This team is staring at the Abyss for the next 3-5 years

Regardless of how this series turns out, James Harden will need to show a commitment to improve his game or his value in the league will diminish.

 

But Allen Iverson was different in that there were times when he's been trouble. He was in legal trouble before he even got to the NBA. He was known to be a risky-type player.

And he DID get to the NBA Finals. So they clearly stood a chance.

But Harden is nothing like that. How you can even make that comparison makes no sense.

 

You nailed the issue on the head. For me, that's what this all hinges on. No one can really predict when that "light-switch" moment happens for a player. Sometimes it happens very early on (Westbrook seems to have been born with that fire). Sometimes later (I believe for Lebron it came when he played with Kobe on the Olympic team and he said he finally understood the work and work ethic required to become a champion). Clearly the light hasn't come on for Harden yet.

The doom and gloom posters who are projecting consistent failure for this team in the future are probably basing that on their assessment of Harden's rumored lack of work ethic and prioritization of partying and branding over winning (which admittedly are not good signs). But we can't summarily write off the next 5 years assuming Harden will never change. Sampson himself said right after he took the UH job that its just something he has to grow into and embrace, and that all the greats had to do it. Let's just hope it happens while he and Dwight are still in their primes and still on this team.

 

I am hoping that Dream got on the plane with the team and is providing words of encouragement for the players, that coming back being down 0-2 is possible.

 

I agree. So a team wins 54 games it's first season together, gets the 4th seed, loses 2 playoff games and that's enough to predict we'll be staring at an abyss?

Simmer down OP

 

You left out in a couple of important points. This is that this team got to home court advantage in the west with one of the youngest rosters in the NBA. Moreover, for a team with two superstars we're not stuck in salary cap hell. This team still has the potential to get dramatically better. A first round exit will be disappointing, no doubt, but this is the first season this squad has been together. It's easy to be negative but that is far from the only scenario that could play out for this franchise.

So I gotta ask by this scenario, is OKC in a current 1-2 deficit, also staring into the abyss?

 

Reverse jinx thread.

 

They lost 3 games in a row if you count game 82. You have a coach that is just miserable.

 

Allen Iverson?? Are you serious? The same guy who averaged 27 pts and 6 assists for his career? The same guy who won an MVP and took his team to the NBA Finals? The same guy who was All-NBA 7 times in his career? He had demons that everybody knows about, but ON the court, Allen Iverson was NAILS. Stood no chance? You're simply wrong about everything you've posted in this thread.

 

Overdramatic title. Overdramatic post. Overdramatic forum.

We lost two VERY close games. That's all. It's not like we got blown out in either of them. Both came down to the last minutes of the 4th quarter, overtime in one of the games. Is OKC "staring into the abyss"? Because they just lost two close games to a much worse team than Portland. How about the Spurs getting blown out by an 8th seed?

Anything can happen in two games... let's see what happens for the rest of the series. If we lose in 6 or 7 games so be it. Unless we get swept it's not that bad guys.

 

Did Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Webber so on and so forth win?

Just because a player didn't win doesn't mean that in a different circumstance they couldn't have won.

Claiming you KNOW that at age 24 Harden CANT win is ridiculous.

 

I'd suggest looking up the definition of abyss. Actually let me do it for you.

1. a deep, immeasurable space, gulf, or cavity; vast chasm.
2. anything profound, unfathomable, or infinite: the abyss of time.

So as an analogy to an NBA team or season, any team that's regularly making playoff appearances doesn't seem to fit this description, yes?

Or are you inferring that any team that does not win a title is abysmal? Some hall of fame talents never won a title. They must still be starting into that abyss.

And earlier you wrote that you can make improvements to a team but it won't help? Do I need to post the definition of improvement as well?

The fact is you're making extremely unfounded predictions based on what you think will happen over the next five years. I'm as disappointed as the next guy in how this series has started off but in the big picture we're not in a bad position. New coach, maybe another key piece or two and we're right there.

 

I'm sorry, this one just made me laugh. I've read fortune cookies with more facts than this post. Transcendent talent? Dedication and fire? MJ had those things his entire career. IMO he's the GOAT. Why did it take him seven years to win a ring?