imo harden is the primary reason we lost games 1 and 2. he's been better last two but still not near what hes capable of. i hope he can wake up and redeem himself for the first two games.
Haha wompwomp oh I agree I'd definitely be screaming at the TV a lot if Westbrook were in a Rockets' uniform, but at least it'd be at someone who wants to win so bad and is putting every ounce of what he has out on the line, albeit while making stupid decisions. As far as a change of coaching, I certainly hope you're right, as that would be the ideal scenario. My only fear is that the crucial time in which Harden was "moldable" was the past two years, in which he was allowed to get away with whatever he wanted. He is now this spoiled "superstar". Can this be overcome overnight by bringing in a disciplinarian, or will he shut down and tune them out, forcing the team to choose between him and the coach? You look at players like Duncan and Parker getting ripped by Pop, but you forget it's because they came into the league knowing nothing else. He's earned that respect and right. Moving forward, I just think Harden HAS to own up and play defense. That kind of attitude that he has toward it of "oh I'll just get it back on the other end" can destroy a team. When your best player, who is dominating the ball and taking all the shots on the "fun" side of the court doesn't want to do the "dirty" tasks that are necessary to win, eventually the other players on the team get tired of it and shut down themselves. It's only a matter of time before Howard gets tired of cleaning up for Harden on the other end...
Isn't that exactly the problem? Ability can be developed with teaching, training and practice. But, effort? Effort can't be taught.
What the hell is up with all the strawman nonsense? No one is blaming Lin for all our playoff woes. We're blaming him for giving away Game 4 which is indisputable! If he calls timeout, the Rockets are in the driver's seat and likely come away with a win. Would the Rockets be 2-2 or even 3-1 had Harden played better this series? Probably. But for all his struggles, Harden did what he needed to do in the last couple minutes of regulation in Game 4 to put the Rockets in position to win. It was his teammate who coughed up the ball which led to the Williams 3.
dxdx, I see what you're saying, but I think most people's hope is that eventually he'll realize its importance and take it seriously. I honestly think right now, his mentality is a combination of 1) I do everything on offense so I can't waste my energy on defense 2) I can just get it back on the other side and outscore them I personally, am with you. Someone being a bad defender or lacking the fundamentals, I can deal with and hope they learn. But I have zero patience or tolerance for someone making MAX money, or any money for that matter, and not giving everything they have to their craft, whatever that may be. In this case, it's basketball, and Harden honestly may as well not even cross midcourt half the time.
everyone likes to use the scape goat which is in this case lin. yes he screwed up big time. but this is a team game, and teams win and lose together. we sign these big contracts to these stars so that they can be the focal point of our team. portland's stars have stepped up, how about our stars? where is the consistency with our rockets? this TEAM, does not look championship caliber to me. instead we resort to throwing our role players under the bus. very sad indeed.
Westbrook has amazing talent but I really dont want to see what his game will be like once he doesnt have that to fall back on cause he has no discipline. as for harden, that one play when he let batum go right past him like he was a bull fighter summed up his d. Bad shooting and even mental mistakes happens but he clearly didnt want no part of that play. to me, effort is all about accountability. You let a guy play on one side of the court the past 2 years and all of sudden people are shocked when he cant d up anyone.
I asked Woodson about Harden's low fg% and he said it's all Beno's fault. I took care of it guys. We going to win that game 7 now.
im sure you think this is a witty reply but this is the exact type of thought process that lets harden be the anti-beverly.
to be honest, is that really the foul of Lin??? Bverly also made a huge mistake at the last seconds? no boday takes the blame on him?? look how many turnovers that Harden had~!!!!!
Have you looked at out record with lin out and harden starting versus harden starting lin out??? Maybe you should become a Rockets fan and quit ragging on our guard who is actually posting a positive +/- this postseason... You want to rag on hardens lack of effort/heart/ general pussiness, well that's a whole nother conversation.
This team will never be champions with McHale as coach. Similarly, this team will never be champions with Harden as the no.1 option. Their ineptitude is on full display in this playoff series.
I'm gonna give Harden another year. The most important thing to me as a fan is the yearly progression of a player. Granted he is offensively gifted, but if there is no improvement in the other areas, then he needs to be traded. Either that or get a legitimate superstar and have Harden be the 2nd or 3rd option.
Harden went to hooka bar 2 nights in a row b4 the game so he saw 2 rims when he shoot, and it's all Lin's fault.
