Untouchable ... for now Another season of half-assery and dwindling attendance, and you know he will be on the trade block too
Mentally it is like a mini purgatory Are we good enough to be a perennial contender year in year out? Probably no. Are we mediocre or bad enough to surround him with talent from the draft? No. Can Morey do this? Maybe. IMHO this seems to be a tad worse than going through the draft because you do not have a distinct direction other than 1) Harden grow up or man up 2) Get a coach to can restrain Harden and teach him how to play team ball and Defense At the end we are either overachieving (2nd place and WCF) or underachieving (7-9th seed right now)
The one thing Harden needs right now is time to mature. To help with that the Rockets need to put a real coaching staff around him to help him mature and help him understand the importance of team ball. He's had Brooks, McHale, and JBB. Not exactly the ideal coaches for a young player. IF it doesn't click after a real coach got to coach him up then you look to move on but he hasn't had anything close to that outside of USA basketball.
Because you don't trade a 26 years old in his prime on a cheap contract and the Beard won a MVP last year!!! You people are stupid. Did you forget that Harden was the MVP last year???? How many MVP get traded the following year and a 25 years old MVP!!!!
If Harden's slow movement off the ball, high turnovers and bad D is going to affect the team. Hell yeah, the team should at least consider moving him. Morey should never have given him the reins to the Franchise so easily, let him earn it by leading and not stats padding. The plan of Morey was easy but very crude and not well thought out Get a Yes man coach, get a 6th man of the year to become the star, get a declining Center still with something left in the tank He got ex Batmans and Robins of the league but actually failed to see who was the Batman in this league. It is not about the MVP of the regular season, it should be about the Finals MVP which is far more valuable. But to attain those honors, you have to make the Finals at least once in recent years.
Because he is a top ten NBA player and only 26 years old. Hopefully, he will remember this season and some of the mistakes he made at the beginning of it and use that to improve his game moving forward.
Harden was in the NBA Finals less than 4 season ago and he's still only 26 and have already won a MVP. How many 26 years old MVP that have also been to the finals are out there??
Let's just say Texas is really patient with its stars. They can do whatever they want and still be there for a long period. If they are in LA and not named Kobe they would be long gone. They will repeat the same things about him in the next 5 to 10 years. Once he was 6th man of the year, then he was almost an MVP, he was a Top 10 year player without counting in Defense ratings When was the last time leadership, being a good role model, husband and teammate counted?
That is the reason he will still be here even with two more underachieving seasons. "Superstars" have all the power in this league but there can only be one true MVP and one TRUE FINALS MVP. If Harden can achieve that I will tip my hat to him (Finals best that is). That is refreshing to see teams like GSW succeed. They have the best players and the best role players. Complete teams. And you know the right people backstage.
If we could walk away with Griffin and Teague for Harden, jones and bev... I'd be good with that... Griffin can be stupid - but at least the dude works... plus bigs are worth more than guards right?
That's the difference between GSW and the Rockets. GSW have role players. Rockets do not have role players. They all suck and should be replaced. Murray just need to get some role players to complete the superstars team of Dwight and James "“Dwight (Howard) and I are the cornerstones of the Rockets,” said Harden. “The rest of the guys are role players or pieces that complete our team. We've lost some pieces and added some pieces. I think we'll be fine next season.”"
Harden didn't win the MVP... When he made it to the finals he was coming off the bench. Harden has been to the post season with Houston 3 times. He has never been the Rockets post season MVP. Dwight has the past 2 seasons and 3 years ago it was Bev
Resume also includes the NBA record for most turnovers in a game... which would be forgiveable as a 'growing pain'... if he actually put forth the effort to grow as a player - instead of party and regress...
Terrible article, talk about what have you done for me lately. Harden has made the playoffs every year he's been in the league. He's been to the finals and a separate trip to the western conference finals with OKC, as well as another trip to the wcf with the Rockets. Not to mention 54 and 56 wins the last two years. The fact is, the guy has as a winning resume so far in his career. This idea that he's a cancer that doesn't care about winning is absurd. The team has been a major dissapointment so far this season and Harden deserves his share of the blame. It just seems unfair to take half a season of poor play and use that to label Harden as a guy that's selfish/only puts up empty stats. Apparantly Harden's past resume of making the playoffs six years in a row and going deep in the playoffs with two different teams doesn't make him a winner. This down year completely defines his career.
Guess what, if a "superstar" is flawed and getting in the way of a team's success and true potential? I guess it only takes another year to find out. I am one of the few guys that think stats are not the important thing. When the right superstar for the right team is there, then all is good. When the wrong one for your team is here, you will suffer ups and downs more drastically.
He's not the ideal player you want to build a championship caliber team around but he's not a bum either. The guy is one of the best scorers in the history of the league and has taken this team deep into the playoffs, something nobody else has managed to do in the last 20 years. You keep Harden but put a coach that commands respect. You also add a few veterans that can shape this team up when it lacks effort or starts doing stupid stuff. Also, add some knock down shooters around him that hit 40% from 3 point range. The one thing that you don't do is give up on a 26 year old superstar.
