Well, Harden is very hard to play with.... guess why he wasn't OKC's starter, they do not need is O in the starting unit and his dribbling down the clock He sets up teammates nicely but after time has passed on the clock Klay does all the good things, not needing the ball in his hand That is a huge plus to play alongside other allstars! and his shooting is way better than streaky Harden. I do not mind if people think Harden is better, but Klay wins more! He is a better team player
Even last year, Klay had games, flashes of brilliance, 50 pts scored.... Being 2nd best SG and winning titles, awards better life than being No. 1 lazy SG on a mediocre team. Hands down!
Harden ended nearly every game in OKC so the argument that he couldn't play with Durant and Westbrook is just not true. He came off the bench because if you have 3 star players you stagger their minutes so that there is a relentless assault like that. You have two guys who take plenty of shots, then one of them sits and in comes Harden fresh and ready to go.
Harden was #2 in MVP last year. The conversation was legitimately Harden vs Curry. And none of us would have traded him even for Kawhi. Feels like ages ago.
I am not saying he cannot coexist with other talented players. Just saying he is extremely one dimensional, cannot do well in certain situations. He just is not versatile in every game situation. You have to put him in an extra role - like 6th man to succeed or in Houston's case: ISO him, let him score, let him roam free on O without D I am not saying he cannot succeed but his whole game is one dimensional easy for the opponent to read and to shut down!
Of course easier for the top teams to read I might add He can still score tons against certain good teams, mediocre teams and bad teams
I disagree because he's been in these situations and thrived. Look, for people that say Harden ISO and all this. Look at our offense when he goes out. It is the SAME thing. Nothing changes except we run ISO's for other players basically. The Rockets offense is basically "You beat your man." and that's it. It's all one on one ball with or without Harden.
Ok. Then we just disagree. I am not putting blame on him, just saying he isn't as good as homers want him to be. Curry is a perennial MVP candidate. Harden is a candidate every other year when he feels like it, or when he has a good year. I do not care if he is actually a Batman or Robin, he is insconsistent at both.
Oh I'm not totally on the JVG bandwagon. I remember the complaints from his tenure. The coaching search in itself is going to be interesting. Regardless, if we don't get some serious shooters it won't matter.
Curry wasn't even close to being a MVP contender until Steve Kerr coached him either. People REALLY...MASSIVELY downplay the impact of a coach. I'll just say that. If the Rockets get a legit coach a lot of people will be eating their words on him.
This is a really good observation. They found another guy who could score in Beasley. So what do they do. ISO him. This is all on coaching. It's not even debate-able.
The entire offense is this. Harden or no. We see Friggin Ariza go one on one for christ-sakes. ARIZA. Even the post up, there is no action beyond just the post up. Remember Adelman and Yao? Yao would pose up and all the action you get around that? No, just post the guy up and stand behind the three point line. How easy is that to defend?
Yep. And it extends to defense as well... Where there's no coaching. They have no plans on how to defend anything. No wonder they suck there.
I could also turn the tables and say Kerr wasn't a legit coach up until 2 years ago or 1 and half years ago. I was advocating for a Popovich student for years now. Budenholzer......
2 straight games for Harden to prove he's the best 2 guard ...to show Klay sucks without Curry. Klay goes for 38 points Klay goes for 34 points Harden continues to make Defensive lowlight This guy just can't handle the pressure
Curry was basically Harden before Kerr. Curry and Klay basically just ISO when Mark Jackson was the coach. With Kerr, Curry and Klay just run around and knock down 3's. Harden needs a coach. Harden would be unstoppable if he just run around all day like Klay and Curry
Absolutely. I say this over and over again. There is no such thing as a great defender shining on a bad defense. In the NFL yes, a defense can be bad but Watt could get 15 sacks..in basketball it really doesn't happen. You will never see a guy get rewarded for playing great defense on a bad defensive team. It doesn't happen. We have defenders too...but they have no clue what to do. If one guy gets beat it's a red carpet to the rim. Why is this? The team as Kenny said isn't on that string. They don't defend as a unit or as a purpose. GSW, what do they do? They have a plan to defend Harden and execute it. We have Dwight but do you ever see players shading a guy to go to his weak hand and go at Dwight? Guys just man up and get beat then we have no PF in there sometimes and Dwight who knows what he's doing and layups all game. It's just a lack of execution, focus, and planning that goes beyond Harden.
