D12 and the Orlando Magic or D12 and the new age Rockets?

1 time All stars don't really mean much, it's just a case of the best players getting injured at the time or lack of quality at the time.

Not sure why this is a serious question,the Rox have 2 superstars to Orlando's 1, and we have better and younger talent on the roster. The only thing is, ORL had a lot of good 2 way guys on the wings like Azuibuike? who could play defense and hit open Js...we have good scorers but outside of Garcia and maybe Parsons we don't have any good wing defenders.

 

On paper or in reality?

 

They had no one of James Harden's caliber. Not to mention Parsons can be, and IMO is, much better then Hedo.

 

Let's run down the rosters for both teams, shall we?

Houston: James Harden

Orlando: Oh wait, the discussion ends right here.

Thanks for playing, please come again.

 

The 04-05 Pistons didn't have talent anywhere near the Lakers team they beat in the Finals. Dallas had one great superstar, as opposed to three on the Heat.

Sometimes, it's about the system and chemistry. Howard surrounded by 4 three-point shooters, + Turk as your point forward = better than you think.

 

Apart from the fact that Rashard Lewis was not as good as Harden (though he was pretty good in his first season or two with the Magic), I think the Magic roster was built better for optimizing Howard's abilities than the Rockets are right now. Stretch 4, a bunch of snipers, a capable point guard for the P&R, and some pretty good rangy defenders on the perimeter. I think we have part of that formula. On the flip-side, we also have Harden's abilities to optimize, and I think we have some really promising synergy between Harden and Howard that can be lethal even if we have a big problem at power forward and not many good defensive players on the perimeter.

 

James Harden>Entire Magic team.

 

Dwight on Rockets... because I'm not a Magic fan.

 

2 superstars? Harden is a superstar now after 1 season where he lead his team to barely making an 8th seed? I think you might be jumping the gun on that one lol.

 

It was his first year being the leader of the team and hes only 23. averaging 26 pts 2 steals 6 assists and five rebounds I'm pretty sure he's a superstar

 

So then Monta Ellis is a SuperStar? He did the same thing around that age. It is one year....nobody is a superstar after one damn year.

 

Orlando Magic!!! I actually believe the main difference is the different Dwights. Yes we have Harden but Dwight then was a beast defensively. Coming off of injuries everyone is hoping he is going to go back to that status but guys these are professional athletes they never go back to 100% they breakdown! I am happy he is Houston but I honestly do believe we are gonna see him and whisper to ourselves "he's good but not great". Hakeem and Yao blessed us with their post moves and honestly I dont think Dwight can even sit at the same table when it comes to back to the basket moves. So where does that leave us with? An athletic 5 that is breaking down, I am happy but NOT expecting anything different from last years results. I would have preferred we bring in LMA or hell even Al Jefferson next to Asik who had a great season last year.

 

Houston plays in a run and gun type offense where everyone's offensive stats are going to be inflated. Monta Ellis played in that same type of system in Golden state.

In the '09-'10 season Monta Ellis averaged 25.5 pts, 4 rbs, 5.3 ast, 2.2 stl all while shooting .449 FG% and .338 3P%.

In the '10-'11 season Monta Ellis averaged 24.1 pts, 3.5 rbs, 5.6 ast, 2.1 stl all while shooting .451 FG% and .361 3P%

Now lets look at the "Superstar" season James Harden just had for the Rockets last year

Last season James Harden averaged 25.9 pts, 4.9 rbs, 5.8 asts, 1.8 stl all while shooting .438 FG% and .368 3P%

As you can see the season Harden just had is almost no different then those 2 season Monta Ellis put together in consecutive season. Still both players only got their team into the first round only to exit that same exact round. James Harden is a good player and he is on the rise but players have great season in those types of systems. He has done it for one year (not even 2 that Monta did) yet he is now a Superstar. I can guarantee nobody on this board thinks Monta was a Superstar or is to this day. At this point monta is a star in this league but he sure as hell is not a "superstar" yet. Not even close. He may be someday sooner than later but after one season you just cant crown him as such.

 

Don't forget Gortat, JJ Reddick and Ryan Anderson.

 

Or coaching... Oh no I didn't!

 

Ryan Anderson wasn't on the Magic team that got to the finals.

The Magic traded Courntey Lee, Tony Battie and Rafer for Ryan Anderson and Vince Carter.

JJ Redick was starting to come around back then, but he wasn't the player he is now.

Oh, and Rashard played PF for Orlando, not Hedo. Prime Hedo probably was better than what Parsons will be next year and Rashard certainly was better than whatever Jones and D-Mo will amount to this season.

 

Air france was also baling out of his mind.

 

Harden got to the FT a lot more so Monta's TS% was 54% and 52%. Harden's was 66 and 60. Harden also has a much higher PER.

 

Oh you LOFs, you can't stop and enjoy the team because our true superstar is better that our role player starting guard?

Hey, just about every ranking had James Harden in the top 10 players in the league last year. Where was Jeremy? I'd be surprised if he cracked top 50.

Ya'll can stop hating Harden because he is a true superstar and no way will J-Lin ever supplant him as the primary ball handler. It's just the way it is.

 

Nothing I said had anything to do with Jermey Lin lol. Lin is an awful player so what the hell are you talking about?