I loved Harrell, so did Morey. And the fact that MDA gave a rook 2nd rounder as many minutes as he did indicates to me that he valued him as well. Trez as a rook is not same player he is today. Same can be said for RoCo. Rockets were in win now mode even back then so developing young players was not the priority. This is the one area that I wish MDA focused on more. But it is entirely BS that D'Antoni does not recognize or develop young talent - other than Nash, the rest of his starting 5 was made up of very young players. Amare was a starter his 1st year. Joe Johnson was a starter, only 2nd year. QRich was 3rd year. 4th year Shawn Marion became a star when he was moved to 4 spot. Barbosa was an important rotation player in his rook/1st year. 2nd year Boris Diaw was MDA's ultimate utility player off the bench.
What if Yao Ming could defend Mehmet Okur or Carlos Boozer? What if the Rockets didn't have a playoff game where only 4 players scored? What if Jeff Van Gundy had an offensive scheme that put up more than 80 points per game? What if Luther Head made a 3?
Harden dont play defense, he dont fit into this system. Everyone in this system plays grinding defense. Harden wont fit at all
nominee for dumbest post of the week Harden doesn’t play D? Way to expose yourself as a casual who doesn’t watch games. Leave 2014 and come join the rest of us in 2020
Quit rewriting history. Montrezl was never a "budding star" as a Rocket. He was a high-energy bench player prone to making stupid mistakes about as often as he made good plays. He showed potential, but wasn't even a budding starter, much less a budding star. He was also a poor-rebounding 6-7 center at a time when we wanted more height out of that position. Your claim that "mike would never play him even when he dominated" is wrong on two counts. Number one: He NEVER dominated as a Rocket. Number two: MDA gave Trez more minutes per game in his last year as a Rocket that Doc Rivers gave him in his first year with the Clippers. What happened in REAL life (not in your rose-colored rearview mirror) is that Harrell made a big leap before his 2nd year as a Clipper (his 4th in the league), which is common with big men. Even small big men like Trez. And lastly, MDA played Trez more as a rookie than Clemons, and about the same as Frazier. Besides, none of it matters because the Clippers demanded him in return for CP3, which was a move Les and Morey were both determined to make. MDA might have been on board with it, but he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger on the deal.
I'm beginning to think Morey's only accomplishment is by pretty much luck getting Harden here which after that resulted in stars like CP3 being attracted to the team. Outside of that dude's drafting history is atrocious and continuously finds mediocre to below average wings to chuck threes.
The Raptors played one of the weakest finals opponents in recent memory. A depleted Warriors team that would have been trashed by even the 2019 Rockets. Keep in mind that Durant played 80% of our series while Curry coasted by on **** play. The Rockets completely failed to adjust defensively when Durant went down and it coincided with Steph coming out of his coma. We lost the 4th quarter of game 5 because Durant got hurt and we had no idea how to guard a pick and roll. But the Raptors got a Warriors team 2 rounds later that additionally lost Klay Thompson. Toronto built a great team that was also astronomically lucky. The Rockets unfortunately haven’t had the breaks go their way in the Harden era.
He wasn't very good. Too mistake-prone, too short, couldn't space the floor. What good was a 6-7 center who couldn't space the floor and didn't play smart defense? You guys are looking at Trez today and imagining that same player was once on the Rockets, but that's just not the case.
He would be GREAT for the small ball 5 Rockets play now. If he could shoot the 3ball more consistently. I believe he can, one day.
He'd better start practicing. He's got a lifetime .100 average, his best season was .176, and this year—when you'd think he'd have improved because the league is shifting heavily towards floor-spacing centers—he's 0-for-18. I love the guy's energy and post scoring, and as a backup C in a traditional lineup, he makes a lot of sense. For us, not so much. At least Clint had the sense never to even attempt 3s. Harrell is 5-50 lifetime. That said, I still enjoy watching him play because he out-hustles everyone else.
Manimal gave us the same small-center hustle (actually an inch taller than Trez). Too bad he was a sh!tty rebounder and pouted his way out of town. I wonder how he's enjoying that lack of NBA salary right now.
