But when Harden delusionals condescend other posters there is nothing wrong with that though, because they are real fans.
I hope all you weirdos that cry about lack of media respect stop that weak crap now. Harden needs to mature and this team needs more talent if they want to be serious competitors and not just a cute little sideshow.
This kinda feels condescending though? I'm not sure this really helps. All this will do is that when things go well next year the same thing will happen. You call some people delusional but some people here do say some rather irrational things about Harden. It works both ways really.
You know what will stop the end of the spectrum where delusional negative harden opinions come from? If he actually shows up consistently in the playoffs or *gasp* wins a title. Harden is more concerned with being a swag champ than an actual champ. He needs to mature. Rockets might still lose this series with Harden at his peak, but at least they have a shot. Harden not showing up and failing in crucial moments is about a 95% chance of failure.
I don't know what you're seeing. Winning a championship requires a lot of work and a lot of players and coaches on the same page. Even if you have all that, you still need a little luck. Hakeem might be the greatest player to ever play the game on both ends of the floor and he only had two championships even though he was amazing. Losing happens. You can't completely control it with one player. I just think your anger is too pointed right now. Things could click and we could have a mini dynasty brewing, we don't know. All we know is that Harden has some incredible potential and he's locked up on max money for many years. He loves Houston and he wants to win a championship. Maybe someone could really help him understand the defensive impact he can make and he'll start playing both sides like a champ, but we still might not win it yet because he needs that one player to step up when he has an off night and he just doesn't have it going. Popovich is probably the greatest coach on the planet right now and he won't watch tape... unless it's James Harden. That should tell you something. If you can't hear what he's telling you, I can't tell you either. But maybe one day it'll click for you and I won't care if you hate him or not because I'll be so happy I won't care one bit about doubters. I've learned to say, "next year" when we lose a series and I'll keep saying it until I don't have to. There's a ray of hope to this season. Don't forget we were picked to finish 8th or 9th in the conference by the experts and we finished 3rd overall. We overachieved but ran into great coaching, big men who were allowed to foul at the rim, and a team with championship pedigree mixed throughout. There's no shame in that loss. Keep doubting, Thomas. It's what you do best, I guess.
As a fan my goal is to enjoy the team. I want to my team to win a championship but it seems we asked / coached to much out of one player. I enjoy being a Rocket fan win or lose. I will be hoping for a good offseason filling in the holes. My love for the team is stronger than any one player, coach or season. We are better than last season and most any seasons the Rockets ever had. I hope coach learns plays with ALL the players in the future.
I like how you guessed my name was Thomas. It's not. Think more along the lines of your avatar. Here's the thing Donald, I don't deny that actually winning a title takes more than what the Rockets have. That's not the point of any of this. The point is, Harden's immeasurable qualities (among them, heart, mental focus, defensive effort) are the ones that he continues to lack, especially in some of the biggest games. Those things are not learned or taught. They are intrinsic in any human being. It doesn't matter who Harden has around him for those things to come out in a player. These little antidotes about Hakeem or Pop only watching Harden tape are meaningless. Harden is a super skilled player, that's obvious. But he doesn't have what it takes to lead a championship team, much less win any. I am not the one who is not seeing what is going on. You and many others are saying, quite arrogantly I might add, that "One day it with click for me". Please, spare me. Do me a favor and objectively respond to what Harden did tonight, and many other nights, instead of spewing useless opinions about what might happen in Harden's future, and how its obvious that one day he will put it all together, when it so clearly isn't.
tonight was a great night for them...the Rockets lost and Harden had a horrific game, now they will become the most active posters on Clutchfans
We didn't make them loose. It wasn't a great night. But it was more proof that Harden is who we thought he was. We are allowed to express that opinion just like Harden apologists do the opposite.
I'll just repeat this I think one more time though. People said this same thing about Dirk and Lebron. I actually think you have the wrong way around, the skills Harden has are the ones you can't teach. The mental toughness part...that can be picked up on. As another poster said, a lot of players were chokers and soft until they weren't. This is really the first time Harden really choked. The finals series was not on him, he was the 3rd best player on his team. Look at Durant's and Westbrook's history of choking. The Warriors series...I mean it was the Warriors. He did all he could to will his team against overwhelming odds. This time though, this time it's all on him. Either he's going to respond (Like those great players I listed above did.) or he's going to continue to fold. Unless your Curry or Duncan who just fell into the perfect situations, players much better than Harden had to fail pretty hard before they got their rings. Of course, some never did get those rings like Barkley or Iverson, but Harden's career is not over yet, so let's stop pretending like it is and that we can close the book on him.
My problem with your logic is that you excuse Harden for these performances by putting him on the same plain as Lebron (who is in the running to be considered the GOAT)....along with comparisons to Dirk, Duncan etc. Say what you want about the teams they had, and how they failed in big situations from time to time, but you can't compare these players to Harden based solely on good regular season stat lines. These are guys that have immeasurable qualities that are far and away better than Harden. It's not close. You can believe Harden will somehow develop these qualities, but all too often his play doesn't support that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubting_Thomas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Corleone This is a test.
LOL and you act as though it is without reason or solely because the objective reality of what we have seen is indeed fact. Keep denying reality and be happy with the 2nd round...
haha wait? so I was supposed to get that Doubting Thomas reference. really? Maybe a tad overstated? I think so. Still quite condescending though, so it fits the bill. Also, I've seen Godfather.
You really believe a true fan would rather be right than their team win? Wasn't too long ago I argued ad nauseum about Paul George > Harden. James proved me wrong (I guess).... but do you really think I'm mad?
I'm on the cusp of making a really good peanut butter and jelly sandwich right now. I will read through this thread when it is complete.
Might wanna second guess your original thought. I'm pretty confident George would've pulled out game 5 if you replaced him for Harden for Q4 and OT and he would've feasted on no Kawahi and not got shut down by Gino and Simmons in a huge game 6 at home and gotten blown out. George is taller, more athletic, has heart, came back to form from an injury that most couldn't have and he's even much better looking than bum ass Harden to boot.
I've never been a lover of the beard and his foul drawing arm flapping style of play. It just doesn't seem to work in the playoffs, and at some point he gets frustrated, begins to choke and comes up short. I honestly didn't expect more from him, and was much more disappointed in everyone else, who I thought would come up big. Ugh.
