wait, what? in 2025 we have to wait for a BKN/OKC swap and then we get the result? so we need okc and bkn to both suck?
Agreed, harden definitely had some great postseason performances. His first two games versus the 2014-15 warriors as you pointed were wonderful performances. The point of my post wasn't that Harden didn't have any positive moments in the postseason - rather that he doesn't have one that defines him (IMO). Your post about tmac perfectly illustrates that point. Tmac had a great series and that memorable dunk over shawn bradley, but ultimately the first thing people think of when that series is mentioned, is how tmac/Yao/rockets blew a 2-0 lead and lost by 50 in game 7. As fans we all have different memories and recollections of favorite games and moments... Some disappointing while others exhilarating. The entire premise of my post in reply to b-bob wasnt disputing that. Rather it was to say that (imo) Harden lacks a positive defining playoff moment in contrast to the players he listed. Every great player is going to have good and bad postseason games, but the greatest are usually going to have a moment or moments so great, so memorable or so defining that it is the first thing fans, historian, media think of. If you set up a poll and ask Rockets fans (not opposing nba fans), what is Hardens defining postseason moment... how many answers will be a negative memory before arriving at a positive one. Furthermore how many will post the same positive ones? Edit:. In regarded to the game 7 vs the warriors... The poster I was responding to claim that game was a positive defining postseason moment for Harden. I disagreed as I didn't think it wasnt a great or even good performance. And I doubt many on the board would choose that as one of Hardens best postseason performances.
i feel like we all know this isn't a championship team, especially given that kyrie could literally do anything at this point. i was looking at their roster. it's basically the big 3, joe harris, and then a bunch of guys no one would want on their team. luwawu-cabarot? shamet? deandre jordan didn't actually play any good defense his last few years in LA and now he's even worse. jeff green i loved in houston but unless he's hitting his 3's, he's barely useful. like there's no way this team is going to play defense well. if kyrie comes back they have a chance to be ridiculous on offense (just harden plus durant should be 55-60 super efficient points a night), but like you said, against good teams? i feel like vegas is seeing through it and has them at +300. now if they get to add some defense in the offseason? then that could possibly be a favorite. or if they find someway to pawn kyrie off on another team for solid defensive 3&D guys and make the fit work better.
only questions I have about BK are Kyrie’s state of mind since he’s the Kanye of the NBA, their defense, and the C position is looking kinda weak Other than that, there is no way u can defend them. We all saw what not being able to double KD did for him in GS. Now Harden will have that luxury.
I would like to lose Oladipo and tank this year. The Oladipo trade was seperate and has not been completed to my knowledge. Is there the possibility to get Miami or another team involved to move Oladipo for crappy expiring and/or picks?
on the one hand, you're right. there is no "defining" harden playoff moment you would point to. some of that is on him. some of that is just how our series have played out. since 2015, we've only lost to elite teams. the 57 and 58 win durant warriors are the worst teams we've lost to by record, but they were really the best teams we've faced and they just slept through the regular season. last year's 59 win (for 82 games) lakers are the 3rd worst, but again were a great team that stomped everybody else also. that just leaves a 61 win #2 seed, a 67 win #1 seed, and a 73 win #1 seed. so it's been a long time since we lost to a team that we were supposed to beat. but that means we've also lost all of our biggest series. even if we were supposed to lose, it doesn't make for a defining moment to say that harden had unbelievably good games against GSW in 2015 because it doesn't stick in our memories any more. the fact that in 2019 when we were down 0-2, harden averaged 40/10/5 the next 2 games to even up the series doesn't stick in our heads even though that's a season saving set of games that was big in the moment. taking the 2018 warriors to 7 is incredible, but his only "great" game was game 1 and just saying the whole series was good doesn't seem defining. and then in most of our other series, i think we've won 5 of the 7 in 5 games, so who is going to remember anything from an easy 4-1 series? we mostly lose or win easily. the other 2 series went 7, but despite being good in one game 7 (clippers), all that's remembered is game 6. and even though he was good pretty much every non-game 7 against okc, people only talk about game 7.
Perhaps it isn't fair or just, but as david robinson/spurs fans know, it's just reality. Robinson had titles, GREAT numbers and advance metrics in his career, but bring up playoffs and the first thing anyone remembers is Hakeem dominating him in the 95 playoffs.
Did you read the article? The headline was click-baity and misleading. End of the article: "Even if he were truly against trading Harden to Philadelphia, Fertitta didn’t necessarily stick to that emotional mandate. The 76ers appeared to be genuinely in the mix for Harden in the end. So, I wouldn’t rule out Fertitta absolutely refusing to trade Harden to Morey and Philadelphia. But I wouldn’t blindly trust it, either. It’s just too likely that this was bluster in the first place or that Fertitta’s stance changed." Recap: this is old news being passed around. I think it' doubtful that Simmons was actually available.
