No idea, but that's clearly what you said. What's interesting is that you won't own your mistake and move on. Instead, you're fixating on it and trying to deflect what was clearly an incorrect statement. And in the process, you're doing nothing but drawing attention to it. Just own it and move on. Why is that so difficult?
McHale wasn’t a good HC for the Rockets, but his take here seems generally accurate. Harden became an amazing player by playing his way and dominating every possession, but year after year that approach fell short when good playoff teams focused on stopping him. I actually don’t think Harden’s notable playoff collapses are a result of choking. It’s more a lack of a plan B or ability to adapt when opposing defenses focus on taking him out of his game. I don’t think McHale would have done better than d’Antoni, but what he says here is generally true, past sour grapes notwithstanding.
Harden's first year that series against OKC was winnable, but Jimmy played like ass the entire series.
Someone defending McHale's coaching career is a first for me. I'm also surprised it comes from a Rockets fan, given what he put you guys through.
Yeah, people tend to immediately dismiss whatever someone says because of who that someone is rather than what is being said.
It's hard to take McHale seriously bc he sucks at coaching and got fired bc if it which makes him bitter. It also doesn't help that no one bother to give him a hc position afterwards justifying the firing. If he had any semblance of coaching chops, his criticism of the difficulty of coaching harden makes more sense. Crying about how harden "planned his downfall" way back then is just being bitter. If Mike D'Antoni was the one saying all this about harden I would b more inclined to listen. If silas was the one saying this not so much
Your post is a clear illustration of my point. You dismiss what McHale said not because of what he said but because of who he is.
what have you accomplished that we should take your basketball opinions seriously? McHale is more qualified than anyone on this forum to speak on basketball , especially James Harden, who he saw up close and personal more than anyone on this forum. McHale being a mediocre coach doesn’t mean that he doesn’t understand basic basketball. He can be a mediocre coach and still rightfully understand James Hardens flaws.
Milkhair is right. Harden refuses to do the little things that count. He mentioned Larry and he's right, Bird like Steph are NOT liabilities defensively. They're actually great team defenders. Sure, teams do attack Steph, but as Kobe once said, the key is to keep moving your feet. Steph, Larry, even poor mans even slower Bird- Chris Mullin-all always moved their feet and play great team defense despite what stereotype you want to attach to them for not being world class athletes. James wears concrete shoes when he's on defense and when he's off ball(another key to winning ball rarely talked about). LeBron same thing, and people only make fun of Harden over LeBron, but the truth is Harden or anyone is capable...they both do it to conserve energy. Add Lillard to that list of 1 way stars who will not do the little things that contribute to championship runs. Lillard is even worse than Harden defensively, even as Harden caught all the jokes and lowlight compilations. That's why i'm not as high on all these 1 way modern stars. You think the modern bball is so skilled, but on top of rules to benefit offensive players, they're also just chillin and catching their breath on D? Whatever. Hakeem would go all out while fasting for Ramadan. Michael used to play golf and have beers and go directly to games and give everything on both ends. Someone like Lebron can say the words "i left it all on the court," or "I never cheated the game" but they're just words and not reality. Modern stars are cheating the game with super teams and leaving it al out on 1 side of the court. I'm so sick of it. We're still talking about James same exactly problems a decade later. It's unfair he got all the hate, b/c there's tons of 1 way stars who are just as lazy on defense led by the face of the league in LeBron....and this clown wants special treatment and to reduce the season schedule after it's been 82 games since 1967. These mfers rest in All Star games!!! Modern bball..bah humbug! So skilled!! Watching Jalen dribble between his legs a million times. So pretty! ...So fkn pointless. MJ would just catch and take off. Hakeem would catch and go into his move immediately. That Stevie Franchise fancy over-dribbling been around lot longer than these kids know and none of it contributes to winning basketball. Just wasting clock to barely get anywhere. End Rant. Suck it easy.
Not the end. I got more. Everyone falls in love with the big inflated statline but it's fools gold. Watching Harden in the playoffs hit a big shot only to immediately give up a key basket as he stood there feet planted and a guy cut behind him for an easy layup. It's who he is man...who cares about uncontested rebounds and passes to 3 pt chuckers creating some statline of dominance called the triple double. The triple double last had meaning when Jason Kidd, a pg, would get them rebounding among legit PFs and C's and being a passing maestro. **** your inflated ass modern stats. Triple doubles first lost meaning, and now even 40,50,60 and EVEN 70 pt games have lost meaning and allure. I remember how hype and amazing it was watching the best score big pts in games where every possession mattered. They were so earned that as a fan, it felt like we earned the privilege to watch it too. We rarely got the bloated weak high scoring games b/c teams would try to bully you if you got too hot and they for sure weren't trying to let you score 70 1 on 1. IDGAF, i enjoy old school games way more. Just watching Hakeem on a fast drop the Bulls in 97 again. Keep your arcade NBA.
I thought McHale sucked, and I still do. I highly suspected Harden was as much a part of the problem as he was part of the solution. Know I know it to be true.
