I'm always open to changing my mind, but the way he always ragged on Harden (who's also an supremely entitled douchebag, but he was our supremely entitled douchebag) just rubbed me the wrong way. And in the few minutes of the Finals I paid attention to, the way he just lumbered into and over people was astonishing that no fouls were ever called.
Don't forget how raw Olajuwon was when he first played with the Cougars. He said the famous statement, "I just want to donk and donk." He's a faster learner than Giannis. By the time he entered the NBA, he was already quite good, but not as skilled as he was in his prime later. Who is to say Giannis won't be more refined in his skills? And there are some less glamorous skills that people often do not talk much about--positioning, angle, leverage. These are important fundamental skills good coaches teach the kids.
Giannis knew that bashing Harden would win him points with the media and it worked...It came out of nowhere....Harden didn't do anything to him!
Lol if you woulda told Harden and Tillman and Westbrook 7 of the top 10 best players in the league would get injured in these playoffs. He might have stayed too. Enjoy this ring Giannis cuz he won't be winning it again in Milwaukee.
Yeah definitely scoreboard. Not to mention, there are literally countless amounts of 7 footers that careen there way through the league and get spit out in 2-4 years. How is it not considered skillful to be able to control and contort your body like that, at that size? The argument never made any sense. Okay so he's not a super skilled shooter? That means he has no skills? ****, Shaq didn't shoot many jumpers either. I don't know what the **** kind of argument this ever was.
I don't understand the Harden hate while he was here. I mean, the partying and lifestyle anecdotes weren't helpful, but I still loved Harden and hoped we would eventually win a title with him. However, he left, on his own shitty terms. He made it pretty damn easy to hate now. It's not like he left a legacy behind like Hakeem, or even Kawhi in Toronto, so he didn't do himself any favors. If he wins a title good for him I guess. I'm just indifferent now. All I really care about is the Rockets doing well, so in fact, the best thing I could hope for is that entire BKN clown show gets injured, bombs out, or retires to go fight social justice. It would help our draft prospects at least.
God forbid the next superstar we have doesn’t win a championship harden elevated our team from mired in mediocrity to legit contender quite quickly. He wasn’t Tim Duncan , but he played hard and well for us outside of the last year Maybe it’s the Houston cynic in me , but say we had ended up giannis ... The media would have done to him what they did to james . Refs wouldn’t be giving him those blocking fouls . Shaq would be clowning on him . And he would have left after he realized our owner won’t go into the LT grass is always greener on the other side . I’m not a harden fan , I’m a rockets fan who appreciates what he did for us (and wishes he coulda done more / gotten a little luckier) I hope he comes back in a couple of years and helps us win a ring . How’d you like that , you ungrateful sons of b****es !?
At this point he is just a scoring Rodman, life of the party and weird fashion. Not a leader or someone who helps others with a ring. Really sorry to burst your bubble, I might be wrong but the odds are against him. His game is really good but there is a lot of negative vibe around him. Burned enough bridges on his way out but I guess his fans are not having any of that.
This I could care less about his partying, that stuff was exaggerated and didn't affect his work ethic at all. I don't hate him at all, I did appreciate for his iron man like longevity and pushing us into the playoffs every season. That's admirable, but Harden defenders can't grasp that fact that , we as Rockets fans were let down almost every post season because Harden simply did not elevate his game there, in fact in crucial moments it was mostly underperformance. Even in his own words when he left that he did not finish his business here. We were left with nothing but "what ifs" and disappointing memories in the playoffs and not much else.
I really don't wanna hear the excuse that Harden didn't get help either. Morey changed the team around Harden over 8 times. He brought him 3 Hall of famers and Harden couldn't make it work with ANY OF THEM. After a while it's not because everyone else sucks but it's YOUR leadership that sucks and YOU not changing your playstyle to make things work.
He didn't know how to pace himself, in the long run I at least do not care if he scores a 60 triple double against some mediocre team in the regular season. You want to see that stuff in the Game 6s or 7s of the 3rd round.
This. The talent was undeniable, but he doesn't have that "step on your throat, do whatever it takes mentality". Giannis isn't an assasin but he figured out ways to impact the game regardless if he had it offensively.
I think the window for him to be the best player on a championship team is gone . But if he comes back and takes a lesser role it’s definitely possible . I don’t know the full story with him . But I don’t think his character is as bad as you think . Jus saying , if we don’t make the playoffs for another decade many will be looking back differently
1st of all, you would need a great organization with a good, honest, owner. 2, You have the superstar, franchise cornerstone and what not. I am not painting it black and white but the odds are just not that good for someone who isn't really disciplined, who has never been taught what punctuality is to turn it all around. A dude who had everything catered to him. Rodman was really hard to manage at that time of his life. I do not think it's a bad lifestyle, people do whatever they want. And why does he have to return to Houston, he hasn't delivered a title to the OKC organization who drafted him. He went missing in the Finals in 2012.
Overall Harden has improved his performance in the playoffs...if his teammates had been healthy...history could've been different. Nobody can win it all by themselves. Giannis had Middleton, Jure Holiday and Brook Lopez help...Hardens teammates Chris Paul, Westbrook and then Kyrie got injured during the playoffs.
