As a superstar player, Harden doesn't currently have the 'heart of Rocky' he needs to reach the level of all time great. The only path forward at this point is hiring a strict scheme first coach who will mold Harden into the player he needs to be. I'd love to see Jeff Van Gundy back in the saddle . . .
There seems to be this idea that great players NEVER have downs. That Hakeem, Jordan, Kobe never were in a situation where they found failure. Shame on some of you, seriously. Shame. Harden has a great all-time season and then follows it up with a more disappointing (But still good season) and people are ready to ship him out and be done with him. There is no period of "Well, lets see how he does under a new coach." or "Lets see how he responds to this." I think Harden has EARNED the benefit of the doubt. This is the one season that his team went backwards. The one. Yet reading some posts here you think the guy is Kevin Martin.
If we somehow snag Durant he could be our leader. Him, Harden, and Horford would co-exist beautifully. I'm not giving up on James
The hardest Harden has ever worked was before the Olympics....for sure I cannot identify myself with an immature, entertainment seeking adult who cannot lead. Someone who works on his game just to seek limelight, some glorified glory hunter, the next Adidas contract, the next Khloe.... One of the worst role models. You cannot have that to rebuild Clutch City. Either come back focused or get out, Harden.
Harden is very talented but unfortunately his style of play makes it very difficult to play with and more so when you don't have consistent shooters around. This team is going to have trouble signing free agents as people is realizing Harden is not really a leader and his style makes it very hard to succeed as an individual and as a team It is a shame that such a talented player is such a waste!!
Why do you think he has to carry the team offensively? Because he can't play with anyone else who needs the ball. I'm tired of hearing Harden is the only guy who can create offense because he doesn't mesh with anyone else who does. I didn't see him fight to keep Parsons. Jeremy Lin would be the 2nd best creator if he was still here. Ty Lawson was close to averaging a double-double, shows up here and is a disaster because he doesn't fit standing at the 3pt line half the time. IF you're going to dominate the ball how are you NOT going to be depended on to do everything? THe Warriors could be the same way with Curry, a primary handler who shoots a lot, but because they actually have a team philosophy and he's ok with other people getting shots they can still survive with out him, at least against mediocre teams like the ROckets.
Some terrible examples. Parsons and Harden and Lin loved playing with each other and had success playing with each other. You mention it as if it was a failure, it wasn't. Parsons LEFT the Rockets, Harden had 0 to do with that. Parsons was getting more money and a chance to be a star player. Using this logic, Durant can't play with Harden because Harden left for money and a bigger role too. Ty Lawson has sucked all year. Rockets even tried giving him minutes with Harden off the floor and he still sucked. Tired of this crap, Ty Lawson just sucked on his own. You take Harden off the floor and Lawson sucked. The guy was way too passive, it's only so many times you can tell a guy to attack and be aggressive before saying forget it. The Rockets waived Lawson because no one wanted to trade for the guy. This tells you about his value now. You can't blame Harden for other players sucking.
Are you aware that Curry shoots about as much as James with a similar usage rating and assist percentage? Curry happens to have the benefit of a great offensive system, all star teammates, and good shooters.
I'm not going to argue that Harden was lazy on defense many times, but I seriously believe he lacks defensive fundamentals. Many time, I caught him ball watching, left his man wide open. I think he needs to learn some defensive fundamentals.
In the 2005 version I believe he led the team with Smush Parker to a 3-1 until the Suns came back Lol the Suns were the second best team in the West at that time That is what you call quitting? The Goliath won over David, that is pretty common. Favorite win.
