This is absolutely correct. I thought they felt too loose and their heads were big before the season began. I'm not surprised that the season has turned out like this based on their attitude before the season started.
Carl you are a notorious anti-Harden poster, would you agree with that?. Obviously you were pretty quiet last season since Harden was an MVP candidate, we barely saw you around here those days. Since Harden is doing poorly then you remembered your clutchfans password and started continuously posting again about your favorite subject "Harden Sucks", good for you! Nevertheless you are well within your rights to do so, this forum is a space for everyone of us to express our opinions about the Rockets. So you are welcome to explain to us what realistic scenario were we get rid of Harden makes us better, when i say better i do mean contenders because that is what we were not so long ago, and that is what i believe we can be again if Harden & Company really put their minds to it.
does this deserve a separate thread? no one is panicking. i said the exact same thing i am saying now almost a yr. ago. and this season so far only proves what i had observed and believed.
I don't remember you or really anyone saying anything negative about harden last year or in the offseason. Everyone around here thought we had a championship team, hell most of ESPN and media members thought this was a 60 win team and a real threat to have a better record than SA. The stupid Warriors beat writer said we were the 2nd best team in the league. No one said anything.
Does it bother you that there are people that still have not given up on Harden? I dont believe that i have seen a thread specifically pointing out the theories i expressed on my little thesis.: a) Harden has had 3 great years and only 1 bad one b) The team was too confident for their own good and immature, this affected everyone's performance c) Harden needs to learn from this failure and prove he IS great next season d) if he doesn't then he does need to go. I cannot summarize it more clearly and objectively than that. If there is another thread exactly like this one then i apologize, i am sure Clutch will decide to lock it up if he thinks it doesnt deserve to be... ...
maybe you didnt see there's a thread today that polls on "will you trade harden?" i just thought you couldve said what you wanted to say here in that thread. no biggie, tho. and no, it doesnt bother me a bit that there are still many fans who have not given up on harden. why should it bother me? this is sports and ppls have different views and beliefs.
i left this board for a few yrs. and got back last yr. b4 the playoffs began. check my posts back then and you will see i was saying the same thing i say today.
It’s true, there are a few posters in the forum that have been always against Harden, even last season when he was going head to head with Curry for that MVP title. I don’t particularly recall if you are one of them, but maybe you are, I do remember others specially because not only they were against Harden despite his awesome season but they would talk down to people which made them even more obnoxious. I think this season is done, but if I am right next season we will find out for sure whether in fact Harden is great and comes back with fire in his heart or if he is really fool's gold. Next season we will see if guys like you are basketball connoisseurs who were never fooled by the beard like the rest of us or if you are just hard headed naysayers.
fair enough. we all could be right or we all could be wrong in the sports world. only time will tell. and at this point, in reality harden is going to stay anyway. i dont know harden and i care about what he does only as a rockets player. there's nothing personal here. so i dont really understand why many people (not saying its you) use words such as "hater" or "nuthugger" etc. my conclusion is based on observations, experience and logic (though harden's playing style never pleased my eyes ). so yeah, we're cool. and when/if harden leads the rockets to a title one day, i'd be more than happy to eat crow.
Harden has more ISOs than the whole GSW team! How 'coachable' is Harden? Since McHale's first year with us, he has been talking about "sticky ball." Remember when the bench unit played more cohesively than the starting unit. PPat in a players-only meeting called Harden out, then was traded a few days later. We have had games when we were playing with ball and player movement until the endgame when someone goes into iso-mode. This year, Lawson was brought in but he has underwhelmed and Harden hasn't changed the way he played. And that's only on offense. In his personal life, he has continued to live the club life even before important games. His choice of partners show immaturity, lack of commitment. His teammates reportedly told him to ditch Khloe since the beginning of the season. How many think this guy can lead our team? For all the bashing Sam Presti got for letting Harden go, maybe he knew he is not a #1 guy.
I think the dude has no focus and motivation to win. As you said, he got paid... so now its cruise control and living the superstar lifestyle... I presume he is dictating many of the things that I find so infuriating... -The slow meandering pace he brings the ball up - put the ball in the hand of the pg and go play off ball! - The lack of shot opportunities for D12 - Dwight is #4 ALL TIME on fg% and shooting over 60% this year - yet only gets 8-9 shots a game on average - The inconsistent effort on D.... - The turnovers... - The fact that EVERYONE has gone to **** this year leads me to believe its because team chemistry is shot because of the aforementioned points... I mean c'mon what are the odds EVERYBODY goes in the toilet... His whole personal demeanor just screams of someone that DGAF... - Quotes like "Those that matter dont mind and those that mind dont matter..." - The clubbing before games... - Saying things like "it's only one game" after losses... Further, I think he is just far too ball dominant to take a team to the championship... Unless you are MJ, Kobe or LeBron - you need a full on team effort to win at the loftiest levels... guys do not get into any kind of rhythm when they only touch the ball once or twice in 10 minute stretches because James in dribbling the air out of the ball... Best comparison I see is Iverson - great player, great stats - but no ring... There's nothing about his game that can't be fixed... nothing that can't be molded to be more beneficial for the team... but again, I dont get the impression that's his motivation... He's had some great games where he dishes great assists, a few games where he pulls down rebounds great and even some games where he's played good defense... but then it all disappears and it's back to iso ball and jacking up 3s... seems he's just working on padding his stats... Basically, great offensive player... but I don't think he has the heart of a champion...
I agree! This is not a "Harden is perfect thread", this is a "Harden is flawed but can be better" post..... He is definitely giving us a DGAF vibe, but i haave hopes that once we are out of the playoffs or swept in the 1st round by GSW and after the dust settles, Harden will start caring again, he will see/feel how fighters like Curry, Paul, Klay, James, are being praised and he is ignored or heavily criticized, if he doesnt get fired up then, and learns from this horrible **** up of a season to improve and get motivated again then i will bail on him and would agree that trade him is the right move, but we are not there yet.
Man, i dont know about winning a title. Right now i would be satisfied if next season he is back at last season's playing level. If he does that and can keep that level for 3 or 4 good years then anything is possible with a good coach and good teammates we might get that title, but right now i only want him to be constantly good again and to show heart!
No, not really. Here's the thing. We can argue back and forth about where Harden ranks this season, but that is pointless. What really can't be argued is that he is a top 5 talent. We'll never get anything close to that in return for a trade. really good role players who aren't someone that could have a whole team built around them and carry that team to at least the Conference finals if not further, don't count. Harden can carry a team at least as far as the conference finals even if the team has major injuries to starting players and a bunch of inexperienced role players and past their prime role players filling in. We've got him, and need to be happy that we do, and work as hard as we can to maximize that potential while he's in his prime. Of course our star Harden, needs to maximize his potential too.
Harden does have more value. Wouldnt be a bad cash in if you get a crazy package for him.(Like Melo to NY) IM not saying you do it tho. Huge gamble.
