Had to post this; we need some humor today to counter rockets front office disappointment: Michael Lee: Text from a former NBA player this morning: “Harden gonna have a hard time getting a former teammate to introduce him at his HOF induction” – via Twitter MrMichaelLee
Meaning that we invested in him to be the franchise player for this team. Instead, he was selfish and forced a trade out of here.
Dude Russ was the 1st to want to leave, get your narrative right. Let's see how all of this plays out in Brooklyn before we throw stones, and even then you only have 2 teammates. How about all the teammates who got paid because of him?
It was bad joke and not based in much fact, why would no teammate want to introduce him? Do we say the same for Westbrook or CP3?
Clint Capela has been one of the best rebounders in the game for a number of years. He's also a decent rim protector. Those are the skills that got him paid, and Harden had **** all to do with it. The rim running was nice icing.
corey brewer, Ariza and plenty former rockets love harden. Harden is actually a lot more popular with nba players than he is with nba fans
Nope. You know, scoring points is a big reason why people get paid. You have to be able to pass at a high level to a rim runner for them to maximize their effectiveness.
Rim run plays work when both the ball handler and finisher sync up. It's like having a bass player and a drummer lock in together and create a great groove. One can't do it without the other. If Harden was the only reason why Capella worked as a rim runner, why hasn't he done it with anyone else (other than maybe Wood for that brief period)? It's because it takes a player with the right sense of when to cut (i.e. timing) to make it all work. That's an elite skill in and of itself. Capella has a superb sense of timing. Now would that have been apparent if he played with KPJ? Obviously no. But his defense and rebounding would still be among the best in the league at the center position and Harden had nothing to do with that.
Did I say he was the only reason? I agree with all of that about Capela, but it was Harden that showcased his ability to be a great rim runner. You notice, even as great as CP3 was, he did not exploit his rim running ability like Harden. If you are just so dead set on not giving Harden any kind of credit, more power to ya, but I know the difference.
