If we're ignoring everything else and focusing only on Howard and Harden, I would blame Harden more for the many times he was a full on chucker in games and how he's given effort on defense for a grand total of 5 minutes all season. Howard has had his issues as well, he's been injured/unavailable and his defense is nothing like it once was but at least effort generally hasn't been his problem.
Hint: It's not Howard who got a Rockets coach fired. Hint: It's not Howard who doesn't play defense! Hint: It's not Howard who dominates the ball!
i thought you were a harden only fan. do you wish he played with the heart and work ethic of jj watt?
Hint: Howard's not a superstar, so question really is: Is our superstar culpable for this season's debacle?
Don't get off topic. But as mediocre as Harden has been, he plays a real sport that requires talent, skill and athleticism and that makes him better than the fake tough guy sport eggball where no talent or skill is required and thus much better than the unathletic, over-rated loser JJ Fatt. It's not even a worthy comparison Back on topic.
True dat. Yes, superstar is culpable for this season's debacle. "I'm the MVP" "I'm the best player" "Me and Dwight are the superstars, the rest of you are role players & easily replaceable" OK! It's on you superstar!
Nah. Between Dwight and Harden, it's Harden. Dwight's played up to expectations this season for the most part. Harden has not.
There are many things wrong with this team, but with the choices this poll has given, I believe it's Harden by a wide margin.
Howard is playing better than last year. Harden is having his worst year since his second year in the league, or arguably his rookie year
Harden of course but it's not like Dwight is giving 100% effort each game. He's been killed multiple times by his opposition this year. Frankly they both suck.
Harden is acting like a little b**** this season. He needs to give consistent effort on both ends for 35 minutes a game every night. Howard was killing us with his in-and-out of the line-up routine. That seems to have passed and he is doing his part although it's obvious he's regressed. The role players on this team have stepped up since their disastrous start. Lawson and Beverley are giving good production at the PG spot finally. Ariza is always solid, but streaky on offense. Motiejunas is injured again I guess. Thornton needs to be given more minutes. JET can surprisingly still play. Capela has been a real bright spot, but he's young and has a number of deficiencies. His PnR defense when he switches is not good from the eye test. Overall, the above guys are adequate in what they do. But the rotation needs to be trimmed to about 9. Brewer and Jones are hot garbage. JB is alright, but obviously has huge issues. Our offense is still to stagnant at times, though part of this is Harden holding the ball too long on many occasions. Our defense is complete utter ****, especially in transition. Another huge issue is our guards/wings routinely lose their man for some reason, leading to easy lay-ups for the oppositions. The coach needs to fix these things. It's on Morey. Some of his players have regressed and are not performing. In a way, this is his mess. Certain players have not lived up to expectations. He needs to make a package of 2-4 of the above players (probably in separate deals) and bring back about 2 guys that are added to the rotation who are 2-way players. The team is not going to get anywhere without James Harden because he is very hard to replace with fair value. The best we can hope for this season is that a rotation shake-up with a few more two-way players inserted can help Harden fix his garbage mentality and help this team get back on track.
Dude... you're like a kid... As soon as someone says anything negative about Harden.. you are quick to say Howard too... T_Man
Perfect way about how I feel towards this thread. It is neither of these guys fault. It's a team game.
Sorry I don't agree with the narrative that one guys to blame for this teams struggles. I said was a problem but to pick between him and Dwight for the bigger culprit is rather silly when the whole team has issues.
Dwight hasn't been a superstar since 2011 and is pne of the most overpaid players in the League so it's Harden I guess.