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JN61 wrote:He was a big ball stopper at start of the season. However I'm glad he is slowly learning to play with Westbrook, and allowing his game to come to him while not being such a ball stopper. He still does good handful of times total stopping of plays per game but it has significantly gone down. I hope he continues to rely on his teammates and take what offense gives to him (allow yourself to be assisted) + occasional dribble iso play.

Occasional dribble iso play.

No, the best iso player in the world shouldn't be doing just the occasional iso dribble play. Harden 1v1 versus any player is a mismatch in the Rockets favor, that's why teams double him every possession for multiple quarters.

Catchall wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:Harden is just a beast. How can you score 49 points while being forced to give the ball up so damn much lol.

Maybe because the Mavs didn't really play much defense?

You realize he does this to numerous teams right?

I wonder how good he would be if defenders felt like they could defend him without getting whistled. Even in today's soft defense game, Harden is awarded ridiculous freethrows for the most minor of contact.

He's got the best stepback jumper in the history of the NBA though

Dude really is crazy. The game is so effortless to him.

whenever i see harden playing basketball, i immediately change the channel. no interest in seeing him dribble for 24 seconds every possession down the floor.

so to be honest, i can't tell you whether he's good or not, i just know his game is so difficult to watch.

he's just as hated in his own city than he is on this board.

celticfan42487 wrote:The only thing that can stop James Harden is realizing it's the playoffs.

I don't know how anyone can make a statement like this, or that James Harden chokes, or that James Harden's style of play doesn't work in the playoffs etc... without realizing that the only team he's beat everyone else other than the Warriors since his superstar status was cemented. That's a 73-9 team that added a generational superstar. And like what has been said before, the Rockets were the only team to come close to beating them, and it took a CP3 injury in games 6 and 7 for them not to.

I feel like people like to believe things like you're saying because it's convenient and an easy way to hate on someone whose play style we all hate, but it's simply not the truth. If a 73-9 team that added a generational talent didn't exist and was merely a regularly elite team, I believe that both Cleveland and Houston would have at least one more championship to boast.

chuck_wagon44 wrote:whenever i see harden playing basketball, i immediately change the channel. no interest in seeing him dribble for 24 seconds every possession down the floor.

so to be honest, i can't tell you whether he's good or not, i just know his game is so difficult to watch.

he's just as hated in his own city than he is on this board.

First of all that's a wild exaggeration. Secondly, I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure Houston loves him. Why would there be any reason for them to hate him?

Tor_Raps wrote:

celticfan42487 wrote:The only thing that can stop James Harden is realizing it's the playoffs.

It's not like harden was losing to teams they were favoured against. They were losing to the most stacked teams of all time (Gstate with Durant) and giving them their hardest fought series of the entire playoffs.

When he starts choking like Westbrook and PG did the past few years then let's talk.

We gave them their hardest fought series last year. The Rockets didn't look that great actually.

I'm not a fan of his style. But he's a beast lol.. I think dude is better than Curry tbh.

somehow there will be people who will find a way to hate on him

can you imagine that? being forced to play off the ball and still scoring 49 points?

Metallikid wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:

celticfan42487 wrote:The only thing that can stop James Harden is realizing it's the playoffs.

It's not like harden was losing to teams they were favoured against. They were losing to the most stacked teams of all time (Gstate with Durant) and giving them their hardest fought series of the entire playoffs.

When he starts choking like Westbrook and PG did the past few years then let's talk.

We gave them their hardest fought series last year. The Rockets didn't look that great actually.

I meant when Durant was there playing. They still lost in 6 games last year but of course, no one can compare to the 2019 raps

Tor_Raps wrote:

Metallikid wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:
It's not like harden was losing to teams they were favoured against. They were losing to the most stacked teams of all time (Gstate with Durant) and giving them their hardest fought series of the entire playoffs.

When he starts choking like Westbrook and PG did the past few years then let's talk.

We gave them their hardest fought series last year. The Rockets didn't look that great actually.

I meant when Durant was there playing. They still lost in 6 games last year but of course, no one can compare to the 2019 raps

How could they give them their hardest fought series with Durant playing if they then got clobbered the last two games without Durant playing??

Metallikid wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:

Metallikid wrote:
We gave them their hardest fought series last year. The Rockets didn't look that great actually.

I meant when Durant was there playing. They still lost in 6 games last year but of course, no one can compare to the 2019 raps

How could they give them their hardest fought series with Durant playing if they then got clobbered the last two games without Durant playing??

The 2 years before last year when gstate won with Durant. They definitely screwed up in 2019 by not being able to beat them when Durant went out but that was only 1.5 games.

Just dont recall them losing any series they were favoured in. Losing to teams superior than you happens to almost every player. I guess AD, Giannis, Jokic, PG, Westbrook, Butler and so on should all be labeled chokers.

I used to hate watching Rockets games (I didn't watch very many) and I thought James Harden was a nuisance. I've since started watching more Rockets games since Westbrook joined.

It isn't nearly as bad as I thought, in fact he's actually fun to watch. His skill is ridiculous.

The only thing now that I find crappy about the Rockets is the fact that they can get absolutely destroyed on the boards. If they had a big man who could play D and stretch the floor (like a Serge Ibaka) there would be no stopping them.

Tor_Raps wrote:

Metallikid wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:
I meant when Durant was there playing. They still lost in 6 games last year but of course, no one can compare to the 2019 raps

How could they give them their hardest fought series with Durant playing if they then got clobbered the last two games without Durant playing??

The 2 years before last year when gstate won with Durant. They definitely screwed up in 2019 by not being able to beat them when Durant went out but that was only 1.5 games.

Just dont recall them losing any series they were favoured in. Losing to teams superior than you happens to almost every player. I guess AD, Giannis, Jokic, PG, Westbrook, Butler and so on should all be labeled chokers.

We only lost to LeBron but people routinely call us chokers pre-2019 despite being the 2nd best team in the conference with Lowry-DeRozan-Casey from 2016-2018. The Nets in 2014 was referred terribly against us and the experienced Nets were favoured by many despite being the lower seed. We had one terrible series vs. the Wizards in 2015. In reality Giannis, AD, Jokic, Westbrook are chokers, plenty more than the Raptors were.

I'm just going to say this now. More than any other player in the NBA, James Harden's all-time position would change the most if he is able to win a championship as 1A/1B.

Metallikid wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:

Metallikid wrote:
How could they give them their hardest fought series with Durant playing if they then got clobbered the last two games without Durant playing??

The 2 years before last year when gstate won with Durant. They definitely screwed up in 2019 by not being able to beat them when Durant went out but that was only 1.5 games.

Just dont recall them losing any series they were favoured in. Losing to teams superior than you happens to almost every player. I guess AD, Giannis, Jokic, PG, Westbrook, Butler and so on should all be labeled chokers.

We only lost to LeBron but people routinely call us chokers pre-2019 despite being the 2nd best team in the conference with Lowry-DeRozan-Casey from 2016-2018. The Nets in 2014 was referred terribly against us and the experienced Nets were favoured by many despite being the lower seed. We had one terrible series vs. the Wizards in 2015. In reality Giannis, AD, Jokic, Westbrook are chokers, plenty more than the Raptors were.

It was the fashion we were losing to Lebron. Getting swept after winning 60 games is choking. Having our 2 best players talk about lebrons greatness during the season just showed they didnt belong. Especially in 2018 when lebrons cast was horrible.

Catchall wrote:
Maybe because the Mavs didn't really play much defense?

Like Harden hasn't given everybody in the league that WORK?!

As a Jazz fan you should know first hand.

Tor_Raps wrote:

Metallikid wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:
The 2 years before last year when gstate won with Durant. They definitely screwed up in 2019 by not being able to beat them when Durant went out but that was only 1.5 games.

Just dont recall them losing any series they were favoured in. Losing to teams superior than you happens to almost every player. I guess AD, Giannis, Jokic, PG, Westbrook, Butler and so on should all be labeled chokers.

We only lost to LeBron but people routinely call us chokers pre-2019 despite being the 2nd best team in the conference with Lowry-DeRozan-Casey from 2016-2018. The Nets in 2014 was referred terribly against us and the experienced Nets were favoured by many despite being the lower seed. We had one terrible series vs. the Wizards in 2015. In reality Giannis, AD, Jokic, Westbrook are chokers, plenty more than the Raptors were.

It was the fashion we were losing to Lebron. Getting swept after winning 60 games is choking. Having our 2 best players talk about lebrons greatness during the season just showed they didnt belong. Especially in 2018 when lebrons cast was horrible.

We were reffed incredibly poorly against the Cavalier teams. There was a game we didn't get to the foul line until the fourth quarter. Game 1 of the 2018 series we got nothing down the stretch and lost by 1 or 2 and then Game 3 LeBron had to have a buzzer beater to beat us. In 2016 we did very well even if the last two games were blowouts. You can talk about the greatness of the literal greatest player of all time.