LeBron used to be criticized heavily prior to winning his first championship. Dame and CP3 are not as talented as Harden, so they will not get criticized as harshly. The only way to silence the critics is by winning titles, preferably multiple.
You can’t put Lebron in the same category as them. If James is James and we lose it’s not his fault. Dame performed significantly worse than his usual play against the warriors. Lebron was RIDICULOUSLY GOOD, and efficient against the warriors. Its not his fault his team didn’t win, just like if harden balls out and we lose it won’t be his fault
I admit I get frustrated with Harden's game quite often and the other night was a good example. I think Harden wants to win but expresses it differently than a lot of other players. Part of the reason why Westbrook was brought in was to to bring that fire that a championship needs. One thing that I will agree with is the over reliance on the step back three. I've said this before but both him and Gordon often take these super long heat check threes in the middle of a run that end up wasting a possession and breaking up the rhythm of the a run. It's one thing to take an open three from near the arc but when he takes a contested one from more than 5 ft beyond the arc early in the shot clock I think really hurts us.
I’m naive for thinking that Lebrons 34/10/8 on 52% shooting against the KD warriors shouldn’t be coupled with Dame having a terrible game 7 vs Denver/WCF against GS without KD. Lmaoooooooo
Both Lebron and Dame led their respective teams to sweeps by GSW. Harden's Rockets NEVER got swept by GSW.
Everyone judges Harden relative to his peers: Lebron, KD, Steph, and Kawhi in terms of legacy. Dame has crept into this convo. Would love for that article to have touched more on Harden's sidekicks vs. the rest. Forget the competition, just give me a list of Harden's running mate and list them by year followed by the others' running mate(s). Provided format: Player, Co-star #1, Co-star #2, Co-star #3, Year The argument about Harden's legacy is less about style and more about personnel. Style breaks down in the clutch. Which is why the media is so focused on style. There has literally been no one next to Harden until CP got there that had to share his load to carry. Spurs was a team and Kawhi's load was shared by HOFs.
For me I think two things can be true. A. I admit he has been frustrating on the offensive end in the playoffs a lot of the time, and it’s not a shock his stats have major red flags. We all unfortunately remember the Spurs game a few years ago. That was.... not good. B. We see enough of Harden to know he’s perfectly capable of leading this team to a championship, and we think he is largely disrespected as a chocker. Almost a Kevin Martin type cast by ESPN and TNT. At this point though, we are ride or die with Harden. He could crap the bed any given night in the playoffs. He could also dominate for 50. But if you think the media narrative is just gonna go away if Rockets fans complain enough I think you are wasting your energy. The only person who can put that to bed is Harden and he has to win a title to do that.
Because Harden has had the talent Stephanie has had around him over the years . Hell KD couldn’t win until he joined 73 win team that bounced his ass out with three future hall of famers.A series he and Russ choked a 3-1 lead!. Give Harden Thompson, Green, prime Bogut and Green and watch him win multiple rings
Same story. Harden only plays one way. We know what he is going to do which means over a playoff series teams make adjustments to playing him and Harden gets worse because he doesn’t change up his playstyle. One game means nothing. Close the series out
Much happier today. Harden used the floater and posted up last night. Not saying abandon what he's being doing, just mix it up a bit and keep the defense guessing.
