Not a top player in this league Wait for no knowledge delusional idiots like jordann to pull up some random stat or tell you that harden is capable of 50-40-90 club
Harden has the highest efficency of all time . 62% True FG%. No one in the history of this game had a higher True FG% than Harden
You care!! Yes, I freely and unabashedly believe Harden is not capable of being a number 1 option on a championship contender and many posters here have some serious homer blinders using mental gymnastics to mask his severe deficiencies. He has a weak will. He is far too dependent on variables that are not within his control(ref's willingness to buy his head snap back and arm flail move). His game is ugly. He is the least athletic guard to be considered a superstar of all time. He does as minimal movement as possible when the ball is not in his hands on defense and offense. He makes stupid celebration gestures for the most mundane scoring plays. His triple threat consists of jacking up a contested 3 80% of the time. I just don't like him as a basketball player. As a Rocket fan I am left with two options: Hope he proves me wrong or hope the franchise parts ways with him soon. This team isn't going to win their third title with him as our number one option and leader. I'll be absolutely gracious if he proves me wrong though. And to make matters clear, the opinion I hold of Harden doesn't make me any less of a Rocket fan.
No, it makes you the GARM version of Biggtexx. Get all emotional about something, form an opinion, try and find any reason to talk about and push your opinion ENDLESSLY. Refute any positive, focus on every negative, attack anyone who doesn't agree, all the while completely destroying your objectivity. Congrats, Harden is your Obama.
Sounds exactly like you if we change it to "refute any negative, focus on every positive". The irony is very strong in you these days.
Haven't read any other posts of you, so not sure if joking. Maybe look at the SG competition both players had for 1st team All-NBA? Clyde was in the Jordan era, where it was basically impossible for him to snatch one. Harden competed with the corpse of Kobe and that's it. We're in one of the worst SG times in history, so trying to put this as a win for Harden is blatantly misleading and out of context.
Steph Curry is essentially a combo guard... a shooting PG but yeah if those count as SGs Harden would not be there
People need to stop with the stupid argument of "Harden can never be a #1 option on a contender" BS. Harden WAS the #1 option on a contender just last year, and was essentially the PG & best play maker on a team that went to the finals several years ago. There should be no doubt in anybody's mind that Harden can be the best player on a contender. That being said..... Does Harden always play consistently, and does he have lapses in not just regular season games, but entire playoff series'????? Hell freaking yes of course. His play in the finals vs. the Heat is what many thought was the reason OKC struggled. Even with Westbrook scoring at will, they needed Harden more than anyone to show up and run their offense. He was that key to what they did on that end of the floor. People forget that although James came off the bench, he was the play-making PG for that team when it mattered most, and they do not win the SAS series before without him. Guys... if Harden was a perfect player, we would have already won a championship, and he probably would have never been traded from OKC. Hell... he might already be viewed as a top 5 player OF ALL TIME. If his talent matched the mental fortitude of a Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, or even Magic, he'd be an all-time great. He has an odd personality from a leadership perspective, and when he's off he can lose a game for you as easily as he wins you 5 in a row beforehand. Guys... WE SHOULD HAVE KNEW THIS BEFORE WE TRADED FOR HIM. We all saw the OKC/MIA series. But to claim that he doesn't have PROVEN otherworldly talent that consistently has him producing (as a whole) at a top 5 player level, is blatantly IGNORANT. If you are a GM (you are not), you can OPENLY CHOOSE to take a chance with a talent like Harden who you know and understand his faults, or you can OPENLY CHOOSE the alternative (where you tank, or accept that you will have your best players just be character guys like Scola & Battier). Michael Jordan isn't suddenly signing with the Rockets. You can either understand who Harden is and who he isn't. You can understand that he will have games like last night, and series' like the OKC/MIA series, or you can openly say that ..... "I can't handle a superstar like this, I would rather have the alternative bad team that is gambling on the draft or just have a high character mediocre veteran team that is easier to like". If you can't handle Harden than fine... but have some balls about it, and admit it straight forward. But don't be incredibly ignorant and try to make a stupid case that he really isn't that talented.... guys, he's proven that time and time again that you are wrong about this ridiculous argument that he can't be the best player on a championship contender.... grow up. The Rockets and James Harden might very well never win a championship... but their best chance to do so is far and away with James Harden. If you think otherwise, I'm sorry but you are completely out of your mind.
Did you watch that OKC team closely.... I am not sure but I do not think Harden was the playmaker and PG all the time....in the 4th I am not sure, do not recall properly other than that Harden was great at scoring against the Spurs and was it Memphis in the Western Conference playoffs? He was penetrating and scoring at will.
Rockets had a cupcake first round opponent and the Clippers had a death grip on the Rockets and a choke job along with Josh Smith happened. Harden sprinkled a few good games but other than that his teammates stepped up.
He is talented and can be a No1 option on a very good team. It is rather his inability to lead, make others much better to be a contender every year. His game has specialized itself on penetration to the basket and jumpers. Opponents can tighten the Defense in the 4th and he will get embarrassed. Nobody questions his flashes of brilliance but is he able to deliver it year in year out? His immaturity is in question here to bring it every game and he is not the best role model on a team where the leading person should do it by example. I am not saying he cannot get us to the Finals but his talent level is not enough to dominate both on the offensive and defensive end over the course of 40 minutes a game. He is not the player that can get us to the Finals every year or every other 2 years.
I did actually. Scott Brooks had a pretty elementary style of play offensively, and for their offense to really take off, Harden's ability to get in the paint, and distribute was extremely important. Westbrook was great already at scoring for himself. Durant was already an incredible talent who could shoot from anywhere on the court. Ibaka was already a beast defensively, and was developing that shot. Tabo was a solid defender at the 3.... However Harden (at that point) was the straw that stirred the drink. However Harden leaving really forced Westbrook to grow tremendously as a playmaker. To the point now where maybe he's even a better one than Harden. At the time though, Harden was much better at getting everyone involved, and he was already skilled at getting to the foul line. I wouldn't say Harden was their best player, but for their offense to work, at that time he was their most important play maker when the game was on the line. Miami knew this, and designed their entire defensive schemes in the finals to take Harden out of the game. It worked. Lebron's Cavs last night ran alot of the same schemes that again threw Harden off early in the offense when he couldn't setup their sets the way he normally would. Until Harden can find out a way to exist alongside another great playmaking wing/guard teams like Lebrons Heat/Cavs will have the personnel to make like hell for James. Harden just needs to improve a few things, and Morey needs to continue to try and find the right pieces to make Harden more effective and less of a risk in these situations. But using nights like last night to crap on Harden's talent is just plain ignorant, and shows you really have little understanding of who James Harden is, or who he's supposed to be as an NBA star.
I have respect for what you said and you are a wise poster for sure. but I question if Harden himself knows what kind of NBA star this Houston Rockets team needs him to be. He sure loves his parties, his big butt girls and the glamor world. A lot of times talent alone is not enough and he is no Jordan, no Kobe and no Wade in his prime. I am sure about that. I only know he is much better than Ginobili who is a comparable player and has a similar style of skills. PG version of Gino-body
"Cupcake opponent" is really not fair. McHale & co. really deserve more credit than they get for devising solid schemes to exploit their weaknesses and beat a quality team. They weren't the Spurs or GSW, but the Rockets EARNED the right to play a lesser opponent in the first round with regular season success. Regular season success validates beating a lesser opponent in the first round. That's the starting base for a contending team being able to contend in the first place. Kinda the point... -Entrepreneurs made good investments -Sales people build a solid pipeline to eventually close sales -Actors memorize their lines ahead of time of going on camera -a Chef will tenderize and season the meat before he puts it on the grill -etc. etc. -A contending team will take care of business in the regular season to prepare for success in the playoffs with homecourt and being able to have a more favorable matchup in the first round. The Rockets were absolutely 100% a contender last year, and probably should have been considered a higher ranking contender in 2013/14.
