I didn't mean to misrepresent what you said, sorry. I was just thinking out loud in regard to some of the responses.
Iso ball has nothing to do with running down the clock to zero then hurling a wild contested shot. Jordan, Kobe, even LeBron are iso players. They don't wait for the 20th second to run the offense and create a shot for themselves or a teammate. I hate to agree with dumbass Charles Barkley who said Rockets have to run the offense and take a shot in the first 14 seconds of the shot clock. Warriors are too disciplined on defense to allow Harden's lull-you-to-death antics. That wasn't just on fast break or transition defense. Harden was getting blown by on half court sets by Curry and Livingston for layups. Again, this is all about effort to get in front your man and make him settle for a jump shot or a pass to a teammate. Harden has all the athleticism to do that to Curry who is not Westbrook running at you with all full head of steam. Look, I'm tired of this arguing. Harden has the 99% of the tools, skills, talents to win a championship. He needs to finally impose his will on the game and it will happen. The last 1% is mental and when Harden figures that out he will be unstoppable. It took Jordan numerous playoffs disappointments before it finally clicked for him. Same goes for LeBron and his first two Finals. Harden is a special all-time player, but he needs to accept that burden and play like one.
I think every (true) Rockets fan loves Harden, i mean, this should be obvious, he's one of the best players in the league and the main reason why our team has been one of the most relevant in these last 5/6 years. He's obviously not perfect and i understand why someone gets pissed off sometimes, i personally don't get how he can play the defense he played in some games (like game 3 in Utah where he was terrific) and then play like yesterday where he got burned by everyone everytime...i get the transition/slow feet argument, but it's not just that, i actually remember a great defensive possession against Durant in the second half where he literally stayed in front of KD switching sides a couple of times, that was it. With that said, whatever, he is who he is, in the end we're still better than any team in the league outside of the Warriors so, if he gets a ton of **** talk how about the other stars that underachived in these last years? As far as i know Harden's team never underachived, in fact, it's quite the opposite.
This is a great post. Thank you. I shake my head when people take for granted Harden on the Rockets. Like it is easy to go down to the dime store and pick out your favorite superstar. There are MANY teams that would kill to have a talent like Harden on their team. No one is perfect. Every superstar has flaws. And the forums of those players KILL them for those flaws. Instead of celebrate all of the greatness that they bring.
I also love James Harden. He has literally transformed our franchise. We were stuck in mediocrity before him, pretty consistently getting the #14 pick in the draft. Those teams tried hard, but were not good enough to really make any kind of run in the playoffs and not bad enough to get good players in the draft. Before Harden, the Rockets had been to the playoffs 7 times out of 16 years, and lost in the first round every time except once. With Harden, we have been to the playoffs 6 years straight, went to the second round once and the WCF twice. With Harden, we also had the best regular season in Rockets' history, the first time ever as the number 1 seed, and probably the first Rockets' player MVP since 1994. There is no doubt that he is a great player. All that said.... man, he can be so frustrating sometimes. There are times on defense when you can watch him literally just lose his guy and you can see him not even watching as his man just runs to an open spot. Just yesterday, there was a play when he was guarding Curry in the corner and he was up close on Curry, right before Curry just dribbled right past him and it looked like Harden didn't even try. Or another play when Durant was driving, and Harden didn't even try to cut off his drive, but instead just lazily tried to reach behind him as Durant drove past. Or another play when Ariza was coming to set a screen and Harden threw a lazy bounce pass to Ariza (who wasn't expecting it) that Iguodala easily picked off. James Harden is great. Don't get me wrong. I am thankful he is on our team. But times like that and plays like that, times when he looks lazy or disinterested, are so frustrating. I am in no way saying that we should trade Harden. At all. But there are times when you have to wonder if it is possible to win a championship with Harden as your #1 guy.
Good post OP! We gotta stand behind our players. Haters like the ringless Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley can go jump off a mountain face first!
The thing about James is it seems intentional. I really believe the Warriors were surprised with it to. I don't know what it is that causes him to checkout.I don't think he is scared or intimidated it just seems that when expectations are at high for him to perform at a given time he chooses to stick his nose up at the game and perform poorly
How is it that he can blow by any defender with ease on offense yet he can’t manage to stay in front of a 40 year old who nearly lost a leg? James Harden isn’t athletic? He’s not fast? He’s not quick? He’s not strong? He doesn’t have the frame? He doesn’t have the length? You’d be surprised... https://www.welcometoloudcity.com/platform/amp/2009/6/4/896944/bdts-pre-draft-combine-numbers http://www.nbadraft.net/2009-nba-draft-combine-analysis He is strong, he is athletic, he is fast, he is quick, he is long for his height, and he has a powerful frame. In addition to those he’s also agile, crafty, has high ball IQ and natural feel for the game so let’s stop with the poor Harden excuses. “His foot speed and lateral quickness makes transition defense almost impossible for him”. Lol Seriously? Are we talking about Mark Eaton? Or Sam Perkins? That’s gotta be the most hardcore HOF boy statement if I’ve ever heard one. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Harden’s foot speed or lateral quickness. Like I said if he can blow by elite defenders while dribbling a ball he can absolutely do a better job of getting back on defense and staying in front of his man. It’s 100% a lack of effort and grit. You think Tony Allen, Shane Battier, Bruce Bowen, Raja Bell, Artest etc became great defenders because of athleticism, foot speed and lateral quickness? Hell no. Harden has all the physical tools and god given talent to be a lockdown man defender and wreak havoc as a transition defender if he wanted to. We’ve seen glimpses of it here and there. Look man, I like Harden too but to completely ignore his shortcomings (effort/grit/desire) and blame it on his physical attributes or talent is blasphemous.
I think a lot of us take for granted what we have. I think a lot of people, win or lose, should appreciate him while he's playing for the Rockets. We could easily be a team like the Bulls or Hawks. I'm not saying we should settle for being 2nd best, we should not, but at the same time there is no scenario I believe where the Rockets trade Harden and get better. A realistic scenario that is.
Kobe Bryant will be releasing another Detail episode on Game 3 tomorrow....I would assume and hope it will be on Harden. Kobe is Hardens favorite player. I hope his insights will help James with some of his decision making, especially on the defensive end
The year before Harden joined us, we had... Hasheem Thabeet Jordan Hill Marcus Morris Chandler Parsons Patrick Patterson Greg Smith Jeff Adrien Samuel Dalembert Goran Dragic Kevin Martin T Will We were a pathetic, pathetic roster. I was only happy to see some cheap ticket prices. That was the only advantage. And then in 2012-2013 season, we got Harden. I never ever looked back.
James Harden’s superpower is actually his speed. His psychic ability to break people down is uncanny. The way he visualizes has the game occur to him as superslow. His problem is he doesn’t share that vision that well. This happens to a lot of 6th men ala EG, Lou Will, even Harden himself at one point. He’s gonna really have to get himself out of the way to be that leader and not retreat when it doesn’t go as he visualizes.
I recognize that James is all world. We go where he takes us and we're lucky to have him. There are a lot of things that aren't his fault, like when the other guys on our team make 10% of their layups, or that the Warriors have 5 playmakers and shooters on the floor at once. What is his fault is when he doesn't put forth defensive effort. From your leader and MVP candidate, that's a bad example to set and one that becomes contagious. I won't go as far as saying that it cost us a chance last night because we were pretty much abysmal all the way around, but I do believe it set a terrible tone to the start of the game and that it's possible other guys followed suit.
so you're saying professional athletes whose main role is defense some how followed suit defensively from a guys whose main role is offense? can you rank the rockets players last game who were playing defense?
that’s all fine and dandy but continuing to coddled harden like a baby is why this team is there it is being a fringe contender his defense has been disgraceful this series. Defense is about effort not just swiping at the ball when they go by being the best play you have to set the tone on both sides. Not lay down an die game 3 was just another harden led rockets disgraceful outting 2 40 point losses in a little over a year show some damn pride man
No offense dude but this is just not true at all. We wouldn’t easily be those teams... Our management is 10x better than theirs. We have one of the best management teams in the league. Morey is a top GM. If we didn’t have Harden I have full confidence Morey would have found another way to make this team relevant within a few years.
