Thread to remember our most successful season in the post-Hakeem era.
56 Regular Season Wins
Runner-Up for MVP
Western Conference Finals
3-1 Comeback vs. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and the Los Angeles Clippers
9-8 record in the postseason
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Thread to remember our most successful season in the post-Hakeem era.
56 Regular Season Wins
Runner-Up for MVP
Western Conference Finals
3-1 Comeback vs. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and the Los Angeles Clippers
9-8 record in the postseason
Might as well start from the top...
[IMG]http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/.element/img/2.0/sect/statscube/players/large/james_harden.png[/IMG]
[B][U]Regular Season[/U][/B]
James Harden was undoubtedly the most VALUABLE player to a single team during an 82 game season filled with injuries and rotational inconsistencies. The 27.4 ppg ranked 2nd only behind Russell Westbrook, but his 2217 total points ranked number 1 for the most this season. Scoring is only half the game for Harden who added 7 assists per game and nearly 6 rebounds per game to his resume. Harden lead an unpredictable Houston Rockets team to a division title over defending champions San Antonio Spurs, veteran led Dallas Mavericks, ground n' pound Memphis Grizzlies, and Anthony Davis' New Orleans Pelicans.
[B][U]Playoffs[/U][/B]
As a whole, this Houston Rockets team was completely unpredictable. We're a team that runs through our offensive dynamo and his play dictates our pace. When he's playing well or above his standards he's easily a Top 5 player in the postseason and the Rockets would usually coast through games on the backs of our MVP, but when he struggles with shooting or controlling the ball our team suffers and it comes down to an utter miracle to bail us out of games. It's hard to dictate which James Harden will come into games, and I think at age 25 in his 6th season with 3 of those being a franchise player our fans shouldn't be worried about what James Harden is coming to town at this stage of his career.
What does he need to improve on? The things I could come up with are pretty small in my eyes, they are basically personality traits:
Effort
Leadership
Demeanor
Focus
He has all the skill in the world, but it takes a true leader to bring those talents together, package them with great qualities and be able to better his own teammates just from his presence. That's what separates the Lebron James of the world from the Carmelo Anthonys. That's what separates the Kobe Bryants from the Allen Iversons. That's what separates the Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnetts from the Karl Malone and Charles Barkleys.
I'm actually happy that's the way we closed the 2015 Postseason, on the backs of a bad James Harden performance. There's no place but up for Harden from that pathetic shooting and passing display he put on. He has all summer to watch the film, listen to the critics, and look at his team from a far and say that he really needs to be a leader to these guys. Even as a High School prospect James Harden was passive according to his coaches before being instructed to be aggressive. If he still can't fathom how important he is to our franchise's future then maybe he's not our guy to lead us.
With the talent Harden has he either will make a career of an individual winner, an individual underachiever, or a great second banana. All that depends on how Harden goes about how he sees himself as a leader.