Harden has put this team on his back and carried it across the finish line more than a few times this season (and last). The delusion is so, so strong.
reminds me a bit of the whole, 'are the rockets better without tmac' when they got to the 2nd round. ofcourse we're better with a bonafide superstar, and any suggestion otherwise is r****ded what, because we haven't sucked ass in his absence? Much of it is to to with the fact that Lin's skillset overlaps (obviously not to an elite extent like Harden) so we just plug him in and continue on.
But the statistics! The statistics tell us the ball "doesn't get sticky with Harden"... how could this be?!?! Nook! Our precious numbers have deceived us! No, wait... It's the player that's wrong. Yes! Clearly, he has no clue what the stats indicate and should have his remark dismissed as a mere faulty product of the highly inconclusive eye-test...
Aaaaaa i just woke up ... i saw that we won and i was sure that GARM would have already exploded ... i will see the game and i will enter in the Garm in a couple of days again ... this place is unbearable.
Thank you. Which is what EVERY team worth its salt does. Derrick Rose goes down. DJ Augustin steps up. Bulls keep stringing together wins. Eric Bledsoe goes down. Gerald Green steps up. Suns keep stringing together wins. Westbrook goes down. RJ steps up. OKC keeps stringing together wins. Only here does that suggest the team is better without its franchise/best player and doesn't really need him anyway.
I'll ignore your sarcasm and indulge you with a civil response. Anyone with eyes can see that Harden ISO can be frustrating/problematic. But anyone with eyes can also see that he is the best player on this squad, and just about the only one who can absolutely take over a game all by his lonesome. To suggest that we are better off without him -- which is precisely what a handful of people here insinuate every single time we manage to win a game with him out -- is completely delusional, IMO.
Should we blame harden that we won this game? Stay injured, if that means more wins to the rockets. As much as harden iso is to blame, mchale also share some of the blame. Most of the time mchale in the game, mchale was just shouting "come one come on, lets go lets go!!!!" Not sure if those words are clues for play.
Why the **** does everyone have such a big problem with isolating? Harden is a young budding superstar and frankly if he wants the ball in his hands with the clock ticking down just give it to him, hes by far the most talented player on our team 1v1, and it downright trumps watching Parsons awkwardly initiate a PnR. You need pure isolation scorers to win in the playoffs, and if Harden experiences growing pains on the way there so be it, but gun to my head I'm taking Harden 1v1 overall whatever spur of the moment play McHales gonna draw up. Unless its 1/2 PnR to get Harden switched on the PG, then go to work.
Exactly, this is why I wasn't a big fan of TMac. With all of his talent the Rockets were only able to get out of the first round with him injured. Harden is a great scorer and plays differently than TMac but he still plays too much hero ball. McHale always talks about it being sticky out there but all of the glue is on Harden. To Harden's credit I have seen him make an effort at times to play less sticky in some games. My feeling is will still need him to be our go to guy in the 4th. As much as I like Jeremy he is not on the same level as harden. As for what Parsons said, just look at tonigh... The ball was less sticky down the stretch and a lot of good that did. You need a go to guy that can deliver at a higher percentage down the stretch. Durant, Lebron, Melo, they all do it. Harden is the best we have at it. So you do not want to take it away completely. Just limit it to the 4th.
man the offense looked pretty good there. everyone was touching the ball, getting looks and hitting a good %. haven't seen this in awhile.
Great now if this causes problems in the locker room you cant blame Lin fan or Rocket fans you can blame the team for not keepin it in the locker room
We were 6th in assiss last year so explain that. We are also 3rd in assisted field goal % this year http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/team/_/stat/offense-per-game/sort/shootingEfficiency We have dropped from no.5 to in the twenties in total assist but the drop off is only 3 assist per game (something that dwight affects)
Isolation works if the other team clearly cannot defend a particular player, a lot of the time it is a talented center or a forward/point that creates so much problems for the defense. While Harden is good as an offensive option, he is exceptionally good at drawing fouls. I don't know if that makes him a formidable offensive player like the Bryants around the league, but we can't rely on that if there are already great defenders out there that have already blanketed him defensively.
My point is that they're still managing to win games in his absence -- even without the luxury of a second star, or even an All-star player. I simply don't think the fact that they can win games without him suggests they don't need him or are better off without him (which is what some people suggest any time we win a single game without Harden playing).
