Very good read and honest about Harden and dealing with the same problems every single year as it has become his team. I wish he had also called out our system and MDA more, but it’s on point and still quite lenient with Harden. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...een-it-all-before-too-many-times-15511699.php
I don't know man, if you start your article with "I am still writing the same thing about James Harden’s Rockets. Because they make me. There is nothing else to write. No other avenue to take. Nothing else to say." Maybe figure it out with your editor. Don't see the point on sanitizer nit pick; so... he rather see James laughing and joking immediately after a loss? In a 2-2 series with OKC, Rockets lost by 3. Why bring up Luka out of no where, he's not playing our series. Clippers just handed Mavs a 43 pt loss.
His performance late in the 3rd and 4th quarters are impossible to defend. Lazy step back, or pass to a teammate. Granted a few good looks for teammates were created, but his primary defender had 5 fouls and he made very little effort to attack. When he did get into the paint, he passed even when he had a solid look at the rim. The team needed him to attack the rim when shots weren't falling and he took the path of least resistance. It was an extremely T Mac like performance.
T-Mac went against all-time Dallas or Sloan coached Utah. T-Mac was never the problem in those playoff runs and he had a lot of clutch performances, game winners included. Things didn't line up for him and of course he could have done more but he played with heart in playoffs - he increased level of play from RS to Playoffs and it is not debatable. What I remember from those series is Okur destroying Yao Ming
I checked his stats in 2004-05 last time he was healthy. He had better stats than Harden in Playoffs EVER. He gone up 6 ppg from regular season, shot efficient 46%fg and 37% from three along with game winner and multiple daggers. And that is without holding the ball for 20seconds and launching 15 threes
What’s supposed to happen when a guy 6 out of 8 times has a heavier load to carry than any other superstar in the playoffs? Then it’s the 4th game in 8 nights and while everyone is playing minutes, no one is producing the volume Harden is doing (excellent points, assists, defense, rebounds) while the opponent slowly figures out how to shut down everyone around him and keep him annoyed. No one carries that load and is doing better. You’re right, we have seen it before. It’s the story of what happens when you’re underesourced and can’t stretch anything else anymore. LeBron James was watching the playoffs from home last season because he didn’t have any other superstar. If healthy he might have made the playoffs. Do you think he would be tied 2-2 with the Thunder right now? Do you not get the distinct feeling Harden can do more with less but always has less? How long do we not think about “lack” and just power through till it’s just dumb? It’s a miracle the dude hasn’t requested a trade. This owner has cost us so much in so little time. Harden’s still going to win this series btw, but no one will acknowledge the feat. It will just be expected lol. Ridiculous. Harden has made mistakes in this series of course, if you watched his interviews he’s actually great at talking about what he did poorly. All we need is pre-bubble Russ. If this is the most harden can give - and we don’t all have to agree what it is - then I take it and so would anyone looking to build a super team.
Tmac will never be better than Harden Only extremely stupid people forget that Harden has taken the Rockets to the WCF twice. @Zboy
It is almost like Harden needs to be coached in those late game moments.. Wouldn't that be interesting.
Not an unfair article. The Rockets lose the same way every year and they act like nothing needs to change. He is correct.
You might have problems with memory He is aggressively guarding Dirk(like most of the series), not ******** his pants on the inbound and buildup play and then takes best possible shot (not giving a **** if its three,two,drive or whatever Morey tried to brainwash him) and makes it. I am 100% sure that 2 out of 4 in analogical situation would be true: a)Harden is not guarding Dirk on that play b)Losses the ball before taking a shot(including inbound) c)He baits for a foul d)Passes out of the shot to PJ in the corner
No one is saying that but you don't need to acknowledge James Harden with taking shots at T-Mac because he may have failed but gave his all in playoffs. When McGrady was healthy he was amazing in playoffs
Liked the article, but this line stuck out to me as really stupid: "Harden averaged a league-high 34.3 points this season. He scored a game-high 32 in Game 4. But he shot just 11-of-25 from the field and 6-of-15 on 3s." "Just"? Since when is 50% on your 2s and 40% on 3s bad? This reads like a math illiterate twitter post.
Everyone watching knew what needed to be done. Drive. Attack. Refuse to settle. Refuse to jack up empty 3s. Then play real defense with another playoff victory on the line. No words have ever been truer.
