It's deserved. This team is a mess from the top down. We're trying to run a team with math and a broken philosophy. Running a scheme with the wrong personnel.
Honestly guys, this is the best possible thing for this team. It really is. The more the Rockets get laughed at, the better it will be for Harden. He needs to understand that if you want the spotlight, it shines brightest on your flaws - real or perceived.
HUmmm.. when have Harden ever accept personal or team criticism / embarrassment and be motivated because of it? He might be just telfon toward stuff like this.
The hate for Rockets will never stop unless Bev, Harden and Howard are gone from this team. Harden has a chance if he starts playing better D and changes his playstyle (which won't happen).
I agree, the growing pains suck but it means our team will be growing, not shrinking like it did this whole season. Making the playoffs forces them to be embarrassed and make future changes.
I've lost all respect for the lack of professionalism from TNT when it comes to their coverage of the Rockets. ESPN is bad too, but in their case it's more just over the top hyperbole. Zach Lowe is probably my favorite NBA writer, he always gives objective analysis. Matt Moore is the exact opposite, he pretends he's fair, but the guy is completely biased. He's just about dedicated his Hardwood Paroxysm twitter account to a non-stop flow of Bashing Harden and the Rockets.
That's the problem though. They were embarrassed by the Blazers two years ago in the playoffs. They come back next season with a chip on their shoulder and harden is actually playing defense to prove the haters wrong. But I knew they weren't going to sustain that effort for very long. Next season they'll come back and play harder only to go back to were they're at now the following season.
The fastest way to kill your league is have the media responsible for marketing it, mock it instead. You would think Silver would put an end to the anti-Rockets on TNT(Barkley) and the rest. Les should threaten to sue on the basis of devaluing one of the most valuable NBA franchises. He wouldn't win so he wouldn't actually do it but just the threat of doing it might get Silver off of his ass.
It's deserved though. Respect is earned. If we play like it's scrimmage in the playoffs, then you have no business being in the playoffs. Play like you care and people will still give you love even if you lose. We got to go through the bad before things get better. Take this as a learning experience.
This all started when Dwight signed. It was a while ago, but the Rockets had a good reputation before that. If you remember, they were seen as the new young and exciting team in the NBA who's future looked really bright. In fact, it seemed like the media was pushing for Dwight to join the Rockets... they were saying it was the best place for him if he wants to win and that it was the perfect situation for him. The Rockets were getting a lot of love at that time for being an exciting fast-paced team with a bright future. Then Dwight came and the hate began to roll in. Especially after the Rockets got good. It's easy to praise a young team that has a bright future but they aren't really a threat to any of the good teams. But once the Rockets got good and became a real threat, everybody let their biases out and had to hate on them because they are loyal to other organizations.
I don't think he cares. I think he looks at the work and the discipline he needs to put in to win a Championship and it isn't worth it to him. He will take his millions, keep putting up great stats on offense and walk away from the game satisfied with what he did during his career.
That is what I am afraid. Tmac syndrome all over again. They have both had chances to elevate their games after stellar seasons but were not able to do it consistently enough over multiple years and/or in the playoffs. Instead of digging deeper they recoil and don't make the necessary sacrifices to advance their careers/legacy. At least James goes hard to the rack still. Tmac just became a chucker that would occasionally drive to the rim. I would say there is still hope for Harden to get it one day as to what it is going to take but that hope is fading fast by the minute. If he isn't more motivated next year with a different mindset then I am not sure anything will motivate him to be great? Status quo of middling playoff teams and 25-30 pt avg will get you endorsements but he has a chance to have much more than a bunch of commercials and team records to his name. Here's to hoping it clicks soon. Tonight?
Hmm, if it takes all that to get through to Harden, then I'm not sure if I want to build this franchise around someone so thick in the head.
The season after he got made fun of for his defense he turned the fire up and came back playing better. This year he got back to his old "not caring" self. All of the jokes and wise cracks from the media and analyst is just embarrassing. From people telling Curry to take the series off to rest, memes, video compilations from this season of Harden not playing defense, and everything else. This team is getting zero respect. With a new coach and hopefully new pieces I really hope we can turn it around. This season is one that I really just want to forget about.
Harden should give a **** though - his brand is tied to his success, and if he goes the way of Melo, so will his brand. You don't see Nike signing Melo to any lifetime deals.
