Olajuwon, Yao, McGrady, Barkeley, Moses, Francis, Clyde. Nearly impossible??? Harden is not a super-star. He's very good, but not the guy who can lead a team to glory. We got to be bad before we can be good. We are taking the road to mediocrity. Again.
We aren't getting Howard/Paul in FA. The rules disallowing the sign-n-trade for the bird rights max will ruin players actually moving in FA in which their current team is willing to offer the max.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Take your pick: Dwight w/ slim chance he'd sign extension or Harden w/ certainty he will? The Rox trade offers (players, picks) were same.</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/262656777479417856" data-datetime="2012-10-28T20:47:10+00:00">October 28, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Remember, keeping Dwight was going to be tough, and probably would have been a rough shotgun marriage. But there is always a chance.</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/262657399708590080" data-datetime="2012-10-28T20:49:38+00:00">October 28, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Agree with you, except that Lin's defense is incredibly underrated. I have watched him from Harvard, to GS, to Reno, to the Rockets, then of course Knicks back to Rockets. Lin's defense was his calling card. Everyone knows how incredibly humble Lin is, and even he said that his defense was already at NBA-ready level when he was at GS. He plays great position defense, help and team defense, and STILL gets a ton of steals and blocks. Think of Joe Dumars with more hands on loose balls, steals, blocks, and rebounds. I posted about Lin's defense when he first joined the Rockets before being cut last year. If you look at the plays that Lin gets scored on, 95% of the time the offensive player makes a great circus shot, chucks up a quick outside shot that Lin is strategically giving him, or he is helping out his out-of-position teammate, or he gets screened and his teammates do not rotate. The question mark on Lin has always been his offense (ballhandling and shooting), not his defense.
SAY NO TO BYNUM. NO. NO. NO. No way in hell. If this season doesn't prove he's broken, then i don't know what will. Unless he takes off like a season to work out the kinks in his biomechanics, he's a a ticking time bomb. All they are doing is attacking the knee directly, when he's got other issues. It's not going away using that approach. (insanity).
I still view the rockets as a bottom ten team in the league. Still too much youth and we now have an entire starting lineup that has never played a regular season game with anybody else in the starting lineup. 35 wins max imo but the future looks bright.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Harden's impact on Jeremy Lin is huge. Lin is not a strong ball handler. Having Harden to help him out will make things a lot easier.</p>— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMannixSI/status/262662420990939136" data-datetime="2012-10-28T21:09:35+00:00">October 28, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I fully do believe that he is a max player - that being said, I hate the fact that he is... Not because of him, but because of e system. It is very well possible, that we never get a championship again under this system. Guys like D12, LeBron, Wade, Kobe are easily worth twice the amount Harden is worth... It shouldn't be possible for teams to carry up to 3 of them. Get rid if the max system, or increase it drastically and get a hard cap in place... If players like LeBron and DWade want to team up, make it hurtful for their wallet. Now that I have that out of my system - who do we go after next?
This actually reminds me of Joe Johnson getting the max from ATL after bouncing around under-appreciated in PHX and Boston. Similar stats, definite allstar status/potential, etc. I hope this move works out better for us then it did for ATL, as they seem like a team that is consistently stuck in mediocrity as well...
Unless Patterson is starting but even him and Parsons don't have much experience playing heavy minutes together.
Greetings from a newly registered James Harden Only Fan! heh jk I couldnt help the urge to join after the trade, the Rockets are on their way to a new exciting era and I want to be a part of it Im a bit surprised at the pessimism around here
He is confusing Cole Aldrich's .8 wins with Nick Collison's 3.4 wins. Harden 10.7 + Collison 3.4 = 14.1 Harden 10.7 + Aldrich 0.8 = 11.5 Not to mention, you have to subtract Kevin Martin's 2.0 wins and whatever you think lamb might be worth. So, the article is an epic fail.
