<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-n3ExPXPibs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 4 Stitches, Still Came Back to Play. #Heart <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6jRXhj1PpFU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Injury that started it all. Still Came Back to Play. #Heart That is all we ask for, don't lay down and take a beating, show some Heart and be in our Hearts for ever.
That team wasn't young. That team had some great mature guys. Terry and Prigs are not enough. Harden needs to remember his successful days in OKC, channel that maturity and take over. I know it's not fair, and he's been doing as best as he can, but if we survive this series he has to find something more. Another gear, something...
Just imagine, the 2009 Championship Laker team with Best player in the NBA at the time Kobe Bryant was better than this Clipper team. Also the 2009 Rockets with no Yao after the 3rd game was much less talented than this season's rocket team and they still took that laker team to 7 games. I do get tired of people saying they rather have Chuck Hayes & Luis Scola bc they have heart blah blah but it is true that in one particular series, you can tell which team is playing with heart and which one didn't. Also Rick Adelman is way better coach than Mchale.
I wouldn't say the current team is all that young either. Both Harden and Dwight have been to the Finals. Terry, Brewer, Ariza have won a championship. Prig is old as dirt. Smith is a vet. The current team just lacks mental toughness and I am inclined to blame the coaches, particularly McHale. If he's not an x-o's guy, he sure as hell better keep his team competitive and instill discipline. This means no meltdowns and sprees of careless turnovers. Both have marred this team all season and it ultimately was the difference between a potentially close series and a complete blowout.
You should include Carl Landry being shot in the leg and coming back only after a few days to play. Or Carl Landry again taking Dirk's tooth on his elbow and coming back to play. The Yao-less '09 team led by Brooks, Battier, Scola, Artest winning two games vs LA in that series. I still remember the electricity in the way we started those games. Nobody expected any fight from us but we won spectacularly. #Heart It's true though, a team takes on the character and personality of its head coach. Too lackadaisical, too free-flowing, cannot win the battles on the court
When Harden was last seen playing for OKC, it was in the Finals. And he had a pretty bad series. In 33 minutes per game, he averaged 12 points on 38% FG shooting and 32% 3 point shooting. He is a much better player now and is the entire reason that we got the second seed. I think he was clearly the most valuable player in the league this year during the regular season. I know people on here have completely overreacted and said that we should trade James Harden (we shouldn't) but there has been a disturbing trend, going back to that last series when he was with OKC, of him not showing up in the playoffs.
Even though this didn't happen in the playoffs, I still love this play. Dirk is driving in the lane with, he collects the ball and brings his elbow up and unintentionally hits Landry in the face. A couple of Landry's teeth get knocked out and embedded in Dirk's elbow. Dirk falls to the floor, holds his elbow and shows obvious pain and agony as he is cradling his arm. Carl Landry, as cool as the other side of the pillow, reaches up and touches his gums, holds his fingers down and sees blood on them, and then motions to the Rockets bench for a sub and calmly walks off the court. It was probably one of the toughest plays I have ever seen in a game.
The fact that these guys are vets that have gone to the Finals or won it all is mind boggling. It's basically all McHale's fault at this point. He's just clueless.
Gosh if Yao was playing even for spot minutes in this series...we could totally dominate. They would have no answer.
i am sorry, but harden was never an mvp caliber player in my book. i've always felt that way, even b/4 the playoffs. he's a very good player. but he'd be a perfect 2nd guy on a championship team. and i am just talking about the technical side of the ball here. the way it is, with him being the #1 on the team, i can live with that. like i said in another thread, after all, not every team has its #1 guy at his level. life goes on.~
I'm just trying to prove the point that because they played with #Heart, they are embedded in our hearts for ever. I won't be able to say the same for the 2014-2015 team right now. Hopefully, that changes in a few days.
Who the hell would vote no?! Aside from the title teams, I don't think there was ever a Rockets team I was more proud of than that bunch. Maybe the 22-win streak the year before, although that was mostly the same players and coaching staff. If this current Rockets team had their heart, they'd steamroll their way to the Finals.
oh yeah, thanks! I got it mixed up. Landry came back to play while Dirk was out for several games to get shots IIRC
You can debate about whether or not he is capable of leading a team to winning a championship as a #1 player. That is fair. And with the way that he has performed in the playoffs (his last series on OKC, his 2013 series against OKC, his 2014 series against Portland and so far this year against LAC) I think there can be legitimate concern about whether or not he is able to step his game up and improve during the playoffs. What is undebateable is what he accomplished during the regular season. MVP is supposed to be a regular season award and what James Harden did during this regular season was incredible. It doesn't matter what he did during the regular season if he can't continue it during the postseason, but you can't say that he isn't an MVP caliber player because of that.
i hear you, and i actually thought about what you said for a moment. but no, he's not an mvp type of player. not in my book. even just from technical side of the ball. and i can care less about his stats, or our #2 seeding or div. champ. besdies, from #2 seed to #6, there wasnt any real diff. this season. we just have to agree to disagree.
really can't teach heart. i think mchale is to blame for a lot of the team's issues, but the coach can't make the players care. only guy showing any heart to me is dwight, and unfortunately he shows his heart by getting frustrated and lashing out. the rest of the team so far has crumbled and gone into hiding. still possible they turn it around but it's not looking good.
