IMAGINE if a GM or Coach said...

Agreed
Rocket fans hate their own player more than any of team could possibly hate our players
People who constantly made excuses for TMAC are trying to **** on Harden

No player in the league has as much on his shoulder as Harden
but everything is his fault

Harden sits for 5 minutes . .. leads evaporate and deficits increase
but we want to cut his usage rate and minutes
Cause then he can will be PERFECT in less minute ... . . that way he can over come those issues

We want him to play like KLAY
running all over the place and never dribble the ball
i mean . .he should be able to double KLAYs production without a Curry or KD on his team
to draw double teams or allow him to get open

He is probably our 3rd at worse 4th best defender
but hey. . . people want Harden to literally be #1 in every category

He is suppose to shoot the 3 and still crash the boards and get back on defense in the same play

Rocket River

 

A “top whatever postseason” is a pretty good description. All the crazy numbers that Harden puts up add up to a big “whatever” when the playoffs roll around.

The problem with Harden isn’t that he isn’t doing enough. The problem is that his style of play doesn’t work as well in the playoffs and he is not able to make the necessary adjustments when it matters.

 

Pretty much this. Putting up westbrook numbers wins you MVP's, not championships.

 

CP0, Clint, poor defensive rebounding, and an inability to get key stops were easily our biggest problems this postseason, but hey, let’s spend hours blaming Harden and talk about taking more midrange jumpers

 

Are we really gonna do this? We beat the Jazz in 5 and in the GS series he put up better numbers than Curry and Thompson and was on par with Durant until he got injured. What part of not translating to the post season did not happen this time? Im aware he did not perform well in the 4th quarter of game 6.

 

averaged 32, 7, and 7 on 57% TS this postseason facing Utah who was the 2nd best defensive team in the NBA and a locked in GS with defenders like Iggy, Klay, Draymond, and KD on him all game

I guess we should kill Harden because he was not able to continue his MJ level play in the postseason...Harden’s problem is that he is arguably the regular season offensive GOAT, so when the playoffs come and a drop off occurs from offensive GOAT to still 1 of the best in the NBA, we want to act like he played like trash

we also want to act like guys playing with no other All-Stars don’t see a drop in their play come the postseason unless their name is Lebron or now Kawhi

I guess KD’s play didn’t translate in the playoffs either when he was with OKC and his numbers and efficiency were taking clear and noticeable dips that stopped when he joined a stacked squad

 

Id also would like to see film of people "not fouling" Harden, I really would. Its absolutely garbage that supposed post season play has refs swallowing their whistles for James but not for the average nba player whos FT rate increased.

And idc what anyone tells me, I dont believe Kawhi is better than Harden.

Edit: Im willing to make adjustments to that statement depending on what happens the rest of the playoffs.

 

if someone wants to say that Kawhi is better than Harden then I won’t argue with it at this moment...he’s pretty much been playoff Bron minus the assists this postseaso...we should also not forget that he rested 20 games in the regular season tho

yeah, it’s ridiculous how Harden’s free throw rate just magically drops like crazy once the postseason starts while pretty much every other star sees an increase...slight bump on KD and he’s at the line, but the refs supposedly let all this contact go once the playoffs start...if your name is James Harden they do

 

its hard to argue against this. That's reality, people keep talking in the "what ifs"

 

Reduced free throw rate, reduced efficiency, consumed more shot clock per touch.

And the trend of Harden's numbers going down from regular season to the playoffs didn't change.

 

Reduced FT rate, how bout that, while the average NBA player's increased, thats funny. 57% TS is still elite and better than Curry and Thompson and on par with Durant before he went down for the series. Not to mention Durant gets his single coverage ALOT because of Curry and Thompson.

Yea he wasnt as good as the regular season but most Superstar arent sans Lebron and now Kawhi(I woulnd never say hes better than Harden though). His numbers were good enough to win and get us the chip. Yea I know he could be better but Harden's post season play this season(or even last season I could argue somewhat, his 3 point shooting was a problem) were not the problem.

 

Again Harden is blameless IMO. He was the only reason the Rockets even made it to the playoffs. 11-14 start with CP3 going down, followed by Capela breaking his thumb on a failed dunk attempt, then Gordon being injured. Almost all 3 of them went down simultaneously. Then we had the debacle with House's contract when he was lighting it up with Harden only to be sidelined and replaced by an overseas SG that didn't even want to play in the NBA and quietly went back overseas after his 10 day contract was up. Harden was there nightly with a new player that was recently signed often throughout this season never really getting a chance to catch a breather. He did this while battling a wrist and shoulder injury that we know of.

I do think it would be interesting to see his post season performance if the Rockets did load management for Harden in the regular season. This would be something the Rockets would have to enforce whether he likes it or not. He wouldn't have had that luxury this season though if the Rockets really were going to make the post season. We're talking about the Rockets losing to arguably the greatest modern NBA team assembled. I mean who else but the Warriors, is still a contender if their starting C and SG/SF goes down in the playoffs? I mean imagine if Giannis and Middleton were both out for the playoffs and the Bucks were still so deep they were contenders for a chip. Or if Siakam and Leonard were injured and still so deep with talent they're favored to win it all. The Warriors are ridiculously stacked and as much I hate second place for the Rockets, I have no shame for the team, especially Harden. The Rockets simply need more talent and consistent health throughout the regular and postseason while hoping currently stacked teams dilute some in talent themselves. IMO, it's not a heart issue from the team. It's just being overwhelmed by a 5 all star lineup that is still a contender even if 2 of the allstars go down. The Warriors still have a Finals MVP, 2x MVP and the prototype 3&D shooter to complement the team. And the Rockets are the only team these past two seasons that has truly made it competitive against them. I'm still upset over the 2017-2018 season and officiating as IMO that was the Rockets year to win it all.

 

Yep

 

Not so surprising when one of the key points for the opposing team's defense is not to foul Harden. Harden earns a bunch of cheap fouls on inexperienced or unfocused defenses in the regular season. He feasts on them.

 

Thats why I would like to see film on this. I would legitimately like to know if the teams like the Warriors or Utath really just dont foul or they dont actually get called. Cause how is it that foul calls are getting increased for the AVERAGE nba player and not Harden.

 

Assuming your claim is correct that other players get more foul call while Harden gets less in the playoffs, that seems to show that it's not a reffing issue. If the refs called less fouls in the playoffs, then everyone should have less.

The logical inference is that teams defended Harden differently in the playoffs because they have time to come up with game plans. Remember the Spurs started to raise their hands and not swiping at the ball when they defended Harden? That's an most obvious adjustment I've seen. There might be other more subtle ways teams use to reduce fouls against Harden.

 

The funny thing are the responses in that thread.

So much about Kobe winning rings at a time where the NBA was pretty...weak.

People barely remember the teams Kobe beat to win those rings lol. I'd challenge those people face to face, without google, to name the starting lineups of that Pacers, 6ers, and Nets team.

The first three he beat some of the weakest Finals teams I can ever remember. A Nets team with Richard Jefferson and Jason Kidd, an Philly team with Iverson, and a Pacers team with an aging Reggie Miller. Too bad Kobe didn't have to go against a team with 5 all-stars, a team that could have two all-stars go down and still be more talented than every other team in the NBA.

I mean, it would be a fair criticism of Harden not having a ring if the NBA was even fair. Back then, it was. A championship team had 2 all-stars or was made up of several fringe all-stars like the Pistons. That's not the league now. The league now is getting as many elite players on one team as possible, stacking the deck.

At this rate, Harden is just going to go down as one of the greatest to never win a ring. That will probably be his legacy next to Malone, Elgin Baylor, Karl Malone.