Is Beverley correct? SAS: They're not going to the Finals. But let me say a couple things. Patrick Beverley is one of my favorite players in the NBA. A pit bull, got the heart of a lion, can play on my team any day of the week. He is hardcore. He gets after it. He defends. Not an offensive player. He'll make the occasional jump shot & basket. He's on there for defense & energy. He's as feisty as they come and I'm sure he means what he says because he never looks at himself at being at a disadvantage. I know the kid personally. He's one of the true rough riders in the game. He doesn't have Westbrook talent but he has Westbrook heart. He's built like that. Having said all that, he's still wrong as hell. Here's why: because Mike D'Antoni is their coach. It's really that simple. Good man, damn good offensive coach, doesn't think about defense. I know my former partner called him Mike Antoni. Take the D out because there is no D. His teams don't play defense. You can't win if you don't play defense. Some would say the exception is the Suns. ... In the end, this Rockets team, they're ill-equipped to compete for a championship. They're not relevant in the championship picture. When you look at Golden State, look at San Antonio, look at the Clippers, there are 3 teams to beat and then everyone else. If you're looking at someone on the outside looking in, I'm gonna look at OKC because even though Durant is gone, Westbrook, Adams, Kanter and those boys are still there. Houston has James Harden, who is a superstar offensive player. This brother is legit, he's big time, an offensive juggernaut. But the Rockets won't be good enough for him to get strong MVP consideration. Mike D'Antoni not gonna play any defense. You'll have an opportunity to shoot 7 seconds or less, jack up shots all day, which will lead to more points for Harden but won't necessarily lead to more wins for the Rockets, won't lead to championship relevancy thereby not making Harden that relevant in the MVP conversation. He's MVP talent but the team collectively will not be good enough and as a result, he won't warrant MVP consideration. Max: Very good chance Harden can actually win the MVP this year. Beverley, you gotta love the way he plays. He's so tough. He does get after it. If only James Harden cared about defense as much as Beverley did, he really would be a legit MVP player. He doesn't. Everyone knows you get paid for putting up numbers. MVP voters, not as bad as baseball MVP voters years ago where if you had a lot of RBIs, they just give you the MVP even if there were 10 guys better than you. Still, MVP voters tend to reward scorers & great offensive players. He can get to the basket and shoot the three. I want to get to Mike D'Antoni. He revolutionized the NBA. When the league adjusted and adopted to what he did and he didn't have an answer back, if you have no answer once the league adjusts, all you did was a parlor trick and everyone figured it out. One reason why he hasn't had success since Phoenix was he can't get his best players to buy in. Carmelo is an ISO player, same for Kobe, Dwight had his own issues. James is kinda an ISO player. He racks up some assists but the ball really sticks with him. Part of the job of a coach is to get your best player to buy in. That's your job as a coach to get that done. Harden is desperate enough right now & D'Antoni is desperate enough right now that it may actually be a good match because they'll have to meet each other half way. The Rockets, given the bottom of the west, it's a great top heavy conference but the bottom leaves enough room for them to get in there & Harden is by far the #1 option on his team. Durant & Curry will split votes, LeBron, who takes his foot off the gas in the regular season because he saves it for the playoffs, may not get as many votes with Kyrie coming up. It very may well boil down to Harden & Westbrook. Voters reward scorers. Harden is right in the mix. SAS: It can't be on mediocre teams. That's exactly what Houston will be. How will you get two dudes with the same mentality meeting on equal ground? They're both on the offensive side. Both have the same mentality. Harden doesn't care that much about defense as a player & D'Antoni doesn't care that much about defense as a coach. How's that gonna work? They'll be juggernauts offensively but defensively leave a lot to be desired. Not to mention they won't be that good. I have nothing but faith in Beverley & nothing but faith in Harden as an offensive player. D'Antoni will put points on the board. They'll play an exciting brand of basketball. They're to be respected in that regard. Defensively, as sensitive as D'Antoni is about that, bottom line, he doesn't give a damn about defense. No matter what he says, his history, his resume shows he doesn't give a damn about defense. He got mad at the media in LA because the media talked about how he didn't focus on defense in practice. He said "What are you talking about? I spent 25 minutes on it." That's what he said. It's a quote, okay? Max: ... He doesn't care much about defense but that doesn't hurt his chances with MVP voters for Harden because the voters don't seem to care. SAS: Bottom line, coaches in the profession swear the man doesn't care about defense and knows very little about it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"This is the future Rockets, man. [Harden is] going to play defense this year." - Corey Brewer <a href="https://t.co/n4tgL3cepy">https://t.co/n4tgL3cepy</a></p>— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/768816682907406336">August 25, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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A bit confused. How would D'Antoni's lack of defense play into consideration with MVP voters? I thought Kellerman was addressing Harden.
Well, Bev said his EXPECTATIONS are MVP and Finals. He did NOT say "Book It Write it in Stone". Thats adding more to an already bold claim. Itd be like Brian Cushing in 2012 for the Texans saying my expecatations for Arian Foster is MVP and taking us to the Super Bowl. Its bold yes but not an outright prediction. And not TOO much of a stretch considering the production. But yeah the "Finals" part is competitive athlete delusion. At least its not mailing in the season I guess
kellerman doesnt know **** about basketball, he gets all of his info from houston rockets HATER amin elhassin
So, the only 2 Rockets player so far spoke publicly that they actually believe this team will be awesome and Harden will play defense this year are : 1. the worse starting PG in the league agreed by most Rockets fans. 2. the worse player in the whole league agreed by ALL Rockets fans. Now it make sense why Morey are keeping these kind of players.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I looked at the Steve Nash comparison for James Harden + how Mike D'Antoni's system will help him be more efficient. <a href="https://t.co/pg7733Zblb">https://t.co/pg7733Zblb</a></p>— Scott Rafferty (@crabdribbles) <a href="https://twitter.com/crabdribbles/status/768106972650627074">August 23, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
James Harden is a good player, not great player. I have him top 20, not neccessarily top 10 or 5. Harden wasnt even great in 2015 -Max Kellerman on first take he doesnt know **** about basketball, he got that info from his sportsnation cohost and warriors nuthugger amin elhassin
I was one of the few that loved the mike d hire, Harden respects him from team usa. And i think Harden and Mike D want change their image a bit among the national media. For harden thx to the invention of vines( that might be impossible). But i expect 50 wins or more this upcoming season, and no locker room distractions
For some reason I despise Amin Elhassin, and I don't even remember why. He hosts a show now? I just remember him being irritating and uninformed on Twitter.
Beverley for life. Bev is still a big deal here at the University of Arkansas. I walked into the student union the other day and an undergrad was wearing his Rockets jersey.
Harden will be a 25 10 and 7 guy this year. At least we have guys that can make wide open shots this year!
