I never watched Hakeem so I can't comment But I've never seen any other player to truly change the way they approach the game. Kobe has always acted like Kobe, Shaq always like shaq, Tmac always like Tmac People need to accept the fact that we are very lucky to have Harden, but he is what he is emotionally. which means he will sulk in games and fall flat completely, but most of the time he is consistent good offensively. Instead of talking about changing who he is, maybe the better way is to change the roster and the way we play the game so we don't have to worry about his personality.
To win a ring your best player must have the 'toughest' personality. If this is the case, then Harden cannot be the best payer on this team if the Rockets desire a ring. Honestly, I think it can, and unfortunately Harden doesn't have the right mentors around him to do it. JVG would be the perfect coach for Harden. A player's coach such as Mchale is the worst type of coach for Harden.
Harden is immature and has TMac like tendencies - until he commits to playing hard on both ends, and for the entire game, we are not going to win anything. DD
I dunno, when I watch the game I feel like we are just not playing the game the right way so to speak. I look back at past contenders and champions, they mostly just won it by playing good basketball or having good team composition. I mean did Kobe's personality really get him 2 rings in 09-10, I mean not really. They played really good basketball and everyone stepped up. He didn't need to dig deep or anything to beat the Celtics in game 7, his team played well and they won. What about the Spurs team, their system is so good everyone can pretty much be MVP, they didn't rely on anyone's personality to win The Miami heat team was just talent stacking, they are the most similar to us in terms of how they approach the game which is a lot of iso and free lancing and dependent on 1 person to set up the offense.
Ugh, I honestly couldn't watch this game because I had a feeling we weren't going to win. It always stings too much when seasons end this way. The playoffs are indeed a painful thing, but I totally agree with you. This year his game went to another level, and I think that next year or maybe the year after, he'll be able to deliver. Morey needs to get us a capable point guard.
Can't agree any more. Harden's personality makes you feel so anxious for the future playoffs. I believe he would choke again like this in future playoffs.
James Harden is not a Kobe, Wade, or Duncan. He is more like Dirk, and it took Dirk a decade before getting over the hump. There is no guarantee that Harden will ever become a true leader. I see a lot of regular season wins but many playoff failures. The onus is on Morey to assemble a team that is too talented not to win a title.
Harden was the best player in 3 of these 5 games, and we won one of them, the talent gap between Golden State was such that their best player only had to be the best player on the court for 1 game to win the series. Injuries played a large part in that too. Is Harden ever going to be the guy who can be the best player on the court in every single game? probably not, Lebron is the only guy who has shown he can do that in the last decade, everybody else needed some other guy to take up the slack for them.
it's not about working in the gym. it's completely mental. there was something off tonight and you could tell from the beginning of the game with his lazy passes and lack of movement on defense. the fact is that mchale isn't the type of coach to draw something extra out of a player like phil jackson did with mj and kobe. harden needs to be pushed by a great coach who motivates him every day. harden is to blame, but our coach isn't the type of guy to light a fire under his ass. mchale is the type of guy who should coach a group of vets who are established and know how to approach the game every night.
Can't blame him for that, DD. I know what I was like when I was 25. What was your state of mind? ... Give him time
Where was this b****ing after the last game? We went from first round losers to conference finals. You entitled people SUCK.
Probably whey we keeping Terry. But I agree. Beverly was shooting the three fairly well this season. If he can take it up a notch in the off season and incorporate positional defense tactics in the off season, it will help him be more durable. I'm excited about how we can incorporate KJ McDaniels next year. His length and athleticism will be our answer to Klay/Curry. Wish we had him to throw at Curry. My man next year is gonna be Clint Capela. I hope he shacks up at Dream's mansion and work on footwork all damn day. Maybe weekends with DMO and develop an unstoppable hook.
Watch Lebron James in these finals. No matter how poorly he's shooting, he will keep shooting. Thing is do we want him to be a Kobe or Lebron out there, demanding the ball even if they were shooting blanks?
Harden is asked to do too much and has to feed Howard as well, but shying away from leading us when we're down and effortless play needs to go. I would put it to him straight: we are going to run more plays for others, more ball and body movement and have you off the ball. In the off-season you have to work on your conditioning, cuts, movement and DEFENSE! It's up to Morey to get at least a decent PG and back-up SG as well as a good X's and O's (assistant) coach. Harden will never be Kobe, but if he comes in next year the same player and is non-committal on improving and becoming a true mature leader, I'd resign or sit him down more and have him work overtime.
I think one thing he must do is accept defensive challenges. I've said this, your best player can't be a coward on defense. Before this season, Curry was like that and it hurt Klay Thompson. I really feel this team is a legit pg away from a title. Whether thats ty lawson, goran dragic, and to a lesser extent Reggie Jackson. Nights like last night is a classic example. Harden had 13 to's. Nor did he do a good job on barnes who was a zero until last night. They need that pg who will make his life easier and get him some easy baskets.
They have legit chemistry. You didn't see the way they performed in the Mavericks and Clippers series. They were clicking together on all cylinders but the Warriors defended our PnR very well. As far as how to coach Harden, well Pop can give you a few pointers on how to OP. If he was coaching James we all would see a different player. McHale is too friendly and allows him to get away with a lot.
