He would be more credible if het got off the donuts and cream soda. He swallows half his words just like his food
It's not Barkley, but Shannon makes some great points about the Rockets, Harden, Westbrook, and Gordon.
Championship legit? Finals bound? WCF or second round legit? How legit? BTW it is that simple. Russell WB surpasses ORobertson's 41 Triple Double or at least ties it: He MVP Otherwise JH MVP. There is only a slight possibility that he comes close to 40 Triple Doubles.
I don't like Barkley as an NBA analyst (great NBA player and seems like a cool guy to talk to) not because he disses our GM and sometimes makes fun of our team, but because he just isn't a good NBA analyst. He creates narratives to some of the things he says. He thinks the Warriors aren't a good defensive team. Hey, they may not be the best or even in the top 5 (even if the stats say they are), but they're a better defensive team the at least 70 percent of the league which is more than enough. Look, he just isn't a really good NBA analyst. Yeah, it hurts when he gives us jabs but the fact that he talks about us means that we're relevant. You heard what he said about the Pistons in the same segment? Like.. no respect. At least with Houston these past couple of seasons he recognized we were good, but not good enough. Like, what's the problem with that? What was his main gripe with us? That we were a bad defensive team, right? It's funny THIS is the season he likes us when we've been worse defensively than '14 and '15 this entire season. Like, that's just bad analyst.. Granted, during the stretch where Pat came back and before Clint went out Houston was playing like a top 10 defensive team but before Pat was here and after Clint was down we were a lot worse. He just likes us because we're winning games. You can't say a team sucks when a) they go on huge winning streaks and are 31-10 and/or b) they beat big time teams and/or c) have been very consistent the past few seasons. Right now we're A and B. Point blank. Chuck is a dummy. Hell of a player. Probably an awesome dude to hang out with. Pretty funny and ridiculous. Just don't like his basketball opinions and of course it sucks when he throws jabs at us, but that's because he felt we weren't good enough to compete with the Clippers, Spurs, Thunder, and Warriors (for the wrong reasons). And is that really so bad? Those 4 teams have all been elite.
Frankly don't see any team beating Golden State (except Cleveland) in a 7 game series, but there is still one team that doesn't belong in that discussion......the Clippers. I could easily see Memphis or Utah beating them in the first round.
If we get the 3-6 match up against a FINALLY healthy Clippers team then I don't like our chances tbh. They have too much size and speed and you guys saw how we did against a lengthy, quick teams who could not shoot 3s the other night against the Wolves. The Clippers have had a lot of injuries and their record is much better than it indicates. Anderson would be useless in that series against Blake because they still have Deandre protecting the paint on defense and he would torch Ryan on offense.
I mean... I could see the Jazz or Grizzlies beating us in the first round too (not easily obviously, but there's a chance.) NOT saying that we will lose in the first round to them, but it would be an upset. Certainly if the season continues as it is more of an upset than the Clippers losing, but to pretend like the Jazz or Grizzlies beating the Clippers makes them not belong is a bit weird. LA certainly started the season extra hot and then after Thanksgiving they sort of fell of a cliff BEFORE Blake got hurt, but this is still a team with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. While they probably exhausted their run and the Warriors seem to have LA figured I believe LA has a better chance at beating us, Golden State and San Antonio than either Memphis or Utah does. One simply doesn't under estimate a team with those guys on there unless you believe that the Clippers are a bunch of choke artist and they should never be taken serious in a play off series. If that's your prerogative then sure, but me? I'm going to take the Clippers as serious as I do the Spurs. Y'all do y'all. They're a good team that could be playing better. Idk. Maybe I took your comment the wrong way and you do believe that they are a good team. Just not as good as Houston and the other 2, but like I said that's your prerogative. I'm going to believe they're as tough as any other top team in the west. While we were on our run in December they were falling off, but keep in mind. They lost 6 games in a ROW and guess who wasn't playing? CP3 and Blake Griffin. Since then they have won 5 games in a row. It's all about context. I don't think they're better than us this season SO FAR, but to completely dismiss them is a huge mistake any team AND fan can make. They likely lose in the 2nd round to Golden State, but just because they can potentially lose in the first round to Memphis or Utah it doesn't mean they dont belong. It just means that Memphis and Utah are really good. edit: LA is .703 when Blake plays LA is .735 when CP3 plays Pretty good.
That's not really a fair summary. He said the clippers or spurs and was about to yield his time and then stopped himself and said that he forgot the Rockets and said the Harden is playing amazing basketball. Then he said their are for "lugitmit" teams in the West including the Rockets. Every year Barkley states who thinks are actual contenders and this year he included the Rockets in that for the first time.
The Clippers are one of those teams that could go to the Conference Finals or flame out in Round 1. But let's not undersell them. They've only got 14 losses right now, and that's in large part due to missing Griffin and Paul in several games this season. They had a 6-game losing streak recently where they probably would've won most of those had they been in uniform. The Rockets are still not out of the woods yet on finishing ahead of the Clippers.
first of all hardentime, klay plays offense AND defense, so ima rank him ahead of harden in the mvp race.
Don't forget about OKC. I know, Westbrooke is all me with a triple double, but you can't deny their experience and how they turned it up last year. Oladipo would be a wildcard or X-factor, but they will be tough, especially since we keep letting them back in the game and play them close in the 4th quarter. Also, maybe, just maybe Westbrooke finds a way to outduel James Harden just like he did Kawhi and Curry before losing.
I honestly think this team is the biggest wildcard in the playoffs. If we get hot, we can beat ANYONE in the playoffs. That includes the Warriors. Think about this. When we last played the Warriors in the WCF we went down 0-2...but those two games were extremely close. Basically, Harden showed out against Curry and Klay and if he had any more help that series we win it. It's crazy to think about it now but I see it no other way. If Harden gets help (considering he actually shows up and plays well..) then we can beat anyone. At the same time...I could see us losing to 5 of those teams in the playoffs. Of course the Spurs and GSW could beat us...but so too can the Grizzlies, Jazz, Clippers, and MAYBE Thunder if Westbrook does insane things throughout a series. So I really don't think there are any safe matchups for us. I think having homecourt will be huge, getting 2nd seed would be great because I think it would make it much more likely to make it to the WCF, which makes us a legit contender. I mean we have a shot at beating the Warriors in a 7 game series I think, more than people realize. Harden is REALLY REALLY great. There are times he outplays TWO superstars kind of great. I think people really underestimate how amazing this guy is.
LOL @ Barkley's ongoing obsession with the Clippers. Dude still thinks it's 2014. Even I've tried to give them the benefit of the doubt but they always either choke or get injured. Most overrated team in the NBA.
I do like how he called out Kenny for overrating Westbrook's defense. Kenny was trying to act like RW's defense separated him in the MVP race, even though his defense isn't that good.
