ClutchFans Game Thread: Thunder @ Rockets 5/3/2013 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 6)

He was cleared 2 months ago. He obviously has clout within the organization. Does he have the respect from his fellow teammates or fans?

it's fair to say that it's been diminished.

 

He made a couple bad plays towards the end of game 4. He played poorly in that game. He played well throughout the rest of the series, and it shows in the team's performance while he was on the floor throughout the series.

He has a lot to improve on, but your expectations are too high.

Go look up Kevin Durant's first playoff series as a number 1 option.

 

I love Garcia too, but his team option is $6 million. You have to turn that down and maybe see if he will sign for cheaper, as he seems to love this team based on McHales comments during the series.

Honestly, I sort of feel that they need either Garcia or Delfino. In other words, we have a lot of players that seem to be way too similar to each other. It works well if the team has injuries or if you can force other teams to match your style of play.

However, if the Rockets want to be a true contender and match up with Memphis and full-strength OKC's, they need more versatility than having to play small all the time. Sure some/one of those young PF's may develop, but I would prefer another veteran Big than all continuing to just keeping Garcia and Delfino.

 

Harden has had great success as the 3rd option in OKC. He was crucial in getting OKC to the finals last season.

It's also true that he didn't show up as the 3rd option in the finals. It is fair to look at Harden's performance this series and say that he faltered, especially when you take into account--Westbrook's absence.

With Westbrook out, Harden should have been able to impose his will on this series. It is fair to say that he did not, and was completely rendered null by Derek Fisher in the most critical parts of the last game.

Harden is really good, and has the potential to be great. I will agree that he is young, and has a lot of room to grow, as 'the Man,' but that doesn't mean he is free from blame.

The franchise player is supposed to shoulder the blame, especially when he has ample opportunity to show the world what level of player he is--on the biggest stage.

Maybe the limelight was too bright for Harden this time, around. The real star, shined brightest, Kevin Durant.

We need Harden to want that pressure, but in order for that to happen, he has to demonstrate that he wants that pressure and is willing to accept the blame as well as the praise, especially when this is obviously his team.

 

Kevin Love and Lamarcus Aldridge aren't free til next season, throw Bosh in there, as well.

 

Something tells me you didn't look up Kevin Durant's stats for his first playoff series, so I'll put them here for you: he averaged 25/8/2 shooting 35% from FG and 29% from 3. And 4 TO's a game.

Harden certainly accepts the blame when he plays poorly, from what I hear from him in post-game interviews.

And Derek Fisher didn't stop him, it was the entire Thunder team.

 

we need a star PF

We don't need CP3. We have enough good ball movement with the guards we have. JLin can give you 8-10 assists when healthy and can penetrate. AB & PB and JLin all can alternate pg with good enough defence and penetration. Harden cannot co-exist with a ball dominant scoring pg. CP3 also is too strong a character for team chemistry. PG is not our problem. Asik is also solid in defence and rebounds and can score well at different games. He also proves he is not someone to be hacked easily like Howard. He doesn't require max contract, and he is young and can develop. What we are consistently weak is PF, a lock-down post guy who can rebound and will open up our shooters. Smith, Aldright, Love, etc. these are the guys we should go after. They are another go-to guy to help alleviate the minutes of Harden.

 

Apparently you don't follow the Rockets.

Harden has accepted blame especially in game 4 which was by far his worst performance. It was hardly ever one player guarding Harden. They doubled him, the they played help defense to collapse on him when he drove. Most of the time when one guy was stuck guarding Harden, Harden scored. The rest of the Rockets look better on the floor with Harden out there. He helps everyone else. We saw what happened last night when other guys are forced into trying to take too much scoring responsibility on their shoulders. They turn the ball over, and don't score. Harden makes it easier on the rest of the team by how much of the defense on the other team has to be centered around him.

Harden definitely has several areas that he needs to improve and a lot that needs to be fine tuned. But the criticisms you lay at his feet aren't legit.

 

What kind of logic is that? The Grizzlies are an excellent defensive team and there's not a reliable second scoring threat on the team right now. Durant's numbers won't be as good in that series, but it certainly won't prove one way or the other that his game is as reliant on Westbrook as you make it out to be.

 

"Harden cannot co-exist with a ball dominant scoring pg."

Uh, Russell Westbrook?

 

Thank you! I have been point this out since hearing arguments against Chris Paul coming here.

 

Not wrong at all, Durant had the same defensive pressure on him and he shot 50+% from the field.

Outside of game 5, Harden had a horrible shooting % all series, couple that with his horrible turnovers and it's a recipe for disaster.

I'm not saying Harden won't get better, but there's nothing wrong with being hard on him we he obviously didn't play up to his level.

 

You do realize how much pressure Westbrook takes off of the whole team, right?

That includes a heavy burden off of Durant's shoulders

 

Yes, I'm very aware. I watched nearly every Thunder game this year. I absolutely love what Russ brings to the team. But I don't think Durant's game is nearly as reliable on Westbrook as you seem to believe.

 

Durant expends so much energy trying to do everything. This is new for him, wait til he faces an elite defensive team like Memphis.

Russell Westbrook was like an energizer bunny, he's freaking relentless and everyone is going to realize even more--just how much he meant to this team

 

I haven't posted about the game, being too bummed out to read what I assumed would be a chaotic jumble of conflicting opinions (big surprise!), but I'm ready to say something now.

- Harden turned out to be sick, very sick. No fooling. The worst bit of bad luck suffered during this first round series. The clowns who babbled nonsense about whether he was really sick should crawl back into their little holes, where they feel the most comfortable. Maybe go into therapy, as well. Heck, forget your little holes, just go straight to therapy!

- Lin was actually injured, for those who seriously wondered about it. It clearly affected his play. So did finally getting to the playoffs.

- We needed a healthy Jeremy Lin, a healthy Carlos Delfino, and a healthy James Harden. Especially a healthy James Harden.

- We really needed Delfino. Bad luck for the Rocks that he had this injury, which plagued him for months, apparently, and that it became even worse during this series, to the point where he couldn't play. Small wonder that he was inconsistent at times, yet he never complained. A real pro.

- Players like Patrick Beverley and our young power forwards got overly excited, this being their first tango with the playoffs. It affected their play during the last game, Beverley's especially. I like Beverley, but he let himself get carried away in game 6, and he didn't play to his potential. Some of the guys hoping to grab the 4 spot finally figured out that there really is a difference between the D-League and the NBA, particularly the NBA playoffs. I wish this could have sunk in a bit better before the end of the regular season.

- We desperately need a solid 4 who can give us defense, rebounding, weakside shotblocking, and can hit from Downtown. And we need to get this guy this off-season. It wouldn't hurt a bit if he was that second star. Maybe one of our overly excited young 4's can step up and deserve being a starting 4 on a contending team, but I'd rather go ahead and make a deal this summer for a solid veteran 4.

- We saw Omer Asik grow during these 6 games. I think the "Hack-a-Turk" strategy did something to him. Something positive. I'm looking for a step up in his level of play next year, and I hope Morey keeps him.


I think we're on the road to becoming a contending team. We need a major piece, and a couple of smaller pieces, which could partly consist of keeping one or more guys at the end of their contracts who are already on the Rockets (some big decisions coming up for Morey). We're closer to being a contending team than we could have ever dreamed of before getting Asik and Lin, and particularly before the Harden trade, and that's huge. We've already made the jump this season, in my opinion, of lifting the Rockets to the level of being a perennial playoff team, no small feat in itself. That major missing piece, the star we need to add, should bring us either close to or at contender status, and as a fan, that's what you want. You want the team to be good enough that every year we're talked about when the conversation is, "Who has a chance at winning a title this year?" You want the people saying, "The Rockets have a decent shot at a title this year." That could be us next season. Certainly the season after. The Rockets really did make huge progress this year. I may need to start wearing shades when I sit at the keyboard!

 

Durant also has been the star number one option on a team in the playoffs before. Harden scored plenty of points and helped his teammates play better when they were on the floor. Durant also had bad turnovers, made bad shots, made mistakes, even went scoreless for an entire 4th quarter.

Harden certainly isn't at Durant's level. But that's not to say he didn't play well most of the time. A bad shooting percentage happens. It doesn't mean the sky is falling. Harden still found ways to help the team. He also did some things that hurt the team.

I'm not against being critical of Harden's poor decisions. I am against ridiculous whining and people wanting to write him off.

 

Oh yeah, I didn't mean at his current price. I would think they could turn down Garcia's option and sign him for much cheaper, he seems to enjoy playing here. I'd prefer to keep Garcia and Delfino. In our system we need shooters and we saw what happens when someone like James Anderson is forced into a pressure situation. But like I said, they need a star PF and another 1 or 2 veteran big men.

 

That PF we need won't be available until after next season.

Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Bosh.

Take your pick

 

He didn't shoot great and it wasn't up to Harden standards, but he averaged a higher TS% this series than a lot of our players averaged all season.

He still led our team in points, assist, steals, and was 2nd in rebounds.