Where did I say he should be able to do what he wants and we have to love or accept that about him? Simply stating that its nothing new in the NBA, and it might be something Rockets fans just have to deal with for awhile... for better or worse. Harden's not going anywhere, Morey will not trade him, and the Rockets are better with him than they are without.... so people are just going to have to live with the facts or root for another team. He's not a perfect player, and has flaws the team is going to have to plan for. You think Rockets fans have always loved everything about T-Mac, Yao, Francis, and yes even Hakeem in the past???.. no, but the team was still better off with them despite their warts. Fans dont have to love it, and nobody is saying they shouldn't call those players out for their warts... thats part of being a fan. The thing to realize though is alot of those players got better at their deficiencies as the years went by (NOT WEEKS). Hakeem took years to not become a black hole on the offensive end, and trust his teammates by passing out of the post. Yao took several years to adjust him game to the physicality of the NBA so he could wipe away the "soft" label. T-Mac had warts on his game and the fanbase mindset up until the point where he was shipped from the Rockets to the big apple. Lots of fans that were probably pissed off and spent all their time bashing some of these guys for years and years probably look back now and wish they could have just enjoyed the positive things those players did now instead of spending all their energy focusing on the negative. Be pissed off all you want, but it wont change the fact that its not something nobody already knows about (including the coaches by which Kelvin Sampson pretty much stated the obvious last night himself).
Nothing wrong with wanting a more consistent effort on defense out of Harden. Just like how there is nothing racist about asking improvement from anyone of the players *hint* *hint*.
I think more than anything Hardens defensive up and downs can be attributed more to maturity than anything else. He is still 23 or 24 years old and is still needing more time to learn how to be a professional not to mention the leader of a championship contending team. I know McHale is controversial for many reasons on this site but I really like him because he is a leader and a good person to help this team mature to a championship team. He comes from those old school Boston tough championship teams. I believe he is already helping Dwight this year become a better leader. You can clearly see his influence on Chandler, and it is slowly transitioning to Harden, Lin and the rest of the team. This team is still very young and doesn't quite have that championship mentality and attitude yet. They might have the talent to compete for a championship, but that is not always enough( Just ask Miami and their first year of their big three together). If you are a real Rockets fan just strap on your gear and enjoy the ride. This is going to be a process that hopefully ends in a championship sooner rather than later. I truly believe McHale and this Rockets team can get there. Let's stop over analyzing every single up and down during the season! We have a winning season so far, let's see how much they can mature and come together this season. Remember, Morey is still going to make roster changes this season, and yes there will be growing pains. My hope is that we can see it all come together during the season so we can make the finals this year.
Basketball is a game for entertainment. Military analogy it total fail. All this over-analysis is a waste of time. Harden is playing with busted feet. He shouldn't even be playing at all right now. But with Lin already out, we would have lost 5 straight or more without Harden. He already is sacrificing himself for the team right now.
Who cares? A win is a win. Everyone just has own problem. Harden is bad at defense, Howard is bad at free throw. Parsons is bad at passing. Lin is bad at turnovers. We all criticize players every day. Everyone has problems! It is not just Harden. It's just nature. Nobody is perfect.
One of the most stupid posts I have ever seen OP. And that is saying a lot. Harden is the best SG in the NBA. He just proved that he can shutdown an opponent, and not for the first time. One game analysts need to just chill and do ten game analyses. The variability of single games is immense and they should never ever be used as material for a post. As games like last nights against the GSW accumulate Harden will learn to trust his teammates. And put more effort into defense. But we all have seen that Harden can turn it on at will and the regular season for the top 8 teams in the NBA means little. The playoffs are what matter. So STFU.
i remember harden doing an acceptable job guarding lebron last year for stretches.. so its not like the ***** can't play defense. last night he had a great matchup for him in klay thompson.. hes not too quick so chasing him around isnt as bad as jj redick or monta ellis
i don't care about his defense. i want this team to focus on the most efficient way for him and howard to play together. the defense will come in time.
See I'm the opposite... I think the offense will come in time opposed to the defense. We have too much offensive threats aswell for it not to come. If your offense is 'off' or sucks and you play good defense you always have a chance at winning.. if your offense is off and you don't play defense your going to most likley lose. You can play consistent defense if you want night in and night out opposed to offense which is less consistent since you run the chance of being 'cold' some nights.
Nope. This is like the second/third best team in like the last 30 years and yet we haven't even reached 70% of our potential AND we are only going to get better as Morey is a genius when it comes to small moves leading to a big impact. We have our foundation. I am super excited and am tired of people of Houston crying like babies about every little thing.
I agree with the sentiment but I think most of the critics of the team (specifically McHale, Harden, Howard, Parsons, Beverley) are not "people of Houston." The majority are not from Houston.
It may just be me, but I hate reading through these types of threads and reading "he makes the max". The max is a relative number based on the player. Technically Lin and Asik are making the max possible salary. Shall we start our b****ing with them with "he's making the max"? Harden is on essentially the cheapest long term max deal in the league and is only 24 years old in year 1 of that deal. He's far, far, far away from anywhere near overpaid. Even if his defense barely improves, which is extremely unlikely, his deal will still be well worth it all the way through year 5. It's very weird to me the amount of leeway given to certain players when it comes to age. Some players get the, "he's young, he still isn't close to his prime, etc.", but it doesn't seem to be there for Harden. Do I want to see more effort and improvement? Hell yes, but damn can we have just a little patience with our young superstar? Just a little?
24 years old. All star. One of the leagues highest and most efficient scorers. 24 years old. Did I mention 24 years old?
Yes, he is amazing and we I am very happy to have him. Still, I will criticize him if he doesn't give an effort every game. The league is filled with players who wasted their talent. Everyone has bad shooting days. However, when you don't even bother moving your feet when opposing players are going past you, we have a big problem.
