Harden gets blammed for everything. nevermind that we wouldn't be close without him........people would rather hate one bad pass and people hate on him, never mind him hitting or creating good buckets late in game 4........People would rather hate on him for anything that goes bad......................................and those same people will be first in line for celebrations if he they won the Championship
Did you see what Kawhi did in the Playoffs against the Sixers last year? I don't care about his heavy load. If you're a top 5 player, make something happen when you're on the court whether it's more effort on the defensive end or offensive end.
I was yelling at the TV to attack the basket. @Clutch essentially said the same thing in his write up. We tend to run hot and cold from downtown. We hit a cold streak. It’s not like our decidedly average 3 point shooters weren’t getting open shots. They were and they missed them. So you drive to the freakin’ basket and either get the layup or make them call the foul. Meanwhile, you tighten up the defense. The refs don’t call the foul because that’s how they typically roll when it’s the Rockets? You do it again and again and score, or make the bias so obvious that the refs can’t swallow the whistle without looking like they are getting paid to. It’s pretty freaking obvious, so why weren’t they doing it? Isn’t that why we have a coach? I’m pissed off about it, to put it mildly. I’m also sick and tired of seeing it happen again and again. Meanwhile, James gets beat up by the refs, the opposing team, by his teammates missing the open shots Harden gave them, and by people here who want someone to blame so they pick the biggest target, James Harden. In my humble opinion.
he has an army of **** suckers that refuse to acknowledge any criticism that when taken into context would improve the rockets as a team. @fchowd0311 , @Mr. Clutch Or anybody that clearly cares about the team says anything and gets flamed. It’s like LOF level. every year we hear “why did he just settle for 3s”.. At this point what pisses me off the most about it is the fact that people act like it’s a new thing. It’s a horse that’s been beaten to death for 6+ years now. It’s not anything new and this coach/FO has enabled it. Paul called this style of play out before he left. Kobe called it out. People here have some severe cognitive dissonance, that’s why I’ve ultimately just stopped engaging the GARM. how many players do people routinely have to dig excuses out for to explain mind boggling defensive meltdowns like game 6 and the finals he played in. He has the skill, it’s all mental and poor decision making
What in the holy F are you talking about? Give me f*cking on-fire Van Vleet and Siakam. Take a step outside for a second and understand our Siakam and Van Vleet are Jeff Green and Eric Gordon. Siakam and Van Vleet would make $40m+ FOR ONE SEASON on the open market. Eric Gordon and Jeff Green wouldn't make $15m on the open market. Do you UNDERSTAND??? That was basically Kawhi's first big game winner EVEEEEEEER btw. Oh and no one in the world cares if you care about the heavy load. It's a load and it is heavy, we're not playing "what's your favorite color?". Harden's body has to endure a greater physical load which affects his stamina and explosion, which leads to poor performance. Why on earth do you think it matters that you don't care about it? If you want a title, bring him two All stars like all your idols need.
[Since this site is too archaic to post screenshots on, I'll just link you to VanVleet's stats in the Philly series: https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/v/vanvlfr01/gamelog-playoffs/] This the VanVleet you're talking about? lol I know you guys are die-hard Harden stans, but excuses only go so far when they're made repeatedly.
I basically wrote this article 4-5 years ago. Except... back then I called it “Harden will never lead the Rockets to a title”. Then I got in some arguments with someone - can’t remember who - about Harden vs Giannis and who you’d rather have. I think I even have an outstanding tip jar bet. Whether or not they win a ring in x years. Except.... move actually changed my tune slightly. I think more of the blame goes on DM and MDA than Harden now. Cause Harden still has faults... but actually has gotten better in many areas. but his teammates ****ing suck ass and MDA is at best the coach we all know he is. replace Steph with Harden and Harden has rings and Steph has none. Replace Kawhi on the Raptors with Harden and Harden has a ring and Kawhi barely makes the playoffs or more likely losses half the games. granted ... it is the truth of the above that makes it all the more frustrating and is part of the reason the article was written as it was. Nonetheless... is there a worse indictment of your GM then the fact that he’s built a team around shooting threes... that isn’t very good at shooting WIDE OPEN threes, or that their second best player this series is a waiver signing they lucked into ??? remember when Russ said PBev’s has us fooled into thinking he’s a great defender?? He’s a good defender that tries hard and has some tricks. DM has y’all fooled into thinking he’s a great GM. There’s ABSOLUTELY worse GMs out there. But DM is just good.
Love Harden, but Dwight and Josh Smith were pretty big in those playoffs. We all know that when the Rockets were on the brink of getting knocked out by the clippers Harden was not even a part of that epic comeback.
We also know that there were three other games we won . . .that he was a huge part of it. Honestly. . . Dwight and Josh were all world but I would have traded them and Corey Brewer with pick for YAO to be in that series Rocket River
The careless turnovers in big games and when the team is in 0-27 or 5-25 funks from 3 not taking it upon himself to get to the hole and get big baskets is why he gets heat on this board. When you are a former MVP and a finalist for the award every year you are supposed to come up big in big moments not shrink to the level of role players.
Has anybody smarter and with more time than me quantified the amount of Harden's former teammates that are out of the league compared to average? It seems like there's so many people from the last couple squads that are gone, but my impression is that's somewhat normal.
Are you a child? Of course Van Vleet can have one bad series and Kawhi can carry them through a single series, Harden has done that a dozen times you moron.
Give me an example (that's against a team of the 2018-19 Sixers' caliber). You sound like a pathetic fanboy of an NBA player who will never know you exist, and thus, you feel the insecurity to lash out by calling others morons.
Haven't read article , but if we lose in 1st round you cant complain about criticism. Frankly I think Harden has been playing pretty well , hes has a few bad moments at the end of games , a few good moments too .. just not enough. Team as a whole has stunk. I blame MDA more .
Harden's shot selection and style of play makes him impossible for players to defend when he's on, and impossible for fans to defend when he's off. I've accepted that. What I don't accept is the idea that there's one optimal way to play basketball, independent of personnel. I'm usually the last guy to get on the "fire the coach" bandwagon, but I've come to the conclusion that MDA just has too big of a chip on his shoulder from his Phoenix failures. It's time to move on.
