwight leaves/retires.

Although I will say in the playoffs, Dwight becomes a more important player for us. We have to have an inside presence.

 

Oh without a doubt. I mean, Howard is fantastic, but Harden is just on another level this year. He improved his defense, his leadership looks better, and he's putting up huge numbers. Once he find his jumper again, we'll be even better. Oh, and I can't forget the clutch part. Harden has been huge in the clutch (except for when we faced the Lakers). Still shocking to me how the guy is only 25 years old. He's not even in his prime yet.

 

There is no question, he is the Man of this team. No question.

Past years, it seemed like he wanted the praise of being the man but did not want the responsibility. All those times when he had bad games and would refuse to talk to the media. Or when he would get really defensive when someone criticized him. And he would rarely talk about his teammates unless specifically asked.

But this year, you can see the maturity. He admits to his mistakes, praises his teammates and takes both sides of the court seriously. It's been a real treat watching him mature in front of our eyes.

 

I am glad he has taken the reigns from Jordan - THE MAN - Hill!