[Media Conspiracy] "Harden has more help"...since WHEN?

I've run out of things to say. This is just so shamelessly biased and condescending that it makes you very disappointed in the state of sports journalism.

 

The actual article seems rather pro-Rocket though:

More important than the poor shooting, and unlike the first half, Westbrook was not getting his teammates involved, so they started standing around and watching the show, which was a stark contrast to the Rockets who played with a team energy. How much of the OKC offensive stagnation is on Westbrook and how much of that falls on his teammates depends on which side of the chicken-egg debate you stand on, but the Westbrook one-man show did work well for them in a lot of close games this season. Wednesday night, in the glare of the postseason spotlight, it did not.

 

NBA finals will feature no less than 18 segments dedicated to Westbrook's triple doubles, despite him being eliminated a month ago.

 

Gordon, Williams, Pat and Anderson are stars. New Orleans almost won a championship with Gordon and Anderson. I think Beverly was a lottery pick.

 

Can you walk me through your mental process for this statement? Because what I said isn't remotely close to what you think I said.

 

I'm currently loving the "Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott are unplayable because of their defense" narrative, as if Houston doesn't trot out Lou Williams and Ryan Anderson for 30 minutes a night.

 

Harden has had more help ever since he allowed his help to help him.

Players play better when their involved. Like Westbrook said, he only has "one friend" on the court.

There was a stat a couple ago that said Westbrook basically only passes when there's an assist.

Minimal ball movement for OKC's offense.

 

Cause Harden is so gud, made those players literally garbage on defense.

 

As much as you want to trivialize the Rockets' supporting cast, last night at the start of the 4th quarter, with Westbrook on the floor and Harden on the bench, the Rockets turned an 8 point deficit into a 1 point lead.

 

welp.... certainly had more help last night...

whether its bc he trusts and utilizes teammates to a far greater extent or whatever....

jus sayin...

 

Great article regarding Harden vs Westbrook

http://www.sbnation.com/2017/4/20/1...-vs-james-harden-nba-highlights-playoffs-2017

 

Didn't Amin say Westbrook is the MVP? Interesting shift in his opinion.

 

Does Harden have more help? Yes. However, at the end of the day, this team is still just Harden and a bunch of role players. Harden is not a part of some Big 3. Other than Harden, there is no past all star, current all star, or future all star on this roster. This roster should not have the 3rd best record in the NBA, period. Harden has elevated the play of those around him.

McDermott would have a role on this team alongside Harden. Adams might average 15 ppg playing alongside James. Oladipo and Harden would be a great backcourt pairing. Harden loves setting up his teammates and is not a selfish player. I couldn't even imagine Harden taking 43 shots with 18 of them coming in just 1 quarter, shot jacking to that degree isn't even in his DNA. I truly believe that he'd rather average 20 and 10 and have his teammates be involved than 30 and 5 and be a 1 man wrecking crew.

 

One thing that has been said of MVPs of yore is that they make their teammates better. Westbrook apparently does not. Harden's teammates before the season weren't all that, but an MVP performance from James has elevated them to that level.

 

And one of the main reasons was because Westbrook gambled for a steal then rushed out to Beverly at the 3-point line (giving up 2), then lost him on the next P&R (giving up 2), then barely bothered to make it up the court when he was fouled and hot a FT, then failed to get up the court again when we played 5-4 and Gordon nailed a 3.

Thank God we had Westbrook on the floor!

 

Cowherd's researching skills on point

 

This whole argument about better teammates shouldn't be made when typical every other MVP has been on better teams than the runner ups. Curry had 4 Allstars on his team, Lebron had Allstars and future hall of famers on his team and the list goes on. Now all of the sudden who doesn't have better teammates deserves the MVP.

 

This is why Harden will never win one. Narratives made up on the fly for whoever they like, which is never going to be Harden.

 

I didn't know Kurt Helin wrote for The Onion!

This is the best headline of all time