I hope we turn things around but the reality is Harden is almost 31, Russ is 32, PJ is 34, Eric Gordon is 32 and Robert Covington is almost 30. These players should be in their primes and be savvy veterans but we still make stupid mistakes and lose to teams we should not. First off, Harden is a very good offensive player but he is a very unique player as he is one of the best scorers I have ever seen but there are other things he is blatantly bad at. There are very few stars in my mind that are so poorly rounded. Secondly, if we really plan on having Harden as our "anchor" which is the plan, we really need to surround him with players that will cover up his skill gaps. It is clear to me now there is no other way if we want to win. Third of all, you can watch the old 76rs with Iverson, Iverson was a very good scorer (fairly ball dominant) but had limitiations with his size. The team did a great job of getting great players to cover his gaps. Had Mutombo to protect the rim and was a good finisher, Mckie whom is tough as nails on D/didnt need the ball much/great spot up shot as well as players like Eric Snow (smart PG, good spot up shot, tough D) etc. Stars like Lebron/Giannis you can put them on any team and they will excel but Harden is not the same type of player. Lastly, the 04 Suns had alot of unique talent which we do not have and was a balanced team: - Marion was a super unique defender whom had 2 steals, 1.5 blocks, can shoot 3s, one of the best finishers in the league. Covington is a poor poor poor mans version of Marion - The Suns actually had GREAT shooters. We shoot alot (including Harden) and make alot but our %s suck. Suns had guys like Joe Johnson who shot 47%, Nash 43% and Jimmy Jackson 46% from 3s. The team shot an ungodly almost 40% - Amare was a beast back then and was a great finisher and someone that you had to focus on and averaged 26 points and shot 56% FG So point is that Dantoni is great but he had unique set of players with talent that we do not have and did not have to cover up major deficiencies. If Harden is the horse we are riding, then we need to think long and hard about how to protect him so his deficiencies are not exposed and need to do so sooner rather than later afterall he is almost 31 and for us to think somehow his gaps in his game will miraculously be sorted is probably wishful thinking at this point. Go Rox!
Me thinks Russ is the anchorman of this style now, and Harden will have to take a step back accepting that.
Reading the OP is a waste of time. tl;dr summary for all of CF: "I compared this year's team to the 2004 Suns team. Conclusion: They are not the same." /thread.
Harden has had all kinds of players around him. What this team needs is a legit third star. When Harden has it going there’s not many better. When he doesn’t, there needs to be two other players that can still be focal points to get the ball out of his hands more.
Russ is Amare. Harden is Nash. Covington is Raja Bell, but better. Rockets are missing a player like Matrix. Need to sign more run jump athletes that are 3ball threats - Justin Anderson, Jonah Bolden, etc. A better 3ball shooter than either House or McLemore is 6'7 Ryan Broekhoff (40%). Broekhoff is better rebounder and defender than both too.
House is passing up on a lot of 3s. IMO he is not started material yet. His ceiling might be 7th man. McLemore is a big liability on defense. Rivers isn’t shooting the ball. Gordon’s is injured and idk if he will be back 100% by the playoffs. Harden is being way too lazy with his passes. This team has issues right now.
We need Ego to be better. We were counting on that. He has been awful. He isn’t a threat out there just jacks up long ass threes all game that brick and start a fast break for the other team. If he doesn’t get it together, or get benched we have no chance with him stinking it up.
I've been saying we need to rebuild since we lost that game 7 series, instead we overpay for CP3 and lost our depth. Now we're spiraling down and our GM keeps going "all-in" year after year with a cheap owner. Pretty soon we'll be stuck with two washed superstars and no picks to draft anyone. I must be the only crazy person that thinks the Harden era is over in Houston. He will not win a ring here as the highest paid player alongside Russ.
That’s fine but EG will not be here if his knee is bothering him and is making that kind of money. They will get more cap relief and sign guys or trade for some by using his contract.
Why would anyone give anything of value for him? We traded away all but one of the picks to help move him. We will receive an even worse problem than him back at this point because his value is much less than his contract. Negative out = negative in. We aren’t going to “tricking” the league.
what worries me and what I have been most disappointed in is the fact that this offense/Dantoni is proven to turn avg role players into very productive players. (I.E. barbosa, aging grant hill, raja bell etc) all became very good players once Nash/ Dantoni helped him harden has not shown the ability to make other players better
issue is that it is very tough to have 3 stars in today’s league w salary cap issues. We ideally need our star(s) to make other players around them better
The roster isn't talented enough. EG needs to be shipped out asap. Booting MDA should happen even before then. I think a competent coach can make this work if he's willing to play them all and adjust when needed. Of course, after that, it's all dependent on whether or not Harden can improve his mental toughness. Given that he's already in his 30s, that might be too much to expect.
Really?? Harden made Omer Asik, Clint Capela, Eric Gordon, Luc Mbah a Moute, Gerald Green, Danuel House, Ben McLemore better, lots better. CP3 went further playing with Harden and under D'Antoni in 2 seasons than he did ever his very long and prestigious career. Russ has been maximized more than anytime in his career including his MVP season. If D'Antoni coached OKC with a young KD, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka, Jeff Green, Thabo, etc. then there is no doubt that team wins a ring or 3.
I agree. I dont think all our role players suck though.Theyre role players...most are limited to some degree and inconsistent. Gordon actually being good would help a lot though.
I appreciate the randoms (you suggest)we could sign off the scrap. But reality is this the team... time to expand rotations me thinks. More Carroll & Chandler. Start Green over House and see what happens