It's funny you say this because I'm suppose to be the Harden hater yet I actually believe Harden was/is capable of beating GS in 2017-2018 Lakers in 2020 and Bucks in 2021. That's what many of you Harden simps don't get, DD and many of us aren't hating on Harden. We are pointing out things you guys are denying. That Harden was capable of doing amazing things and instead choked, we can create excuses all day for him but he had it. He had the damn chance many many times. He had GS beat, he could have done it. I believe he could have done it but
I loved him when he was here, but I hate weak character people who quit on contracts to get out of a situation they themselves created. So as a Rockets fan - **** HARDEN - I hope he never gets a ring. Go Rockets ! DD
think 18 was fair, that was a great shot. Then again, the 2nd best player was injured as well. This stuff happens everyyear and its terrible luck, but we were in that range of winning a ring and gave the warriors heat when most of the league were moving out of the way an waiting. Then next the offseason comes, We ignore our MLE, ignore our players Bird rights, Trade picks and players that year to get under the cap. That was history: Former Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul was on the Knuckleheads podcast with Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson and explained the impact of the Rockets losing Ariza. “People don’t realize, that’s the biggest thing that we missed. That was tough when we lost [Ariza] because he sorta was like the glue. He was that glue for our team.” h So yea of course harden, MDA, everyone apart of the team shares blame, but in this league and the nba economics, the par was not met by the owner who has one main contribution finances during our window, and the trajectory changed because his financial issues spilled over to all the houston Rockets
WTF? Its a team game, he cant do it all by himself or when he is injured. Sheesh man. Thats what you guys lack, critical analysis. You rely on dumb narratives and dont know basketball. What you and DD dont get is that no one has done it in these circumstances. People who make silly takes stick together of course he likes it.
Its a team game until the final minutes when possessions are worth as much as your star player, those minutes you need the ball in the hands of your best player. That player can either make magic happen or they can do what Harden does. Its not a silly take to think Harden could have won that 2017-2018 game 7, why is it silly? You are the big Harden fan and you don't even believe in him. You rather create excuses for him than to say he can and will overcome in the future. Got a list for next year's excuses yet? maybe we can rate them and help you pick and chose the best ones.
Name me a player who could won in those circumstances then? Lol, the fact is no one has ever been put in that situation. Yea he didnt play his best, he was also the focal point of the offense against the GOAT team, while missing his second best player and best perimeter defender. Im not a child, I dont put unrealistic expectations on anyone.
Wasn't Kevin Durant literally a toe away from accomplishing a similar feat? Also, in game 7 against the Warriors, we went into halftime with a double digit lead. The game was winnable. Did I think we would win it? No, because postseason Harden is who he is. Scoring a lot of points on low fg% wouldn't be enough to beat the Warriors.
You ask an impossible question to answer correctly, in my opinion I feel like Kawhi would have gotten Rockets over the hump in game 7 vs GS. He was missing Paul and Prince but he had the lead going into half time. The Rockets were on the home stretch, they just needed a leader and star that could keep them afloat. Harden did not get them to game 7 on his own. He actually played poorly the whole series, in fact it was his team that got him to that point in time. And he blew it. You know who else I think could have done it? Harden.. I firmly believe he could have done it. Your expectations of Harden are pretty low for how much love defending him.
Why? When has Kawhi ever demonstrated that he could carry with an inferior team. He has problems sometiems when has the better team or do you not remember him chocking a 3-1 lead last year? He was not terrible the whole series, if that's true than Paul who everyone magically loves here now(as if they werent the ones who supported this dumbass trade initially) had a worse true shooting than Harden. Harden had the best stats in the series on our team. Harden also had the best RAPTOR,PIPM and BPM for our 2017-2018 run.
Because Kawhi has faced a super team with prime Lebron in Miami, and beat them with San Antonio and then beat GS with Toronto. He gave Toronto a Championship. Toronto..... He is not perfect, LeBron is not either. But he has done it, he has proven to be capable. I can forgive failures because everyone fails at some point. But he has proven to be a leader, a finals MVP twice with small market teams and no super star help. You get too caught up in advanced stats, they don't mean anything if the ball does not go through that net when we need it to. Harden can score 100pts in a playoff game but if he misses in the 4Q and loses the game is he a winner? Or just a high octane stat producing machine? I rather Harden score 20 pts and hits his game 7 shots than all these stats that in the end meant nothing except personal achievements and no rings.
I do agree with DD, Salvy and co. I hope Harden doesnt win a ring in Brooklyn. Im happy for everything he did for the rockets but at the end of the day Harden was under contract for 2 more years. If he wanted out of the Rox situation then fine but then he went and started destroying his trade value. I dont care what Harden simps say, the Rox did everything they could to help Harden. I mean Morey was trading picks every year just to get him help. Could have waited for Cp3 to hit FA and sign him for free nope every year is precious. And then when Harden said he knew what he had to do, shipped Cp3 for WB at HIS request. Yeah Tillman pushed thru but obv that had the blessing of Harden you a joke if you dont know that by now. Contention is a 2 way street yeah Harden made the team relevant but the team also catered to his every whim and fancy, its not like Lebron in Miami where he was on a tight leash and just getting used for rings. So the Rox didnt deserve to get stabbed in the back by Harden after everything theyve done for him. Im not talking about the trade request Im talking about damaging his value so he gets traded for peanuts. We all know what he did and I just posted about it in another thread. So after that crap and considering the Rox will profit from Brooklyn misery I hope that Brooklyn trio never achieves anything.
Look at each game individually. Harden was the best player in each of our losses but none of our wins. What does that tell you?
Lmao he faced a superteam on the end of its legs with D Wade not being himself anymore with knee injuries while having 3 other HOF on his team. Nice try. He beat GS without KD and with Klay and Looney missing significant time. Nice try. He has proven to be capable with favorable circumstances lmao. Narrative speak and winning bias, next. Narrative talk, we are done here.
I don't blame Morey too much. I actually think the biggest problem is the never rebuild mindset the team had since he took over. When I look at these good young teams this year, I see teams littered with young role players that can hoop and are skilled in multiple ways. Since the Rockets never really went through a rebuild, the team had to get really lucky with trades. They had to continue to turn a few decent players to good ones, then good ones to a great one. Then they had to beg in free agency. By then, they were out of assets and had to find guys from the scrap heap for role players. Tucker helped defend KD, but he's not their most important big man. CP is the vocal leader of the Suns, they're not dead in the water without him. Beverley is a situational role player for the Clippers, they have other perimeter defenders. We couldn't get over the hump because we never had a full lineup of players that can compete
They should've kept Capela and Paul and traded Harden for Lillard, but at that time Harden was God around here and to speak ill of him was sacrilege. I couldn't stand Harden from the get-go. Great scorer, horrible teammate and attitude. The organization just enabled him to boot.
No. Kevin Durant was playing a worse team with less all NBA talent. Durant also had injured Harden there which was better than nothing. No other player could do it in his situation, sans Lebron. Stop quoting me, you are a dishonest person.
Harden was the best player in game 4, untrue. Harden has the best cumilative stats in the whole series. You dont look at every game individually when all the games matter. . All playoffs games matter. Im sick and tired your dishonest arguments and disregarding of the facts. He has by far the highest game score on our team for the series as as well. Lol, you got showed the facts in this thread a couple pages ago and STILL stuck to your point, Im sorry , but this is done.
You're just salty that I continuously point out your mistakes. Why don't you regard my posts as learning opportunities? After all, you're never too old to learn. If that's not good enough, I suggest you stop posting. I can't quote you if there's nothing to quote. Or make better arguments. I can't argue with you if I agree with you. The 2021 Bucks may have had less all NBA talent than the 2018 Warriors, but the 2021 Nets' supporting cast (without Irving and an injured Harden) was significantly inferior to 2018 Harden's (without CP3). Had Durant led the Nets past the Bucks, that would've been a remarkable accomplishment. Chris Paul was. CP3 and Harden had similar counting stats, but CP3 shot much better. Wouldn't you agree that efficiency matters? It depends on the point you're trying to make. For instance, if my argument is that Harden wasn't the best player in any of the Rockets wins, then yes, you look at each of the wins individually and ignore the losses. If you're looking at a player's contribution to winning, wouldn't it make sense to look only at the games won? Are my arguments not factual? I feel like they're always supported by stats. Yes, facts that answered a question that no one asked. My post #300 of this thread has some eye-opening stats regarding Harden's 4th quarter performances in pressure games. As usual, you need to work on your reading comprehension.
