As much as I hate the fact that Harden has just been horrible in the first 2 games on both ends of the court, but its ridiculous that some fans are trashing Harden like he hasn't done anything for the Rockets this season. Some are even talking about trading their 24 year old "Superstar in the making" player who is just about entering his prime. Remember this is the first time Harden has gone into the post season as the Leader of a team with expectations. playoff jitters? Its all part of the growth process. We wouldn't even have had such an amazing season if it wasn't for Harden carrying us most of the nights. How quickly do folks jump off the wagon. Hey, remember this?: [youtube]Ymu13RL0h4g[/youtube] [youtube]d7MQ6lni65Y[/youtube] [youtube]oEcZQvTXrMw[/youtube] [youtube]rpxfQClWCmU[/youtube] [youtube]SxnkNjIaBmo[/youtube] [youtube]rRXDlXacxcw[/youtube] [youtube]qge70eEDP6o[/youtube] [youtube]I3-G0F7maUo[/youtube] [youtube]ly4V6RoQJOU[/youtube] [youtube]YGDW1bBsUgE[/youtube] [youtube]7oqSokjncZ0[/youtube] THE BEARD WILL RISE AGAIN.
Remember every playoffs series he's been in since the 2012 finals? Yeah. Without the Thunder, he'd be Mr. First Round Exit just like T-Mac. LOL. He just plays so differently during playoff time. He just needs to go out there and play like its the regular season. He's hesitating, pressing, and just not taking risks and taking soft ass three pointers. He's also being too predictable. He's trying to go with a single go-to move like the Eurostep, his free throw line jumper off a pick, or his threes. Its like he's too scared to try anything else. I mean where the **** did his post up, face up, and step back fadeaway jumper go? That **** was unstoppable, and now all he does is jack up threes or take it to the rim and fail to finish. Its like he's deciding what to do before facing the defense, instead of taking what the defense gives him.
the playoffs is where you earn your money. of course hes been great during the regular season but it means nothing to a career if you dont accomplish anything in the playoffs. he has plenty of experience under his belt when it comes to the post season. he should not be performing this poorly period.
the harden that played with emotion during the pacers game is what im looking for..thats what the rockets need..play like you want it
so the playoffs are now switched to 2 game series huh? It's all over right? concede to portland? You sound like the loser, not the rockets my friend
People are jumping off as fast as they hopped on, why? because in the playoffs every player's game is magnified and Harden, given his luxuries of being the go to guy, green light to shoot and iso any time he wants, is not only playing horribly, but still giving the same half-assed effort on D, how is that forgivable? The guy is a conceited player with a huge ego who believes he's above playing D because he's the star, he's the MAIN reason the Rockets have lost the past 2 games because of what he's contributing to the team, which is nothing on both ends, I mean at least play some ****ing defense if youre going to choke offensively.
I honestly didn't think he played bad in last year's playoffs. He had like one awful game IIRC. Hell, even in game 1 his stats wouldn't have looked too bad if we hadn't gone into overtime where he missed like 5 straight shots. Rockets will be a playoff team for at least the next 3 or 4 years, and it's hard for me to imagine him playing this bad every time. He'll get it together.
If we lose the next game its a guaranteed loss to the series. No team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit. Only 6% of teams have ever come back from a 0-2 deficit. Yeah, by some miracle the Rockets could suddenly figure out how to turn it up and play better. I fully except Harden to at least show up one game, but if that game isn't next game then we're ****ed. You need to stop making excuses for this Rockets team man, you can still support them and criticize the living **** out of them for letting the fans down and playing down to their opponents all season. We've seen the warning signs in the regular season, and with a coach that actually studies our team and gameplans against us we are screwed. The playoffs are a game of adjustments. The Heat-Spurs series last year was the epitome of that. Also wtf. I've never seen our team brick so many threes. Playoffs really is night and day.
please stop posting until after the series and when the rockets win apologize and if the rockets lose (which seems to be what you want) then feel free to dance for joy and jump on the next bandwagon.
I like the post. Hope he backs up your optimism in Game 3, because his lack of success in the playoffs is becoming very frustrating.
The problem is : we are not just expecting Harden to carry us into the playoff, we are expecting him to carry us to win in the playoff. We have the same expectation on Howard. These 2 players will be always held with a different standard above the others. Because they should. Many Rockets fans now could careless about how bad/good Asik or Lin playing in the playoff now, because they don't matter much and they are most likely be gone in the offseason. Even Parsons/TJ and anyone else could be gone too, but Harden/Howard are untradeable, we are going to live or die with them.
I'm guessing you are one of those fans that blindly believes we can go 82-0 in the regular season and 16-0 in the playoffs. There is a difference between supporting your team and being delusional, is the series over? No. Is the series statistically heavily tilted in Portland's favor? Yes. Let's be realistic here. Is there stilla chance for the Rockets to win? Of course! You act like there is a 100% chance the Rockets are going to win the next four games in a row and you act like admitting otherwise makes you a horrible fan. LOL.
Didn't he win the SAS series for OKC his last year with them? He's played well in the playoffs. Last year with us, he was worn down and nursing an ankle injury. His shot started to decline the last 5 or so games of the regular season. In these past two games, he has found nothing except in Game 1 3rd qtr when he hit some shots. Otherwise, his 3 has been off; his drives have been well-defended. He can't get to the FT line. His midrange jumpers have been too strong. He has a confidence problem now, probably trying too hard. He needs to see another guy play well, then he can also start playing well. He's probably just as perplexed and frustrated as we all are.
That's what I'm thinking. The way his game changes, the way he struggles solely in the playoffs and not in the regular season is strictly a confidence issue.
I am one of those fans that was there when the rockets were down 3-1 walking out of the summit hearing dipsh**its like you say it was over. I am one of those fans that knows it's a 7 game series. You are negative cancer that it's clear has never BEEN THERE. Go find another team or STFU. If rockets lose series feel free to get excited. REALITY IS IT'S NOT OVER. WAKE UP OR GET OUT
I agree. Harden hasn't shown up but that's mostly because we have run literally one play for him that involved anything other than him catching the ball, guarded, at 25 feet, and trying to create. That's a play style that traditionally gets nullified in the playoffs. Coaching problems.
