3. So the entire team looked lost but how did Ariza have a team high 20 points when everyone else looked so lost?
But it strikes me as VERY VERY weird that a hire that was universally questioned, enormously so, has no become the "obvious" hire. I disagree.... with the power of hindsight who did better with what they had? We all wanted a defensive coach.... how'd those do who with those who were available in 2016? That's fair, but those didn't end up being available. Harden's decision making/execution late game is a continuing issue. But outside of that.... there are roster limitations. Disagree based on statistics. A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush. Too much uncertainty to say the GSW will be unbeatable for the next 2-3 years. How so? You could miss a window between unbridled GSW winning in trying to find the next Harden. You could never find that next Harden until another decade. The GSW may become rendered obsolete for a various a reasons. I don't see any logical conclusions. How often does a team get a Harden like player? Frankly, we roll the dice on what we have and improve from there. You make a lot of assumptions about today.
So we can compete for what exactly? You assume too much. Those Lakers players failed on their own team...... but we'd having parades with them? Or will we'd be having a bunch of role players to maybe pair with a big FA in 2018?
Perhaps but i think this is pretty working for me ill take a year of great sex and love with being cheated on a 1 night stand at the end, any year of my life...
I would actually play it like this. Regular season achievement and 1st round exit - 1st base 2nd round - 2nd base 3rd round - 3rd base Everything else 4th base and Winner takes it all. We were at 2nd base the whole time. You did not get to have free great sex at all.
delusional homers. the best players choke sometimes, usually early in their career. harden is in the middle of his prime. his chokes are really bad and cost entire series other than the warriors. the time to be "grateful" has long passed. harden isnt a youngn no more. its time to be critical. the only chance they have left is pairing harden with a 2nd option. tried it with dwight but he got injured fast. and all this bullsht "u ain t arockets fan if u dont support harden or mda" get outta here. i defended that mofo for years and still do. i bee na fan since early 2000s. just cuz u dont like your franchise player AFTER he's choked big for 6 straight po's doesnt mean ur a fake fan. a fake fan would e someoen who only watches their team when they're hot, and watches football or something when they're cold. if a fan doesnt reasonably agree with w/e the consensus is about his team, that not only makes him a real fan but a ballsy one for bringing that sht up. those grateful mda inflated regular season stats from harden and ryan came to reality in the po's. last i checked before game 5 harden's shooting numbers were 41 or 42% from the field and 33-35% from three? ryan finished the po's with under 40% from the field and under 30% from three. there you go.
how tf has he choked 6 straight playoffs? oh you mean he couldn't beat kevin durant and serge ibaka in his first year as a starter? or he couldn't beat the golden state warriors with a limited dwight? we lost vs the blazers on a game winner, howard got completely ****ed by the refs that series, and harden was still growing as a player and guarded by batum, a terrible matchup for him
I'm grateful that I can just accept Harden for who he is. A superb regular season player that drops his level of play significantly when the playoffs roll around and disappears in the biggest moments. No more expectations, no more getting excited or false hope and bravado. I was cautiously optimistic rolling into this years playoffs only cause it looked he was finally focused and ready to prove to the league that he was MVP and not a choker. I'll skip the regular season wins... it doesn't matter how many games we win or how much we improve upon from this year. The historic stat lines, the triple doubles, the voting to be an All star starter, the MVP candidate talk etc. Seen and heard all that before. There's nothing more that he can do in the regular season anymore that's going to significantly change his legacy or his perception. Wake me up if and when he comes up big when it matters (playoffs). It will be one wild ass dream.
finals choke, dont blame him 1st year with rockets choke, dont blame him 2nd year choked till last game 3rd year choked historically in game 5 4th year whole team sucked 5th year game 6, and terrible okc series for whole team if he had one good game in 1-5 vs portland rockets would've wo nthe series. the game 5 choke vs gsw was insane. vs the mavs in '15, his first games were terrible. if he had just one good shooting game it would've been a sweep. if a team can ge ta sweep they shouldnt screw aroudn with it, esp rockets overplaying players, they need all the rest they can get. rockets had a good chance to take warriors to 6 games if they won game 5 and 6. they'd be on a 3 game winnign strea which is huge in the po's, warriors are rested and rusty. we took okc and spurs by surprise and obliterated them, could've done the same to gsw. then win one at home and it would be tied 2-2. great regular season guy, good playoff player. and dont forget mda inflates regular season stats.
He got shut down by Wes Matthews not Batum. Either way Batum or Matthews. It shouldn't matter. He should not be getting shut down by either of those guys. His series against the Clippers was even more craptastic. He got held in check and mocked by Austin freaking Rivers, couldn't exploit JJ Redick and to top if off Matt Barnes talks trash to your mom. He had a chance to beat the Warriors but failed in the final seconds. A tall order for sure but certainly not impossible especially if he executed better and didn't **** up. That's why the Warriors are the Warriors and James is a playoff choker.
Which coach of the Kings, Magic or assistant coach still did better?? Ha. Look, imo the whole process was f'd up from the beginning. If you recall, the Rockets took FOREVER to make their hire. This despite the fact that they knew they were looking for a new head coach the longest. Everyone kind of thought Vogel would be the guy and hired immediately, but it kept not happening. I don't know who the right coach would have been. I was clamoring for Luke Walton last April http://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.php...-bandwagon-check-in-here-if-you-agree.274183/ But who knows - probably still the Lakers head coach, and who knows if a good head coach? Harden's limitations lost them Game 5 and 6. Sure, Harden's strengths helped them be in those games, but at the end of the day, Harden is looked to, to not blow games like that. Beyond that, this is a roster that is going to be limited going forward. That's part of the problem. While I really like Harden as a guy to elevate a limited roster above what it otherwise might be, I've also learned that he's not the guy that's going to elevate himself or his roster as effectively when the chips are down and they're playing against consistently better competition. Or in other words... they lost to a Spurs team without its injured 4x champion starting PG, and without its best or second best 2 way player in the league MVP candidate. Were the Rockets limited? Sure... nowhere close to that limited. Maybe... but I think that's part of the tendency to overvalue the Rockets. "Oh, maybe the GSW blow up, or get injured.... you never know!" Well, sure. But what about the Spurs - who are better and are more likely to continue to get better and attract talent then the Rockets? What about the Jazz - I mean I don't see championships in their future, but they keep getting better and better? What about the Clippers - ok, that's kind of a joke, but also kind of not... if there's a team to say keep the band together and give it a try, it's that one, that team is going to be healthy one year? And other teams. The TWolves will make a jump. Heck, the Nuggets could be scary in 2-3 years. Certainly, that's kind of a broad argument - any team could be better, and that doesn't necessarily speak to trading Harden. I was just using it to point to the overvaluing of the Rockets as if they just need one or two more pieces and are sure fire #2 behind the Warriors. Which, in either case.... the Warriors are all in their prime.... if the want to keep the band together, and the band wants to stay together, that team is your #1 seed in the Western Conference for the next 5+ years. While I think Harden is the best player the Rockets have had since Hakeem... they've still gone through a ton of Harden like, or Harden light players. Francis, TMac, Yao... guys who ended up not being as good as Harden because of flaws in their games.... where we're now seeing Harden have flaws in his game. More broadly, there's tons of all nba players or near MVP players throughout history that don't ultimately win rings. Would I rather be the Nash Suns for 5 years than that Sacramento Kings of today? Obviously. And if those are my only two choice, with the outcome for the team in years 6+ being exactly the same, I take the Nash Suns. But I'd also look back at the era in the same way I look back at the TMac/Yao era. Lots of potential, but never good enough. That's ultimately wha we're going to be saying about Harden.
Ha. I mean there's being a homer and making excuses. I was in that camp for a bit. "well sure he sat for 4th quarter of game 6 vs. the clippers... the bench had it rolling, why bring him back in?" Reality is this is clearly and obviously a consistent theme. the guy underperforms in the playoffs... in some cases badly. Even the last game against the Warriors that year... final score wasn't that close, but rockets seemed to have various opportunities throughout the game to make a run only to be thwarted by a Harden turnover, on his way to a playoff record 12 for one game. What is Harden's signature Rockets playoff moment, game or series?? There isn't one. Unless it's him on the bench as Corey Brewer, Josh Smith and Dwight completed that comeback.
