Did you even read this thread? Why are you knee-jerking to defend Harden so much that you're calling out "LOFs" who don't even exist here. No one said that Harden sucks or that Lin is better than Harden or that the team is better without him. What people have said is that: 1) Harden has clearly been playing injured since the season began 2) Harden's defense has been lackadaisical at best, and is probably being affected by his injury 3) Harden played way too many minutes in light of his foot issues (and his poor defense) 4) The team has a lot of depth at the guard position and it doesn't make any sense for Harden to come back until he's fully healthy, otherwise he might actually be an overall liability to the team, especially given #1-#3 This is the problem with you guys. You're so busy falling over yourselves to victimize the board as being "destroyed" by a tiny minority of vocal fans that you see them even where they don't exist. I (and others) have been saying for weeks that Harden is injured and he's playing too many minutes, but that perfectly valid point has been buried under the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them. Pointing out that an injured Harden who is on the floor for nearly 40 MPG is potentially a liability to the team (and not in the team's long-term interests) is not the same thing as saying Harden sucks and that Lin is better than him. You guys should try getting your heads out of your asses long enough to listen to what is actually being said rather than the echo chamber of your anti-Lin fan circle-jerk.
It's debatable if Harden is a "superstar". Many people believe he is a young Melo and not a young MJ, Lebron, Kobe type. The real superstars play both Offense and Defense. Harden is arguably the best offensive 2-guard in the NBA but also the worst defensive 2 in the NBA. Harden has the same traits as Melo who lost in the 1st round 8 times. Most statistical proof shows he doesn't really make a team better. The Thunder won at a better clip with K-Martin as I pointed out before. The Rockets barely made the playoffs last year as the 8th seed. Yes they missed the playoffs the previous 3 years but barely and was the 9th seed. They also had no center for 3 years when they missed the postseason while last year Asik far exceeded all expectations. It is still to be seen if Harden is a Melo who some argues is a superstar while others say he is not or he can work on his game and be more than just a scorer who hogs the ball. No one calls Kevin Martin a superstar yet he avgs 23 ppg this year. The Rockets last year with K-Mart instead of Harden would likely have won just as many games and been the 8th seed and lost in the 1st round.
Only clutchfans use this dumb LOF/YOF thing. It's dumb beyond words. There have been countless Nuggets and Knicks fans who deplore Melo not to be a 1-way player over the years and they are not called some dumb -only fans or questioned if he actually is a superstar or his ball stopping tendencies was an issue. Phil Jackson talked at length why he didn't think Melo was that good. Was he some "only fan" and Melo and Harden are too similar. I personally believe Harden is by far the best player on this team although Howard should be. But I have serious doubt if he makes a team better or having a good offensive player like Kevin Martin would be just as good since he may not be as good offensively but he doesn't dominate the ball and commit as many turnovers.
Harden is 24 years old and will be the centerpiece of the Rockets for years to come... Rest him as much as he needs.
This is the problem with a lot of people who don't really follow the NBA and make these outrageous claims. Before Harden joined the Rockets they barely missed the playoffs as the 9th seed. I would hardly call them "cellar dweller laughing stock team". A huge reason they missed the playoffs was because of the hole in the center position namely the Rockets had no real center. I would argue Asik coming here was the reason we went from a 9th seed to barely making the playoffs as the 8th seed. But the truth is the reason the Rockets jumped a whole 1 seed up was because of the decline of the Jazz and Mavs. Dirk was hurt for a large part of the season and if he wasn't the Rockets would have been the 9th seed again like the previous 3 years before Harden joined the team. It is very debatable if Harden makes a team better. He is an amazing scorer like Melo the reigning scoring champion but Melo and Harden have too many bad traits that causes losses as well.
I already showed the Thunder won at a better clip with K-Mart than at any time with Harden on the roster. Lets look at the Rockets 2009-10 , 9th seed .512 winning % 2010-11, 9th seed, .524 winning % 2011-12, 9th seed, .515 winning % Those 3 years the Rockets had no real center and Dallas was a title contender 2012-13, 8th seed, .548 winning % Asik filled the hole at the center position and proves to be a top 5 center in the NBA. The Mavs who won the title in 2009-10 and made the playoffs for a decade in a row loses Dirk for a large part of the season and fails to make the playoffs for the 1st time in years. Harden gets way too much credit for being a spectacular offensive player like Melo. But it doesn't mean he makes a team better than a player like Kevin Martin
Rest him for as long as he needs it. This isn't going to be a championship year for us, these guys are still too young and they have more learning to do. There is no reason to bring Harden back early. Lets take it one game at a time, as long as we stay competitive and in the playoff picture. We just beat two really good teams without Harden, which is an excellent sign of things to come. Let him rest, get him to 100% before bringing him back.
Does this team win games without Jame Harden? Happened last season and people said just luck. Now it happened again this season. And notice that those teams we were beaten aren't some garbage team. I know Jame Harden is a great player, I agree with that, and I am not trying to bring him down or anything. His ability to score points does show he's one of the top. But his no defense and too frequency of iso does hurt the team in somehow.
You make a lot of sense in your posts....however, i think you missed one part in your logic and that is the team was totally blown up with a new team coming into the 2012/2013 season with talented but really young and inexperienced players. These 2 reasons alone would cost between 5-10 wins last year.
The team K-Mart was on his last year here was a BETTER team than what Harden was on with the Rockets last year... You forget the limited experience this team had last year... K-Mart had Scola, Kyle, and Goran and still couldn't get this team to the playoffs... Harden doesn't get enough credit. And K-Mart had guys like Sam and Camby too... Centers who could actually catch the ball when it was thrown to them so the team did have a center... We'll see what K-Mart does with the wolves now that he has Love and Rubio...
I'm afraid Danny Green will make 4 3pters in a quarter with Harden guarding him like he did last time.
the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them. the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them. the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them. the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them.the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them. the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them. the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them. the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them. the ridiculousness that is the flame war between the imaginary legions of LOFs and the persecution complex of the people who hate them. well said, nubmonger
Same here, especially because I'll be going to that game and I'd hate to be decked in Rockets gear in enemy territory when we get blown out.
I can't believe there's a James Harden/Kevin Martin comparison going on here. Wow. Teams win games all the time without their superstars. It happens. Sometimes you get an Aaron Brooks who goes off for 26. The bulls just went to the playoffs without their former MVP and I guarantee there was some dumbass on the bulls forum who thought the bulls were better without Derrick Rose.
How many players of our 2012/2013 team already played here in 2011/2012? Of the top of my head I count 3 of which 2 got traded midway through the season. In no way can you find any meaningful statistic of Hardens play by comparing our record in these year. After that season Harden was voted the 4th best player in the NBA - he slowed down at the end of the season because he wasn`t used to playing that many minutes. With Harden OKC made it to the finals (and he was a major reason for that - true he disappeared in the finals, but he was only 22years old). Thinking Harden and Martin are interchangeable is laughable. I also think KMart was undervalued some, but Martin is at best a second or third option on a team - Harden has shown that he can be a valuable first option, and that is hard to find. About the Melo comparison: one player is a black hole that doesn´t pass the ball and takes a lot of inefficient shots, the other is a playmaker that averaged almost 6 assists last season and was one of the most efficient players of the whole league.
Just look at the person he quoted. The person he quotes is implying and has done so again later in the thread that you can replace Kevin Martin with Harden and be just fine. I mean seriously. This guy is comparing Kevin Martin to James Harden. I can't blame him. Rocket fans have had Martin...and we know what he's capable of I'll say this... No real rocket fan wants Martin over Harden. Period. Not even OKC fans were in a rush to get Martin back. He always wears out his welcome quickly enough if you put him in any kind of big role.
Not sure why you think people are are Yao fans will automatically become Lin fans. Sure, some are, but I'm betting those people don't post here and probably don't post in English. The real people you need to be concerned about are the trolls that pretend to be both sides.
