Wo, wo, wo, having a ego and having a ego problem and being a headcase is drastically different. Having a ego is go for a star/leader but too much of it could lead to destruction. One problem is Harden is good but he's not Lebron, he's not dominant physically.
Harden is not overrated. He is misused by the coaching staff. This team is really, really good. Look at every player from an objective view, every player can play some dangerous team ball. Coaching staff doesn't see it that way.
i will be the crazy one to say it, with kevin martin (and without the trade with sacramento) this team would have had the same if not better record for the season. only we would be saying how the rockets are like a younger version of the nuggets.
Your leaving out the part where he talked about the ball movement, and how he said "I need to do a better job" multiple times. The guy had a bad game where he tried to do too much, and put the game squarely on his shoulders, but over the course of the season he has definitely trusted his teamates and his assist numbers show this. Hell, what star player would trust Omer Asik enough to constantly draw defenders to get him open looks under the basket? I cant tell you how many times In my basketball watching life Ive seen players like Jordan, and Kobe do this as well, and fail. Its just part of the maturation of a star player where they learn to trust their teamates, and get others involved. One game folks. He will learn, and get better. Judge the entirety of the season please, not just one game.
Yeah, trade him, trade him for another superstar. Then come next season let's have another one of these threads where it says "_________ is overrated"
LOL at this thread...seriously???? Overrated???? Give the guy a break, if it were not for him we wouldn't be in the playoffs, hell we wouldn't even be relevant in the league. He has brought back to Houston what we have been missing and that's a winning attitude. Of course he is going to miss shots and have off nights. Nobody is perfect. Even MJ had his stretches where he sucked! I love this team and the addition of Harden has just made them better. It took OKC 2 seasons before they even made the first round of the playoffs....James Harden has led this team to the first round in the first year he has been here, that is no small achievement in my eyes. Overrated....HA! The nerve....
It'll come in time. He has the OKC defensive hangover this season, but almost every star goes through that phase of trying to do too much. As great as OKC is, they have very little defensive discipline from a good deal of their players. The fact that Harden has trusted even Omer Asik on the offensive end all season long is a good sign that he does care about the teams overall success and will eventually learn from his mistakes. Also the fact that Harden, Lin, and Parsons have bonded a ton off the court is also a sign of good things as well from a team minded perspective. Next week will be nothing more than a great learning experience. I would even the make the argument that they will learn more from getting the crap kicked out of them long term then they will having success. Lets just hope they have some success to keep the series interesting. Who am I kidding though... if they pull an upset against OKC I will run laps around downtown houston for days in excitement.
I don't post a lot here, but i would like to share my opinion to all of you. First of all, if you only look to the negatives of any NBA player, you can make all most every one in this league look bad. I think James is a great talent, there's no doubt, but i do agree with some of the criticism that is being made here. What is strange for me is that despite he wasn't with us in the preseason, in the begenning he played in the system - he was sharing the ball and we played as a team (our ball movement was much better in the middle of the season). Now if the ball hits James' hands... it's going to be a ISO or pick and roll - he's killing the ball movement. I don't know if it is McHale decision or not, but we are not using him correctly, and it's ugly to watch sometimes. And his defensive effort is... very poor. He knows what to do but he doesn't put the effort... I hope it's just fatigue - but he could much more impact if he was just average. And to all the people who believe James is not clutch... We can't rely on clutch situations. Good teams avoid close games. But in the end of the game we don't put anyone in a position to suceed - i think it's more a coaching decision. (sorry for any English mistakes)
I see your point and definitely it made me rethink the Harden/McHale dynamic.. But, I personally feel from McHale's comments that he believes in the Harden iso. I mean, after all, that's what he drew up after each timeout last game. What I believe is that McHale DOES want Harden to iso or initiate the offense all the time, without a question. BUT he wants Harden to execute his moves faster allowing time for ball rotation when and if Harden chooses to pass the ball getting the hockey assist rather than him passing it with 4 seconds left on the clock like last game. It just happens that I disagree. I believe that Lin should initiate at least half of the offensive sets which will allow better team involvement and thereby better team energy on both ends AND allows Harden to have energy for defense (his biggest knock) and to dominate when need be or when he's feeling it. As for McHale, no matter how defensive people are (I guess people really love McHale, I'm sure that's their motive), his coaching is beyond terrible. He's not a coach today because he has coaching talent or coaching instincts, but rather because he was an exceptional player. But I'll bet Magic and Jordan wouldn't make good coaches either.
A few thoughts: 1) James Harden is a superstar. Chandler Parsons might be a third option on a championship team one day, but he isn't ready for that responsibility yet. And he was this team's second best player. Yet, they made the playoffs and finished one game out of the 6th seed. 2) James Harden is not anti-clutch. Do you not remember the buzzer beater vs the Spurs at the end of March? 3) Some of your expectations for players and this team are ridiculous. They were the youngest team in the league, integrating numerous new players into a system, with guys being thrust into new roles for the first time. Yet they won 45 games, and made the playoffs. Enjoy it, and get excited about the future rather than whine that they will get knocked out by OKC.
Harden is not overrated, but he does need to improve his game. Couple of things he needs to work on: 1. Defense - Countless times I've seen other SGs put up a career numbers when guarded by Harden. Atleast do better job of contesting shots and not get burned by his man. Also getting back on defense instead of lamenting no fouls calls. 2. Don't hold the ball for 20 secs. Do something with it! Atleast make a drive or bring in Asik to set up Pick & Roll. 3. Lessen the turnovers. Too many turnovers because he forces too much. It's not all on his shoulders to make every single offensive play. 4. Drawing foul is ok, but don't depend on it every single time. Too many times he forces shot/contact thinking that he will get the call. 5. Get this man more rest. We are freaking riding him like a Secretariat. We should limit his minute to 32-35 mins per game. Not over 40 mins every single game. Anderson/Lin should be his backup when he's resting. 6. Don't get frustrated and bark at his teamates. He plays his best when he's having fun and trusting his teammates more.
The fact that this thread is at 3 stars really shows you the amount of stupidity that has creeped in this board as of late.
it makes me think that any player who leads the league in free throws has to be somewhat overrated. why? because all those free throw points were determined by opinion (ref's call) and that for me does not have the same value as a point scored by a contested shot. maybe that's why they call them "free"? i'm not saying free throws are not points and i'm not saying that they are not important. having a player that gets free throws is awesome. but are you going to tell me that a player who gets 30 points from free throws is the same as one who gets 30 points from shots during the game in terms of skill?
Perhaps even better and almost certainly more valuable. The FT's take no time off the clock to be made. They mean that an opponent has less fouls to give and may be taken out of the game helping the team in this additional way. They can move the team toward the bonus etc. So a person who's skilled at getting to the FT is going to give the team those additional things. Furthermore opponents aren't going to foul a player unless they know they can score, or get by them when they are defending. So yes that person is skilled.
30 points from free throws is more valuable and preferrable and suggests that the opposing team cannot guard the player without resorting to fouling. The foul trouble that the opposing team gets into handcuffs them in so many ways and also gives our team extra points as they will perpetually be over the limit. I don't know how you can argue that getting free throws is a negative? Now, I would like for Harden or any player to make an honest attempt at scoring while being fouled but that's easier said than done. Do you know how strong some of these players are and how physical NBA basketball is?? It's nothing like street ball. These are physical monsters out there with the sole goal of stopping you from scoring in order to get paid money. The fact that he drives often enough to force a foul call itself is quite amazing and remember that there is rarely a superstar that doesn't get a lot of fouls called their way.
i'm not saying the FT is not valuable i'm asking if the FT is the same measure of skill as a contested shot. i'll give an example: that game winner by harden against the spurs where he came off the screen and shot it between duncan and leonard... what if leonard was called for a foul and harden won the game with 2 FT? would you have felt the same about the finish and harden's contribution?
