You can't fix Harden that much. People don't change that way. If McHale couldn't do it, then certainly a harsher more disciplinarian approach wouldn't work. The outcome of that would be that we lose Harden, and I know from reading your recent posts you'd be fine with that. You're already thinking "well if he doesn't like it he can f off". I might be misreading your posts but you don't seem to root for the Rockets anymore? I think you're rooting against certain elements of the team more than you're rooting for the overall team. And no, I'm not saying you have to root for every screw up, I'm saying it's strange when someone roots against certain elements more than they root for the organization to succeed. But the rest of us are not watching these games to see a well mannered well disciplined squad playing mediocre ball like Chicago did and know that the coach will burn out the players before ever winning anything. We want to win and today's stars will not win by being spoken to like they're dog poop. I wish it were possible and it were true, I really do. It's a simple fix if that's the case. But that's just not how this entire generation gets motivated barring a few exceptions. This generation knows that a coach's bark has no bite, so they will tune it out quickly. It takes real management of young people's psychology for them to buy in. It's about knowing the intricacies of how to motivate each individual and their preferred way of getting motivated in order for them to buy into the team-first concept. I think me and you we're from a different era and we can't really practically understand this mindset, but the patterns bear it out. We need more modern coaching, and modern coaching isn't just about statistics. Thibodeau is a terrible idea IMO. He needs this season to figure out his own kinks before being able to lead a team to a championship. I'm not sure he's there yet, just like I'm not sure Harden is there. But Harden is a young, still-impressionable mind. I'd put my money on Harden who has improved every year to come out of this slump after he sees just how much his approach failed. Thibodeau on the other hand probably thinks his coaching style had nothing to do with the Bulls' lack of success, which is only partly true.
I'm pretty disgusted that Rodney Hood put up that many points. Was Harden guarding him? I imagine Ariza was guarding Hayward. It's really ridiculous this season. The second best wing man from the opponents' team has a career night more than 50% of the time against the Rockets. There is no excuse for this level of defense. No matter how many minutes, no matter the offensive load. Rodney Hood put up 23 points on NINE shots. NINE. Along with 7 assists and 2 turnovers. That guy's normally a 41% shooter from the field. Averages 13 points on 11 shots. This is insane. Harden has to be benched.
Hood did not have a career night but he dropped Plenty on Harden just like Danny Green a 7 PPG scorer shooting 36% from the field and 30% from 3 point line before the Rockets game lit up Harden no ends raining 3's on his slow ass
Do you know what a career is? Rodney Hood shoots 41% from the field and 33% from 3pt range. He scores 13 points off 11 shots, and 2.7 assists to 1.6 TO's. When he puts up TWENTY THREE POINTS ON NINE SHOTS. Think about it for a second. Ten points over his average ppg, double his FG%, almost double his pps. His opponent, whether Ariza or Harden, had an average game. Harden put up 30 points on TWENTY FIVE SHOTS. TWENTYYYY FIIIIIVE. Almost 3 times more shots than Hood. He had 8 TO's vs 7 assists. That's a career night for Hood. His whole team will congratulate him and his girl gave him the best head he's ever had. The fact that he had another career night the previous game doesn't mean this was not a career night for Rodney freaking Hood. If T Jones put up those numbers - which he occasionally does - we call it a career night. Because it's MUCH better than his average career numbers. EDIT: Hood is a good player, but when he's scoring 23 points on 9 shots, that means you ****ed up. Hood ain't that good.
I've been following this team for almost 4 decades now and I've never felt so empty after a win over the j*zz. Do you guys agree? I can only care as much as our star player cares.
Please, don´t defend Harden on this one. Great talent, and we have to be very careful to not let go if we are not sure. There are not a lot of franchise players out there But is ridiculous, night after night someone goes off on us because we have one player who does not want to play defense. Have you guys noticed how everything our rivals throw at us is based on the movement of their SG? Spurs game, we go on a run, timeout from Pop and next time we look at the box score Green has like 5 threes. Hood, Wes Mathews, are just the examples of the week, but pay attention to our season,
Yeah, the win felt very dirty. The team deserved it based on their play in the second half, but it never should have been close. Jazz, Dallas and NY are my favorite teams to beat, but it didn't feel the way it should have.
This right there is how I feel - and it is annoying as hell. Harden is looking so much like Tmac - caring only about fame and not so much about winning is the only thing - it is just not good. DD
Yeah. Can't shake the high expectations from the start of the year. Hard to enjoy much after such a bad first two months.
I agree. It's like ok he lacks on the defensive end but on the offensive end it's hard to win without him. You cannot bench him. He knows this we know this everybody knows it. I start thinking that he is thinking ..Hey Adidas pays me this is just something to do in the meantime to keep my name out here. That's strictly my opinion. I don't have the answers Sway. I hope it all comes together. HOPE
Amazing, just absolutely amazing. Clearly didn't watch what was happening, yet advocates benching our franchise, and far away best player.
The Harden hate has officially gone off the deep end. This forum is beyond unreadable at this point. Apparently everything that goes wrong is now Harden's fault despite him not even being the highest paid player on the team by a longshot.
I think ppl's frustration with Harden comes from his lackadaisical effort. It's a legitimate gripe. Last nite he turned the ball over it had to be 4 times in a row throwing a lazy pocket pass. His careless demeanor & non existent defense is toxic when you're the leader of the team. I honestly think he doesn't want to be here anymore
Sometimes benching a guy for a time gets them in line - I am not for benching Harden as much as I am for letting someone else push the ball up and initiate the offense. Harden is our best OFFENSIVE player, but he is our WORST Defensive player. DD
