He's arguably having the best season in Rockets history,but do you now trust Harden in the playoffs?

The thing about Olajuwon was that his whole tenure except that one short stint at Toronto due to age was about Houston. His college was in Houston.

He was Houston personified even more than Harden.

Houston was about Hall of Fame Centers and Hakeem fit the bill to the fullest.

We know that the NBA evolved into a Guard heavy league. It's really been easy to become a guard nowadays than be close to 7 feet or beyond and play a skillful game.

He dominated on both ends, with the best footwork in History - that said, he was Capela on roids, Harden, CP3 in the same body in terms of leadership and skill level.

Like Steve Nash, he played soccer and got a lot of moves from there.

No doubt he would have worked on his 3 pointer if he played today.

 

He has been playing defense - An he has improved greatly from last year on that! Stats show that - An he has been great this playoffs so far... We need to stop having worrying about Warriors - an focus on Rockets vs Utah

 

In my opinion the only way he surpasses Hakeem, if he can collect all Infinity Stones and wears that
Gauntlet.

Even then, that's not automatic.

But with 3-4 rings, I agree I would call him more successful than the Dream.

But those rings have to be earned in Houston, nowhere else and not worse than the 2nd option on the team.

 

He needs to have more years of playing D.

 

What does that have to do with this years improvement in defense though?

 

Nothing, but someone brought up pushing Harden to be No 1 of team history, and he is far away.

 

Oh okay... my bad - I see your point - if he does want to be the best Rocket in team history than he does a some improvements he needs to reach

 

I did not think I'd ever live to see the day Hakeem was questioned as No 1. Now this is the day.

 

No one is questioning Hakeem being the best rocket ever. Simply having a dialogue based on what harden would have to do to pass Hakeem as the best rocket ever.

I’m sure Lakers fans had the same conversation about Kobe in regards to Kareem.

It’s actually all a testament to how insane Hakeem was that harden would have to shatter everyone’s expectations (again) to ever even be considered.

That’s Hakeem’s greatness shining

 

Alright.

But we can also discuss this era when a decent player but not superstar Jrue Holiday is going 41........

Damian Lillard has high scoring games, that it's not the best competition history wise.

Corey Brewer has been going for 51.

Every other Swing man or Combo guard is going for that kind of number.

Thus, it might be one of the best eras of scoring guards but it might not be the best era of perimeter defenders.

In terms of system

And Harden needed a system that fitted him.

But in the Olajuwon era an elite Big was the system, you just had to find shooters.

 

If I were you, I would start a poll every year.

2 Championships or more.

Personally, he has to dominate on Defense constantly. That is quite an impossible task because he isn't 25 no more.

 

The gulf between Harden and Olajuwon's impact on offense is vast. Harden masterminded 2 of the greatest offenses in league history. Olajuwon, not so much.

Your argument is pretty tautological - Jrue Holiday can't be that good because, after all, he's just Jrue Holiday.

It's equally, and IMO, more, likely that Jrue Holiday actually is pretty freaking good and would have been an all-NBA caliber player in the 80's and 90's but this era is simply more competitive, due to globallly, there being many more players, with more/better training, using more efficient tactics, for greater financial rewards.

Today's players are, on the whole, simply better on offense than their 1980's and 1990's counterparts - full stop.

This is largely because they are objectively better at getting a ball through a hoop from 24 feet away (look at past 3 point shooting contests for example...the bar is much higher now)

 

Not so much? The pace was vastly different. Of course not so much, Hakeem did not have this kind of possessions.

As I should have said, that convo is highly hypothetical.

Hakeem was a better Embiid and Anthony Davis type of player who would have thrived in a modern Offense but we would never know.

Of course the modern player has the advantage because modern stats dun lie.

But that does not mean Hakeem would be much inferior on Offense today had he been drafted in these times.

He has been teaching modern players from Lebron, Kobe and Stoudemire, to name a few.

Footwork is timeless!! Skills, height, strength are too.

Why would Harden work with an inferior offensive player?

Spoiler

 

harden IS the system

MDA needs a Nash or Harden

Cp3 needed an elite playmaker/scorer version of himself

MDA, Cp3, Cap, Ego, Ryno fit in with Harden

so we discuss Hakeem's and Harden's careers and seasons

they you bust out with Brewer's and Jrue's best games of their career???

their not even the best players on their respective teams

 

Oh well, let's talk once he has his 2 championships and go from there then.

 

That does not even make sense because the best bigs played well, you guessed, it in the past.

And those bigs did not have the training equipment that today's bigs have.

In the end, you still did not answer the question..... what would it take for him to surpass Hakeem?

Unless you think he is already surpassing him without the ships.

 

Look I’m not gonna try and disclaim either player because both are/we’re great in an era where thier position on the court is/was considered the greatest, deepest and strongest.

You don’t have to argue Hakeem, no one does and no one is arguing the opposite. Stop with this holy crusade.

But to mention single game performances from random players is asinine. I’m sure I could find a thousand random centers/power forwards during Hakeem’s era who had great nights, so what. That’s pointless fodder.

Dream played in the era of big men and was among if not the best of them.

Harden plays in the era of perimeter playera and is among if not the best of them.

Also, to spout out system in regards to harden and his dominance speaks of a lack of understanding and disregard for his career his far. Also, it seems it showcases a deeper resentment you seem to have of harden.

Again, no one needs to defend Hakeem and his greatness. And no one damn sure has to try and take small shots at harden to dismiss him and prop hakeem.

If, as a true rockets fan, you don’t want harden to be the best rocket of all time, then I don’t believe your a true rocket fan. Period.

Every single person should be hoping we would be blessed enough to have harden do things and win things that would make us even consider it because that means the rockets would be dominating this league and winning ships.

I don’t understand your arguments or your logic and so for that, I’m out.

 

This season has built my trust in Harden a lot.

Before the season I thought I could trust Chris Paul and Harden would be up and down, but so far it's been the opposite. Harden has been extremely steady this year.

 

Harden has been the 2nd best player in the playoffs behind Lebron

he dissected the Jazz, 1 of the best defenses in the NBA, yet again with 25 and 12 to go along with just 1 turnover

 

We’ve beaten Utah with Dream before
Maybe you need to learn rockets history