Absolutely. Superstars are judged differently, even if unfairly. He’s the superstar man, play the hand your self and deal with it. I literally can’t understand why he didn’t want the ball on the final play. You scream, scratch and DEMAND that ball at the end, regardless of what the play is.
cant blame harden...man its ridiculous how supporting cast around harden always transform into hot trash and plays uncharacteristically bad
The stakes are big for Harden, fair or not. He's had a good overall series, but not a dominant one. While in the regular season he's demonstrated the ability to take over close games late in the fourth and seal a victory, for whatever reason that hasn't happened in this series. If we win in a blowout tomorrow, we'll mostly forget about that and move on to the next series. But the question will still linger -- can you count on him to deliver, or put in his best effort to deliver, in the highest pressure playoff moments? People can always point to the impressive-looking stats, but that's still the unanswered question with him.
It's another stain and just will cement him in play-off history as a beta and underachiever. As far as team success, I will be glad if we bring in a coach who embraces all areas of the floor again so Harden can become a mid-range threat again. Even if we win, I cannot stand this team and our philosophy. Isn't it ironic that McLemore, our best 3pt shooter, is bench in a series where we struggle mightily with our 3pt shot and offense is our biggest issue? That's coaching and you cannot convince me Rivers is outplaying him.
the pinnacle of ridiculousness of the system is when westbrook steaming down the floor with helpless cp3 guarding him passed out of the easy layup or dunk to a 3 pt shooter turning it over
Harden does tend to shy away a bit when his threes aren’t feeling great. which makes some sense. He’s not Steph out there. He is a somewhat streaky three shooter and if his 3 isn’t falling his crazy handle can get him to the rack ... but not nearly as well. that aside... I think MDA drew up the post FT play purposefully. Remember he called the challenge timeout. Of course it was a foul. the better move would have been to call the time out to advance the ball. But MDA is actually NOT good at drawing up plays. Remember the play he drew up the prior possession with 4 seconds on the shot clock that resulted in a super difficult Harden three with no time left? Dumb play too. He much prefers “give such and such a head of steam”. the only positive I saw to the play was IF it worked out it’s a shot of confidence to Russ and the team. But you have to play what you see. Russ was horrible and couldn’t stop turning the ball over. He shouldn’t have been on the floor at all honestly. But that he was and that MDAs timeout play call was “give the ball to Russ and let him get a head of steam” tells you all you need to know about MDA. I don’t care if he magically wins the next 3 championships. The guy will never “coach” his way to rings. He’s an offensive innovator for figuring out 3>2 and spreading the floor improves offense, then it’s a matter of how good his players are. That’s it. as for Harden, yeah, he should have had the ball. but absolutely a trash Harden game will overshadow the rest of this series so of course he has to show up. But if he shows up and the rest of the team plays the same and they lose... ... and I say this as a historic Harden “hater”.... EVERYONE else should go from every player to MDA and DM. Harden should stay. Harden could drag 4 of us to a first round exit.
Chris Paul and Harden were fine before the trade. Chris Paul was not happy about the trade because he had been told he likely would not be traded. Chris Paul is very competitive, he has used the slight as motivation and has decided to take it very personally. Harden has overall had a very good series, but he has clearly not taken the Paul situation as motivation and he has played poorly at the end of 3-4 games in this series. Now, Paul has played poorly down the stretch in some games as well in this series in all fairness; but he has also played very well in 2 of the last 3 games and deserves the credit he is getting. This isn't Russell Westbrook's team and this isn't MDA's team. This is James Harden's team and he needs to treat it like it is. I understand that the Thunder give a lot of attention to Harden at the end of games and the referee's are afraid to call fouls...... so in theory other teammates should get open shots...... but it is time for Harden to take those shots..... Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce both were poor percentage wise at the end of playoff games, 3rd and 4th worst all time..... but they still took those shots unless someone was completely wide open and they both are remembered as clutch (when they really were not) BUT they would at least take the shots.
He was going to get the ball back on that play. He was likely even going to get the final shot. He was coming back to the top of the key on the kick out and would have likely taken the last shot. The issue I have with it is that Harden should have had the ball in his hand to begin with......... having said that, had Harden taken the ball up and then taken and missed a shot there would be complaints that the Rockets didn't run a play.... Still, I would have had Harden try to penetrate and then pull up for a 3. Even though there is only about a 33% chance he hits the 3, the Rockets win the game 1/3 of the time being down by 2 with 9 seconds left.... I can deal with that.... perhaps Harden even shockingly gets the call.
I agree but its also on harden to be more give me the dang ball and take this home than just walk up the court and not acting like he doesn't want it. Cause having no Harden effect for the last 3 minutes of the game on the offense side is nonsense.
1000% on Russ. He is 40% of our cap space and we mortgaged picks that couldve rounded out the team. He is a non shooter in a spacing system and a turnover tornado that we traded a HOF player for, and he got his soul mercilessly destroyed by that player. He has game 7 to try and get some small measure of redemption.
Morey mentioned it in an interview. According to him Harden asked if they could get CP3 + WB. Its all hearsay, I think I believe Morey though. I think I also believe that when push came to shove he chose WB over CP3. At this point we already have WB and Harden, there's no way we can pivot out of this one. Get rid of the coach and make another last grasp attempt for the next one or two seasons that they will still be good -- can't keep running it back with Mike.
I wouldn't be pissed. You should always be ready to win or lose with the ball in your actual stars hands. That's just how the game works especially in the playoffs where history has repeatedly shown who wants it more. I'll live with my star trying any day. It's one thing to lose by actually trying. At least we know. It's another to not even attempt to want the ball and be scared of the moment. Wb can make mistakes over and over because he doesn't give af. Make or miss he lives with the results. no matter how embarrassing they are. He'll leave his hand in the air as a follow though even if it's a complete airball. Harden doesn't have that mentality unfortunately. great in so many areas but lacks tremendously in that dept. It's as simple as this. Just stop with all the play gimmicks. And Dort isn't even in the game ffs "If you’re this best offensive player to ever touch the rock, you have the authority to walk into the huddle and say “don’t draw a play. Inbound the ball to me and get out of the way. I’ll hit the shot.” How many live examples have we just seen literally before the rockets game of stars just taking over the game and others just getting out of the way. Mad frustrating man
You wouldn't complain, I wouldn't complain but we both know these boards would be full of people complaining........ but ultimately it doesn't matter. Harden needs to do the right thing. Also, for as good an offensive coach has MDA is and has been, he should know well enough to put the ball in Harden's hands. MDA has had this group of guys for a long time.... he knows better. This is one of those rare times there is culpability literally from the owner all the way down to the players and coaches.
notice how rivers minutes have plummeted last night? seems like hes pretty much in the doghouse/extremely short leash
Ow yeah, the constant focus on our 3pt shot is getting so ridiculous that easy shots and lanes are passed up and we're not even driving to score but only to get defenses to collapse. We're so easy to defend.
The original plan was to add Butler to CP3 and Harden with Gordon and Capela being dealt along with draft picks. That did not happen because Butler decided he was going to Miami. Then Westbrook made indications to Harden that he wasn't happy. Harden wanted to add Westbrook to Paul. Daryl Morey said that the Rockets could not add Westbrook to Paul.... trade discussions with OKC went no where. Daryl Morey told Harden that Westbrook would likely not be a Rocket, Harden was fine with that. Daryl Morey told Paul he would not be dealt. Ownership kept pushing for Westbrook and told the front office to make it happen. Morey told Harden that the Thunder and Rockets were talking again, and that it was possible Paul would be dealt for Westbrook. Harden was fine with that. The Thunder came down on their demands some and the Rockets in exchange agreed to add draft pick swaps in exchange for giving up less draft picks. The Rockets asked the Thunder to not announce the deal as they could add players to the deal. Ownership was not terribly happy about the players the Rockets could add to the trade so the deal was announced. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- James Harden and Daryl Morey wanted to ADD a third star to Paul and Harden. That is why Harden and Butler worked out together a lot this off season. Attention was turned to Westbrook only after Butler ghosted the Rockets and went to Miami. The trade of Paul George is what opened the door for a Westbrook trade. The Westbrook for Paul deal was made because TF wanted the trade made. Paul wasn't his guy or his signing. Could Harden have said "no don't trade Paul", yes he could have but he really wasn't terribly vocal one way or the other. He had been told only days earlier by Morey that a Westbrook deal wasn't likely and he accepted it. Morey has orders to make the trade happen and he did so. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is what I was told, and a majority of it has been backed up since that point through interviews and comments by the people involved.
I think the Rockets will win 7. Do what worked in the blowouts. Drive in the paint and watch the easy buckets go in. EG, WB, Harden, House to a degree and even Austin Rivers have broken down their defender in ISO situations and gotten easy buckets. Usually when the easy shots fall, the Rockets D is better in turn. I do sometimes wonder how efficient this team would be if they took 50 layup attempts instead of 3s. They're capable of it.
