I hope you're right, but even most i want you to be right And yeah, i agree about Ryan and Eric, tbh i wasn't a fan of these signings, mostly because i already had enough of injuries in the Yao/TMac years but well, they've been ok from that point of view so i won't complain much...i also expected Ryan to be a streaky shooter/scorer so yeah...Eric surprised me tbh, i knew he was a good player but i didn't expect him to be that good on both sides like he was for the first two months, he was playing so well before those ankle/back injuries...as today i don't know, he's definitely regressed but like all the team tbh...hope they will start playing better soon.
Bingo. The Anti-Harden argument on this board has been consistent for several years. Yet the pro-Harden camp routinely changes its stances based on how Harden is playing at a given time. His numbers may fluctuate slightly, but the Anti-Harden argument has never changed. It's the other side that is full of excuses.
Well, i bolded a specific part of ROXTXIA post so, i was referring to that. As for what you're asking here, the coach is not actively trying to help James at the expense of the team, obviously, it would be ridiculous...but we've see how the situation went out of control few times, in some games we started to play at some point just to let him reach the triple double and the game was not over, i suppose this is mostly on the players/James himself since he has basically total control of the team when he's in...? But it's still not a good thing for the team imo. Win the game -> feel free to pad whatever you want. Not sure if someone should eventually keep this more under control, if the organization, MDA, or James himself...maybe no one since it's something only James can eventually fix (which redirects to the part of basketballholic post i was referring)? I'm just saying that i kinda see a bit too much importance given (in one way or another) to the MVP chase around the team, this is an aspect that i don't like to see very much.
And I'm asking for examples of the MVP chase being given too much important. Doesn't seem like a concrete example can be given. There have absolutely been times that Harden assist hunts, but is stat padding a new thing this year? What are you seeing from the organization that is geared towards helping him get MVP that bothers you? This seems like a baseless accusation. If anything, an organization trying to boost his chances at MVP would have put him back in the game the other night during the blowout to rack up stats. It seems an odd accusation without any merit. The accusation is perhaps that Harden gets too passive at times and this is the organization being too focused on him winning MVP. Just lay the blame where it belongs; since the end of December Harden has been declining. He has settled for too many threes, the turnovers have risen, etc. That's not an organization focus on him winning MVP, it's a Harden problem.
Obviously there are extremes on both ends and there's a reason why Joomba garnered the reputation he did. If you want evidence of his spamming of posts you can read them for yourself. He wasn't generally stingy. He was a troll. I don't want to turn this thread into that discussion. I couldn't care less about the ratio of positive to negative comments. You brought up that this board had a problem taking Harden criticism and I countered that there was really just a big problem with 1 person who spammed it. This was never a witch hunt about finding all the extreme haters and all the blind homers and calling them out.
Still no evidence. I'll take that as an admission of defeat. You mentioned one guy who were only active in the game threads and generally complained about Harden's streaky shooting, turnovers, and defense. Wow, how dare he? He must be a devil. Totally unfounded criticisms since Harden is famous for not having those flaws, right? If people like him is considered extreme, then that only proves my point. Here's a challenge : name me one poster - besides joomba and basketballholic , since they are haters in your eyes - who were generally critical of Harden back in January and were received with warm response by this board. It's doesn't exist because by your definition - and most people here - once the negative comments about Harden seem to outnumber positive ones, you are immediately labeled as a 'troll' or 'hater'.
What i was trying to say (sorry if i cannot explain myself well enough, i do my best) is that the MVP chase overall seems to be pretty important for James (padding stats when the game is still on the line, saying in interviews he should win it multiple times), and i'm not sure MDA putting him back on the court when the game is already over and Morey promoting him on twitter are the best things to do to help James and so the team. And while i understand the organization wants to keep his franchise player happy (see also the Bobby Brown signing), i'm not sure this is the best way to deal with that, i fear this may be what later leads to things like "we are the core, the other guys are just pieces". Maybe i'm just seeing it way bigger than it is, but still...
Joomba is that you? Good grief man you do not get it at all. I honestly do not care this much nor do I want to enter this wormhole any further. Do your own research chief.
Repeat Here's a challenge : name me one poster - besides joomba and basketballholic , since they are haters in your eyes - who were generally critical of Harden back in January and were received with warm response by this board. It's doesn't exist because by your definition - and most people here - once the negative comments about Harden seem to outnumber positive ones, you are immediately labeled as a 'troll' or 'hater'. Where's that mythical Harden critic who are accepted by people here? Where is he?
OK I understand your position now. You are saying: 1) James cares too much about the MVP and it impacts his play for stretches (assist hunting as an example) 2) The organization promotes the MVP thing which may unintentionally encourage his issue Interesting. I'll have to ruminate on that. My first thought is that I'm not really sure that his MVP chase adversely impacts him to any significant degree. I think the issues with his play are just more magnified because he's in an MVP discussion, playing PG and generally getting a lot more attention. But none the less, I'll think about your point, maybe you are on to something.
I was critical of Harden in January during game threads and I have taken ZERO abuse. I've talked about his turnover issues repeatedly. @J Sizzle can attest to that and he himself often criticized Harden's performances.
Everyone can be momentarily critical of Harden when he fu*ks up during the game. That's not the point. The problem is most people here can't stand a critic who focuses on Harden's downsides, when at the same time they have no problem with people whose comments are mostly about praising Harden. That's the imbalance I'm talking about.
Ah. So what you mean is that you want an example of someone who posts hundreds of messages criticizing Harden that doesn't get any flack. Got it. Can't help you there I guess.
Yes, just like those people who post hundreds of messages praising Harden that doesn't get any flack. Again, there are extremes on both sides, but only one side of the spectrum seems to be a problem. Just admit that you are not impartial when it comes to Harden. Obviously you are biased, so why play this 'fair-minded' game? Everyone can see through that BS.
You are posting in a thread where I say Harden isn't playing well, complaining that people who praise Harden don't get push back like someone who literally would post hundreds of posts attacking Harden all the way down to his character and you think that I'm the one who is biased?
Again, why do people who ONLY praise Harden and hardly say anything negative about him get free pass and seem to be generally well-accepted by folks around here? Why don't you have problem with those people?
Soon people will be complaining about his underwear......every player goes through shooting slumps the previous game Harden was good from three but missed a few lay ups Harden isn't the problem, why do people always blame the central guy the most(easy target) go look at Gordon, Ariza and Beverley's shots.....Harden has set them up for shots and they haven't hit them
Why doesn't someone saying something nice about someone cause controversy? I don't know? I'm trying to even remember if there's ever been a time where a poster spammed the game thread with posts praising Harden every time he made a good pass, or calling him a good leader every time they took a lead, etc. But I guess you are right. It's unfair that people don't get ridiculed for praising the best player on the 3rd best team in the league, a consensus MVP candidate. That should be more controversial. Shame on this board for being so lame that they don't attack people for appreciating Harden.
Thanks, i'm happy i was finally able to explain myself lol (sorry again and everyone if sometimes it feels like i don't understand or i really don't understand, trying my best in english)
