Per usual, you are not just wrong but you double down on being wrong. Ball watching instead of rebounding??? Harden is one of the best rebounders on the team, many times leading team in total rebounds. This is in addition to leading team in scoring, assists, deflections and steals. Imagine what he could accomplish if he wasn't such a lazy ball watcher.
Just to be clear. McGrady played in the league for over a decade and made enough money to support his family for 100 years. He has never been to prison or arrested for doing anything stupid. Everything thing is circumstantial, but that does not change the fact that he did not get close to what he could have from his career. He could have been one of the 10 best players to ever live. As far as going broke, McGrady made 163 million dollars as a player and another 125 million dollars in endorsements. So he has made over 300 million dollars..... so he sure as hell better not be broke. Also FWIW I have known lots of people that did not have a particularly high IQ that have been solid with money and have known lots of smart people that have blown money.
Having not particularly high IQ does not equal mentally slow though. Maybe it is the derogative wording. I understand if ppl have ambiguous or even negative feelings toward Me Mac, that is given IMHO, but we all know his mouth is his flaw. Doesn't mean he has below average IQ, he just doesn't think much before he mouths off.
There are never any guarantees because the game isn't static. I will say this, when the Rockets lose in the playoffs I do not think it will because they lack a traditional center. It will be because the Clippers are a more talented team. The Rockets system is perfectly fine. Golden State for the most part ran something very similar This. I think people forget that those Suns teams were competing against legendary Lakers and Spurs teams and they were certainly not done any favors from the officiating against the Lakers. Everyone now likes to say "Oh the Suns lost because MDA didn't do X,Y or Z" or the "Kings they lost because Adelman didn't do A, B and C." Why did the Suns lose?.... Why did the Kings lose? .....Why did the Rockets lose against GS a couple years ago? It had nothing to do with coaching..... one team had to win and another had to lose..... one team got better calls from the officials, had better health, luck or talent....... just how it is. MDA has certainly coached well enough to win a title or several by now, same with Adelman and a handful of other coaches.....
I personally do not think he has a very high IQ. I don't think the term "mentally slow" is necessarily derogatory term either. I did not call him a mongloid.
He's 5th because we run a junk defense to keep him from guarding the perimeter. Rebounds are falling into his hands. It's not like James is crashing the boards like Dream, Thorpe, or Barkley or even Clyde.
His defense has been improving for years, not the last few weeks. Every single player in the league has had issues defensively when their usage increased. Kobe Bryant didn't guard anyone at all when he was at his peak usage. Westbrook as well...... McGrady. Even Jordan would not guard better offensive players because of his usage, and Jordan is the closest I have seen of a perimeter player remaining competent defensively with a really high usage. Hell, Westbrook and Bryant were the worst offenders but got a free ride because the media liked their attitude. Harden has been average or slightly above average defensively for several seasons. Stop with the "move his feet" argument, it is like your "he is out of shape" narrative..... it really doesn't mean much. Harden is guarding more 4's and 5's than he has in the past and he has more energy with Westbrook scoring 30 points. No. First Harden has guarded well in the post for many years. Second, he has played the passing lanes well for years. It has become more obvious the last few years as the teams defensive system has broken down, as they have lacked the personnel needed to play a strong switching defense. McGrady was a good defender in particular match ups (against bigger players) or on an end of game possession because he had exceptional physical skills. However he often was not especially motivated and was a vastly inefficient player on both sides of the ball. At some point you need to give it a rest. Harden is not a terrible defender. Honestly he has never been "terrible" but he was below average at one point many years ago. He has been average at times and above average at other times. If you want to complain about defense, Westbrook is certainly worse and Capela wasn't really anything special either.
James Harden has always been a good rebounder and at times very good. He is crafty, very strong and has a very long wingspan. He gets his fair share and always has. The Rockets have one of the best rebounding backcourts in NBA history with Westbrook and Harden....... of course the converse is that the Rockets do not have a very good rebounding front court.
What a sad little post. 1. People who play in the frontcourt are "junk defenders" - ok, good to know 2. Big men/"junk defender"/NBA all-time leading rebounders like Olajuwon and Barkley are the only valid metric by which to compare Harden, a point guard. 3. "Or even Clyde" Clyde Drexler's career defensive rebound rate: 12.1. James Harden's career defensive rebound rate 14.7
Its funny to see so many "now" disagreeing with T-Mac, like most of the posters here were not saying the same s**t ten games ago. Playoffs will prove the theory right or wrong.
lol @daywalker02 still trying to fight the good fight to save McGrady from humiliation. Like @Nook said, besides his big mouth, the guy was mentally weak on the court and also not the smartest cookie around, on or off the court. High IQ players like Manu used to outplay McGrady when it mattered. The guy was stubborn and a dumbass, which is why he has a long list of playoff failures on his resume.
Interesting. In general, when guard grabs more rebs than center and forwards, they will have difficult time to win in playoffs.
Sam, Clyde played defense 200% better than James Harden ever dreamed of. Harden's rebound rate isn't because he's a great rebounder it's because we station him under the rim all day everyday and how many of those come from missed FTs as well?
Come on man.... Harden rank in contested rebounds per game among guards 19/20 : 6th 18/19 : 9th 17/18 : 34th 16/17 : 4th 15/16 : 3rd 14/15 : 6th The one year we were flush with long wings who could do more of the rebounding his number of contested boards dropped. Outside of that he’s near the top of the league among guards getting rebounds he has to fight for.
