Most of NBA players' motivation is "proving people wrong". Is that fan's motivation too? I'm a Houston fan, but crying over Harden doubters has become insufferable on these boards - "insert a player" gets more calls than Harden in playoffs being the main culprit. Maybe because refs give others benefit of the doubt, while Harden doesn't because of his regular season foul hunting? I agree he's fouled on his drives most of the time, but he also tries very hard to sell it. I guess a fanbase just can't enjoy success of their players unless there's doubters on other side?
Regular season foul hunting? How is it foul hunting if even u agree he’s getting fouled most of the time? That’s not foul hunting, that’s destroying your defender and getting fouled... Lol, so they give him the benefit of the doubt all regular season, but then the second the postseason starts, that’s when they decide they’ve had enough. Yeah right...
If you're actually a Houston fan, you'd know that Harden doesn't hunt for fouls. I think you'd be better off on a Miami Heat board. At least they got your boy Dragic.
Hope Giannis is hurt but gives him, the media and r****d fans another excuse to boo hoo and create sob stories over the 2 time MVP
He was healthy during first 2 asss whoopins And he still played all of game 3. I think he’s faking it and just didn’t wanna play and get the blame and clowned on for getting swept.. I bet he plays next game if they win.
Yeah honestly don’t give a **** this bum is injured. But the media is gonna spin it into a sob story about how tough he is for shooting 2 FTs and everyone’s gonna blame his teammates for losing. Hope he goes to golden state and they get swept. He ain’t good without the media and refs hyping him up and giving him phantom fouls.
Nobody that is honest and clear-headed about Giannis is surprised about what's going on here. There are limits to his game that a few good teams can exploit. The Heat happen to be one of the few teams that can. He is the MVP for what he did, not for what he can't do. If I were a Bucks' fan I would worry a bit about him leaving because he will have a bevy of suitors and the mediadel is pushing hard for him to bounce. I would also be honest about the team's glass ceiling due to Giannis's weaknesses if he does resign. I wouldn't be confident about being anything more than a regular-season champion. I wouldn't believe that Giannis as a 2? year-old is going to reinvent his game. I'm sure he'll refine certain elements of his game, but Milwaukee becoming a true championship contender will depend on his teammates.
Exactly. Harden still has some of foul hunting reputation from years ago and refs just wouldn't make the same calls for him they do in the playoffs. It's funny I have to explain this to someone who watches Houston games...
Not anymore. But his reputation still precedes him. I'll decide what board I'll be on, thank you very much. Or is it being a delusional fan a must to be here?
His reputation shouldn't matter to fans of the Rockets that have been watching him throughout his career. If it helps you leave any faster, then yes, we're all delusional fans here.
Giannis absolutely has some holes in his game especially if he wants to lead a team like the Bucks to the NBA Finals. I pretty much agree with Barkley when he said, Giannis needs to either develop a POST game OR improve his jumpshot (if not both). With that said, the dude is 25 years old and will soon be a 2 time MVP. He has achieved so much at such an early age just from, hard work and with his freaky build, length, power and speed. Look at what Harden and Curry achieved at the same age. Curry would of course go on from a non all-star to an all-time player. Harden would go from an all-star concluding a horrible year to an MVP as well as mulitple mvp worthy seasons. Of active players only Lebron and Durant has matched or surpass Giannis's success at such an age. Its absolutely fair & correct to point out the flaws and shortcomings in Giannis's game, but lets not act like the dude has no possibility or likelihood of improving himself or achieving greater success in the future. Dude is 25 lol.
This is true - he definitely is 25 years old. But keep in mind - he's also been in the league for 7 years, and he still doesn't have anything resembling a passage jumper. If you can't shoot 3s (Wade, Derozan, Butler, etc) that's one thing. But this dude is quickly falling into the Rondo/Westbrook territory of people only respecting him in the paint. He has time to find a jumper. But I'm not sure if there's ever been a professional NBA player without any semblance of shooting, suddenly discovering a consistent jumper.
Agreed... at his current form, an opposing team should treat him like a Rondo, westbrook etc... but the dude is nearly 7 feet tall. He has the luxury of occupying a position IMO that doesn't necessarily need a jumper. My comp for the way he plays and impact the game is a lot like shaq. The vast majority of his points and impact is in the paint and their game are very similar in terms of areas of production. I don't know if he can or will develop a good jumpshot but I do know he definitely needs to improve his post game and skills in the posts if he wants to improve in the postseason. He's improved as a player every season he's been in the league so I don't doubt he'll be a better player at 27-31 (typically an nba stars prime than he is currently. As far as his jumper goes, Malakas or some Bucks fan would know better how his jumper has developed in the past 7 years. But i do know he needs to improves his ft %, something most of the greats have done as they gotten older. So far, Giannis has been stagnant on that front, even regressing this year.
To add some perspective... at the end of his age 25 season, Steph Curry had only just made his first All star season, was never on an all-nba team and had just been eliminated from the 1st round by the LA Clippers. Harden had never been an MVP, won a scoring title or led the league in assists and had just been eliminated from the WCF after an embarrassing 12 TO's performance. He would follow that year with an even more turbulent and disappointing year. Just as it was silly to write off those two greats at that age, its even more so to do so with Giannis with what he's already proven.
This is what happens when analyst cream over potential....instead of a player like Harden who put in the work.
