Wasn't he his second coach fairly early in his career? Pretty sure it was MJ's third year or so when Phil came in. Didn't his trademark zen philosophy get its roots in Chicago? I realize he wasn't MJ's first coach. But as Jordan developed from a scorer to an elite all around player it was under Jackson's tenure. That was my intended point from earlier.
I can buy the idea that Harden is a bit of a diva and could cause chemistry issues with his lack of defensive effort. But I keep reading about this selfish "me first" attitude, and that he puts himself ahead of the team. I just don't see that. His assist numbers alone seem to indicate that, for a scoring guard, he's quite willing to share the ball. We've all seen the lobs and dimes. And if we're talking about ISO or clutch time play, then hell ALL stars want the ball and the last shot then. And based on some earlier data posted in the Harden positivity thread he's proven to be one of the best clutch scorers. So are we talking purely about his lazy defense? His off court activities? Did I miss a key interview? I just don't see him as having any more of an ego issue than most other star players.
No one is untouchable including Harden. If Lebron, Durant, Blake and Paul George is available, I will go for the trade! Will that happen? Of course not, highly unlikely!
Up to 76. Unless the two best players in the league who are currently on a title run are about to be traded.
Desire for greatness comes from within. Doc Rivers, Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Adelman all coached McGrady and none of them managed to push or cajole him into becoming a different person. He was happy enough with what he achieved and didn't put in the kind of effort that the likes of Kobe and Jordan put in. Kevin Durant is a guy who made significant strides in recent years-- becoming very good on D, improving his passing substantially, handling the ball more (especially with Westbrook's absence). And he plays for the much derided Scott Brooks. Did Brooks push Durant to become the MVP or was it something inside Durant that pushed him into this?
How about his actual talent level? Tmac had surgeries and was never gonna be in 04' form in the Van Gundy era..... Only delusional ****s like you would even think like that. The year he had in 04' was historically good. Kevin Durant is having a similar career stretch, sans the injuries. And how the **** is this relevant to James Harden? He will never be as good as either of those players in their peaks, but he can be better than this. Stop finding half ass ways to bash this guy and go spam in one of your trash threads. Obligatory:
Can't lie, I'd do it for someone like Paul George, CP3 or Blake Griffin. I don't think Harden's a franchise player yet and may not have the work ethic to get there. He still doesn't understand he's a leader and needs to compete every possession
I really don't think Carl deserved that. He has an opinion about Harden and I disagree with his opinion (and have said so before). He might be getting a bit worked up about the topic, but you go too far, in my opinion. Opinions are what we do around here, whether one agrees, or disagrees with them.
I seriously cant believe that 78 people on this fan board actually considered trading the games best 2 guard...smdh...
I was reading through this, already knowing how the responses would fall, to one side and the other. So I'll join in with the "idiots" who wouldn't entirely cry if the right deal presented itself. But it's all so academic. Would Morey have the guts? He talks about keeping this group together so it can grow, develop chemistry. Maybe that's the right solution, I don't know. Morey worked awhile to put together this core. Still, Morey is also the same guy who gave lip service to the "Yao's our foundation, we're gonna build around Yao". Even though he knew by that time he was essentially saying, "We're gonna hitch onto the Titanic and see how far it can take us." Dream hypothetical? Harden + Asik into Philadelphia's cap space. We get their lottery picks. We now have picks and trade exceptions and cap space, whatever route you wanna go. GET that awesome free agent. Because Harden really doesn't show that he's interested in a championship. Otherwise he wouldn't have waited until Game 6 to show up. Unbelievable. He played right into Stotts' hands. The very first play of Game 1, Portland gets the ball to Wesley Matthews to go at James Harden. Does it again. James H., probably already hypersensitive to all the criticism of his lack of D, falls apart at both ends of the floor. Likelier scenario? I would hope Morey was cold and blunt in the exit interview. Harden needs to eschew the Hennessey and hookers and get with the program. Maybe it's just a matter of growing up. But someone needs to point the way.
C'mon bro quit living in the moment, for 82 games he was the best player and leading the team. He made everyone better all yr and guided us to 54 wins, home court and he finished top 5 in MVP. Going into the post season not one person on this board would have said some of the stuff that's being said now after a rough 6 games. Sure his playoff performance is alarming but the way he has performed the past 2 seasons at the tender age of 23 and 24 should easily negate that. I don't think some of you realize how rare it is to have a player his age that can drop 25 5 and 5..... It's only happens 7 other times. He's been top 5 back to back seasons in win shares, the only players that's done that is lebron and KD. I'd say he's in good company and we should keep him. It's quite funny that a lot of you want to trade him for melo when we could have both. It's even funnier when you see that harden is younger and a better player than melo. And even better is that 2 months ago everyone on this board was against melo cause of his style of play. Now they want him over harden? This fan base is crazy lol.
Trade your All-star player after his second season with the team when he's 24? Well there's a sucker born every minute I guess. Too bad Morey isn't one.
Like I said, these cats would have been shopping MJ around in his fourth year. "ball hog", "shoots too much", "selfish". Most folks probably aren't old enough to remember how many great players were tagged with those same issues.
knee jerk of all knee jerk questions.... this is his second year, STARTING. give him a chance. by year 4, he may or may not turn out the be the guy that we've all been waiting for but at least give him that much time before we decide whether or not to trade him. the unfortunate thing is - we also have dwight and he doesn't have a 4 year window, so we'll need james to come into a his peak a little sooner. but right now is not the time to even consider that.
