I think Doris sucks, but not because she's a woman... her takes are too cringe for me and her voice is grating at times.
Again, you're being ridiculous. He straight up admits that he hates James Harden and the rockets. He calls himself a Harden hater. Please stop this nonsense.
Terrible take... Russillo has been hating on Harden for years and is always making sly remarks about him and his game.... like Harden kicks his legs out on every three and always falls down... hyperbolic haterade and also criticizes his failures differently than he does other players like Dame for example... who gets a pass from him, but Harden is a CHOKER who "disappears" in the playoffs... He's a self proclaimed HATER.
Russillo is very open and vocal about his hatred for Harden and the Rockets, he mentions it pretty much every podcast lol.
Sure, but I do think it was in jest and he just doesn't like the sound of her voice when he said that... Albeit that was 10 years ago and he has admittedly grown to like Doris quite a bit now. He's made other off the cuff comments that could be viewed as sexist... like WNBA scores should be in pink on the ESPN ticker... I actually don't disagree on that one lol His main point was that when you see "LA - 98 , PHO - 88" on the bottom of the screen it is misleading and there are more people who see it that go "wow the Lakers won" or "Damn I thought that was an NBA score" than there are people who were genuinely curious about the score of the sparks regular season game. Choosing pink as the color comes across the wrong way, but it's a joke that's suggesting it be made more obvious which league it is referring to. Simmons: “Well I used to be a chauvinist before I had a daughter. I had this whole thing about how, sports fans I liked how it was like our last male thing. Leave us alone, why do you have to watch football with us. This is our thing, just leave us … But then when I had my daughter and I was like, Wow."
We have different definitions of the word "hater" then. A hater will not point out all the great things that Harden does, and would not come back with "Harden is a great passer" when Simmons says that he thinks Doncic is a better passer. Lillard has multiple series winning buzzer beaters under his belt, which earns him currency with sports media members. Can you list out Harden's great playoff moments? Viewing Harden's numerous failures in the playoffs as disappearances or chokes, to me, does not make him a hater. I don't think any of us would bat an eye about him describing Harden in that way if Harden was not wearing a Rockets uniform in those moments. All that said, Russillo has openly said that he can't stand the Rockets and the way they play. Maybe he's said words to that effect about Harden, I don't know. But not liking a team or even a particular player, stylistically, doesn't mean that they can't appreciate how good that team or player is. And I feel Russillo has always acknowledged, fairly, how good a player Harden is. So, to me, that's not being a hater. None of these guys are obligated to like our team/players and be fans of them. There's a clear line between who you personally like and root for, and recognizing facts/evidence. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to conflate the two.
OK, but as I wrote above, to me, being a hater means you try to diminish the strengths of a team or player. I don't see him doing that. Whatever his preferences are in terms of what he enjoys watching as a fan, I find his basketball takes are quite reasonable and fair. At least from what I've heard (I admit I'm not a dedicated or long time listener of his podcasts).
Sorry to bring up an older post of yours, but it is relevant and shows the difference in how we look at this:
lillard has awful playoff stats compared to harden, and drops off from the regular season just as much (PER, TS%), if not more (WS/48), from a lower starting point. last year was the first year he even cracked a 20 PER in the playoffs (20.6) and that was while being swept by a durant-less warriors. edit: and that was following a year where he was on the ass end of one of the worst ass kickings we've seen in the 1st round, from new orleans!
Tremendously flawed logic... That's like saying if you have a black friend you can't be racist or if you "like" women you can't be sexist. Can you acknowledge someone is a great player or great skills and still be a hater? Absolutely.... You think Skip Bayless doesn't think LeBron is a great passer? He "praises" his passing all the time... He also is a LeBron hater...You seem to ignore the points... Russillo a self proclaimed hater of not just Houston, but Harden and there's a notable difference in how and what he "praises" and how and what he criticizes... The hate and criticism is often hyperbolic and simply untrue. Lillard has literally disappeared and been swept MULTIPLE times.... Harden has never been swept in his life.... Harden has showed up far more in the playoffs than Lillard and yes has had bigger playoff performances despite the media narratives... Guess what? Russillo is a contributor to this narrative.
Fine. I'm explaining why Lillard is treated differently. It's not a double standard. You can argue that big moments in the playoffs shouldn't matter, only advanced metrics averaged out over a series or two, but it does change the perception of a player's ability to rise up to the occasion in critical moments. And that's been the knock on Harden, not his ability to put up impressive numbers.
What I'm saying is a person can say "The way this guy plays the game of basketball repulses me" and be mostly right on his analysis of that player's strengths and weaknesses. There should be a name for people who allow their personal revulsion to affect their analysis of that player. That's what actually matters to me in terms of sports , and that's what "hater" means to me. If you want to argue that "hater" refers to anyone who has a personal dislike for a player, regardless of their analysis of that player, then fine. But then we're talking about different things, so let's not act like the disagreement is anything beyond semantics. Sound good? Can you describe Harden's top two playoff highlights?
Don't apologize, this is very relevant. I forgot about this, so it's good that you brought it back up. We're saying the same thing, just working off different definitions here.
you don't seem to have a good feel for what people say about harden. almost no one says "harden puts up impressive" numbers in the playoffs. they all think he's terrible. and think lillard is good. that difference in perception is what most people would call being a hater.
Its more that the critics ignore the overall production and focus on the failures. What I’m saying is that if Harden had more memorable highlights in the playoffs, like Lillard, then people would be more willing to overlook the failures. Is that fair? Not necessarily — you only get so many opportunities to create those memorable moments. But that’s how it is.
Pardon My Take and LeBatard/Stugotz are the only sports podcasts I listen to because they make me laugh. I don't know how anyone can listen to Russillo. So boring. I'd worry about listening to him in my truck, falling asleep, and dying in an accident. By the way, isn't it funny how you can spend thousands finding the most comfortable bed and still struggle to fall asleep in it - meanwhile you can be in a 2-ton vehicle, going 80 mph, and struggle to stay awake driving home from work. What the heck?
