Sports Illustrated: How Faith Fuels the Rockets' Explosive Offense

CP3 signed the papers for a house 2 days before the playoffs?

 

When I saw the title, I thought Harden had been converted to Islam.

 

Welcome to Clutchfans, Laurel.

 

Good article. I found the information surrounding D'antoni's career enlightening as to how it informs his coaching style.

 

there are some great lessons for team leadership (any team, business, military, sports, etc.). empowering the individual, nurturing confidence, not over/micro managing...

 

In a diff time, Faith would've been Harden's new fav stripper.

 

I feel like I've been transported back to the 1980's and the days of the Twin Towers, when even before we drafted Akeem, Sampson and Houston were getting the cover of SI time and again. People today would be shocked at the extent of the media's coverage of the Rocks in the '80's and how complimentary those articles and columns were. Just amazing when compared to today, when you have to dig to find something positive about our team. That could be changing. If we advance and are able to handle who we meet, probably Golden State, there's likely to be a sea change in the media's coverage of Houston. This article could be an early indication of that. We'll see. Gotta advance, first.

 

"D’Antoni suffered Phoenix flashbacks, as Harden went 2 for 11 in a 39-point rout by the Spurs. Much was made of Harden’s clunker, but when club officials reviewed playoff video, they noticed signs he was fried even in the first round."

This is one of the most direct acknowledgements that I've seen about what happened there.

 

Yes, it's a very interesting comment. I like your new avatar, by the way.

 

It was always Kobe's team even though he was like Westbrook, took all the shots he wanted
and didn't necessarily get along with his teammates.
D'Antoni never stood a chance in LA with him there. It was gonna be Kobe's way or the highway.
I'm sure they didn't see eye to eye on more than just practice.
Then you toss Dwight Howard into the mix and that's a recipe for disaster.
NEITHER of those guys are gonna run a system. They both want their touches
and there's not enough ball to go around.

 

MDA's philosophy is all about one thing...

 

And I noticed signs when I made the "Is James Harden Running out of Gas?" thread before the playoffs even started.

 

Having faith in your players and not trying to tear them down is a good thing but there is also are times when you have to call them out and remind that nothing is just granted and you have to earn your victories. I remember in 1996 when the Rockets got up 2-0 in the Finals against the Magic. Rudy T instead of just telling the team they were doing great and had the series won instead told them they needed to keep the pressure going and get tougher.

 

agreed, although i think that was after game one, at the shoot around the next morning. players were joking around, and Rudy told them they hadn't won anything yet, focus, and don't be satisfied with just one win on the road.