Harden and Ariza got into a fight after game 5, hence Harden's game 6 performance.

pretty tired of seeing stuff like that too but he gets no pass here for sure. Excuses don't work when it's on harden himself and things that have little/nothing to do with everyone else.

 

Man Ariza is one of the hardest working players in he league! He honestly deserves better. For all of you claiming fake news consider two things first.

Small nibble words here and there eventually get tiring and escalate to fights. James clearly looks like he needs someone to keep his dumbass in check.

Two, is it not bad that we pick the truth out of two options?
He party's too much or he fought his own teammate and quit. Smh!!!!

 

I'm seeing some people here bringing up names like KJ and Thornton to criticize Harden's attitude, which makes that argument lose all credibility.
Where has Thornton landed since? I'll give KJ a litte more time to prove me wrong but I'm not too worried about him.

 

funny thing is this why does this sound like how Harden would react? (assuming of course) but if it is he's in no way immune to criticism. not even close

 

Oh no bro, don't you read the board? It's all because James has to carry such a load without other superstars around him... poor James Harden....

The blind devotion and denial people implement to justify Harden is just astounding... as I've said - denial is more than just a river in Egypt...

All these fanboys wanna ballyhoo statistics - as though that's some form of winning... lol

but we had the 3rd best record in the league.... great, when is that trophy arriving? lol

 

I'm not saying KJ, Thornton, or Beasley are about anything... but they're all guys that didn't just grab rebounds and dutifully give the ball to James - as virtually our entire squad does now... Everyone keeps saying we need more creators - guys that can create their own shot so james doesnt have to everything... everybody that tries to do this gets shipped off for the likes of Tyler Ennis... lol...

How often do we watch the ball getting tossed back and forth at the top of the key between James and RA, between James and EG, between James and Lou... it's like everybody is waiting for permission to do anything...

I try not to bring up the whole freezing out of D12 - cause that's a quagmire with people bringing up D12's history of infantile behavior and struggles... but the guy basically got totally froze out on the offensive end....

Jet decided he'd had enough of the dysfunction....

Looking at one or two instances doesnt paint a picture... but looking at it all - and you start to see a pattern...

 

Lol

People are acting like it's insanely unlikely to know someone who has a friend that goes to strip clubs with Harden. It's not sauces. It's well known Harden goes to Houston strip clubs frequently, dude goes with a entourage of people as well.

But you're right guys, I made it up to be famous!

 

If a fight with your teammate causes you to literally quit on your team out of spite to prove a point , then this is not the leader that earns you a ring.

Ariza might be getting old but he is old school and plays on both ends. Sure his time here might be up and we can upgrade but I feel very bad for him that his prime ish years were spent here for waste.

 

yeah, but can you check on the Moses Malone thing? Please???

 

Generally the truth is somewhere in be middle. There's blind devotion to Harden and there's blind devotion to tearing him down.

We overachieved this season whether you want to admit it or not. The results hurt but this was a good season for the Rockets from a bird's eye view.

 

I dun know. I think it is the desire to win something, big.......

If Yao and Mac would have delivered one, I dun think the pressure on Harden would be that great.

 

Fallacy of middle ground aside, I agree with you.

 

oh I firmly believe we overachieved... I dont think we were intended to contend this last year... I figure last year was intended as a 'get acclimated' year... Instilling MDA's system... getting RA and EG in the flow... clearing Corey off the books... adding someone like Lou and getting him comfortable... seeing if any of the youngsters got anything to give for the future... but we started off hot - so we swung for the bleachers....

i think next year was the plan to put in a major push... I'd assume most of the 'projects' on the bench would be replaced by vets on the downturn who could provide some spot minutes at a high level....

As the regular season ended, I felt we were in a perfect position for next year...

then the sh*tshow happened... now I'm thinking we may be building on shaky ground if the possibility exists that we're just gonna up n quit - for whatever reason....

I was not a Harden fan after all the Kardashian and partying nonsense and what looked to me to be 'stat padding play'... but this last year I really thought Harden matured... He seemed more focused and a more willing distributor... I thought he'd turned the corner... now I'm still waiting for an explanation beyond "I just couldn't get in a rhythm..." to explaiin 0 shots and 0 rebounds through the first quarter and half of an elimination game and the total disinterest that was evident....

 

Oh and I dont put it all on Harden... after a great reg season, MDA really looked like a clown and got exposed in the postseason... got outfoxed at every turn by Pops, foolish short rotations - that he continued to defend up to game 6, no control or action as to how the season ended... I just keep seeing the picture of Harden and MDA sitting 2 seats apart and not talking during that disaster of a performance - wtf was that? Are these the guys that are gonna provide us the foundation and focus to rally the troops to a championship?

 

How in the world?

Harden was a 6th man riding the coattails of WB and Durant against the Heat and MDA never made the Finals.

 

Looking at McHales prior dismal history as mgmt and hc... yet he managed to get us to the WCF... so ya figure even a blind squirrel can find a nut every now and again... lol

 

Finally, after 18 years, the word "whilst" makes an appearance in the GARM.

Well done! I doff my chapeau to you, good sir!

 

Just like all the other reasons that have been proffered for why Harden sucked in Game 6, it doesn't make his sucking any better. He really, really sucked at a time the team really, really could not afford it. If he was fighting with teammates, too tired from overuse during the season, suffering from a concussion and playing anyway, too hung over, on the take from the mafia, it doesn't make his failure go down any easier. Anyway, it sounds like conjecture. So they fought. How can you know Harden's sucking was related?

 

You don't need to use a straw man argument. What makes you think that Harden is immune from criticism given the sheer amount of flack he receives here? Are you surprised that a number of Rockets fans are reluctant to give credence to a random rumor?