Harden needs guidance and is going through the process. Kobe, Jordan, and all the great players go through their prima donna stage but luckily had a coach like Phil Jackson around to deal with it. Just hope they have good management to see that through and guide him through his young years instead of point out whats wrong and do nothing about it. Hopefully then he can become something special.
You bring up a good point with the growing pains of both Jordan and Kobe and how they were fortunate to have Phil guide them. Unfortunately Harden doesn't have that same fortune as he is stuck with McHale's incompetence. The Rockets really need to hire a Mario Ellie, Bruce Bowen, or Shane Battier type of person to give Harden a guiding hand and help him mature as a player and a man.
Clearly if Harden is gone then he will be replaced with equal or better talent, that is why I'm not worried.
It isn't about "believe" vs. "not believe" as an all or nothing decision. It's about looking at the evidence and coming up with a probabilistic assessment of the range of possibilities as to what a player could be. This applies to Harden and every other player and prospect that a team evaluates and make decisions about. Teams never know for certain, but they are constantly making decisions based on best available, but still imperfect information and "educated guess" projections. For Harden, we need to look at how good he is offensively already, how he has produced in OKC and HOU, we look at his age, experience level, health history, physical measurements, any info we have on his personality, etc. We also must not ignore the negative aspects-- his defense, not coming through vs. Portland, etc. He may well grow out of these things, but there is a chance that he doesn't-- there have been players who never did grow out of their weaknesses. Quantifying that risk is what Morey is brought in to do.
Harden has bad habits that if not stopped, it could make his legacy unfilled. Nobody called Dirk a defensive player,but he gave effort. Harden should be a good defender. At times,during games,he's pretty good,but there are too many times when he's just awful. Not getting back,having your hands down,stopping on screens,not hedging are all effort,not talent plays. If he gives better effort just in those situations, he will be a + defender vs a - defender. Offensively,he suffers with what most young players suffer from. Young players think controlling the ball cures all and it doesn't. Either through coaching or better pg play( rondo,lowry) he needs to be more play finisher vs play creator. He turns the ball over too much to be the primary ball handler. A better pg would allow him to be more james worthy than magic.
The women at treasures believe. If you say his name 3 times in the mirror, he appears and throws $100s at you.
I have not been in CF regularly for the past couple of years so pardon me if I ask what exactly is "Moreyball". I have read it in posts a few times and there are sometimes different references to it. Thanks for anyone explaining it to me.
It's replacing long 2's with 3's for players who provide worse performance from long 2's. That's it, that's all, if we could have the ball move several times per possession and end like that, like the Spurs do, that'd be awesome, but that's a whole different unrelated issue.
I am somewhat hopeful and somewhat skeptical at the same time. I do feel that he will get it, but it's going to take time. Go Harden. Go Rockets.
anyone can score, it takes real discipline to be able to play defense and grind it out.. his offense is amazing to watch.. but his defense has to get at least average for him to take his game/status to another level. its worrisome that he really doesnt try.. at least lin who is a crap defender tries his hardest.
Even if we get LBJ or KD, there will still be something to complain about. I'm happy we got Harden and Howard.
