One is an All Star, while another is just a bench player. I don't see the comparison. Harden should be compared to our other All Star, who has shown up to play in every game.
You can make a thread calling out every single Rockets' player and coach with the exception of Howard, Daniels and Morey at this point. Howard is the only guy bringing it. Beverley I commend just for playing, but he's not where he should be - but that's probably not his fault.
It's the pull up shots that are killing him. http://stats.nba.com/playerTracking...d=FG_PCT&sortOrder=DES&filters=TeamAbbr*E*HOU
ppl arent still getting it. Harden doesnt play defence, while chucking shots and missing them on offence. What this leads to is rockets losing, since harden plays like 45mins per game. I put primary blame on Mchale for this crappy play by Harden. Every other player dont defend? doghouse. Play badly on offence? doghouse. And yet Mchale doesnt even have balls (or maybe he have hardon for Harden?) to limit harden to like 30mins, so he starts defending. /end rant
They're playing Memphis who is a really good defensive team. Harden has no excuse playing Portland. Really the excuses are running out.
u morons wanna sit here and blame Harden but u fail to understand that without him, we wouldn't even make the playoffs. ungrateful, moronic fan base. I hope 90% of this site leaves once Lin is gone. That little **** will never make it in the nba. Hell he's barely a d leaguer.
Alot of sports media personalities commenting on Harden's offence being the main reason we are losing this series but personally I think it's Harden's defence (or lack of) which is hurting is far more.
I would not trade Harden for Westbrook. At all. I am really not a big fan of Westbrook. I would consider Harden for Paul George. Harden is clearly a much better offensive player while George is a much better defensive player. Ultimately, I don't think I would do that trade, but I think it would come down to what you valued more. Harden frustrates the crap out of me. Everytime he lets his player go right past him while he lazily tries to poke the ball out from behind makes me want to scream at the tv. Everytime he gets caught watching the ball while the player he should be guarding makes a backcut behind him is just infuriating. Plus, he has now had three bad playoff series in a row (the Finals against Miami, last year against OKC and now against Portland). Which makes me at least start to wonder about his ability to step up his game when it matters the most. Even with those concerns about him that I have, it is pretty hard for me to think of a trade that would involve him that would make our team better. If we did trade him, we most likely wouldn't be getting another superstar, but would probably get a package of young players and picks- look at the Carmelo trade, and the Dwight trade and even the original trade we sent to OKC. And any package like that would be a significant downgrade for us.
Let me preface my comments by saying Harden is a good player, and oftentimes a great offensive player, that being said, westbrook and george are much better and more talented. If you just watch them on tv, the difference in athleticism is staggering. This manifests itself into conditioning and ability to play defense and offense at a high level. Westbrooks downfall is that he shoots too much, but really, when you have his freakish force of nature talent, who can blame him. George is a marvelous 6'9 2 way player, but he needs to improve his jump shot. Both are also extremely hard workers.
there is no way westbrook is better than harden. Westbrook is more athletic but skill level it is not really close. As for harden's d, its a work in progress......
What a dumb statement. So just because he did well in the regular season, he is allowed to suck in the playoffs? He deserved to be criticised just like everyone else. And just so you know, it's not just Lin fans who are criticising Harden.
ok why isn't he better? athleticism - westbrook by a mile midrange jump shot - westbrook has a very nice pull up 3pter - i think harden has a better %? driving to the basket - westbrook attacks with more force/harden is good at drawing fouls (although he can't get fouls in the playoffs) handles - westbrook defense - westbrook passing - toss up i guess? so what am i missing?
Completely blaming Harden is just as stupid as completely blaming Lin. They, as well as several other players, have had bad plays during this series. That one play by Lin has been by far the most obvious mistake of the series by any player, but to say that it is completely his fault that we are down 3-1 is shortsighted. Harden has not had a good series. Whether he likes it or not, he asked to be paid a max contract. And his play during the regular season has made him a legitimate superstar in the league. But superstars are not really judged by their regular season performance. The truly great superstars are the ones who elevate their performance when it matters the most. Giving Harden a pass for his bad defense and inconsistent shot so far in this series because he helped us to make it to the playoffs is ridiculous. Watching James Harden play during the regular season has spoiled me for how good he should be. He is too good of a player on too good of a team to shrink to underperform and be eliminated in the first round
Another anti Harden thread. I guess we have to keep the count even, yea? For the record he hasn't been playing well but he's been getting at least a little better. I still have faith that he'll figure it out. He's entirely too good of a player to continue the poor shooting. However, he could turn out to be one of those guys who just can't hack it in the playoffs. It's possible. But it's WAY too early to make that call. I can't believe I'm reading "trade Harden" scenarios. Were you people around for the last five years? Remember those great "team ball" teams we had? We were the best team in the lottery for like three years. Lots of decent to good players with zero stars. Now that we have two all stars and a great team foundation you're ready to pull the rip cord and blow up the roster after four games. All of which have been very close and all of which we've had a decent lead. Yes, there are many improvements needed. Yes, someone needs to kick James in the ass and get him to play at least average defense. Yes, IMO we need a better coach. But I think it's a little premature to give up on a team so quickly without even giving them the chance to make those changes.
