And Los Angeles too. The way he used Pau Gasol was so horrific to watch, he also bent the knee to Dwight Howard's ridiculous tantrum throwing about wanting to post up when he's the worst post player I've ever seen. Just about the only positive memory I have of D'Antoni in LA were a couple of crazy out of bounds plays, so I will give him credit for being good at drawing those up.
Small ball is good if your using speed and averaging 50 fb points a game, but if your going to run alot of iso/grind/layup and 3 pt only then you might as well get big players who can shoot 3s. That way atleast you can rebound and have better success when attacking the basket or getting offensive rebounds you can get more put back dunks with less chance of getting contested.
@@dox7681 He is NOT a low efficiency player lol, so wdym. Yes, when one team is so dependent on one player, they wont win. LeBron tried this in 2018, but it was clear that the East was just weak, because in 4 games, they were swept. Harden isn't asking to be ball-dominant, but Mike D'Antoni wants that. He should be a 27 point scorer with great defense, but instead, he's a 36 point scorer with too much of a load to play consistently in the playoffs, especially with tougher and more strategic defenses. Kobe vs. the Suns, which wasn't even that good of a defensive team, and Kobe played badly simply because he couldn't play consistently against more strategic defenses.
Everyone always takes that interview out of context. Kobe said that he didn't think that playing that way will win a chip, but he said because of Harden playing like that the Rockets have a chance. This was said during Harden's historic run after practically all of the other starters were injured and the rockets had started the season with a losing record. Harden did what he had to to get the team into the playoffs and at a high seed. Kobe specified that the way Harden played for that run was important for the Rockets to get to the play-offs.
Chris Paul was honestly their best player. Man was injured 19, so people assumed he had aged instead of recovering. If they just kept the course, they would have destroyed the lakers.
Really, ruined his career? Rebuild? No need to blow up anything, and what do you get back for Harden and Russ? How do you rebuild, now? Also, you brought up Marc Gasol and Paul Millsap? Nate McMillan or Marc Jackson as replacements? Bruh. No need to be so extreme.. Look at the offense and coach, like you said, that's the problem. This year the game plan was to hit 20+ 3s a game. The % was irrelevant for the most part. The offense is stagnant and gets stopped very easily. Not to mention, the 3s came when the game was already over. They're trying to do what the Warriors did, but with a very one dimensional offense. It's pathetic how little movement there is off the ball. Harden needs to get his mid-range game back, so he can make quicker decisions and switch gears quickly. A consistent floater would be great. He also needs to move off ball, along with everyone else, to get easier buckets. Look at Kawhi, and his 3 level scoring, which keeps his offense unpredictable and gives him many moves to go to for quicker decisions. He doesn't allow himself to get doubled teamed so easily and often. More runners, stop n pops, catch n shoots, cutting and even posting up sometimes. Switch it the fuck up, man! Look at Kawhi and Booker's offense and try to emulate something like that. Russell needs screens and pick n rolls to get better match ups on the move, like Rondo, and every other good point guard, gets. Also off ball movement, keeps the defense in flux, which opens driving lanes. The 4 other Rockets just stand around when he gets the ball. Hell, Russ needs to be the primary ball handler, with everyone else moving to get shots and screening for him. He's not a great shooter, so him playing off the ball, is stupid, when Harden is the better off ball player (or at least he played elite of the ball in years prior). It's just a pathetically one note offense, that's easily stifled because they choose to let that happen. They need to fire MDA, and get a coach that actually has a dynamic offense and can get his stars to buy in. Also, after this season, Harden should be stripped of his influence so that the new coach can get/force him to expand his offensive game, with the backing of the (new?) GM and owner. No more just step-backs, long dribbling and/or free throws only. Try to pick up Boogie or Baynes in the off-season, for the second unit to play with Russ for better pick n roll play. Hire a coach, like David Joerger, who can adjust his offenses depending on the players on the floor, while still pushing the pace. He's also great on defense, so that could help with adjustments on defense, too.
They don’t want pick and rollers, they literally had Clint. The point is that they do not have enough cap space to sign anyone that’s going to turn this team around, they don’t have enough trade assets to trade for someone that’s going to turn this team around and they don’t have draft picks.
@@loro2614 They may be able to get Baynes or Boogie for the vet minimum. Clint doesn't work because he's offensively inept. Same thing is happening with Drummond.
I'ma assume Stephen curry is the biggest name that ended hardens career 2015 cf 2016 quarter finals 2017 bounced vs spurs without kawhi or tp 2018 lost up 3-2 2019 lost games 5/6 when warriors had no KD
That’s the most idiotic statement I have ever heard... The golden state literally motto is “ strength in numbers” Curry playing with KD Klay Green and Elite supporting cast... he was never the favorite and he made us believe he would beat them just off of his greatness...
Dude goes off 3 straight games vs the Nuggets the 3rd seed but we still bashing him for 3 bad games before? Its just funny how untalented losers actually bash players lol.
Gary Woods To be fair he has been injured in every playoffs since that series vs Lebron when he was on the Pacers. He also started off lightly injured this playoffs. How do people actually know that a player is actually playing injured and still bash them for actually playing through it instead of sitting out meaning they dont perform like they normally do?
Demarcus Cousins 3rd Cousin okc is a better defensive team than Utah and Denver. And they had a guy in dort could be left on Harden 1 on 1. Which nobody else has
but does harden wanna be coached? i always get the impression he wants to do his own thing. no shade, but if could co-exist with cp3 they would have a better chance... also they gave a lot away in that trade
They should try and sign Cousins if he can get to 60% of what he was he will be a good big man who can space the floor but also play in the post and be a body for the big men they play and if that doesn’t work blow it up. Also Cousin is there best option because he will get a minimum and they have to pretty much pay all there signings the minimum
@king kingin it doesn't even matter at this point, harden and russ both making 40M a year jus to play like shit in the playoffs. Im a rockets fan im used to this shit lmao, we don't even had any good trade assets
So how is russ supposed to play with capela clogging in the paint in the first place they should have kept cp3 and not trading capela but their offense and defense was not that good when capela on the floor but it does make sense for trading him but their biggest mistake was trading cp3 for russ
Small ball can still work, Rockets didn’t have enough depth and Russ had 2 awful games and Harden had one awful game. For small ball to work you pretty much can’t have an too many off night from shooting, the Rockets crumbled in the 4th multiple times.
That's kind of what I was thinking. You won't get a lot, but you will get different. Maybe a guy like Dort shows up. I would have kept House if he hadn't proved to be a clown.
Yesterday I've watched a Rockets game from 2013 when Houston had Jeremy Lin in the line-up. Harden played great off ball and still managed to score 45 points or so. He had a great game but the game was a lot more fluid than this recent years's Rockets. The problem here is management and coaching. The Rockets can sign a guy like Aaron Baynes and still have Westbrook attacking the basket. The Rockets need to develop a mid-range strategy too. Watch players like Kawhi, Murray and Jokic operate. They are almost unguardable because they can hurt you from anywhere on the court. The problem here is strategy and lack of a multi-dimentional approach to the game.
THANK YOU! D’Antoni and Morey are the problem, Harden has a lot of playoff failures, but he has had playoff success. D’Antoni 27 missing 3s should have told him and Morey to allow his offense to have some flexibility to this roster, instead he doubles down and make the roster even more reliant on the offense. And Morey just pandered to D’Antoni and couldn’t have a spine to say this roster isn’t it. And now he has the potential to mess up the Pelicans?
Sim Singh to be honest 2017 and 2015 was the only time you can properly blame Harden. He was in a position of poor coaching, poor luck, or was just flat out on a poor team. And even in 2015 though he played flat it at the end of the day was the Rockets vs the 1st seed and eventual champion warriors.
@Sim Singh You're casual if they are missing 3s the coach would need to adjust to have better plays for easy baskets. They missed 27 3s in a row bc the coach kept pushing them to keep shooting.
Its both the front office and hardens fault... Harden just idk if he can win. Just because you average 30+ don't mean anything in the playoffs. I think harden is part of the problem. If you really look at the numbers harden takes way to many shots. We act like Howard was falling off. Which he did partially because of a back injury. But he was actually doing well for how many shots he even got.. Harden got all the shots.. Howard wasnt actually to blame.. he was a superstar before his injury and playing with harden. Just watch swishouts video. Harden is actually the problem. He wants to play how he wants to play. And thats where the coaching is at fault. Then another fault for James harden and the coaches is that he does nothing but stand around when he doesn't have the ball. Why curry will always be a step above him. Not a warriors fan btw.. raptors fan. A lot of nba guys that haven't won a championship dont know to do this. If your running around off ball it makes it so much easier for your team and yourself. Puts pressure on the defense more then you would think. Kd after joining the golden state warriors learned things like this for the first time. And he has actually said that he thought he knew how to play basketball until he joined the warriors. As a guard he has to do things off ball. Not just stand there. Then just the isos. Its great entertaining basketball I cant lie. But idk if that wins a championship. You cant just iso and try to get ref calls to win in the playoffs. It will only get you so far. The only reason I actually think he is as good as he is at it is because he has been doing it for years on the rockets. Nobody else is really doing that. And of course if your just running isos for years your gonna get pretty good at it. Same with ref calls. Idk to me anymore I see harden as the modern day Carmelo Anthony. Great player and deserves respect. But if things are not working you gotta switch it up. Why Melo was out of the league before he actually should have been. Wanted to play his old game and not the way the coaches wanted him to when he isnt a superstar anymore. Wasnt even the 1 number on okc. Hardens gonna be a number 1 guy but whenever he gets older and falls off and isn't the number 1 option. I just have the feeling if he doesn't change the same thing might happen to him unless he changes just like Melo. And I dont think there's anybody you could really bring on the rockets to help him because of his style of play.
That’s why the Lakers are so dangerous. Nobody expected them to utilize Morris like that, but I’m sure the Lakers knew he’d be a secret weapon. The Rockets were purposely trying to avoid taking the 3rd from Denver because they felt they had a really good chance to upset the Lakers, and if they played the same big rotations with Dwight and JaVale, it just might’ve happened. The construction of the Rockets rotation essentially meant that they had no way to adjust, and D’Antoni was never going to adjust his system
The "small" ball starting lineup for the lakers included heights of: 6'9" A.D. 6'8" M. Morris 6'7" LBJ 6'6" D. Green 6'4" KCP Thats how you do successful small ball lol
SPACE•TIME i think d’antoni cant make those crucial adjustments that a team needs, lakers adapted after game 1 and thats what won them the series. harden is only a player, he is what the coach makes him out to be.
Not to be a dick to low but he only had to watch like 1 game from the Toronto Celtics series to know how to pronounce it properly. It's not like Theis was played only 5 mins lol.
No they didn't quit, throughout the series they kept running the same scheme which was pretty obvious that Lakers have figured out, it must have been so depressing for them to go with same style knowing that it is highly unlikely to work against the Lakers, which leads us to mention D' Antoni's inability to make adjustments. He insisted on the same play style while it was pretty obvious that it is not going to work and that might have been frustrating to the players
This would have helped with protecting the rim but Turner is not a good high-volume three-point shooter. Indiana tried to turn him into a stretch big but his numbers have gone way down. He is not a real stretch C.
Its not Mike Dan and Toni's fault... its not Darrell moreys fault... Its the cheap ass owner... he fired all of dantoni assistant coaches, forced morey to trade for westbrook, didn't want to go over the cap like the warriors when they were close
As a diehard James Harden fan since Arizona St. days, this may be the GREATEST Harden/Rockets analysis video ever made. Props for actually analyzing what went wrong instead of resorting to calling Harden a choker and ballhog like every Harden hater does. And yes, I totally agree with you, greats like Jordan, Kobe and even the Warriors did have bad performance stretches but the difference between them and Harden is their versatility and willingness to step up and change their game instead of live and die by the same game like Harden and D'Antoni do. 2016 WCF Game 6 is a perfect example of how Steph Curry was willing to set his ego aside and give Klay Thompson the keys to the offense so they could WIN. Harden and D'Antoni would never do that. They'd rather have Harden continuously stepback his way to a loss than adjust. This is why all time greats have rings and Harden has none.
y’all acting like Harden didn’t want Westbrook😭. he played one of the biggest roles in Westbrook getting traded and he did really good without a center they just couldn’t win cause their shooters were inconsistent a lot
@@garygoated5295 2017 warriors- 6 foot 3 (not particularly small) Klay thompson 6 foot 6 (avg height) Kevin durant 6 foot 11 ( basically a center height) draymond green 6 foot 6 (small) zaza 6foot 11 (avg height) Point is only one position was below avg so that wasnt the case
The fact that rockets BLEWWW their chances in 2018/2019 was beyond me. Should've made it to the finals..sucks to see D'Antoni always in a rut, looks like the suns gonna be the new big team in the country next season!
That moment when James harden could’ve been in the last 3 finals but didn’t cause he played poorly but the blame still goes to his coach who’s just a puppet for daryl morry
@Master Mind cut the bullshit Hakeem wasnt guarding jordan, aka AD of this era(obviously better but you catch my drift) kawhi beat a 60 percent warriors team. kobe had shaq, aka the most dominant big of all time who won 3 fmvps the 3 years they played together, and is also the all time bricked shot leader so i don't wanna hear that either. stop comparing eras.
@Master Mind The biggest issue is obviously harden. Harden is the biggest fraud in nba history as harden is too heavily relied on refs' whistle. Harden's constant flopping and rule manipulation while playing no D will never win. But worst of all, harden's selfishness, ball hogging, isolation and disengagement without the ball has always been killing the team. That was why CP3 asked d'antoni to bench harden whenever cp3 was on the floor. Even howard called harden out for his selfishness as howard was having his career worst by playing with harden. Even mchale called harden out for being uncoachable and lack of leadership
YBG Boys How on earth is that an argument? Other superstars don’t get doubled every possession because they are good enough to adapt and beat it. When Harden gets doubled he only does two things, first being an instant pass where he’ll then continue to make no off ball movement and stand still for the rest of the possession unless he gets the ball back. The other is a quick shot before the double which is a terrible shot. He can’t adapt and he’s too lazy to change the way he plays, the responsibility isn’t all on him for the series but him and MDA need to take the lions share.
... James Harden wanted to play like this to win an MVP because of the incentives in his Adidas contract and insists on playing this way and calling himself an MVP every year even though we know he tires out every year of the playoffs. He could've worked it out with Chris and brought back that off ball action he used to go in OKC, but he doesn't want to. Any time the ball is out his hands he just stands there. Less iso and more off ball action would empower his teammates and get him more easy buckets. He wants to play this style, he didn't want Chris as a teammate, and the Rockets (understandably cuz he's their #1 acquisition since T Mac) enable him. This is *his* team. The results are on him. That doesn't mean he's not great. Not all great players win championships but he doesn't need ppl making excuses for him doing exactly what he wants.
very good video. Coming from a rockets fan its nice to see someone who knows what theyre talking about rather than talking shit on Harden when they've probably never watched a Rockets game. you hit all that spot on
Wtf is this guy talking about. 1st of all who taught James Harden to iso for 3 quarters then go dead in the 4th? Who taught him to not involve his team in the offense then not involve himself on defense? What coach let's Harden do wtf he wants on the court?
He averaged 29 before Dantoni came and got robbed for MVP in 2015 and he wasn't even in his prime yet. He would of been a prolific scorer with or without Dantoni
Dantoni actually made him worse. Harden is capable of scoring at all 3 levels but Dantoni's system mostly regulated him to contested 3s and layups, completing forgoing his mid-range game.
I don’t really believe that’s true to this degree. 1. Curry was the best player on an explosion team I’d argue that’s worth the MVP especially as we all know who curry is. Harden has benefited from space massively. It puts the man defender in a lose lose every time. This is because there is no help. You must stop the drive but the shot will also kill you. He would be an incredible scorer but D’antoni systems turn great offensive players into GOAT material in the regular season. Just it doesn’t work in the playoffs
Capela is a perfect fit already, also microball is good in a one game because it has surprises , but it is ineffective in a series ... They have to let Go of Russell Westbrook along with Danuel House (I would rather keep JH) Say for F Aaron Gordon 6'9 F Evan Fournier. 6'7 G Terrence Ross. 6'5 1st Round Pick Not pretty, but might work. Harden - Gordon Pick n Roll would seem nice and Fournier can provide offense of the bench. Orlando gets a Star and him with Vucevic and Isaac is promising ( might be a win-win situation for Magic) Then Eric Gordon for Jordan Clarkson Hopefully they could get a rim roller like Kevin Looney...
Then So .: G HARDEN. 6'5 G CLARKSON. 6'5 C LOONEY. 6'9 F COVINGTON. 6'7 F GORDON 6'9 G RIVERS. 6'3 G MCLEMORE 6'3 G ROSS. 6'5 C CHANDLER. 6'11 F TUCKER. 6'5 F FOURNIER. 6'7 F GREEN. 6'9
Nobody ruined Harden’s career but Harden. The minute he decided to play that disgusting style of “basketball” with the flopping and foul hunting over just trying to score like he easily can without the antics he sealed his fate. The basketball gods don’t take kindly to that stuff 😛 and players around the league give special effort to stopping it as well. Name another star that’s played the same way and won it all, go ahead I’ll wait.
Weezy Across the Sea In both of all of Jordan’s and Iverson’s seasons at the top of the league in scoring, they were always in the top ten of free throws taken, drawing fouls slows down the game, but it’s a strategy, and Jordan and Iverson proved that it works.
The basketball gods don't seem to care that much when literally every other star does it. Including Lebron. It's free points, if you're on D don't give your opponent the option to get free points. It's not a proud part of the game but it's smart IQ.
If D'Antoni leaves, you don't need to trade everyone. Get in the new coach and new system, and see what he/she can do with them and what the new system needs to work. The Warriors were almost the same roster of players, going from Coach Jackson to Coach Kerr, but they instantly won a championship. If they keep D'Antoni then the Rockets must at least get an assistant coach who can make adjustments over a playoff series since Coach Mike certainly can not.
Don't remember watching one of your videos before; however, I love your analysis, your dept of insight into the game, and your ability to communicate it effectively. I have become a fan of your blog for real. Looking forward to watching more of your stuff in the near future.
Daryl Morey has been the demise of your franchise over the last decade. Not to say he didn’t make some good deals and acquisitions, but he was way too committed to his own MoreyBall philosophy and he prioritized making Harden happy over all else
Look at the East. Celtics vs Heat, before the playoffs, everyone expected Bucks would reach the Finals to face one of the LA teams. Now I'm hoping for a Celtics vs Lakers finals
I'm a lifelong Rockets fan, but I was never the biggest fan of James Harden. But in this season, he has really improved his defense, and I now find myself wanting to defend his play from negative criticism. I think he really put in a lot of effort on both sides of the ball, especially during this postseason. He was out there guarding everyone: from Steven Adams to Lebron James. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the switch everything defense, but he mostly stood his ground when put to the test. And I agree that our offense has been very predictable these last few years: mostly relying on Harden's offensive brilliance to carry us. Then when we traded Capela, we took a huge part of Harden's game away: the pick and roll. No one on our team is a threat on the roll, which is frustrating because the pick and roll is the most run play in the game and for good reason. Teams are able to create a lot of advantages when running this basic play. As for the coaching, I also agree that we needed a change. I don't understand how Mike D'Antoni is known as an offensive genius. I havent't seen it during his time with the Rockets. Much of that may have to do with our front office. Maybe they see the stats, which say Harden's iso numbers are so good, that we want to base our entire offense on that. That may work in the regular season, but during the postseason, it's all about making adjustments. In order to make these adjustments, you need a versatile roster, and the Rockets just don't have that. I agree. This team just has a bunch of specialists. On the other hand, it has been so much fun to watch these last four teams in the playoffs. All are well-coached and play great team basketball. At the end of the day, I don't see the Rockets moving on from Westbrook and Harden. Westbrook was actually playing pretty well in the regular season. He carried our team when Harden struggled, and he did seem pretty rusty coming back from his injury and Covid. I saw some trade ideas, and I think one of them makes a lot of sense: trading for Al Horford. He doesn't seem to fit with Philly's other big guys. Perhaps we can send Gordon and Covington for Al Horford. He can shoot enough to space the court, and his defense and leadership has always been talked about. I'd love to see some sets with him up at the top of key orchestrating the offense with Harden and Westbrook cutting and screening. Oh how I'd celebrate seeing at least one different type of play from our team. Lastly, thanks for the video.
A decision based on rigorous statistical analysis, actually. Imagine that same rockets team with steph and klay instead of james and westbrick. Would've gone to a game 7 imo, perhaps winning the series.
@@mambaASI what is you dumb you know houstoun dosent play off ball and has NO plays curry adn klay are really good off ball players dantoni would just make them iso and no midrange and who is you?
@@omarosman3390 Don't need to play off ball. Don't need midrange. Curry can iso and pass, not as well as harden but definitely good enough. And when you have two 40% 3pt shooters instead of a 35% (harden) and 25% (westbrick) you're probably gonna win way more games in a 3pt shooting system like dantoni's.
Felt weirdly sad about how he went out in the second round; he’s such a supremely great player that I hope he can somehow win a wing before his career ends.
The only person who's ruined James Harden's career is James Harden. He's impossible to play with. He's probably the greatest player in league history who's never going to win a championship. How is the coach supposed to make a change to help harden when he's already built the entire team and small ball experiment around james harden and it still doesn't work?
Hea so called impossible to work because of how the coaching system uses him. They want him to be ball dominant, they want to iso. Thats there game plan. Mike dis the same thing with nash and kobe. So its not all on Harden
D'Antoni is a good coach... look he faced, a prime Spurs team in 05-06, no way Nash and Amare beating them.. In NY he faced the big 3 in Boston (2010).. and as Houston's coach he had the Warriors (took them to 7 and almost won) and most recently the Lakers in the way... He's basically the Karl Malone/Charles Barkley of coaches
@Miguel Caliguiran and when they were missing all those 3s, if they suddenly started sinkin them, then what. They would've got the dub.. that's not dantoni fault.. they live and die by the three. That was there bread and butter all season and they weren't fixn to just stop shooting after a few shots... And they we're winning at the half of game 7. Should've been champions hoenslty. Again, went cold. Not necessarily dantoni fault. Its pretty messed up if they win, it's the players, if they lose, it's the coach and GM??
No. I’ve been a Rockets fan my entire life and have seen Dantoni fail to make proper adjustments or even try to do anything except chuck the ball up from deep for the past several years. He’s amazing at getting those stats up in the regular season and making Harden look good but when it matters most and our players fail to make the shots, he doesn’t do anything and runs the exact same play over and over again not even trying.
@Miguel Caliguiran I knew u were gonna say pop..... Pop had the best PF of all time! And 4 HOF throughout their whole careers... Take that away and look at him.. nada.. Spo is good. I'll give u that.. dude from boston alright too.. dallas coach is good.. dantoni will thrive wherever he's at tho. If he had what pop had hed be considered one of the "greats" too
This is the rockets fault, they force harden to control everything on the offense.passing, scoring,creating plays,EVERYTHING. This is why they need a player like Chris Paul who could take some of the pressure off of Harden on those tasks, and look how far they made it. If they just let harden focus more on his defense and got a point guard like Chris, they are easily championship material.
Couldn’t agree more. Maybe Morey was scared of Harden leaving like other star demanding trades recently, but to me he raised a spoiled superstar who always gets what he wants.
And Lebron left because they didnt do what he wanted... times have changed.. Players wishes need to be attended to or theyll leave.. Pretty much started with Lebron
Yes but why didn’t they do what he wanted? LeBron wanted them to trade their picks in 2018 to get him some role player help. They didn’t want to do that unless LeBron committed to re-signing in Cleveland and he wouldn’t agree to that. That’s why they ended up trading for Nance, Clarkson, Hood, and Hill. It was a mix of role player help and young talent to help them move forward if/when LeBron left, plus they didn’t give up any picks. THAT is how you run a franchise and it’s crazy that the Cavs of all teams can understand that but the Rockets can’t. You can only do so much to try and please your superstar. Sometimes it’s best to let them go if they want to. Though it may not seem like it, everything started going downhill for the Rockets when they fired McHale. Not that McHale was the best coach ever but he wasn’t fired because of bad coaching, he was fired because he was really critical of Harden as a player and leader. Firing McHale showed they valued Harden’s emotions over true success and it’s a similar situation to when they traded CP3
yup, james harden's teammates only has to practice 2 things, passing and learning how to watch and trying not to sleep on the court. they just have to pass it to harden and pretend that they are moving because seldom that they will get the ball back.
daryl morey is another guy to be blamed because he and d'antoni insisted and believed that their small ball style will succeed, their logic is shooting more 3's is better than shooting 2's
Man im an old head mj dude. Harden is my favorite player now. I like the experiment these guys did. Harden just needed a real player next to him. Hope Houston finds one
Good assessment. Just wanted to say I appreciate your perspective. I think you get a lot right, and add a bit more perspective that a lot of other channels.
This is a really interesting video. This is the difference between hot takes and thinking about content. I'm not a fan of the team or players and I was completely invested in what you had to say. Great stuff as always.
Hot takes in video: Blow up the roster, Sign Marc Jackson or Nate McMillan as a head coach, don't listen to your players in a player driven league, finding a 3&D player is difficult, and "Westbrook is sharply declining".
@@UncleJrueForTue A hot take would be: How to fix the Rockets? Trade X and/or Fire Y. None of what was said in your examples was an attempt to fix said issue in title of video but rather used as a frame work to expand on those ideas. Given that he broke down how you can't really blow the team up due to a lack of value, the coach isn't the largest issue because of the pieces/ownership, finding a 3+D player on the market isn't as much as a hard take as it is a statement of fact (cap space, talent, etc. Some players were also mentioned), he never said don't listen to your players (nice strawman hot take there), but if you want to say the Westbrook comment is a hot take to solve the videos problems, then yes. The video is one large hot take on Westbrook not working. But considering the length that's not a hot take. But hey... you tried.
Daryl Morey is the problem with his computer based logic. I'm a Laker fan and that was hard to watch. Analytics ain't everything. Analytics said Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best defender in the NBA when AD is killing everyone.
I believe D’Antoni is the biggest reason, every player has bad games his lack of versatility is the reason they almost always lose, and I don’t think Daryl Morey is too at fault here because most likely he only made the roster this way because D’Antoni and Harden wanted it that way
Just spitballing here: What if they traded Westbrook, a salary filler and a second round pick or two (do they have any left?) for, say, Blake Griffin and Luke Kennard, and then move Harden to the point guard position? Assuming Griffin and Kennard are as healthy as they claim, Houston gets two more above 3 point shooters with some playmaking ability (and I think Houston could use that spread out playmaking for an offense that needs to start utilizing Harden more offball so they're less predictable come playoff time, which would also mean Harden would actually have to be doing more things offball than the standing around he currently does), and their salaries can be dumped off their books sooner than Westbrook's if the experiment blows up in their faces. They also get a guy who could have some potential as a small-ball center for them in Griffin. Meanwhile the Pistons get a fairly good point guard to run their offense for the first time in over a decade (at the very least he'd be the best PG they've had since Isiah), some draft capital for their rebuild (which they could keep or package with another deal), and maybe sell some more tickets next season (of course this would also necessitate them trading other guys like Rose and Snell's expiring contract that should have some value at some point in the season, and supposedly they're planning to re-sign Wood with an exception while targeting Ingram in free agency, so this move could possibly fit right into their plans to attempt a quick/rolling rebuild). Again, just spitballing, haven't put a ton of thought into this idea.
@@bluesrockfan36 modern positionless basketball is weird, ok? Playing alongside guys like Paul and Westbrook but still being the main playmaker/offensive hub - I guess I'm saying i'd have him stop running so many iso's and trying to get his shot when he's on-ball and work more to get his teammates involved like he was before Dantoni came in when I say move him to PG. Essentially, have him split the differnece between how he plays now and how he played under his pre-Dantoni coaches. Plus he's still technically listed as a SG, and if they did get Kennard, they'd want to bring him into the rotation as more of a traditional SG anyways (thats how he's spent the last few years playing, wouldn't want to throw him off by asking him to be the one to change when Harden has shown a high degree of adaptability over the course of his career), which would necessitate a change in Harden's current playstyle.
@@loro2614 that's what the picks would be for, essentially, since even though Detroit gets the PG they need and out from under Griffin's seemingly untradable contract, they're getting a guy who's just as old (but with less injury worry, i'd argue) who costs more more per year for one more year. But Kennard has had (admittedly not super bad) tendinitis issues with both knees the past couple years, he's on the bubble of fitting in with the timeline of a more traditional term rebuild, and he's going to command a fairly large salary extension if his knees do hold up (which could lead to overpaying a roleplayer in the midst of a rebuild - not ideal), hence those picks being second round. It still kind of works out for both team tho - if Kennard does work out for Houston, they're exactly the kind of team willing to use his Bird rights to sign him to a big contract regardless of the salary already on the books, and Detroit kind of already has Kennard's replacement ready to go - Svi was a more efficient 3-point shooter who showed he deserves more attempts next season, he's a better defender than Kennard, he's several years younger, and he gets his buckets with a lower usage rate (which is perfect if they do pull off bringing in Westbrook and Ingram while retaining the also low-usage Wood). Svi also has the size to slot up to the 3 for small-ball line-ups, allowing the defense-oriented, improving 3-pt shooting Brown to slot in at the 2.
@@dmore454 If you have Harden stop running iso and move off ball ala Curry, you have one of the best PG in the league that can find him in Westbrook. I wouldn't trade him at all. Much less for Griffin glass bones.
Bruh it isnt his fault its dantonis fault that he made the offense the way it was, Harden was capable of playing off ball but dantoni didnt make the offense that way
Caruso really has some solid roll players around him. James and Davis really performed this series
Yeah finally Danny green got some help. He was carrying the lakers for so long.
Jared Dudley finally getting some support
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😑
Notice how he said roll players , could be pick n roll players or role players..i like how he made me think
Underrated comment.
I’m still in shock that the Celtics beat Patrick Mcaw. Not even the Warriors could do that
Someone needs to interview ask him what’s it like to actually not make it to the finals for once
@@tjlevey378 that doesn't even make sense LeBron made the finals more in a row than Mcaw
@@debrahoffman4673 but lebron didnt do a three peat
@@debrahoffman4673 lebron didn't make the finals until year 4, mccaw 3peated from his rookie year
he was hurt
"When are we gonna discuss D'Antoni's lack of adjustments?"
What got him fired from PHX/NY?
And Los Angeles too. The way he used Pau Gasol was so horrific to watch, he also bent the knee to Dwight Howard's ridiculous tantrum throwing about wanting to post up when he's the worst post player I've ever seen. Just about the only positive memory I have of D'Antoni in LA were a couple of crazy out of bounds plays, so I will give him credit for being good at drawing those up.
His small ball philosophy isn't effective in any era
Good point!
Small ball is good if your using speed and averaging 50 fb points a game, but if your going to run alot of iso/grind/layup and 3 pt only then you might as well get big players who can shoot 3s. That way atleast you can rebound and have better success when attacking the basket or getting offensive rebounds you can get more put back dunks with less chance of getting contested.
@@bobyoung3857 or if harden averages 40
Kobe warned James Harden that style of play is fun and can get you a couple games but it doesn’t win rings.
Harden did change, and he put a lot more effort on defense. The team was just built wrong
Yes yes we all know, everyones been stating this all over social media
@@dox7681 He is NOT a low efficiency player lol, so wdym. Yes, when one team is so dependent on one player, they wont win. LeBron tried this in 2018, but it was clear that the East was just weak, because in 4 games, they were swept. Harden isn't asking to be ball-dominant, but Mike D'Antoni wants that. He should be a 27 point scorer with great defense, but instead, he's a 36 point scorer with too much of a load to play consistently in the playoffs, especially with tougher and more strategic defenses. Kobe vs. the Suns, which wasn't even that good of a defensive team, and Kobe played badly simply because he couldn't play consistently against more strategic defenses.
Everyone always takes that interview out of context. Kobe said that he didn't think that playing that way will win a chip, but he said because of Harden playing like that the Rockets have a chance. This was said during Harden's historic run after practically all of the other starters were injured and the rockets had started the season with a losing record. Harden did what he had to to get the team into the playoffs and at a high seed. Kobe specified that the way Harden played for that run was important for the Rockets to get to the play-offs.
Eventually he changed his playing style and won two more chips and harden been bad in the playoffs for awhile now
Rockets need a guy like Chris Paul😳
Not sure if cp3 would help them get over the hump. Maybe if they had a super athletic point guard that can get a lot of triple doubles
They blew that
@@Robertedwinhouse38 LMAO
He’ll be a laker next year .. just wait and see
Johnatan Blackman I think the bucks might trade for him lowkey
2018 was 'golden' chance for this team.
true, but they missed 27 straight 3s, if only they were like 2019 raps
If they just made 3 of those 27 they would have won
If cp3 didn’t get injured, they win game 6 of the 2018 wcf
good pun
I Zang refs took away some 3s that were made
No because when he had Chris Paul who was trying to preach ball movement harden didn’t want to do that so it’s on harden
Yea, Harden is static off-ball.
The greatest vapid scorer ever. Along side with the greatest vapid combo guard triple doubler ever.
Chris Paul was honestly their best player. Man was injured 19, so people assumed he had aged instead of recovering. If they just kept the course, they would have destroyed the lakers.
medinaw94 u high?
@@medinaw94 destroy in 2k or where =))))))
Really, ruined his career? Rebuild? No need to blow up anything, and what do you get back for Harden and Russ? How do you rebuild, now? Also, you brought up Marc Gasol and Paul Millsap? Nate McMillan or Marc Jackson as replacements? Bruh. No need to be so extreme.. Look at the offense and coach, like you said, that's the problem.
This year the game plan was to hit 20+ 3s a game. The % was irrelevant for the most part. The offense is stagnant and gets stopped very easily. Not to mention, the 3s came when the game was already over.
They're trying to do what the Warriors did, but with a very one dimensional offense. It's pathetic how little movement there is off the ball. Harden needs to get his mid-range game back, so he can make quicker decisions and switch gears quickly. A consistent floater would be great. He also needs to move off ball, along with everyone else, to get easier buckets. Look at Kawhi, and his 3 level scoring, which keeps his offense unpredictable and gives him many moves to go to for quicker decisions. He doesn't allow himself to get doubled teamed so easily and often. More runners, stop n pops, catch n shoots, cutting and even posting up sometimes. Switch it the fuck up, man! Look at Kawhi and Booker's offense and try to emulate something like that.
Russell needs screens and pick n rolls to get better match ups on the move, like Rondo, and every other good point guard, gets. Also off ball movement, keeps the defense in flux, which opens driving lanes. The 4 other Rockets just stand around when he gets the ball. Hell, Russ needs to be the primary ball handler, with everyone else moving to get shots and screening for him. He's not a great shooter, so him playing off the ball, is stupid, when Harden is the better off ball player (or at least he played elite of the ball in years prior).
It's just a pathetically one note offense, that's easily stifled because they choose to let that happen.
They need to fire MDA, and get a coach that actually has a dynamic offense and can get his stars to buy in. Also, after this season, Harden should be stripped of his influence so that the new coach can get/force him to expand his offensive game, with the backing of the (new?) GM and owner. No more just step-backs, long dribbling and/or free throws only.
Try to pick up Boogie or Baynes in the off-season, for the second unit to play with Russ for better pick n roll play.
Hire a coach, like David Joerger, who can adjust his offenses depending on the players on the floor, while still pushing the pace. He's also great on defense, so that could help with adjustments on defense, too.
they have no mid range game and very predictable plays, this is why theyre easy to defend
They don’t want pick and rollers, they literally had Clint. The point is that they do not have enough cap space to sign anyone that’s going to turn this team around, they don’t have enough trade assets to trade for someone that’s going to turn this team around and they don’t have draft picks.
@Miguel Caliguiran but harden doesnt get hot anymore, he just gets tired and slows down. doubt he will be dominant at 35
This is the perfect answer to all of this 👌
@@loro2614 They may be able to get Baynes or Boogie for the vet minimum. Clint doesn't work because he's offensively inept. Same thing is happening with Drummond.
I'ma assume Stephen curry is the biggest name that ended hardens career
2015 cf
2016 quarter finals
2017 bounced vs spurs without kawhi or tp
2018 lost up 3-2
2019 lost games 5/6 when warriors had no KD
The whole warriors were the agony of us rockets fans not just steph
That’s the most idiotic statement I have ever heard...
The golden state literally motto is
“ strength in numbers”
Curry playing with KD Klay Green and Elite supporting cast...
he was never the favorite and he made us believe he would beat them just off of his greatness...
kawhi was there, just he wasn't there in game 6
Pretty much. Its crazy that Steph also plays the complete opposite of Harden too
"Ended hardens career" Lmao okay 😂
No one:
Paul George: “I still think we’re in the driver’s seat” 🤣🤣
Pandemic P is definitely showing up in game 7
It was a bad shot..
Dude goes off 3 straight games vs the Nuggets the 3rd seed but we still bashing him for 3 bad games before?
Its just funny how untalented losers actually bash players lol.
@@Herosennin to be fair he's shrank every year in the playoffs. Paul George turns into George Paul or Playoff/Pandemic P lol
Gary Woods To be fair he has been injured in every playoffs since that series vs Lebron when he was on the Pacers. He also started off lightly injured this playoffs.
How do people actually know that a player is actually playing injured and still bash them for actually playing through it instead of sitting out meaning they dont perform like they normally do?
If you have zero big men you have zero chances to win a title. It's still basketball
Only the media thought the rockets had chance
I think they could beat anyone besides the Lakers
they went up against the Lakers.... they have a chance against anybody else..
@@greatnesspersonified3305 they barely beat OKC and I wouldn't favor them over Denver or Utah
Demarcus Cousins 3rd Cousin okc is a better defensive team than Utah and Denver. And they had a guy in dort could be left on Harden 1 on 1. Which nobody else has
but does harden wanna be coached? i always get the impression he wants to do his own thing. no shade, but if could co-exist with cp3 they would have a better chance... also they gave a lot away in that trade
I mean it seems he really played within D’Antoni/ Morey’s style, threes, layups, no mid range., etc, etc
Harden before D’antoni was a different player, he was a wing cutter, theres a lot of okc highlights and early rockets where he did that.
dimo he took a lot of melo-like congested midrange shots too
Matt M exactly, he is really good with the fadeaway mid range shots.
personally i think they would be in the finals if they didnt trade cp3
They should try and sign Cousins if he can get to 60% of what he was he will be a good big man who can space the floor but also play in the post and be a body for the big men they play and if that doesn’t work blow it up. Also Cousin is there best option because he will get a minimum and they have to pretty much pay all there signings the minimum
Na man boogie aint the same no more, he's injury prone as fuck
Get olynk for a big that can space or harden goes to miami haha heat fan here.
@@mark-one6511 hes not bad but they need a guy who can rebound and score a lil, id say Christian wood but no way rockets get him
@king kingin it doesn't even matter at this point, harden and russ both making 40M a year jus to play like shit in the playoffs. Im a rockets fan im used to this shit lmao, we don't even had any good trade assets
Serge Ibaka.
Honestly the whole small ball thing was a bad idea from the start
Big 3 heat and warriors made small ball work, houston just went too extreme with it
@@muhammadkazmi8982 I agree with you my man
So how is russ supposed to play with capela clogging in the paint in the first place they should have kept cp3 and not trading capela but their offense and defense was not that good when capela on the floor but it does make sense for trading him but their biggest mistake was trading cp3 for russ
Small ball can still work, Rockets didn’t have enough depth and Russ had 2 awful games and Harden had one awful game. For small ball to work you pretty much can’t have an too many off night from shooting, the Rockets crumbled in the 4th multiple times.
@@muhammadkazmi8982 yeah and the fact that they got rid of all of their big men was really ridiculous
D’antoni already said he ain’t coming back to the rockets next season
shawty eat'em up agreed bro lol
@shawty eat'em up no doubt
shawty eat'em up theyre not trash theyre all talented players that mda ruined this year, when house was gone man didnt even put demarre carroll in
IVØR who? Nobody remembers that dude
@@mdb211manniedabest2 well i do im not saying hes a superstar but you cant do anything without role players
Keep Westbrook, Harden, and Covington. Blow the rest of the team up.
That's kind of what I was thinking. You won't get a lot, but you will get different. Maybe a guy like Dort shows up. I would have kept House if he hadn't proved to be a clown.
Nobody'd take Gordon horrible contract.
@@jamesmartin9401 house is still a bucket 1 mistake doesnt change that
I agree with this. I think they just need to get the right players and coach for them.
@@jamesmartin9401 it was one mistake he hardly done anything bad id defo keep house
Yesterday I've watched a Rockets game from 2013 when Houston had Jeremy Lin in the line-up. Harden played great off ball and still managed to score 45 points or so.
He had a great game but the game was a lot more fluid than this recent years's Rockets.
The problem here is management and coaching.
The Rockets can sign a guy like Aaron Baynes and still have Westbrook attacking the basket.
The Rockets need to develop a mid-range strategy too.
Watch players like Kawhi, Murray and Jokic operate. They are almost unguardable because they can hurt you from anywhere on the court.
The problem here is strategy and lack of a multi-dimentional approach to the game.
THANK YOU!
D’Antoni and Morey are the problem, Harden has a lot of playoff failures, but he has had playoff success.
D’Antoni 27 missing 3s should have told him and Morey to allow his offense to have some flexibility to this roster, instead he doubles down and make the roster even more reliant on the offense. And Morey just pandered to D’Antoni and couldn’t have a spine to say this roster isn’t it. And now he has the potential to mess up the Pelicans?
D’Antoni’s style of offensive works well in the regular season but doesn’t lead to playoff success
Half the defense, double the offense.
Sim Singh to be honest 2017 and 2015 was the only time you can properly blame Harden. He was in a position of poor coaching, poor luck, or was just flat out on a poor team. And even in 2015 though he played flat it at the end of the day was the Rockets vs the 1st seed and eventual champion warriors.
@Sim Singh You're casual if they are missing 3s the coach would need to adjust to have better plays for easy baskets. They missed 27 3s in a row bc the coach kept pushing them to keep shooting.
Its both the front office and hardens fault... Harden just idk if he can win. Just because you average 30+ don't mean anything in the playoffs. I think harden is part of the problem. If you really look at the numbers harden takes way to many shots. We act like Howard was falling off. Which he did partially because of a back injury. But he was actually doing well for how many shots he even got.. Harden got all the shots.. Howard wasnt actually to blame.. he was a superstar before his injury and playing with harden. Just watch swishouts video. Harden is actually the problem. He wants to play how he wants to play. And thats where the coaching is at fault. Then another fault for James harden and the coaches is that he does nothing but stand around when he doesn't have the ball. Why curry will always be a step above him. Not a warriors fan btw.. raptors fan. A lot of nba guys that haven't won a championship dont know to do this. If your running around off ball it makes it so much easier for your team and yourself. Puts pressure on the defense more then you would think. Kd after joining the golden state warriors learned things like this for the first time. And he has actually said that he thought he knew how to play basketball until he joined the warriors. As a guard he has to do things off ball. Not just stand there. Then just the isos. Its great entertaining basketball I cant lie. But idk if that wins a championship. You cant just iso and try to get ref calls to win in the playoffs. It will only get you so far. The only reason I actually think he is as good as he is at it is because he has been doing it for years on the rockets. Nobody else is really doing that. And of course if your just running isos for years your gonna get pretty good at it. Same with ref calls. Idk to me anymore I see harden as the modern day Carmelo Anthony. Great player and deserves respect. But if things are not working you gotta switch it up. Why Melo was out of the league before he actually should have been. Wanted to play his old game and not the way the coaches wanted him to when he isnt a superstar anymore. Wasnt even the 1 number on okc. Hardens gonna be a number 1 guy but whenever he gets older and falls off and isn't the number 1 option. I just have the feeling if he doesn't change the same thing might happen to him unless he changes just like Melo. And I dont think there's anybody you could really bring on the rockets to help him because of his style of play.
Fr the Lakers went small too considering Dwight Howard and Javale Mcgee played a combined 22 min the last 4 games, they just had a better game plan
But to be fair, lakers still had insane rim protection/inside players with guys like AD, morris and bron out there. Houston dosnt have that
They got Anthony Davis LeBron and morris so there not small at all
That’s why the Lakers are so dangerous. Nobody expected them to utilize Morris like that, but I’m sure the Lakers knew he’d be a secret weapon. The Rockets were purposely trying to avoid taking the 3rd from Denver because they felt they had a really good chance to upset the Lakers, and if they played the same big rotations with Dwight and JaVale, it just might’ve happened. The construction of the Rockets rotation essentially meant that they had no way to adjust, and D’Antoni was never going to adjust his system
The "small" ball starting lineup for the lakers included heights of:
6'9" A.D.
6'8" M. Morris
6'7" LBJ
6'6" D. Green
6'4" KCP
Thats how you do successful small ball lol
EraPrestigeX lmao AD and Bron are way taller than that
Glad Dantoni is gone. In half time interviews he always says we have to “adjust” but never make any adjustments
Every coach says the same thing. What's he supposed to say, "we're losing but we won't change anything"
Crazy how Hardens “bad performances” always happen in the playoffs
Also we can’t blame him playing bad again on him being tired.
he played amazing averaged 30, in the last game nobody else except jeff and russ scored in double digits.
Did you even watch the series
SPACE•TIME i think d’antoni cant make those crucial adjustments that a team needs, lakers adapted after game 1 and thats what won them the series. harden is only a player, he is what the coach makes him out to be.
bashers31 ur sucking harden off so hard rn he only had a total of 2 bad games this playoffs
He ruined his own career by choking and giving 50% effort
Celtics fan here, Theis is pronounced Tice not tHeus
I think tice
Not to be a dick to low but he only had to watch like 1 game from the Toronto Celtics series to know how to pronounce it properly. It's not like Theis was played only 5 mins lol.
Tuss much better 🚬
Was gonna comment this. Thank you
Is it "tice" "tees" or "tee-is"
I think the original German is "tee-is"
“You can’t just say: Hey, let PJ Tucker run some post up plays.” LMFAO imagine that
In a video about the Beard, I'm mostly distracted by Morey's. Dude going for that classic Camelot look.
Accuse everyone except the players isnt the way to go. The players just straight up quit, starting with James harden.
You watched that elimination game and thought “ Damn James really quit” that’s so fucking dumb
Frank Aguwa - James Harden did quit. When you go 2-11 in an elimination game what does that tell you.. 🤔
@@frankaguwa6080 first, it wasnt only one game, second, i said the whole team, not only james harden
@@HB-lx3wv Russ and Austin didn't quit, hell they got us back into the game with Harden on the bench.
No they didn't quit, throughout the series they kept running the same scheme which was pretty obvious that Lakers have figured out, it must have been so depressing for them to go with same style knowing that it is highly unlikely to work against the Lakers, which leads us to mention D' Antoni's inability to make adjustments. He insisted on the same play style while it was pretty obvious that it is not going to work and that might have been frustrating to the players
If they really had to trade capela, it could have been for Myles turner
This would have helped with protecting the rim but Turner is not a good high-volume three-point shooter. Indiana tried to turn him into a stretch big but his numbers have gone way down. He is not a real stretch C.
Or Jonathan Issac
@@trapmontana9440 dude im a rockets fan and jonathan issac wouldve been perfect on this team
Why would pacers accept that deal we already have Sabonis, a center that can’t really shoot well 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Ivander85 I respect ur opinion, but my point is that he is somewhat decent 3pt shooter, like u still have to guard him like ro co from the 3pt line
The rockets are trying to defy nature .
Basketball has always been a sport that favours the tall .
Its not Mike Dan and Toni's fault... its not Darrell moreys fault...
Its the cheap ass owner... he fired all of dantoni assistant coaches, forced morey to trade for westbrook, didn't want to go over the cap like the warriors when they were close
he's broke as hell thats why lmfaooo.
Fertilita sucks but it’s still Dantoni’s fault he’s a bad coach no other way around it and Morey is too volatile
This is something I did not know. I do know their defensive specialist left the team
Lmao dog I know you ain’t tryna say D’Antoni 🤣 who the hell are dan and toni?
I like Mike, Dan's Alright but Toni...
that boy aint right.
As a diehard James Harden fan since Arizona St. days, this may be the GREATEST Harden/Rockets analysis video ever made. Props for actually analyzing what went wrong instead of resorting to calling Harden a choker and ballhog like every Harden hater does. And yes, I totally agree with you, greats like Jordan, Kobe and even the Warriors did have bad performance stretches but the difference between them and Harden is their versatility and willingness to step up and change their game instead of live and die by the same game like Harden and D'Antoni do. 2016 WCF Game 6 is a perfect example of how Steph Curry was willing to set his ego aside and give Klay Thompson the keys to the offense so they could WIN. Harden and D'Antoni would never do that. They'd rather have Harden continuously stepback his way to a loss than adjust. This is why all time greats have rings and Harden has none.
Thank you for saying D’Antoni simply isn’t a good coach. I was shocked to see he was wants to leave and help the 76ers continue to underachieve lol
y’all acting like Harden didn’t want Westbrook😭. he played one of the biggest roles in Westbrook getting traded and he did really good without a center they just couldn’t win cause their shooters were inconsistent a lot
That’s why small ball doesn’t work
Point God it does work ever heard of the warriors
@@garygoated5295 2017 warriors- 6 foot 3 (not particularly small) Klay thompson 6 foot 6 (avg height) Kevin durant 6 foot 11 ( basically a center height) draymond green 6 foot 6 (small) zaza 6foot 11 (avg height)
Point is only one position was below avg so that wasnt the case
Reload pretty sure he was talking about the 2015 warriors. Small ball is when a team play without a big, or have lengthy players at their positions.
inconsistent like westbrook
The fact that rockets BLEWWW their chances in 2018/2019 was beyond me. Should've made it to the finals..sucks to see D'Antoni always in a rut, looks like the suns gonna be the new big team in the country next season!
That moment when James harden could’ve been in the last 3 finals but didn’t cause he played poorly but the blame still goes to his coach who’s just a puppet for daryl morry
@YBG Boys it was some possessions where it was just AD guarding him. Once ad took away the drive and the stepback he didnt do anything to adjust
@@SolaceMcfly The game plan most likely was not to double if AD guarded him cause otherwise he was doubled.
@Master Mind cut the bullshit Hakeem wasnt guarding jordan, aka AD of this era(obviously better but you catch my drift) kawhi beat a 60 percent warriors team. kobe had shaq, aka the most dominant big of all time who won 3 fmvps the 3 years they played together, and is also the all time bricked shot leader so i don't wanna hear that either. stop comparing eras.
@Master Mind The biggest issue is obviously harden. Harden is the biggest fraud in nba history as harden is too heavily relied on refs' whistle. Harden's constant flopping and rule manipulation while playing no D will never win. But worst of all, harden's selfishness, ball hogging, isolation and disengagement without the ball has always been killing the team.
That was why CP3 asked d'antoni to bench harden whenever cp3 was on the floor. Even howard called harden out for his selfishness as howard was having his career worst by playing with harden. Even mchale called harden out for being uncoachable and lack of leadership
YBG Boys How on earth is that an argument? Other superstars don’t get doubled every possession because they are good enough to adapt and beat it. When Harden gets doubled he only does two things, first being an instant pass where he’ll then continue to make no off ball movement and stand still for the rest of the possession unless he gets the ball back. The other is a quick shot before the double which is a terrible shot. He can’t adapt and he’s too lazy to change the way he plays, the responsibility isn’t all on him for the series but him and MDA need to take the lions share.
Nobody ruined James Hardens career lol. He's had the rep of comin up short in elimination games and not having many playoff moments.
... James Harden wanted to play like this to win an MVP because of the incentives in his Adidas contract and insists on playing this way and calling himself an MVP every year even though we know he tires out every year of the playoffs.
He could've worked it out with Chris and brought back that off ball action he used to go in OKC, but he doesn't want to. Any time the ball is out his hands he just stands there. Less iso and more off ball action would empower his teammates and get him more easy buckets.
He wants to play this style, he didn't want Chris as a teammate, and the Rockets (understandably cuz he's their #1 acquisition since T Mac) enable him.
This is *his* team. The results are on him.
That doesn't mean he's not great. Not all great players win championships but he doesn't need ppl making excuses for him doing exactly what he wants.
“Daniel Theeyus” never heard of him
"Who he play for, Detroit?"
- Chuck
@@UncleJrueForTue nah. He plays for the Hong Kong Dragons
@@TheRealPunisher Hong Kong? Ain't that the team Ser Marshon Brooks was on before he ended up on the Grizzlies in Vancouver?
very good video. Coming from a rockets fan its nice to see someone who knows what theyre talking about rather than talking shit on Harden when they've probably never watched a Rockets game. you hit all that spot on
After like 2 weeks of saying "tomorrow gonna be a big day for my uploads" on the pod Brotha Marcell finally uploads
Wtf is this guy talking about. 1st of all who taught James Harden to iso for 3 quarters then go dead in the 4th? Who taught him to not involve his team in the offense then not involve himself on defense? What coach let's Harden do wtf he wants on the court?
Dantonis system is why Harden suddenly became such a "prolific scorer"
Without him, Harden would be like a slightly worse Dame.
He is better than dame in any case lmfaoo don’t compare first round exits to an mvp candidate and an mvp
He averaged 29 before Dantoni came and got robbed for MVP in 2015 and he wasn't even in his prime yet. He would of been a prolific scorer with or without Dantoni
Dantoni actually made him worse. Harden is capable of scoring at all 3 levels but Dantoni's system mostly regulated him to contested 3s and layups, completing forgoing his mid-range game.
Bad take he was always better than lillard even before. This is lillard’s first season being on par with guys like curry or harden calm down
I don’t really believe that’s true to this degree. 1. Curry was the best player on an explosion team I’d argue that’s worth the MVP especially as we all know who curry is. Harden has benefited from space massively. It puts the man defender in a lose lose every time. This is because there is no help. You must stop the drive but the shot will also kill you. He would be an incredible scorer but D’antoni systems turn great offensive players into GOAT material in the regular season. Just it doesn’t work in the playoffs
Whos here after D'Antoni left Houston?
Literally no one him “trade everyone” us “we ain’t trading harden we ain’t dumb to give away talent like that”😂😂
Funny how Mike D’Antoni said he isn’t resigning.
Capela is a perfect fit already, also microball is good in a one game because it has surprises , but it is ineffective in a series ...
They have to let Go of
Russell Westbrook
along with
Danuel House
(I would rather keep JH)
Say for
F Aaron Gordon 6'9
F Evan Fournier. 6'7
G Terrence Ross. 6'5
1st Round Pick
Not pretty, but might work. Harden - Gordon Pick n Roll would seem nice and Fournier can provide offense of the bench.
Orlando gets a Star and him with Vucevic and Isaac is promising ( might be a win-win situation for Magic)
Then
Eric Gordon for
Jordan Clarkson
Hopefully they could get a rim roller like Kevin Looney...
i agree cuz this also fits with the small ball play style and westbrook always sucks in the playoffs so he’s gotta go
Then So .:
G HARDEN. 6'5
G CLARKSON. 6'5
C LOONEY. 6'9
F COVINGTON. 6'7
F GORDON 6'9
G RIVERS. 6'3
G MCLEMORE 6'3
G ROSS. 6'5
C CHANDLER. 6'11
F TUCKER. 6'5
F FOURNIER. 6'7
F GREEN. 6'9
They need a stretch that can spread the flour so the paint is open but can still play good paint defense like a miles turner
Nobody ruined Harden’s career but Harden. The minute he decided to play that disgusting style of “basketball” with the flopping and foul hunting over just trying to score like he easily can without the antics he sealed his fate. The basketball gods don’t take kindly to that stuff 😛 and players around the league give special effort to stopping it as well. Name another star that’s played the same way and won it all, go ahead I’ll wait.
The thing is that his coach didn’t help either and supported and maybe even made him the way he plays now.
Steph Curry
Weezy Across the Sea In both of all of Jordan’s and Iverson’s seasons at the top of the league in scoring, they were always in the top ten of free throws taken, drawing fouls slows down the game, but it’s a strategy, and Jordan and Iverson proved that it works.
The basketball gods don't seem to care that much when literally every other star does it. Including Lebron. It's free points, if you're on D don't give your opponent the option to get free points. It's not a proud part of the game but it's smart IQ.
If D'Antoni leaves, you don't need to trade everyone. Get in the new coach and new system, and see what he/she can do with them and what the new system needs to work. The Warriors were almost the same roster of players, going from Coach Jackson to Coach Kerr, but they instantly won a championship. If they keep D'Antoni then the Rockets must at least get an assistant coach who can make adjustments over a playoff series since Coach Mike certainly can not.
UA-cam is getting real comfortable with these 15 second double ads .
Don't remember watching one of your videos before; however, I love your analysis, your dept of insight into the game, and your ability to communicate it effectively. I have become a fan of your blog for real. Looking forward to watching more of your stuff in the near future.
Skip: The Houston Rockets got HOUSED
First time watching one of your videos and gotta say, it was a great production. Script, transitions, visuals. Awesome bro.
As a Rockets fan, Morey has been great throughout the years. That being said, this Westbrook trade was ass!!!
Daryl Morey has been the demise of your franchise over the last decade. Not to say he didn’t make some good deals and acquisitions, but he was way too committed to his own MoreyBall philosophy and he prioritized making Harden happy over all else
Sam Presti was probably giggling when Morey gave the go ahead for the trade. Presti to Westbrook: so long sucka!!!
well...this aged well lmaooooo
Nuggets vs rockets would be a better series than lakers vs clippers imo
No
Buts it’s your opinion
Look at the East. Celtics vs Heat, before the playoffs, everyone expected Bucks would reach the Finals to face one of the LA teams. Now I'm hoping for a Celtics vs Lakers finals
Knoda the reason I say that is cus they are both offense packed teams with little defense so it would be high scoring games every game
I wouldn’t mind seeing Lakers vs Nuggets WCF.
Nikola 🐐ic is a problem along with Murray after a gawk gawk.
thelegendsqb1 he probably gonna bring his girl out next series if they win. So... he gonna refresh the gawk gawk
This guy gets it! It’s all about personal. Don’t matter what coach you get. Specialists are flexible in changing an offensive game plan
fire the Coach, GM and trade for a new roster
Eric Spo has BEEN COACHING HIS ASS OFF! LOVE WHAT THE HEAT HAS BEEN DOING! We need a vid bro.
⚠️Attention⚠️ At the end of 2020 we are going to yell "jumanji" to get out of this year.
2:08 the face house made when the girl asked for her to come through to the bubble 😂 🤣
Hot Take: The Houston Rockets were never really title contenders
Disagree, that first year with CP3 when the Rockets pushed that super team Warriors team to 7 games, they were definitely legitimate contenders
Fax ,you have to be able make adjustments in the playoffs. D'antoni refuses to do that
Frozen Take: Westbrook sucks
@@ArshdeepSingh-yl5fr That's what happens when you have a quality PG.
Kidd got the Nets to the Finals in consecutive years
Darren Gordon-Hill Rockets traded the better PG for a worse PG on an even bigger contract while also including multiple 1st round picks LOL 🤦♂️
I'm a lifelong Rockets fan, but I was never the biggest fan of James Harden. But in this season, he has really improved his defense, and I now find myself wanting to defend his play from negative criticism. I think he really put in a lot of effort on both sides of the ball, especially during this postseason. He was out there guarding everyone: from Steven Adams to Lebron James. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the switch everything defense, but he mostly stood his ground when put to the test.
And I agree that our offense has been very predictable these last few years: mostly relying on Harden's offensive brilliance to carry us. Then when we traded Capela, we took a huge part of Harden's game away: the pick and roll. No one on our team is a threat on the roll, which is frustrating because the pick and roll is the most run play in the game and for good reason. Teams are able to create a lot of advantages when running this basic play.
As for the coaching, I also agree that we needed a change. I don't understand how Mike D'Antoni is known as an offensive genius. I havent't seen it during his time with the Rockets. Much of that may have to do with our front office. Maybe they see the stats, which say Harden's iso numbers are so good, that we want to base our entire offense on that. That may work in the regular season, but during the postseason, it's all about making adjustments. In order to make these adjustments, you need a versatile roster, and the Rockets just don't have that. I agree. This team just has a bunch of specialists.
On the other hand, it has been so much fun to watch these last four teams in the playoffs. All are well-coached and play great team basketball. At the end of the day, I don't see the Rockets moving on from Westbrook and Harden. Westbrook was actually playing pretty well in the regular season. He carried our team when Harden struggled, and he did seem pretty rusty coming back from his injury and Covid. I saw some trade ideas, and I think one of them makes a lot of sense: trading for Al Horford. He doesn't seem to fit with Philly's other big guys. Perhaps we can send Gordon and Covington for Al Horford. He can shoot enough to space the court, and his defense and leadership has always been talked about. I'd love to see some sets with him up at the top of key orchestrating the offense with Harden and Westbrook cutting and screening. Oh how I'd celebrate seeing at least one different type of play from our team.
Lastly, thanks for the video.
Rebounding actually matters. Who knew? Despite decades of evidence proving that it matters it's something the Rockets decided didn't matter.
A decision based on rigorous statistical analysis, actually. Imagine that same rockets team with steph and klay instead of james and westbrick. Would've gone to a game 7 imo, perhaps winning the series.
@@mambaASI what is you dumb you know houstoun dosent play off ball and has NO plays curry adn klay are really good off ball players dantoni would just make them iso and no midrange and who is you?
@@omarosman3390 Don't need to play off ball. Don't need midrange. Curry can iso and pass, not as well as harden but definitely good enough. And when you have two 40% 3pt shooters instead of a 35% (harden) and 25% (westbrick) you're probably gonna win way more games in a 3pt shooting system like dantoni's.
My favorite past time recently is watching videos about the Houston Rockets.
James harden might never be able to win
Felt weirdly sad about how he went out in the second round; he’s such a supremely great player that I hope he can somehow win a wing before his career ends.
The only person who's ruined James Harden's career is James Harden. He's impossible to play with. He's probably the greatest player in league history who's never going to win a championship. How is the coach supposed to make a change to help harden when he's already built the entire team and small ball experiment around james harden and it still doesn't work?
Hea so called impossible to work because of how the coaching system uses him. They want him to be ball dominant, they want to iso. Thats there game plan. Mike dis the same thing with nash and kobe. So its not all on Harden
I am not even a rocket fan but Capella made their games interesting with quite good rotation which makes it very sad.
3 ads, dude? i thought you were a millionaire😂
😂😂😂
Been waiting two weeks for dis, we need more vids from you man, shits quality
D'Antoni is a good coach... look he faced, a prime Spurs team in 05-06, no way Nash and Amare beating them.. In NY he faced the big 3 in Boston (2010).. and as Houston's coach he had the Warriors (took them to 7 and almost won) and most recently the Lakers in the way...
He's basically the Karl Malone/Charles Barkley of coaches
@Miguel Caliguiran and when they were missing all those 3s, if they suddenly started sinkin them, then what. They would've got the dub.. that's not dantoni fault.. they live and die by the three. That was there bread and butter all season and they weren't fixn to just stop shooting after a few shots...
And they we're winning at the half of game 7. Should've been champions hoenslty. Again, went cold. Not necessarily dantoni fault. Its pretty messed up if they win, it's the players, if they lose, it's the coach and GM??
No. I’ve been a Rockets fan my entire life and have seen Dantoni fail to make proper adjustments or even try to do anything except chuck the ball up from deep for the past several years. He’s amazing at getting those stats up in the regular season and making Harden look good but when it matters most and our players fail to make the shots, he doesn’t do anything and runs the exact same play over and over again not even trying.
@Miguel Caliguiran I knew u were gonna say pop..... Pop had the best PF of all time! And 4 HOF throughout their whole careers...
Take that away and look at him.. nada..
Spo is good. I'll give u that.. dude from boston alright too.. dallas coach is good.. dantoni will thrive wherever he's at tho. If he had what pop had hed be considered one of the "greats" too
@@phxander thats the genius of it! make em THINK you're gonna make an adjustment, and dont! eh.. lil reverse REVERSE psychology
@@shark_plissken honestly, that's on the team for all bricking.
So happy I stumbled upon this channel today, very solid content.
8:13 Who Daniel Thee-Us play for?
I feel like your trolling but the Celtics 😭
ITZ Paradox Bruh he’s mocking how LOW badly mispronounced his name🤦🏽♂️
I’d say that I have a good 13 MVP level seasons left in my career
This is the rockets fault, they force harden to control everything on the offense.passing, scoring,creating plays,EVERYTHING. This is why they need a player like Chris Paul who could take some of the pressure off of Harden on those tasks, and look how far they made it. If they just let harden focus more on his defense and got a point guard like Chris, they are easily championship material.
Couldn’t agree more. Maybe Morey was scared of Harden leaving like other star demanding trades recently, but to me he raised a spoiled superstar who always gets what he wants.
Don’t say they ruined it. HE ruined it himself with his play style and the player he is
Harden is NOT a winner. Don’t be blaming CP and Westbrook
nah definitely blame westbrook too lmao
It's not an "off night" that D'antoni couldn't adjust to. It's that they don't adjust AT ALL their style of play to defences.
And Lebron left because they didnt do what he wanted... times have changed.. Players wishes need to be attended to or theyll leave.. Pretty much started with Lebron
Can't blame him for leaving though, especially the second time
@@ademh7507 talking bout when he left miami
Yes but why didn’t they do what he wanted? LeBron wanted them to trade their picks in 2018 to get him some role player help. They didn’t want to do that unless LeBron committed to re-signing in Cleveland and he wouldn’t agree to that. That’s why they ended up trading for Nance, Clarkson, Hood, and Hill. It was a mix of role player help and young talent to help them move forward if/when LeBron left, plus they didn’t give up any picks. THAT is how you run a franchise and it’s crazy that the Cavs of all teams can understand that but the Rockets can’t. You can only do so much to try and please your superstar. Sometimes it’s best to let them go if they want to. Though it may not seem like it, everything started going downhill for the Rockets when they fired McHale. Not that McHale was the best coach ever but he wasn’t fired because of bad coaching, he was fired because he was really critical of Harden as a player and leader. Firing McHale showed they valued Harden’s emotions over true success and it’s a similar situation to when they traded CP3
man upload more i love watching ur videos more so than most other nba youtubers
He didn’t ruin his career stop over-exaggerating
he ruined his chances of ever winning a ring
aditya Sunil how? He never was gonna win won anyway he actually got him a closer chance of him winning a ring jumpshot or not🤦🏽
This season was very disappointed, I'm starting to think we won't win with harden leading this squad
Only person to blame is harden himself. His style of play sucks. He will never be a winner along with Westbrook
yup, james harden's teammates only has to practice 2 things, passing and learning how to watch and trying not to sleep on the court. they just have to pass it to harden and pretend that they are moving because seldom that they will get the ball back.
daryl morey is another guy to be blamed because he and d'antoni insisted and believed that their small ball style will succeed, their logic is shooting more 3's is better than shooting 2's
Man im an old head mj dude. Harden is my favorite player now. I like the experiment these guys did. Harden just needed a real player next to him. Hope Houston finds one
We need to sign boogie.
Or Baynes
We need to sign someone that doesn’t spiral out of control when harden passes out of a double
Yoooo the Homie Legend of Winning aka Low is #38 on trending in the US UA-cam page 😱 lets go! 💪😤
Harden messed his own career up he got lazy he doesn’t move off the ball he doesn’t attack the basket and shoot mids anymore
Good assessment. Just wanted to say I appreciate your perspective. I think you get a lot right, and add a bit more perspective that a lot of other channels.
Fun fact: The word microscope is bigger then gigantic..
linguistic irony
This is a really interesting video. This is the difference between hot takes and thinking about content. I'm not a fan of the team or players and I was completely invested in what you had to say. Great stuff as always.
Hot takes in video: Blow up the roster, Sign Marc Jackson or Nate McMillan as a head coach, don't listen to your players in a player driven league, finding a 3&D player is difficult, and "Westbrook is sharply declining".
@@UncleJrueForTue A hot take would be:
How to fix the Rockets? Trade X and/or Fire Y.
None of what was said in your examples was an attempt to fix said issue in title of video but rather used as a frame work to expand on those ideas. Given that he broke down how you can't really blow the team up due to a lack of value, the coach isn't the largest issue because of the pieces/ownership, finding a 3+D player on the market isn't as much as a hard take as it is a statement of fact (cap space, talent, etc. Some players were also mentioned), he never said don't listen to your players (nice strawman hot take there), but if you want to say the Westbrook comment is a hot take to solve the videos problems, then yes. The video is one large hot take on Westbrook not working. But considering the length that's not a hot take. But hey... you tried.
@@alexmammoth2916 Neat.
@@alexmammoth2916 Anything else?
@@alexmammoth2916 Also, explaining a hot take doesn't make it better or ring more true. It just explains your logic used to contruct the take.
Daryl Morey is the problem with his computer based logic. I'm a Laker fan and that was hard to watch. Analytics ain't everything. Analytics said Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best defender in the NBA when AD is killing everyone.
Just found this channel. Videos are fire. Keep doing you man
Notification squad
Yuurrr
Noti gang*
I believe D’Antoni is the biggest reason, every player has bad games his lack of versatility is the reason they almost always lose, and I don’t think Daryl Morey is too at fault here because most likely he only made the roster this way because D’Antoni and Harden wanted it that way
Harden is the real problem, he keeps failing despite all the different top tier player they brought to help him.
#37 on trending on all of youtube. good job man!
Just spitballing here:
What if they traded Westbrook, a salary filler and a second round pick or two (do they have any left?) for, say, Blake Griffin and Luke Kennard, and then move Harden to the point guard position?
Assuming Griffin and Kennard are as healthy as they claim, Houston gets two more above 3 point shooters with some playmaking ability (and I think Houston could use that spread out playmaking for an offense that needs to start utilizing Harden more offball so they're less predictable come playoff time, which would also mean Harden would actually have to be doing more things offball than the standing around he currently does), and their salaries can be dumped off their books sooner than Westbrook's if the experiment blows up in their faces. They also get a guy who could have some potential as a small-ball center for them in Griffin.
Meanwhile the Pistons get a fairly good point guard to run their offense for the first time in over a decade (at the very least he'd be the best PG they've had since Isiah), some draft capital for their rebuild (which they could keep or package with another deal), and maybe sell some more tickets next season (of course this would also necessitate them trading other guys like Rose and Snell's expiring contract that should have some value at some point in the season, and supposedly they're planning to re-sign Wood with an exception while targeting Ingram in free agency, so this move could possibly fit right into their plans to attempt a quick/rolling rebuild).
Again, just spitballing, haven't put a ton of thought into this idea.
This is a good trade idea. One of the best ones. But i don’t know if Detroit gives up Kennard for Westbrook.
"Move Harden to the PG position"?
Where have you been these last 4 years? What position do you think he plays?
@@bluesrockfan36 modern positionless basketball is weird, ok? Playing alongside guys like Paul and Westbrook but still being the main playmaker/offensive hub - I guess I'm saying i'd have him stop running so many iso's and trying to get his shot when he's on-ball and work more to get his teammates involved like he was before Dantoni came in when I say move him to PG. Essentially, have him split the differnece between how he plays now and how he played under his pre-Dantoni coaches.
Plus he's still technically listed as a SG, and if they did get Kennard, they'd want to bring him into the rotation as more of a traditional SG anyways (thats how he's spent the last few years playing, wouldn't want to throw him off by asking him to be the one to change when Harden has shown a high degree of adaptability over the course of his career), which would necessitate a change in Harden's current playstyle.
@@loro2614 that's what the picks would be for, essentially, since even though Detroit gets the PG they need and out from under Griffin's seemingly untradable contract, they're getting a guy who's just as old (but with less injury worry, i'd argue) who costs more more per year for one more year. But Kennard has had (admittedly not super bad) tendinitis issues with both knees the past couple years, he's on the bubble of fitting in with the timeline of a more traditional term rebuild, and he's going to command a fairly large salary extension if his knees do hold up (which could lead to overpaying a roleplayer in the midst of a rebuild - not ideal), hence those picks being second round. It still kind of works out for both team tho - if Kennard does work out for Houston, they're exactly the kind of team willing to use his Bird rights to sign him to a big contract regardless of the salary already on the books, and Detroit kind of already has Kennard's replacement ready to go - Svi was a more efficient 3-point shooter who showed he deserves more attempts next season, he's a better defender than Kennard, he's several years younger, and he gets his buckets with a lower usage rate (which is perfect if they do pull off bringing in Westbrook and Ingram while retaining the also low-usage Wood). Svi also has the size to slot up to the 3 for small-ball line-ups, allowing the defense-oriented, improving 3-pt shooting Brown to slot in at the 2.
@@dmore454 If you have Harden stop running iso and move off ball ala Curry, you have one of the best PG in the league that can find him in Westbrook. I wouldn't trade him at all. Much less for Griffin glass bones.
Low slid in that Westbrick at 0:54 😭😭😭
I think its obvious that daryl morrey is one of those gms that does a few good deals then just gives up.
the title should be like 'the team who wasted their time, trying to work with james harden's style of iso ball'
Bruh it isnt his fault its dantonis fault that he made the offense the way it was, Harden was capable of playing off ball but dantoni didnt make the offense that way