[Official Thread] Media/Player Reaction to James Harden 2019-2020

nO oNe WaNtS tO pLaY wItH hArDen

If the Rockets were the Lakers, Harden would be celebrated ... it's that simple.

And every playoff exit would be doused with ESPN pundits saying "Harden needs help," and it's miraculous the Lakers won that many games against GSW.

 

After watching that clip I can't see how people say it was tougher D than today. There were so many shots taken with NO ONE guarding the shooter (like you pointed out)...drives to the basket were many times uncontested (strange for a 'no layups' era). And Jordan's 3s? Damn, I wonder how high a percentage Harden would shoot if he had that much room every time? 40%? 45%? They're just wide open, while Harden regularly has to worry about being undercut without a foul call. Hell can you imagine someone today trying to undercut Jordan like that every game? It's unbelieveable the crap that people make up about the past...especially when it's all recorded for everyone to see.

 

Hopefully history will be kinder to Harden then reality is. The Jordan calls were so bad at times, too, but to his favor. I would take my friend’s money time and time again betting the over on 3 or more questionable calls a game. ALWAYS happened at key points in the game, too. Quitten and his rings were gifted to him by a cash cow of a team in a corrupt league.

 

I'd cut SVG some slack, the 54 was dropped on his old team Orlando Magic.

He didn't go full poo-poo, honestly I think it is what he believes. If the Rocket players pays attention to the media chatter, they can use it as fuel.

 

They gave Jordan space because he wasn't a 3 point shooter. Guarding him closely at the 3 point line was death. Someone like Reggie Miller had to run and work like crazy during the playoffs just to get an open look. Backing off of Jordan at the 3 point line wasn't always a bad decision. I could put together a video clip of open 3's that both Steph and Klay have gotten during the playoffs. Even against the Rockets last year. Cherry picking videos is fun, but not always convincing when put in proper context.

How about just giving Jordan AND Harden their props? Both sides sound foolish trying to bring either player down. Anyone who has watched both players know how great they both are.

 

eh..by a part of the media yes but there would also be MUCH bigger backlash.

Have you ever met a rabid Lakers fan?
These.." people " can easily turn to hyenas and would eat Harden alive.

 

No, they would have eaten Scott Foster alive for the 10pts he took away from Harden in a matter of 5 minutes, once the “Lakers” took a 12pt lead on GSW at end of 2ndQ of Game 7.

Actually, Lakers win that game because Foster doesn’t screw the Lakers..and Harden is forever a hero, winning with CP3 injured against best team ever.

So there

 

The Magic’s young stud defender, who is leading league in blocks, has spoken

 

It is a thing and in the past it has been an issue in the AA community and white community.

You hear words like “ghetto” or “urban”... “gang member”, “lazy”, “out of shape”, “strip clubs”.... all of that is deeply and culturally engrained bias and it doesn’t fit the reality.

Harden isn’t lazy, he isn’t out of shape. He has improved 10 straight seasons. There should be no question about his character or work ethic.

He has never been in trouble with the law. He doesn’t have children out of wedlock. Daryl Morey and even Jason Terry have commented on how smart he is. Terry said he is the brightest player he has ever played with or against.

He doesn’t have light skin and a light skinned wife and child. He has a beard and is dark and is single. So he is treated like a dark sheep.

It isn’t okay, and by 2019 I would like to believe it would be different but it isn’t. He didn’t go to Duke, He has been underestimated his entire life. He can give to charities, be close to his mom and be loyal almost to a fault..., but to most he is still the dark black, ghetto boy from LA that grew up in poverty and is lazy and trying to get over.

 

Harden burned Isaac, Aaron Gordon and Ross, all excellent defenders.

Isaac could be the best defensive player this season, even better than Giannis.

 

I think it's more like no one wants to play in Houston unfortunately. It's not like all stars were begging to play for rockets before harden. All the top free agents have left there teams for Cali or Miami. To make matters worse, those that may have wanted to come couldnt bc how many times have we had the money to sign a big name free agent

 

Yep. All of this. I know it. I was trying to see how others took to me saying it. It’s a damn shame we are still so far away from where we need to be as a people.

 

Houston is and has been one of the more attractive destinations in the NBA.

 

Is that why we have not signed a big name free agent except for Dwight? And Dwight came bc they sold him on Houston's legacy of big men.

 

Just in the last 5-6 years Howard, Paul and Westbrook have pushed to come to Houston.

In a lot of that time the Rockets did not have cap space to add as well.

There are approximately 30 teams in the league and the Houston market is easily in the top 5-6 in attractiveness over the last 25 years.

Part of the problem for the Rockets is they never bottomed out. As a result they were never in a position to draft a franchise player. Everything the Rockets have currently is from trades and cobbling together mediocre draft picks for players (Harden/Westbrook) or shrewd signings like Tucker. The only drafted player is Capela.

Butler chose Miami over Houston because he wanted to be THE star and not complimenting another bigger star.

 

Westbrook might not make the all-star team this year in the West. It's sad Harden will never get to play alongside real All-star level players in his prime.

 

I'll buy that Paul wanted to come to Houston even though he was eventually traded rather then free agent signing. Paul was essentially on the last year or two of his prime when he made that decision and to my knowledge was not being pursued by the other cities I mentioned. I don't think Westbrook had a huge market and harden/dantoni was the draw not the city of Houston which really goes against the argument that no one wants to play with harden.