There seems to be reluctance in calling the Rockets starting backcourt the best in the league, even though stats wise that appears to clearly be the case. My theory is that the there is one thing that both Chris Paul and James Harden have in common, perception wise. They are seen as players who use guile to exploit the way the game is called and to exploit weaker (less prepared) opponents. Both guys clearly spend a ton of time trying to figure out how to get an edge against defenders to make up for physical gifts they may not have compared to other elite players (Harden isn't the explosive, rangy athlete, and Chris Paul is 6'0 tall). They are masters of angles and anticipation. So they end up looking really good in the regular season, but against experienced, seasoned teams in the playoffs their effectiveness drops off (or so the theory goes). Does that sound accurate in terms of why people doubt them, and do you think there's any truth to this based on past playoff performance?
LOL. The thread title may appear like I'm whining, but this is more about the perception and discussing if there's any truth to it.
I'd blame the media but honestly there are guys on clutchfans that were calling harden "fat and lazy" not 6 months ago, I think people love to hate. Maybe harden should start sprinting to the cup like a bull in a vagina closet throwing himself all over the court and making Clint give up rebounds and then he will be accepted.
1. There's some truth to that 2. People just know Harden and CP3 haven't been that good in the playoffs and hold that against them, without knowing all the detailed reasons as to why they struggle.
Cause everyone cant get off gsw's nutsack. Its hard to claim a throne when theres a duo out there that have won 2 out of 3 chips. I dont disagree with the public but it is what it is. WE MUST DETHRONE!
Because we haven't proven anything in the playoffs yet. I'm so sick of Rocket fans complaining about us not getting any recognition. We get plenty of recognition in the media when compared to other top seeded teams. Yes we are the 1st seed, but it's not like we're 5 games ahead of the next team. We can easily lose the 1st seed in this month's stretch. People are getting way ahead of themselves saying we'll beat the warriors this year, unless they have 2 all-stars injured the playoffs, they are still the heavy favorites in a 7 game series. We've had a pretty easy schedule so far and it's going to be rough in January. If we still have only 4 losses after January, then i'll jump aboard the hypetrain and proclaim us beating the Warriors this year.
clutchfans. please. just enjoy the winning and stfu. we are not that far ahead of other teams who have won championships in the last 5 years. 25 games into the season and everyone wants sooo much respect. how about we make it to the finals one time first...you know...in 20+ years? i better not see a "trade chris paul or trade harden thread" if we go on a 5 game losing streak when we play contenders.
Having high BQ is all well and good, but at the end of the day most of the great players in NBA history with lots of playoffs successes were physical freaks in one way or another. Jordan, LeBron, Kareem, Shaq, Magic, Duncan, Bill Russell, etc. I guess Bird might be the only exception here. There are only so many times you can outsmart the opponent, and especially against disciplined defensive teams it becomes much harder to guile your way to the victory. Sometimes, you just have to physically dominate when the chips are down. One thing that gives me hope this season is that Harden has become a much better 3PT shooter, which if he keeps this up is going to definitely help him a lot in the post season. Also, CP3 has always put up great individual numbers in the playoffs, but his teams haven't won for whatever reason.
Yes, people outside of Houston don't like Harden, Paul, or the Rockets. It's the way it is and I just don't care. The Rockets are trying to flip the apple cart and some people don't like it. If people want to make the Rockets the Villain then so be it.
In the NBA skills will always be underrated relative to athleticism and talent. Just the way it’s always been. We dealt with it with Old Hakeem when haters said he travelled. They wish their stars could have had his footwork.
casual fans and much of the media hold CP3 and Harden’s playoff failures against them...they are both viewed as chokers it’s really that simple
