It's not a matter of who has who. It's a matter rather of..does the star player want to win so badly that he plays BETTER in the playoffs and in pressure situations than he does during the regular season? All the great players up their game when it counts--ALL of them, otherwise they wouldn't be great.
Every single one of those players was groomed and had been playing that number one option role before their championships and/or they had another equally good player with them to carry half of that responsibility. Harden doesn't have that, and he'd been a sixth man before, and was expected to continue in that role. He had different ideas about what role he should have. This is his first year with that role on the youngest team in the league where nobody really has the experience. The Rockets don't have another number one option like Shaq on this team. It's all Harden. He hasn't been perfect, but I think he's shown that he's capable.
Single-handedly? Shaq averaged 20 and 9 on 60% shooting (PER of 24.4) in 2005-06. Compare that to whoever you want to call Harden's second option this year.
Bottom line Harden does not looked as fired up as maybe he should. Oftentimes in the playoffs you have two great teams trading backets and its the team that wants it more gets the win. Winners don't make excuses; they up their game when it matters and beat all odds. Fans who want to spend their time making excuses for their franchise player instead of encouraging that player to get more fired up and get it going--are fans who better get used to losing.
Shaq was garbage in that Finals against the Mavs. Zo was getting more crunch time minutes than him by the end of that series. It was DWade(and the refs) who delivered that title.
Who wanted it more? We made a great comeback and lost because of probably the luckiest shot this season.
WTF Harden, that last turnover was soooo damn weak. Personally I thought it was the biggest possession of the game. Rather than taking the lead, the tide turned to OKC. I know the entire game was incredibly crappy but there was sooo many missed opportunities. It seemed like both team were trying their best to dump this game down the stretch. Houston took that turkey award.
This is exactly what I meant, I'm not knocking his skill level and I know he has carried us for the season. But as the number one option you are expected to be a leader and he as of now has not displayed leadership material. This is something I would like to see.
I agree with him not being ready to be the man...HOWEVER, let's not blame the coaching staff for Harden basically handing the ball over to the other team in crucial moments. That's completely unacceptable. I don't care how young you are. Twice tonight he just gave the ball back to OKC on a platter. Before that he bricked two crucial free throws that could've put us up by two. Every time we fought back to get even with them he just magically threw the ball away. He did the same foolery against the Lakers the last game of the season. Even in the finals last year he was missing WIDE OPEN layups on fast breaks. Its actually disturbing watching this continue. I play basketball and know when a turnover is a careless mistake. Harden's mistakes look organized like that's what he wanted to do once he got the ball. Example, that turnover to Fisher where he just kinda shoved the rock right in Fisher's chest. I thought to myself, "that's not a basketball play". The one he threw to Garcia was even worse because he didn't even look just threw it outta bounds. I can't be the only one seeing this
I think Garcia should be the number one option after tonight. Heck, why not--we're down 0-3! Maybe give Brooks some more playing time too; or, get McHale to start practicing what he preaches and have him put on a uniform. Make it fun for the fans! Seriously I think Harden IS the number one option, although right now it looks like he's got his mind more on this summer and what he's going to do with that max-contract payoff he's got in the bank.
What proof do you have of that? This is where the Harden bashing gets a little silly. It's not like he pulled a Kevin Martin and stood in one spot and didn't call for the ball. No...he WAS trying to make a play and made a mistake.
You're kidding with this post right? Tell us more about the knowledge you've gained from playing basketball lol. We could use your insight into this strange game.
Sorry friend I was speaking in generalities I didn't watch the end of the game although I'll watch it on the replay tonight.
