This is the sad part. There isn't a game plan to stop Harden. It's just Matthews destroying him on the defensive side with aggressive 1-1 coverage and Harden can't do ***** about it. It's 4 games in and it's clear that he's not going to have an efficient game if he continue to bang this head against the wall. He need to change his game a bit... coach need to get him some opening look and/or uses some PnR, picks to switch defender, whatever. Going 1-1 ISO with Matthews at any sustained rate = you are an idiot at this point.
Why are people still thinkin that we lost the game due to last second plays? Like most people I blame Lin. But after a day of thinking, what about us blowing 10point lead? Why can't we hold on to leads? Why does it even have to come down to the last second play? Sure last second plays are important, but what about holding on to leads for once!
36/103 in 4 playoff games is MAJOR CHUCKING. But its mot surprising because there have been warning lights over the last 2 years in Houston. I'm just worried that Portland (and possibly the rest of the league) have figured out how to defend him. This could really spell the end of Harden unless he finds other ways of scoring when his shot is not falling. He certainly isn't getting the calls when jumping into defenders anymore.
How about we just lie the blame where it should be? 1) Harden has been afwul 2) McHale has been just as bad 3) Lin hasn't been great, but made multiple errors, one that obviously cost us a game 4) Jones has been terrible 5) Parsons has shown up....when he wants to 6) The officiating has been horrific It's not one person, it's a team effort. If any of these are just a little better, we could easily be up 3-1. LOF's want to blame Harden, LOH's want to blame Lin. That's simply not the case, nor should it be.
Harden's FG% is improving each game though FYI Lin's FG% thru 4 games isn't that much better than Harden's. And Lin made just 2/12 3pt thru 4 games, worse % than Harden's 13/41 3pts
Lin was partly responsible for that blown lead in Game 4. He was the primary ballhandler in the first minutes of the 4th quarter and did nothing but dribble around the perimeter. He couldn't even get the ball to Harden until the Rockets had already used up close to 20 seconds on the clock. And he also had a horrible turnover that led to a Blazers layup and cut the lead to 92-88. So yes, the Rockets are blowing leads in this series and that's helped cost them 2 of the 3 games they've lost. But don't act like Lin hasn't played a role in that area as well.
Harden 36/103=34.95%, Lin 12/33=36.36% Harden's improving fg% : 28.6%, 31.6%, 37.1%, 42.9% while Lin's fg% had been up and down
Both pretty *****ty. But Harden takes 4x shots of Lin and is our go to guy. If he's chucking like that we cant win. Lin doesn't matter as much.
How many threads are needed for the lof to point out how bad harden is doing only to shadow how bad lin is doing? Both are playing like crap, but lets blame one so it doesn't make the other look as bad as they are playing.
So what! James is going to be all time great before he's done and we will be true contenders next year. Many of us as longtime sports fans, have learned to look at things in a sort of geological time frame..... This was kind of a lame duck year anyway/work in progress....with the transition from making $$$/rebuild to reloading..... Experience is being gained... He's so young... This offseason/first half of next year,after Daryl handles MOST of the heavy lifting/finishing touches by bringing in another all star, a top tier hybrid 1/2, capable veterans who want rings at bottom of the barrel prices to play roles, and an elite coach.... we'll be a true contender.....so, take the pain a little longer....or sit back, enjoy and KNOW that we are on our way...and it's being done in a way that's never happened before. JLIN will be gone ....Asik ( top 5 center him) will be gone....and so will most of our picks... "Buy the ticket, take the ride" "when the going gets weird, The weird turn pro" Thank Daryl ( and Les)........enough of this nonsensical B.S..... Get behind our HOUSTON ROCKETS... These aren't tough times, they are the beginning of days of grace... OMT.....The sifting out process on our board had already begun too. Millions of voices are crying out and about to be silenced here forever... and a new day/old way is on it's way. Go Rockets! Go Houston! Go Clutch City! Go Clutchfans! Fear the Beard! And look out for that monster Dwight Howard...."He's baaaack" Cheers, CC/Hardwood Hammer/Dr.Strangelove/hardwood/Plowman
HARDENs getting played 1 on 1 mostly lol. He only draws more defenders when he drives and gets his shot blocked
They were suppose to be better this year with the addition of Howard and Harden coming back with one more year of experience. They played well all season but we cant ignore the monumental meltdown they are having as a team. This season was no difference from last season in terms of overall achievement. Only difference is this season The Rockets are about to get knocked out of the playoffs versus making some noise like they did last year. The Rockets were suppose to improve and make it to the second round at least in order to even consider this season a success and a team advancing. We have been doing this for how many years now? Next year we are going to get a star/third star! Next year we are going to bring in better players for said position! Next year we are going to make some noise in the playoffs..... I'm so tired if people begging for a 3rd star. And when we get Carmelo/Rondo/Love and cant win are we going to begging for a 4th star? Will we win then? and if we don't will we be begging for a 5th star? Every team in the NBA can win a championship with an all star team but that does not mean they should or that its a good thing for the sport. This Rockets team is better than Portland. I will even go as far as saying that The Rockets are contenders this year with the current roster. And that's the problem. The Rockets are better and they don't even seem to believe it at times. The Rockets have the all star power and cannot beat an inferior team. So what makes anyone think adding more all stars will get them over the hump? And what do we do if we do get one more and they still cant beat Portland. Sure many will say Portland has the same record and is just as good blah blah blah and NO they are not better than The Rockets. The Rockets need to wake up and play Rockets basketball. Either that or this season could have a potential negative impact on the future.
Point is, obviously, that Harden is our "superstar/leader" his contribution is WAY more important than Jeremy. Yes Jeremy has struggled and made dumb plays, but as a leader of the team shooting that horrible in the playoffs? Unacceptable. Yall love the "oh if Lin didn't do this/that, we would've won" well how about if Harden wouldve played the way he did in the regular season, we wouldve won comfortably without having to have Lin make stupid decisions down the stretch
But harden letting batum a and Matthews blow by him all gme for layups put the rockets in that situation
Did you see those warning signs for Kevin Durant as well? You must have, man they must have figured out how to defend him.....
Harden shares a lot of the blame for the Rockets being in a 3-1 hole. I don't disagree. But he also did contribute a lot of positive things in Game 4 that put the Rockets in position to win. Lin on the other hand did literally nothing other than hit one midrange jumper in the 4th quarter.
