Sources: Some issues between Harden and Howard (don't hang out anymore)

Trade Harden for KD???

 

The highs and lows don't define a player. It is the consistency of good play, which he has shown and is evident in the fact that he is putting up numbers only the best of the best in history of the league put up.

You are defining leadership on his "effort" on defense and ignoring everything else. The fact that he leads our team on offense every game and that he leads by speaking up on the court means nothing to you. I recognize his bad defense at times and unlike some I don't pin his bad defense on effort alone. If he just tried it wouldn't make him good. He's just not a good defender and when you add on to the fact that he must carry the offensive burden more so than just about any other player I can understand being fatigued on the other end.

By your way of thinking I could say well Dwight isn't a leader because he misses all those free throws. It's stupid. Because a player has a weakness does not make them a bad leader or not a leader at all.

 

My God we have some atrocious fans

 

McHale & Bird had polar opposite personalities, and I don't believe they were very close off the court, yet they led the Celtics to 5 Finals, winning 3, I believe. You don't need to be best of friends to dominate the NBA, and McHale knows this, so I trust that if there are clashes right now in the locker room, they will be addressed and won't linger.

 

The way Howard has been taking lately, there definitely is some stuff going on, at least right now...

But i actually think it's more like those two vs. everyone else. I've seen Harden waive off guys. I've seen Dwight give guys directions in a very frustrated manner. The latest on that huge dunk he had last game. It's like they're not listening to him and he keeps insisting. Im not sure if it's the stars going against the team strategy or the role players...likely the former.

As for Dwight...He works hard, but that doesn't always make him effective. Hes not skilled enough for that. All that hard work and hustle just seems useless at times, if he's committing dumb fouls, missing free throws, goaltending, or losing the ball in the post. It reminds me of Dmo when he was all hustle, but not really making positive plays. It's busy work.

I'm not trying to bash on Dwight, but I'd find that frustrating, as a teammate, if we're losing and that guy is trying to tell me/us what to do, then laughing on the bench. Maybe that's what is eating at the guys around him and why Howard probably gets more heat from them than Harden. Harden may bug them sometimes, but he can "impose his will" more timely than Howard, so it's harder to call him out about the smaller things in a game.

 

Does anybody know who Dwight was laughing with on the bench?

 

That's what many, many shes have said.

 

Again, that mic'd up part of Dwight was very telling. We have to stick together and fight. Funny how people were saying I read too much into it and nothing was going on behind closed doors and now this comes out and all of a sudden it's true.

 

Does the team have a psychologist? It probably needs one for every player.

 

to me leadership is about 30% being vocal (that incl. verbal and body language) and 70% example. i dont see enough of the 30%, someone else said he did, and i believed him. as for lead by example, harden fails imo, and miserably. anyone could have a bad shooting night. but not paying enough effort on the court is certainly sth. a leader will never ever do. that's my take. feel free to think and post otherwise.

dwight is certainly not a leader, though i like him as a player. he might've been one on the magic team, idk, since i didnt watch enough of him when he's in orlando. but he certainly doesnt qualify as a leader on this rockets team.

many people tend to take the best player(s) be the leader(s) of a team automatically. i dont think it's necessarily true. not every team has a true leader.

and its good you mentioned "consistency of good play". to me harden is far from that. mental aspects aside, one big reason is technical. he relies a bit too much on getting the calls (and it aint his fault)...

 

My bet is on Kostas, that *******.

 

It seems like everything Kobe was saying about Dwight was true... and now Harden is having to bear with it.

 

idk. he laughs on the court, too, for no apparent reasons. its rather weird and sometimes annoys me a little bit.

 

I can only find comments about it from Lakers fans, beginning in the 2nd half after Bogut got his 4th. Does anyone have a gif/picture or is this further speculation?

 

Hard for me to believe that the guy who at the ages of 24 and 25 finished 5th and 2nd in the MVP voting can be someone that ANYONE feels doesn't play well consistently.

And I'm glad the "relies on calls thing" is still, well a thing. One of my favorites.

 

We already had it. Was the last 14 minutes of game six against the Clips. I would love to think we have a few more tricks up our sleeves. But I am afraid we don't. I think we will pride one out today and probably play hard in game 5. But I believe that is as far as this one goes. That one point loss did us in psychologically. If we had won at the buzzer I could see this being a 2-1 lead for us due to the big momentum swing and confidence we have and we could be well on our way to a commanding 3-1 lead today.

The way we responded to that one point loss was bad. Instead of mad like we gave one up. We were sheepish like Golden State took that one from us. The mental toughness needed to even entertain a comeback from 3-0 was not displayed after game 2. Why would it be there now?

 

joakim noah once was voted #4 in mvp race. does that tell you much?

now tell me this,,, 15 playoff games, 2-3 great ones, 2-3 bad ones, the rest of them in b/w,,, is this mvp type of consistency? i think not.

as to getting the call and going to the ft line being your favorite, feel free. yeah, it adds points to the rockets team, but to me its not that enjoyable to watch from a pure bball perspective. we may just have different taste.

 

I laugh when I'm frustrated too. It's more of a sarcastic laugh, I don't understand why that's so terrible.

It's obvious the guy wants to win. What's more alarming? Laughing or showing no effort?

Laughing or skipping post game shoot around?

 

Does this explain the teams performance in Game 3? Locker room distractions?