Really nothing, not even a championship. I really believe if this team was an LA/NY team (you know, media darling cities), there wouldn't be as much heat or any for that matter. I guess the media just has something against Houston.
I truly believe that too but that's because the majority of NBA fans are Lakers fans. I'm sure up to June if you went to China Harden would be held in higher regard than someone like KD because fans are fans. Still Rings gain respect from opposing fans. Do we clown the Mavs anymore? Remember how we used to destroy Dirk with the choking label. Then he wins a ring and people suddenly respect the "soft euro".
Yeah win a ring and they all shut up. But We have cheap ass Tilman here which means we are not winning a ring anytime soon lol. So suck it all up. Enjoy the hate. Revel in it. Rustle those jimmies whenever you can.
I can't remember the details (or title) of the article, but I remember reading a few years back about a plan that Golden State put together to increase media access and positive interaction with their team and players. They had a guy on staff whose sole purpose was making media people happy. They started this before they hit their highs of success, and built this whole infrastructure of reporters who would write these glowing stories of the most mundane crap (for example, here is an article about Draymond and Kerr becoming friends because they yell a lot). Would you want the Rockets to brown nose to media to get them to write more happy go lucky fluff pieces if it helped change the reputation?
Contrary to popular belief, I don't think winning a championship will change anything. The haters would try and find some way to make it illegitimate. It's gotten so bad it's at the point where I accept it'll never change. I'm a Rockets fan for my entire life so I don't really care.
Not more whiny than the average fan. If you spend a tiny bit of time on other boards, you will quickly learn that the majority of fans of all teams believe there is a narrative or vendetta against their team. Then when you come back here you realize it's just a function of fear and competition that is hard coded in the brain.
Perfect. Winning a title would certainly force everyone to acknowledge some of Harden's greatness and Moreys mathematical philosophy, but they would just, in no time, revert to the old cliche of "yeah, they finally won, but they are boring to watch and ruining the experience of watching games" or saying it was a one time stroke of luck or something like this. If we somehow three peat or something crazy like that, it would be awesome to see the reaction, but unfortunately I feel that maybe the 2017-2018 season was the best opportunity to have won. Hope I'm wrong.
I am an old guy so I voted that i do not care. I think it is human nature for anyone not it the big media markets to feel there is bias against their team. I will say THIS Rockets Organization (the Fertitta organization) is a bit whiny and that helps drive some of the narrative out there. I do wish folks in the media would watch more out of market games to lend more credibility to what they say. Love him or hate him, Nick Wright watches a ton of games, does his research, and comes prepared to the set. At the end of the day, the only way my beloved Houston Rockets change the narrative is to win the championship THIS YEAR, with James averaging 40 in the playoffs, Russ averaging close to a triple double each night and shooting a respectable percentage from three, and the rest of the team stepping up when it counts.
At least with Lillard, he gets some currency from the big playoff game winners he has hit. Harden hasn’t had a big playoff moment to match those. Harden is also held to a higher standard because of the ridiculous numbers he puts up in the regular season and because he’s a perennial MVP candidate. That doesn’t explain all of it, but it’s part of it. I voted that the whining is getting tiresome, because it is, but honestly I’m between that and the second poll option. There is definitely a lot of irrational hatred directed towards Harden and the Rockets, and I think any other fan base would be as defensive and whiny about it as we are.
This victim complex mentality is stupid. Michael Jordan is celebrated and he hasn't played in LA. Curry is praised and he doesn't play for LA. LeBron has always been praised well before LA. This isn't about the media being predisposed to hating Houston. This has everything to do with Harden's playstyle. To me it's so obvious. Neutral NBA fans will find triple pump lay ups in the air or reverse dunks far more exiting than hooking arms and flailing arms. Hence why most neutral fans will always have an affinity to players like Kobe and Wade over Harden. It's that simple. We are going to have to accept the fact as Rocket fans that Harden' play style is similar to an ugly child: "only a face a mother could love" or in this case "only a playsyle a Homer could love".
I mean....I think nuanced basketball fans could appreciate Harden's game as well, you make it seems like he draws fouls 24/7, he also leads the league in points without Fts(I think). I love watching Harden hypnotize his defenders and lulling them to sleep with his amazing handles and foot work. His step back is a thing of beauty.
No doubt part of his game is fun to watch. His face up footwork and handles are some of the best this league has ever seen. However NBA fans also in general like faster pace playstyles. Harden can have long spans of doing his "dance" for 20 seconds at the top of the three point line for like 6 possessions in a row and it can get redundant.
