You are exactly right, Harden didn't play well in Game 6 or the OT in Game 5, but the Spurs won this series for reasons beyond that. James deserves some of the blame but in the end it is a team game. Gordon, Lou, Ariza, Anderson, and other key players disappeared for multiple games throughout this post-season and often it was in groups of 3 or 4. In contrast, the Spurs stepped up in the absence of Kawhi and played great team basketball. It also helps having a coach like Pop going up against a guy who is in his first season with the Rockets. You can talk s*** about Harden all you want but this team would go nowhere without him. Dude is all-star level talent, was a front-runner for MVP, and had one of the most historic offensive seasons in league history.
**Official Rockets Quest for the Championship Thread III** Staff Warning onOP
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Last: 7 yr ago by Mr.Bond
Oops, pressed post too early. I need to go to bed so I'll keep my comments short. I've also had a couple drinks so this won't be rage filled like it would be if I had a couple more.
Want to start by saying this was the most pathetic Rockets effort I've seen since the game 7 vs. Dallas in the series we were up 2-0 in. I thought we were just nervous in the first quarter and it would go away and we would make our run. That run never came. SA wanted this more than we did, we acted like our season was over before the game even started. Not sure where to start on Harden. He only had 2? shots at one point in the second quarter I think. I don't know if that's on him, or the Spurs game plan, but there's no way that can happen to an MVP caliber player. Ever. Just a depressing game to watch overall. The only solace I can take is that there is no one in the west (probably the entire NBA) that can beat GS in a 7 game series. So it doesn't really make a difference whether we made it to the conference semis or finals. At least the Astros game was on at the bar too and that was a good one.
Even after tonight, I'm so proud of this team. This has been one of my favorite teams to watch, and the best team since the T-mac and Yao days. It's been a roller coaster of a year, but I think we can all say that we succeeded the expectations at the beginning of the year. This team played with a lot of heart and emotion and I appreciate all their effort. The third best record in the NBA says something. I've been through a lot of personal crap in the past 6 months, and this team has given me a distraction from life. This will always be one of my favorite squads.
Red nation till I die.
Want to start by saying this was the most pathetic Rockets effort I've seen since the game 7 vs. Dallas in the series we were up 2-0 in. I thought we were just nervous in the first quarter and it would go away and we would make our run. That run never came. SA wanted this more than we did, we acted like our season was over before the game even started. Not sure where to start on Harden. He only had 2? shots at one point in the second quarter I think. I don't know if that's on him, or the Spurs game plan, but there's no way that can happen to an MVP caliber player. Ever. Just a depressing game to watch overall. The only solace I can take is that there is no one in the west (probably the entire NBA) that can beat GS in a 7 game series. So it doesn't really make a difference whether we made it to the conference semis or finals. At least the Astros game was on at the bar too and that was a good one.
Even after tonight, I'm so proud of this team. This has been one of my favorite teams to watch, and the best team since the T-mac and Yao days. It's been a roller coaster of a year, but I think we can all say that we succeeded the expectations at the beginning of the year. This team played with a lot of heart and emotion and I appreciate all their effort. The third best record in the NBA says something. I've been through a lot of personal crap in the past 6 months, and this team has given me a distraction from life. This will always be one of my favorite squads.
Red nation till I die.
In the playoffs, Harden averaged 30.3 points, 8.6 assists and 5.7 rebounds. I'll take that trash every time.
The Rockets aren't going to get any comparable value out of Harden so what would be the point of trading him besides feeling better? It won't last long when we win 20 games next year. We're damned if we do and damned if we don't. I'd rather choose the damned option where we win 50 games
cr0wbar said:
I hope this will force us to retire those ****ing ugly race car gray uniforms
Not that it makes you feel any better tonight, but Nike owns the license to make all NBA uniforms next year. You don't have to worry about seeing those uniforms again next year.
If you're not trying to win a championship, what the hell are you doing?
Maybe the guy who said losing Nene is a bigger loss for us than losing Parker for the Spurs was onto something...
Well the funny thing about the Championship is, you gotta make the playoffs first.
7nine
I'll gladly serve anyone crow who wants it.
I don't think anyone who disagreed with me understood how weak we are without Nene. It completely changed the dynamic of the team and we got hammered inside consistently.
There's a reason the Spurs drew more fouls than us in the series, and it wasn't on the refs.
I don't think anyone who disagreed with me understood how weak we are without Nene. It completely changed the dynamic of the team and we got hammered inside consistently.
There's a reason the Spurs drew more fouls than us in the series, and it wasn't on the refs.
Pretty sure I've seen the worst two games in the NBA playoffs thus far in person.
Celtics @ Bulls game 6 was brutal.
Celtics @ Bulls game 6 was brutal.
Not that it matters, I guess.....but Harden and his posse came into Steak 48 in River Oaks tonight after the game with a table of 14 or so. Seems like he was having a great time.
Just doesn't have the killer instinct. Seems to me if you got busted out of the playoffs, you'd be pissed and just go home.
Just doesn't have the killer instinct. Seems to me if you got busted out of the playoffs, you'd be pissed and just go home.
DRE06 said:
Not that it matters, I guess.....but Harden and his posse came into Steak 48 in River Oaks tonight after the game with a table of 14 or so. Seems like he was having a great time.
Just doesn't have the killer instinct. Seems to me if you got busted out of the playoffs, you'd be pissed and just go home.
When you have a bad day at work do you go home and cry in your pillow or you go about your life?
First of all as a Spurs fan I want to congratulate all of you on a good year and hard fought series.
Having said that as an outsider it seems to me that the Rockets need another superstar that can somehow compliment James. What Houston has right now is Harden surrounded by a lot of role players. IMO there isn't a legitimate superstar in the bunch. What Houston has now translates to alot of regular season wins but not a championship. Obviously that is easier said than done.
Having said that as an outsider it seems to me that the Rockets need another superstar that can somehow compliment James. What Houston has right now is Harden surrounded by a lot of role players. IMO there isn't a legitimate superstar in the bunch. What Houston has now translates to alot of regular season wins but not a championship. Obviously that is easier said than done.
ATM9000 said:DRE06 said:
Not that it matters, I guess.....but Harden and his posse came into Steak 48 in River Oaks tonight after the game with a table of 14 or so. Seems like he was having a great time.
Just doesn't have the killer instinct. Seems to me if you got busted out of the playoffs, you'd be pissed and just go home.
When you have a bad day at work do you go home and cry in your pillow or you go about your life?
I can't think of a single all-time great player that would just shrug it off like that.
Texaggie7nine said:
Well the funny thing about the Championship is, you gotta make the playoffs first.
Wow you're so clever, great one liner.
You know what, I shouldn't be surprised that so many of you feel this way. Most Aggies are perfectly comfortable not being great as long as the team wins a few games and everyone has fun.
It's this simple:
-What is the point of playing? To win a championship
-Can that happen with James Harden as your best player? Almost certainly not.
So if you're willing to concede that we'll just be doing a lot of nothing as long as Harden is here, then sure, I'm the ridiculous one. But I won't apologize for demanding greatness.
How would you know?
With another major piece that can share the load with Harden I think it's very possible to get a championship. And getting an additional star with Harden here is much more likely than trading him away and finding one to come be a loan star.
7nine
Because for 3 straight years he's completely disappeared when it matters most. That's enough of a sample size. Don't have an Aggie sports mindset here. We don't need a half decade of the same thing over and over to recognize a trend.
Like it's said in Glengarry Glen Ross:
"Fire his ass, because a loser is a loser."
Like it's said in Glengarry Glen Ross:
"Fire his ass, because a loser is a loser."
Quote:
But I won't apologize for demanding greatness.
That's fine as long as you realize that you're going to be miserable at the end of 99% of your sports team's seasons. You're bleeding all over this thread (and have most of the year) when you knew at the beginning of the season we weren't going to win the championship.
I mean, you can hope for that if you'd like, but it just can't happen. The only way that happens is if someone bails us out of Anderson's contract and Gordon & Harden agree to take less money. We also still have to pay Clint next year, as well as make decisions as to whether or not to pay Ariza and Williams.
We currently have $150,000 of cap space. So either your unknown missing piece agrees to play for pennies or all the above things happen. It's easy to say "we'll just add another piece", but that's just not realistic.
We currently have $150,000 of cap space. So either your unknown missing piece agrees to play for pennies or all the above things happen. It's easy to say "we'll just add another piece", but that's just not realistic.
Other players besides harden can be traded as well.
7nine
CoachRTM said:Quote:
But I won't apologize for demanding greatness.
That's fine as long as you realize that you're going to be miserable at the end of 99% of your sports team's seasons. You're bleeding all over this thread (and have most of the year) when you knew at the beginning of the season we weren't going to win the championship.
1. I won't be miserable if we're progressing in the direction of a championship. Around this past January I would've said we were. We just took a huge step back.
2. If you think I've been complaining most of this year, I don't know what to tell you. You've just clearly made up in your mind that it's true even though it's definitely not.
The "how would you know" was in reference to other super stars and how they would react after a loss.
I mean can you see guys like Jordan, Bird, Hakeem, or LeBron laughing and having a good time immediately after being utterly humiliated? No way. They'd be sick for a week.
You overestimate how much these guys really care.
Been wearing my Clutch City shirt around Austin all day. Endless amounts of flak from Spurs fans, but I tell them all the same thing: I support the team forever, not the players on it.
James Harden is not the Houston Rockets. Daryl Morey is not the Houston Rockets. Heck, even Hakeem Olajuwon is not the Houston Rockets. It's bigger than that. Red Nation for life.
James Harden is not the Houston Rockets. Daryl Morey is not the Houston Rockets. Heck, even Hakeem Olajuwon is not the Houston Rockets. It's bigger than that. Red Nation for life.
incoming Harden at the club picture floating around on twitter...
Harden was at Set in Midtown then Dreams later on last night.
If the pics are from last night I'm not going to judge. Wed night would be a different story.
I've gone out bar hopping after horrible days at the office. Doesn't mean I'm ok with what happened at the office, just a way of coping.
I've gone out bar hopping after horrible days at the office. Doesn't mean I'm ok with what happened at the office, just a way of coping.
7nine
Not saying it's a bad thing, but it's going to give him a bad look in the public's eyes.Texaggie7nine said:
If the pics are from last night I'm not going to judge. Wed night would be a different story.
I've gone out bar hopping after horrible days at the office. Doesn't mean I'm ok with what happened at the office, just a way of coping.
That's the problem. Harden just doesn't care. You don't show up for game 6 and you know the fans are pissed off and the media is going to crush you because you acted like a quitter and don't care. Then you just fuel it by acting like you don't care after the game. Wait until the Weekend.
Would it be too much to ask for James to not look like he is having a great time right after choking again in the playoffs. I don't have a problem with him partying but last night was a bad look.
Can you imagine having to take a dump with a torn groin?
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