Three important but lesser talked about plusses from tonight...

hmm all great points. They keep playing like this they can make the finals. Pelicans are showing the NBA HOW to beat Golden State in the playoffs right now. GS better be lucky the Pelicans have ZERO past playoff experience

 

Not gonna lie, at first I read the thread title as "three important but lesser talked about p*****s from tonight"

I should probably put the blunt down and go to sleep

 

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned either is the fact that in the last two games we made nice runs with Harden on the bench which is huge because it really gives him some time to rest.

Usually we go on horrible stretches when that happens but our role players have really stepped up.

 

Harden sort of had to explode... The all mighty one Rick Carile's game plan was to back off on the pick in roll and see if Harden basically could hit open shots lol

 

So a positivity thread with of course the myth that Harden did not show up in the play-offs before this game..

 

Game 2 wasn't a good game for Harden shooting wise. But he did a lot of other things great.
Fans always gets caught up in their feelings when the best players don't do what they want or expect. I had a few buddies saying the same exact thing that you are stating right now. And I told them,"watch Harden step up when we need him to". Lol gotta love this game.

 

I can't shake the feeling that the people who are saying Harden "finally" showed up are not watching the games at all, just the highlights.

Harden has played to perfection in games 1, 2 and 3 now. He has dismantled Carlisle's game plan in 3 consecutive games now and Carlisle is considered an excellent coach especially defensively.

It's absurd to even suggest Harden wasn't playing on an MVP level the first two games. We want this guy to play like and MVP while some people seem to prefer him to play like a scoring champion. One of these things wins championships and the other doesn't. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this team can beat anyone including Golden State if the other team decides to defend Harden the way they defended him in games 1 and 2 and Harden plays the way he did in games 1 and 2. Thank God Harden knows that. That's why he is the MVP.

 

Repp'd.


And this right here show the dilemma that teams face when they play us: you either try to "stop" the Beard and get dunked on by Howard all night, or try to guard everyone else and get burned by Harden all night, pick your poison.

 

And if Dwight is having foul trouble (eg. Game 1), our role players step up. Ariza, TJ, Jet, the Greyhound, Smoove, Prigs. Love this team.

This series has been a great redemption story so far. Finish this one off so we can prepare for the Spurs.

 

Not to further derail because I essentially agree with two of the three points, but:

Rockets playoff scoring leaders
McGrady 27.7
Harden 27.3
Olajuwon 26.6

Rockets 18 ppg playoff scorers with highest TS%
Yao Ming .599
Dwight Howard .591
Hakeem Olajuwon .569
James Harden .557
(followed by, from best to worst: Drexler, Francis, Sampson, Malone, Parsons, Murphy, Hayes, McGrady, Kojis, Pippen)

One thing to remember about James Harden is he is a maestro when it comes to maintaining efficiency even when shooting poorly. On the surface his 40% playoff shooting is an issue, but in terms of real results he still posts a Hakeem-like points per possession thanks to his free throws - and will surpass Hakeem when the shots start dropping at his typical rate.

 

The most important thing to me is they need to have a killer instinct and get it done on Sunday. That means no more of this pick up game defense. He won't go far with the defense they were playing.

 

I agree 100%

 

These might be revelations to you, but none of these things is a milestone if you've been following the Rockets recently.

They've been one of the best road teams in basketball for 2 years, the fts haven't been an issue all series, and Harden has a number of big playoff games over the years.

 

Go back to rooting for the Mavericks then.

Nobody give a **** which Harden you selectively remember.

 

dallas was doubling on harden on every PnR and making him give up the ball. granted he missed some shots but that's bound to happen and he didn't forced things and gave up the ball. he still attracted pressure and made things easier for his teammates.

 

Look, we are just better that the Mavericks across the board. The true test comes when there is a legitimate on the ball defender against harden, plus good team defense behind that defender. It won't be as simple as it's been this series.

Alllll, that aside, Harden has been very very good this series, and stomping the Mavs into the ground is as enjoyable an experience as we have had in some time, so let's soak up the moment. There will be time to fret and nit pick.

 

I dont know how we havent talked about the 2nd half adjustments that were made and how we actually saw positive change. Specifically the entire 3rd quarter we attacked the rim, fouled on fast breaks (to limit momentum), and kept Josh Smith out of the lineup for the 3rd to calm his turnovers down. I was very impressed with that. We also started going over the picks instead of under since they were hitting their 3's.

 

I believe Game 5 in 2013 was that breakout game.

 

Hahaha yea our one dimension team somehow keeps winning against the Mavs' chemistry.

 

dude we won..chill.