Dwight Howard Not Happy With The Effort in Houston [NBA.COM]

Umm... it may. Tmac didn't play defense at times under JVG. And Rose too under Thibs. But the thing with those teams are they were horrid offensively. So those coaches have to cater to their scoring superstars b/c they carry the offensive load.

The Rockets CAN score AND win without Harden so McHale has leverage to sit/bench Harden if he's not playing with 100% effort on both ends.

 

tmacs defense was 10 times greater than current Hardens.. Harden has to be the worst defender in the entire league .. just pathetic

 

Why is there not more lights shed on the fact that Harden was supposedly not in that meeting? I'm really concerned about Harden's lack of leadership and owning up to his mistakes. Dwight showing maturity, let's hope it translates to a consistent effort on defense by everybody, mainly Harden!

 

A bit misleading since he only played 17min, 26min, and 27min against Brooklyn, Atlanta, and Memphis, respectively. Agree that he's not playing up to par, in terms of his Orlando MVP-caliber days, but I fear that those days are behind him. I hope I'm wrong, but at this point, I'll take 17 and 13 from him.

 

I like what Howard said and as a leader of the team rightfully taking the bull by the horns. Nothing but positive criticism and the guys should accept his challenge to improve.

 

I was at the game last night and watching the game was painful. Dwight is right- there was little ball movement at all. Bev just can't play point guard effectively. He's basically an undersized shooting guard when he's in the game. Harden will pass at times but nothing extraordinary. His typical move is to drive to the hoop and try to get fouled/make the basket or fall away 3. When he does get the ball to Dwight it's rarely on any motion plays. It's dump it into Dwight and he is doubled and either forces a shot or has to pass it back out. Dwight's so much more effective catching the ball when he's moving as has been pointed out numerous times this season. Like him or not, Lin makes this team better on the offensive end. He gets everyone involved and makes the defense react to him when he drives to the basket. He's the only one on our team who makes real PG quality passes and runs the offensive by mixing it up. Is he great defensively- no. But he's hardly a scrub and is tenacious and puts forth more effort on D than most on our team. McHale's being stubborn on this and Lin and Harden can play together. Harden might have to sacrifice a few shots but in the end, we will be a lot more successful.

 

So true, Dwight is also accountable in this area. Goes into funk if he doesn't get the ball or feel that everyone isn't doing their job properly. I wish Harden and Howard would agree to lead by example and hustle every night.

Bottom line, our season depends on them playing hard every night.

 

If they don't learn from their losses, they'll continue to fail. Glad Dwight said what he said...not like he ripped any particular player, he just said what needed to be said. There is nothing wrong with that at all.

 

Is it misleading? Against Memphis he sat the whole 4th quarter while the Rocket outscored the Griz by 15 to win the game.

 

I've been questioning the "fit" theory all season long. I love Beverley's grit and heart. But he is just not a very talented PG offensively. In fact, Brooks as much as a shoot-first guy as he is, is actually better at running an offense. Playing Beverley alongside Harden basically makes Harden the de facto PG. And it might even make Harden's overall game worse.

 

I said that pretty much in every loss we've been outplayed only because we (mostly Harden) didn't compete. Not because the team lacks talent. There hasn't been a loss after which I've went: "Good game, Rockets, unfortunately they were the better team tonight." It's always "wtf, where's the effort?"

 

Good. Damn good. You're going to have nights where shots done fall. And nights where your opponent sems to be on fire and unstopable. But there should never be a night were the variable is the amount effort being put in. Glad he said it to the media and I hope he speaks up and repeats it in the locker room.

 

do we trade harden for melo now?

melo seems to have gotten over the hump regarding "wanting to play defense." he clearly misses a dominant C like tyson chandler.

send harden to the limelight in NY, let him chuck like he wants to.

 

Funny you bring that game up, McHale rode the hot lineup and sat Dwight to win the game. Last night, he seemed to go against his philosophy of "riding the hot hand". Both players are supposedly superstars. Rides one star, while benching the star. Hmm...

For the record, I agree with McHale's decision. I believe in playing your stars to closeout games, but that means Harden needs to be held accountable for the results. He is the superstar and future of our team, no? I think we can both agree that Harden needs to continue to develop his game and the future of our team is mostly based on his development into a true superstar, yes?

 

its old news

 

Pretty sure this was the point.

 

And maybe Harden "fits" the SG role better than the PG role.

 

Yes, Harden needs to be held accountable. Unfortunately, the problems go much deeper than just him.

 

Maybe Harden wants the ball in his hands the majority of the time he is on the court to either assist or score.

Listen to his interviews. 'I was just being the playmaker, making plays.' 'Trying to lead us to a win, like I always do.' He wants to be the hero. The sad thing is he doesn't seem to get that if he plays unselfish basketball on both ends of the court, elevates the team by leading by example and giving 100%, that is what will make him a hero in the eyes of fans. Not just having the best stats or whatever.

I'm not sure how much of this is McHale's decision or Harden's or even Morey's. After all this is a superstar led league.

 

I'm not arguing that one way or the other. You'd said that Bev starting makes Harden the de facto PG, as though it were an unintended consequence... I'm just saying I think that was the affirmative intention, for better or for worse. It's quite clear that Bev's marching orders are to (1) bring the ball up the court and (2) dump it off to Harden, who takes it from there.