We won ONE game and played 3 bad ones and now everyone is back to deepthroating Harden. Guess what Melo won a few games in his day, but he never led his team to **** and neither will Harden. We will win 50+ again and lose in the playoffs..just like Melo every year in Denver.
Why? No other opinions allowed? It's like Jonestown in here. There's a chance I'm wrong and if James Harden leads us to a championship I'll gladly eat my crow, but the refusal to acknowledge anything other than the koolaid drinking circlejerk opinions is concerning.
Of course your opinion is allowed. But from what I'm understanding is that it's all or nothing with James harden with you. Championship or forever be Carmelo Anthony type.
No it's not. It's the lack of defense, not holding his teammates accountable, going to clubs before games. He just doesn't seem like he cares that much about winning and is satisfied with getting his money and having a good time. That's why I call him melo. He has the talent, but I haven't seen the heart to be great. I'm not asking for him to be Jordan or Kobe in his commitment, but c'mon nobody can honestly say that James is 100% committed to giving everything he has to win a championship. That's fine, not everyone wants to do that but that makes you melo. This can change, but at this point James is going down a dangerous path.
well, cant really argue with this statement. can hope for a change, maybe later in his career here in hou. will it happen? well, unlikely imo.
Plays through injuries, carries team without second star to 2nd best record in the WEST. Not committed. K.
what path is that? every year since harden has joined the rockets, he's had more and more success including deeper runs in the playoffs. stop attributing the first 3 games of the regular season to what he's accomplished thus far. I don't know how you call what he's done a dangerous path when most of it has been positive.
Negative perceptions about Harden are almost entirely rooted in a youtube montage and the idea that he's "a flopper". Harden's defense definitely improved last season to the point where he's probably now an average defender. He's definitely not a huge negative anymore. He does go out and party, but if you think other top players in the league aren't partying before and after games you're naive. All of this comes back to the media and what narratives they choose to propogate. Everyone believes that Steph Curry is an all american good guy who has earned his way to the top but Harden is an entitled villain who cheated to get where he is. Why? Because Harden was at a party while Steph Curry was doing cognitive basketball exercises with fancy lights... oh and he's got cute kids too? Harden is single, he dated a Kardashian, now all of the sudden he's the new JR Smith. Give me a freaking break. The dude had a legit argument to be the MVP last year. He had no shot due to the narratives that the media puts out there for short-sighted casual basketball fans. The players voted him MVP. Did he just play some of his worst games as a rocket to start this season? Yeah. Was that disappointing? Yeah. Did he bounce back? Sure looks like it. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt though. We did make the WCF last season in a pretty freaking stacked West. I don't expect him to carry the team all by himself. I don't even think Curry could do that (his team is so freaking stacked its nauseating).
Also for the record I agree about retaining DMO at (almost) any cost. I think he's probably our second or third best player and vital to our long term success.
You have a few good points but much of this is clearly your opinion stated as fact. 99% of the NBA is Melo by your statement. Yes we know Harden he likes his clubs. So did MJ (plus all that gambling stuff) right? So did a lot of NBA greats. You also say he doesn't care all that much about winning. I don't see it that way. If he was just in it for a paycheck why show any emotion? Why try to win at all? Does he just want to be the best player in the NBA just so he can get a fat deal then mail it in? I don't think he's 100% committed like an MJ, or a Watt (as advertised). But give me some names of stars that DO give their entire lives to the game. Kobe? Not in a long time. Durant? Westbrook? Lebron? Is that what made them and their teams great? Or was it the talent, then the work ethic was evolved? What are your thoughts on Stockton and Malone? Are they Melo too? They never won a ring (and there are some nasty rumors about Malone's personal life) so clearly they didn't give it their all, right? The fact is no one knows what's going on Harden's head. He could be a huge slacker just putting on a show to get paid. He could really be trying and not receiving the direction he needs from a great mentor. He could be playing hurt. Or maybe, just maybe he hasn't finished growing as a player. His effort on defense alone last year should have shown people he's capable of change but I suppose it doesn't fit the profile for some folks. My opinion is that he relies too much on his raw talent and hasn't quite learned what it takes to be a champion. I don't see a lack of wanting it. I don't see a lack of heart or emotion. But until he's proven to be a bad teammate (which I'd venture we can all agree Melo has been over his career) I'm not calling him Melo.
Plenty of NBA players party and plenty of them are good on a nightly basis with that lifestyle, but look at the championship teams. They are led by guys that have generally given that up Last 10 NBA champions: 2015-Warriors (Curry) 2014-Spurs (Duncan) 2013-Heat (Lebron) 2012-Heat (Lebron) 2011-Mavs (Dirk) 2010-Lakers (Kobe) 2009-Lakers (Kobe) 2008-Celtics (Pierce/KG/Allen) 2007-Spurs (Duncan) 2006-Heat (Wade) - maybe only exception here, but Rockets would win title if Harden gets 06 Wade ref treatment The NBA is ultra competitive and I believe that in order to get over the top it takes another level of commitment and leadership that Harden has yet to display. He almost reminds me of first stint CLE lebron. Hopefully he can develop into MIA Lebron.
Two big points there. If Harden truly is a money grabbing, luke warm competitor that's the kind of thing that players will see before WAY before the fans will. And Golden State could still win plenty of games without Curry. If you swapped those two players I bet GS still wins the title and Harden wins MVP.
You do realize the difference in those two versions of Lebron was the team he was on, right? In Cleveland he had NO ONE to help so he had to do it alone. In Miami he had all the pieces he needed to win, so he did.
Remember when it was the talk of the NBA about how efficient of a scorer James Harden was? He had a trajectory similar to Michael Jordan 3 years ago lol. I wonder how it looks now. Personally, I think the Rockets are in an experimental stahe. Like when they were playing Asik and Dwight. Remember how awful we were when that happened? We have a bunch of different guys this year. Lawson, Thorton, Capela. All these guys are just now starting to get into the system.
The additional talent helped, but Lebron clearly changed his mental approach to the game. All he cared about was winning titles and changing his legacy. He also changed his playing style more to the one we see today (more magic than jordan).
Where's the proof to back that up? Is he walking up the court or something to make you believe this? His body language on the court?
