I wouldn't build a championship team around Harden either. Leonard's in the IDEAL system, though. Surrounded by great models and the greatest coach in NBA history. In another system, I'm not totally convinced he'd still be an elite player.
So you want the guy who doesn't give a shit on your team? Physical Talent? Team sports is littered with stories of players with physical talent, who barely amounted to shit. Harden does not make anybody on his team better. I thought this was made clear long ago. He puts up gaudy numbers with average efficiency shooting and fills up the stat box because he has his hands on the ball 3/4 of every possession. Ty Lawson went from nice little PG in Denver who barely turned the ball over to a fucking waste of space in Houston, because Harden doesn't want anybody else controlling the ball on the team. Harden doesn't want a PG.
All the negative things you're saying about Harden are true. And I can't stand the sonuvabitch. Doesn't change the fact that he lead them to 56 wins and the WCF last year. ALL THAT BEING SAID, you can make a case for Leonard being the 5th best player in the league. BTW - I wouldn't blame Harden 100% for Lawson's on-court regression. Ty is a ball-dominant drunk.
and don't forget he lost the close out game by doing his usual over dribbling then lost the damn ball. Didn't even get up a shot to potentially win or tie the game.
Well, I agree with you anyways about Steph, Lebron, KD, Westbrook and possibly CP3 all being at least a level above Kawhi. You just lost me with the Harden reference. Fucker is the only guy I know besides Coach K, that literally makes me angry watching a basketball game. ::
Based on UPSIDE, REED Would Take Kawhi Leonard in a HEARTBEAT, Over James Harden... Harden's a More POLISHED Offensive Player, but that's a Side of the Ball Leonard All but Neglected, Unti Pop Openly CHALLENGED Him to Develop in that Regard...This Year, Kawhi's Reaping the Rewards of the Work Invested on his Offensive Game...Dude is 2 FULL Years Younger than Harden and Has Time to CLOSE the Gap Offensively (Though Admittedly, he'll NEVER Be in 30ppg Range)... Defensively, there's NO Contest...The Gap in THIS Realm is Larger than the Offensive Gap btwn the 2.... No, Kawhi Leonard ISN'T a Generational Basketball Talent, but Neither is James Harden... Leonard > Harden.... REED:hammert:
Fair enough. I won't bother wasting any more energy defending Harden over Kawhi. Leonard's a humble, soft spoken cat. Harden's a princess with a feeling on entitlement.
Just when I wanted to announce I was wrong with the record, they lose this type of game at home for fucks sake. God I'd be pissed that unbeaten home record for a season would have been something. How can you lose focus like that...
I gotta agree with Neil on this one. Thunder aren't any kind of threat to the GSW who've been killing it in the regular season. You can go back if you want and see where I boldly and correctly predicted how the Thunder would lose both of their games against GS. The Thunder just don't have the defense to be serious contenders. As talented as they are they tend to go life and death with even the worst teams in the league because as good as they are offensively they can't get stops consistently. They lost 90% of that game to a Clippers team that rested their starters, and seriously only won because of a little luck. They also just showed against the Rockets how they can't close 4th quarters consistently and have as big a problem with turnovers as they do with defense.
I predict the Warriors won't beat or even tie the Bulls record. They're so close to losing it now that I think they'll start playing tight or even playing not to lose which will doom them. Frankly I don't want them to beat the record so I'm pulling for them to fall short. I don't even see them as locks for the title as they came out the gate so hard and fast that they seem to be slowing down now and haven't been dominating teams like earlier. I'm not sure how much they'll have left in the playoffs but if they can bring the same consistent intensity they started the season with, then they should have no problems winning it all. I don't think any team can beat them, they'll only lose if they don't have their normal energy or intensity.
I've always been a Melo fan. Always. He just is what he is though. In his prime, one of the best scorers in the league. Never really excelled in any other area though. Not much of a defender, not much of a gifted passer/playmaker. Good rebounder, which is useful. But that's it. He's CLEARLY past his prime now though. 2014 was his last prime season. The combination of injuries, age, and mileage has taken its toll. The Melo hate is kinda unfair though, because the brotha was placed by the media in a category he never belonged in. The media has always placed Melo in the same sentence as Bron, Kobe, Wade, and KD, which is unfair.... he's simply NEVER been on the same level as those guys, and that's okay. I mentioned those 4 guys because they're the 4 best wing players of the last 15 years. Melo was on the same tier as Paul Pierce, which is a level or two below the aforementioned guys. He was a very good player for a number of years, and had a very good career.... just not an all time great player, and once again, that's okay.
Warriors are a bit tired. You'll probably see them rest more guys now. I think they'd rather win the title than break the record.
Dubs can't afford to rest guys now, Spurs are in town on Thursday. IF the Spurs beat the Dubs on Thurs, the Dubs REALLY CAN'T rest anyone cause they'll be at risk of giving up the #1 seed. IF they beat Spurs on Thursday, it's time to shut it down. They'll have OFFICIALLY clinched the #1 seed, and they'll have 70 wins, which in itself is amazing. So yeah, fuck the record at this point. If they're smart, they would just focus ALLLL their energy on beating the Spurs on Thursday, and should they do it, they should just rest Steph/Klay/Draymond for the last few games. 70-12 is good enough. They ALREADY own a record that'll never be broken, the 24-0 record.
GS only gets the record now if the Spurs don't care. If Pop rests them the rest of the season then GS may get it. They look tired as hell though.
The fuck is going on with JJ Barea in Dallas. Nowitzki in bad form on the verge of missing the playoffs he almost single-handedly leads them to a 6 game winning streak...
If Golden State Beats the Spurs Tonight, REED Thinks they'll SURPASS the 72 Win Plateau...By Winning Tonight, They'll CLINCH Homecourt Throughout the Playoffs, Which'll Lead to Popovich BENCHING the Majority of his Starters for that Last Game in San Antonio... Yeah, Yeah, REED Knows the Spurs are UNDEFEATED @ the Crib, but Pop is Enough of a DICK to INTENTIONALLY Sacrifice a Bit of History by "Resting" his Guys... REED:mj:
The Thing w/Barea Is he's NOT Quite Good Enough to GAMEPLAN For, yet he's Faaaaaaaaaaaar Toooooo Good to Take Lightly...Sleeeeeep on JJ Barea, and he'll KILL You... He was an INTEGRAL Part of the Mavs Championship Run... REED:hammert:
I'm just happy that faggot ass Harden and Howard ain't making the playoffs this year. What an epic fail season they've had.
I heard the Mavs will again try to get Howard. That faggot will be the xth big man bust they will acquire. He will score and rebound under 10 on average if he plays with the Mavs next season.
I haven't watched like, the last 5 games the Thunder have played. I just can't stomach their atrocious defense anymore. It's too nerve wracking and annoying. You may think it's an accident that the ex-OKC player known as James Harden doesn't give a fuck about defense, but I don't. Westbrook and Durant only marginally care about defense because their coach actually makes them. You give them a coach that would let them do what Harden gets away with and I guarantee they'd do the same thing Harden does on defense. Nothing.
Nah, Westbrook is Probably THE Most Competitive Player in the League...& While he's Certainly NOT an Elite Level Defender, You Could NEVER Accuse Dude of Being as Blatantly INDIFFERENT about Defense, The Way James Harden Is... REED:mj:
it is pretty impressive how they get the important wins in must win games against the best competition after having to do so because they lost to shit teams squandering the home record... They should have kept the home record intact also go dammit, that season would have been for the ages even moreso
Last night basically showed that the Spurs have no chance at beating the Dubs. The Dubs showed that they CAN win in San Antonio, whereas the Spurs have gotten RAPED both times in Oakland this year. I don't think the series is gonna be much different. The Warriors just have too much firepower, depth, and energy for the Spurs. They'll dispatch of them in 6. That's IF the Spurs make it past the Thunder in the WCSF - and I'm not fully confident they even get past OKC.
No matter what happens, it seems the Warriors are the favorite this year, and RIGHTFULLY SO. Only a freak injury to one of Steph or Clay will cost them the title. They're too young, too athletic, and too in their prime to be stopped. It'll still be a competitive western conference playoffs but I'd be surprised if the Warriors don't come out of there poised to repeat.
To say the Spurs have no chance to beat the Warriors because they lost their final home game is silly. GS are the clear cut favorites absolutely but let's not act like it'll be a cake walk...
