I wasn't talking about only guards, since you were talking about "superstars." Since you always use the analogy of LBJ is a superstar, and Harden is a superstar, then... You would think superstars would transcend labelled positions. In any event, I continue to maintain that Harden is a talented scorer, his strongest point is shooting the open shot. If we give him the ball all the time however, like we did in the 7 game losing streak, then we will...have that same exact team. But there is no point in trading barbs on hypothetical situations. We will see how it does pan out on a Harden dominated ball game. It looks like Mchale will do it again, and then, the result will be what it is.
James Harden is an excellent & efficient scorer, subpar defender. Although he can create for himself & his teammates, he is NOT an elite playmaker. FYI, Harden has a subpar assist to TO ratio of 1.50. For games where he turned the ball over >= 6, the record is 2W-7L. This is despite the fact that he was shooting well in a number of those games. For games where he shot <=0.40 fg%, the record is 5W-13L. So for games when he was not shooting well, the team only has a 27.8% chance of winning. Not much help really. Clearly, there is not much drop-off to speak of "if Harden is not making his shots". Basketball, like any ball games, is all about point differential. If those so-call all-stars are sub-par defenders & also not elite playmakers, they are pretty much useless if they do not score. They certainly do not belong to the top-tier group of players where LeBron, Paul & Wade rule.
Alot of his TOs come from driving to the basket not bad passes. He is an elite playmaker for his position.
LOL...wait, when did Harden sit out in the Clippers game?in what game?, the second one?..the first one, he clearly play and remember CP did not play that then..the second one, CP played and we got our azz whopped in the 3rd quarter by their bench...ahhh..I remember now, it was the second game...he was scratched from the game only after their warm-ups...it was about his knee....that's why I almost forgot that clipper's game where he did not play... 1st : 109 - 117 2nd : 96 - 106 2 points differential...LOL....not bad
Just noticed it now when I saw the score we've had against Clippers..Our score were lower but then we also lowered the score of the Clippers... In my honest opinion, we need Harden for his scoring ability but he is a liability in our defense...if only he'll exert enough effort in his D we will be fine...
As of 24 Feb 2013, Harden's Turnovers and Ball Handling: Offensive Fouls: 27 Bad Passes: 96 Ball Handling Turnovers: 85 Other Turnovers: 0 'Hands' Rating: 16.6 That is not elite from any way you look at it.
Like when he drives and extends his arm ( as to why he do that often when I'm sure he realizes sometimes that the ref's won't give him the call he needed, I don't know ) which results to fast break of the opponents because his team mates won't be able to recover because they were expecting him to drive and shoot? Sometimes people tend to equate number of Assist into how good the playmaking skills of a certain player is.. If we define Playmaking literally, I'll say, it is to Make Play where there should be a define set that you have to execute...you should have the ability to execute and to counter-react what the defenses would give to you..what Harden possess is a high BBIQ where he has the ability to find an open man when the defense collapses on him..I'll not call it play-making though I'll call it a Pattern...
Finally Rockets won! Glad to see the Rox didn't let the W slipped through their fingers this time, feel a bit relax now. However there are some worrisome aspects still bother me: 1. Harden's knee-Harden played with his sore knee on heavy minutes AGAIN! I doubt that his knee could fully recover this season by the way the coach playing him, sigh. 2. The early 3s fall- The rox seemed a bit relax or over confident after they fell many 3s early in the 1Q and didn't try hard to fight for the offensive rebound when the hot hand shooting behind the arc. Sigh! 3. Defense- Defense!Defense!Defense!Don't let your opponent player has a back court cut so easily! I'm so frustrated to see this happened again and again!
firstly and lastly, i cant see the "DISRESPECT" in the statement you quoted... maybe it's just me though..can't even distinguish between disrespect and sucking up
Can we please get rid of LOH and LOF, for the love of Christ, please Clutch??? Is there anything to wipe and clean out all this disgusting filth that been clogging up the filters of Clutchfans message boards??? You guys are freaking embarrassing and a bunch of trolls who needs to crawl back to the f-uking hole you came out from you punks!!!!
Worst win of the season? Hell yes! It still amazes me how in sports coaches tend to ignore, downplay or just refuse that there is a problem with the way a team is playing. With amazes me even more is how rarely coaches take responsibility for that.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400278586 Lin sprained his ankle late in the first quarter of the Bucks game badly enough that he sat out Thursday's practice. McHale noted it as Harden and Lin both being beat up. Apparently "beat up" is serious enough that they were both game-time decisions to play. Lin sitting through the 4th is fine considering he's injured and Beverly was playing well. I *still* think McHale is burning Harden for too many minutes, especially with his knee banged up.
You clearly didn't understand what I've said...I say that you can't claim that Rockets are barely better without Harden because the one game that Harden was out, Rockets is definitely not a scrub team which you claim to be... The 32 wins that we have right now is because of the collective efforts of the team..not only because of HIM...and if you are so intent of claiming that Harden was the reason of this team's over-achievement, what about their 28 losses then? Is it because of the said role players? isn't it that harden was also playing on that games ( granted 26 of them because he misses 2 games ) Rockets will survive without Harden...Give them a volume shooter that can shoot in high efficiency and they will survive...Give them Melo right now ( with the same role players that you claimed they are ) and I assure you they will be in a much better standing... On the other hand, take out Asik, who was their anchor in Defense at the paint...take out Lin who demands a double team ( sometime triple team ) whenever he drives..take out their ( sometimes ) wing defender in Parsons and Delfino and you'll know what happen to the team... And if you say, what about remove those role players and build around Harden...who would you like to build around him then? PG : SF : PF: Center : Give me the names of any players you would like to build around him...the one that Rockets can clearly afford and within their cap.
Please be specific and point out what are those post that makes you say those things....Isn't it that this forum is made for fans to discuss everything about the ROCKETS....Lin is part of the Rockets in case you were not aware....if fans would like to discuss about him let them be, why would you bother with them..you can react and counter-react whatever you find that doesn't suit you...but to result in something like Calling Other People's Input and Opinion as Filth is what I called a Product of Uninformed and Blind Biases...
