Isiah Thomas Sees Harden And WB Pairing As The Modern Day Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe

The main critiques I have seen of D’Antoni is poor D analysis, lack of adjustments, and not a developmental coach. He wants to win games and players 10-15 are not getting minutes.

 

Yes, agree completely. I don't really think it will be as bad as many think; the question, to me, is more 'how good could it/would it be?'

I firmly believe Westbrook is going to fit better than many here think. I do think it will take some adjusting, but as many say...players that good figure out how to work together...IF they want to. I think Russ wants to, as does Harden.

 

Yeah, I don't see Harden nor Westbrook sacrificing to win. Sorry, but we have to be honest here: both have been chasing stats, going after MVP and wanting to be the guy who wins it harder than their desire to win at all cost. Westbrook more so than Harden, but both have wanted for the most part to be the guy who got the great stats and if it wins games then cool, but it always had to be their way for the most part.

The criticism of MDA is kind of silly and actually ironically pertains to those guys rather than the coach. Can they win without it being their favourite style of preference? Will Harden and Westbrook actually defend at a high level or try to, even if it makes them uncomfortable and less productive on offense? That's the main question that should be asked.

I do think that IT is talking about MDA in general, which is a fair criticism in the sense of being stubborn. He will not change his ways regarding defense, developing young guys, trusting veterans, time outs, calling plays etc. Regardless of system, which indeed has changed a lot and is really not a problem at all - and actually I do hope we will run more as most people I think here do - MDA will go with the star player and cater to their needs. Morey wants 3s, lay-ups and FTs but CP3 could do whatever he wants. Role players not so much. Accountability is therefore also a big problem.

I am most worried about those two guys though since MDA doesn't do much either way.

 

Have they been? Or were they just doing what they thought needed to be done to win? Rockets were really struggling out of the gate this year. Harden put the team on his back and carried us through that stretch. Is that 'selfish'? How? I wouldn't be surprised if Westbrook was much the same in OKC. Hard to get triple doubles playing 'selfishly'...at least one of those stats (in this case assists) is very team oriented. Selfish players don't get double digit assists. Really don't understand this knock. Especially when, as in Harden's case, you don't even get accolades for it...you mainly seem to get criticized. Who works towards that?

Further, even if the above were true...whose to say that their thinking hasn't changed? Lots of players 'get it' later in their career. I would think both Harden and Russ are at that place. To get more accolades, they need to win a championship. Period. More personal stats are not only not going to help elevate them, but just the opposite. They aren't dumb...they get that. So, even if they were selfish...helping each other and the team is STILL the path to go down.

This is like Kobe through much of his career. He took all the shots because he had a better chance of making them than anyone else. Is that selfish?

 

Chris Carter always name drop Butch like he has to do that to seem credible. lol

"I, me, my".....

 

And by isn't as good of a shooter you mean he is an absolutely abysmal shooter. However, you forgot that he also isn't as good of a defender as even an 34 year old decrepit CP3.

 

I just hope these guys stop stats chasing.... its the folly of youth. Harden used to be a slasher and moved well in okc with WB at the point and they went to the finals. I hope they find success together again.

 

All true.

But if he’s a better fit with Harden, they will be better. Paul did not complement Harden at all. Mostly because of Harden.

 

If Rockets aquire Covington, they are hands down the team to beat.

Tucker and Covington on Kawhi and PG. Too nice.

 

Best case scenario, Harden/Westbrook stay engage while someone else is holding the ball, ensuring 48 minutes of MVP play.
Worst case scenario, Harden/ Westbrook looks disinterest when both share the court.

 

Obviously they will take turns on iso. Wesbtrook will get far more attention than CP ever did as a rocket. Also RW never played with shooters around. It will be good

 

Well, Harden refused to move without the ball and felt challenged by CP3 when asked to spot up to space the floor so it’s not like CP3 had the opportunity to set him up.

 

Maybe that's true... maybe its all Harden's fault... which in that case, this team is screwed regardless of who they put next to him.

I just think CP3 aged pretty severely between 2 years ago and last year... lost a step... no longer was a penetration threat and even less of a finisher threat. Harden (and all other metrics) could see that, thus isolating CP3 became more and more of a low percentage play, and became something of a "give Harden a breather" type strategy vs. an actual scoring threat.

I just think Westbrook still has elite offensive threat ability within him... whether its penetrate/dish, penetrate/finish, or crash the boards/maintain possession.

 

I'll be in the minority on this one, but compared to a lot of the pundits I thought this was an interesting comparison and discussion. Of course I'm old enough to remember NY Clyde and Earl the Pearl. Although its tough to compare different generations, I do get IT's analogy.

IMHO, while you can make arguments that JH has done some stat chasing and WB is the ultimate stat chaser, at 29 and 30 respectively they have one finals appearance between them and that was together. They both know that legacies are built when you combine elite performance with championships. To set themselves apart from the great performers who aren't champions they need to win 1-2 rings.

The next 3 years are there best chance to do that. I believe these guys will figure out a way to coexist and leverage each other's talent. It's the other variables that I'm more concerned with...

- How will MDA blend the unit, make adjustments and integrate our bench?
- Player health.
- Morey's acquisitions going forward and how they'll fit.
- Wild Cards: House improvement; Hartenstein improvement; McLemore role; Bennett role/improvement.

A lot going on this off season and we're poised for a highly anticipated and exciting year. I for one, am super excited to see how all this plays out and couldn't happen at a better time for me as I move back to the Houston area. Just getting to hear radio shows and local news about my teams is gonna be awesome.