Your overestimating how much impact a fan has on a player. The only thing that stunts player development is lack of coaching and the players own motivation or desire. And if you didn't see an improvement in Howard during JUST this season you really don't know much about basketball. You can't expect extraordinary shifts in play level from most NBA players that are already very good. It just doesn't work like that.
So maybe nba just take into consideration the regular season's results as well. Or change it to a league format by giving the ring to the team with most wins. A team lose 4 consecutive games in the regular season is not that bad. But the same team doing the same in a playoff series will end its season! Ball passing and possession need to be studied in details. Some players are very willing to pass the ball with 3 seconds remaning in the shot clock. Some players possess the ball much longer because they are bringing the ball up court.
You mean the comparison between his season in LA and this season? It is a big improvement of course. Any improvements when comparing his days in Orlando?
Thanks someone just told me that it is abnormal to expect an extra-ordinary shifts in play level from most nba players who are already very good. So why people are so confident that Harden will improve in the coming few years especially his defense? So strange!
The thing is Howard is fine just as he is. A few better post moves working with Hakeem, a little better FT% maybe (all we really need is 60+%). But he already does well on both offense and defense and does just about everything you need for a big man. Besides, the guy plays hard, covered for teammates protecting the rim and showed up big time for the playoffs. We don't need him to make a huge improvement for him to be the top guy on a title team. Harden's defense, on the other hand, is such a glaring problem and needs fixing if you want him to be a top guy on a contending team. You can have a role player who isn't great in one or more aspects of the game, but your stars are held to a higher standard and Harden's pathetic D and lack of effort just do not pass the bar. You just can't have a leading star for a team just not even try.
You answered your own question. Harden is NOT good at playing defense right now. So he has a ton of room to improve in that area. His offensive game is very good, so there isn't as much room for improvement. His leadership, maturity, effort are all areas where he can improve as well. It's not that hard to understand. If you're great at something you don't have as much room to grow. If you're weak at something, you do. It's like a car. You can take a stock car and spend a little money to make it faster. Once you get over the 400-500HP range it gets increasingly more difficult and expensive to make it even faster. As for your other comment about Howard, yes, I see improvements in his post game from his Orlando days. He was beating folks purely on athleticism then. Very raw. In just this year with the Rockets you can see the small things he's taking away from training with Dream. The footwork, the positioning, etc. It's not a huge improvement but it's there.
James Harden representing the USA! (aka not a Strip Club).. Carmelo/Love & Harden!...:grin: ....... ....... .......
I believe he got better getting to the line still, and hitting the outside shot real well. He had some slumps. Efficiency was great and he played with heart, and through pain. To end the argument-- he grew by well, he was voted, top 5 in MVP ballot so yea think he grew, and yes he's a 24 year old.
So it is a good news. PB's playmaking, Asik's finishing, Mchale's game planning, most importantly Lin's consistency and decision making will be improved probably!
Get em carl, lol at all the people thanking one another for supporting a bum player just because he is our 'franchise piece' Honestly he's doing things that are worst them McGrady but yall in denial
Besides his shooting percentages (he shot less), most of his numbers dropped from last year. He had less "bad shooting games" down from 34 in 2012-13 to 30 this year. Basically, you can count on him having bad games 40% of the time. His numbers will always look good to some extent as that is what he cares about. Who knows if his D will ever improve?
Until Harden turns his back on H-Town like T-Mac, I highly doubt it. Until Harden puts us through what T-Mac did in his Rockets twilight years, I highly doubt it. T-Mac has been a loser his entire productive NBA career.
James Harden is very young and very talented. He's such a great player that we expected so much out of him and forget that he is just 24 years old. He's still young and will make mistakes as he grows. We just need patience and put a stop on bashing him and finger pointing at James Harden every time the Rockets lose. James Harden could have done better during the playoffs but he struggled due to the way the Blazers were guarding him and the lack of a system the Rockets play in makes it very tough for him to play iso ball throughout the playoffs. Harden is still learning and improving. The Rockets are very lucky to have a 24 year old star. Before James Harden, we were constantly complaining on how we don't have a star and how Morey can never get a star. But now that we have one, everyone wants to bash him and blame him every time the Rockets lose. We need to be real fans and support this team like real fans do. The wishy washy thing needs to stop. There are only one Lebron James and one Kevin Durant. Superstars are rare and hard to come by. Every superstars have faults of their own and ours have his fair share of faults and weaknesses. But with the right supporting cast and the right group of coaches, James Harden can be successful as any other.
This is by far the most wrong comment you made. Tmac came to the Rockets at 25 right on the cusp of him hitting his prime. Harden came to the Rockets at 22 still tying to figure out how to turn from 6th man -> the man. Harden's D is bad, EVERYONE agrees there, but you take Harden off this team, it won't sniff the playoffs. This team relies A LOT on Harden for offense, way too much imo. Harden would be helped to have someone who is just 50% of Steph Curry, a PG with some handles, who can shoot 3s at a relatively good clip, and can let Harden chill a little on offense.
We will find out a lot about the kind of player and person Harden is this offseason. He knows the rep he's getting as a horrible defender. he knows about his failures in the playoffs. Let's see if he starts the season ready to play D and ready to work hard. Hopefully, his minutes will be reduced, so he will have more energy when he's on the floor.
Yes * 1000. There were rumblings about his defense last off season but nothing like we're hearing now. Teammates and others around the league are flat out calling him out. If he plays another season with the same lack of effort all those people questioning his desire to win or improve as a player could very well be right. I hope to hell it's just part of the maturing process and not a character flaw.
We will likely see peak James Harden next year. Everything about how this is set up with the first round loss and the trash talk people have been putting on him, it's set to watch him make the biggest jump of his career yet. We'll see just how good he'll be.
Harden is basically a Paul Pierce caliber of player. He will be great for many years but can't carry a team to a finals win by himself. But you can add a good cast of characters around him and perhaps squeeze out a ring or two over the course of his career. We are lucky to have him, we just need to get to work on adding the perfect supporting team.
