Yall need to slow down. What Harden is. A top young player in the NBA. That's about it right now. We can't say he's the 2nd best player in the NBA, he's done nothing but have 2 great games and one so-so game. We can't ask how he compares to MJ and Kobe...let the man win something before you start saying stuff like this. What Harden is, a elite young prospect. Lets hope he continues his play from the first two games...with his efficiency and passing. If he plays like that then his game will speak for itself.
I like everything about the guy... but he is still young and use to coming off the bench... I am willing to give him a few years to develop, make those rookie mistakes...and for the Rox to field a team that can contend... where as I think a few people expecting him to win a Championship for this team this year... the next coming of Lebron... so I dont want to be on here if he has a bad shooting night... because that is bound to happen
I am going to be really disappointed if the Rockets do not make the playoffs by the time Harden is 26 (27 if he turns 24 later this season) There is plenty of young talent here to develop - not even counting the rookies right now - and thats not to mention the cap space this offseason and our GM's ability to identify quality players in the draft. The bigger question mark is more the coaching -- is McHale the best coach for this team? His rotations have been extremely puzzling - its hard to question them right now since we only can guess the method to his madness at the end of the season based on results. But honestly I would be much more confident in the playoff prediction in by the 3rd season of Harden if we still had Adelman as the coach or JVG for that matter. I think SVG would be a good coach for this team (he did take a very young Heat squad that started off 0-8 and led them to the playoffs), but getting SVG would rule out the biggest of pipe dreams of signing Howard in the offseason
I don't want to spoil everybody... can we wait first when the rockets play 82 games before judging and predicting. stop saying he is good,he is bad. let the rockets finish the season first before we judge. you can minimize the damage and useless complain of bipolar rockets fans if you wait.
One caveat to all the pieces coming out about Harden and him elevating the Rockets from "cellar dweller" to playoff contention: I think most of the national media underestimates the talent that the Rockets had before the Harden trade. I'm not saying the Rockets would have been a playoff team; but they probably would have competed their ways out of the cellar and firmly into the later part of the lottery. Lin and Martin were going to put up nice numbers. Still, anyone who doesn't think Harden makes this team better right away hasn't been watching basketball the past couple of seasons. QFT. Kobe and Wade are probably better right now, but there's no shooting guard in the league I'd rather have over the next SIX years than Harden. Unless Lebron decided he wanted to play SG. I won't lie, I think Dwight is at a level that Harden simply isn't at. Could Harden get there? Maybe. But there's no guarantee that he will. I think Morey was ready to call Dwight's bluff about walking and probably (although not definitely) would have managed to lock Howard up longer term. Dwight would have made the Rockets more of a contender than Harden . . . UNLESS the Rockets manage to acquire a second legit superstar. The Rockets now have the cap flexibility to do that; but cap flexibility does not equate to actually being able to accomplish the goal of acquiring that player. All in all, Harden was one HELL of a consolation prize. James Harden JUST turned 23 on August 26. He'll still only be 28 years old when his extension ends. Talked about this point on the podcast. I can't overstate this point enough. There's an unselfishness there that you just don't see very often nowadays. With the organization now pushing him to be "the man," I think the sky's the limit for Harden.
Yeah....once ESPN starts posting positive articles based on the Rockets and their players...THAT'S when ESPN starts to get "relevant" once again... Homerism
You better believe I'm a HOMER!!.........I actually like when the media says positive things about Houston,Texans Astros,Dynamo,Cougars........:grin: Your not an Anti-Homer are you? .................. .................. ..................
Somebody needs to compile a linked list of all these "Is Harden a #1 option?" articles, just so we can have something to laugh at in the future.
One thing I never understood about the whole "playing against 2nd units" is that does this really affect scoring? I mean, take the Rockets for example. Kevin Martin would've guarded Harden as a starter, Lee would have as a bench player. Same with Aaron Brooks vs Lowry. 2nd unit players may also be tougher defenders. Heck, even against Chicago, facing Asik in the paint was more difficult than facing Noah in the paint. While there is certainly an overall decrease in ability with team benches, I'm not so sure the decrease is that significant on defense.
I'm not anti-homer, but I think it's just ignorant to say that a network like ESPN isn't "relevant" because it's not satisfying one particular person, which in this case is yourself.
nicely put .....stole my words...i think there is some human quality to harden that I simply cannot put my finger on.... some humility, goodness, unselfishness, lack of arrogance or similar...words cant describe it....perhaps this is just my imagination but I would take Harden for a leader of my team before Kobe(in his prime) any day of a week...
your absolutely right so to say cause there are absolutely no absolutes ..it's only a mind concept...btw the article noted the same thing if i am not mistaken.... btw enjoyed your writing and remarks that are food for thought meh.... here's a postcard for you...:grin:
