Suns@Rockets Game Thread

[elementally morale]

It's on. Suns up big in the 1st quarter.

I'm not a big Harden fan to say the least. But it's shocking how little he has to fall back onto when his 3 points shot is not going in. 0 for 5 now, 0 for 3 from 3.

[elementally morale]

Not much intensity so far. Westbrook brought some lately. He has 9 points on 4 of 7. Harden is 1 of 8. No 3 pointers. He at least has his FT game going, 3 of 4 from the line. Suns up 6 early 2nd quarter.

[coin24]

Rosckets are so boring to watch.. dribble dribble dribble 3. All they do is shoot 3s:facepalm :facepalm

[elementally morale]

Harden with a nice assist but Capella's dunk was special.

As for the Rockets they look a bit more interesting this game than the last few times I saw them. Harden should attack the basket. I know shooters keep shooting but if you are 0 for 6 from 3 you should get closer and see some of your shots go in.

[coin24]

Last few minutes much better, going inside to capella and shooting threes off drive and kicks.. team is too talented to play Hardon dribble iso

[elementally morale]

So Harden was 0 for 7 from 3. What do you think he does? Pulls up from 35 feet away. Misses. 0 for 8. This guy...

[Proctor]

Harden. :oldlol: :oldlol: :oldlol:

[elementally morale]

And does it again. 35 feet away. With a defender on him this time. 0 for 9. I mean... why isn't he getting closer? He clearly can beat defenders off the dribble... why trying another three from the parking lot instead of attacking the rim? Or a jumper from 18 feet. 14 feet even.

Shooters like Curry or Durant don't do this Harden-like stuff. If they are off that night they mix it up. Sure you can have bad shooting nights but at least try being effective. Dribbling and shooting from 35 feet with a defender on you is just disrespectful.

[Proctor]

And does it again. 35 feet away. With a defender on him this time. 0 for 9. I mean... why isn't he getting closer? He clearly can beat defenders off the dribble... why trying another three from the parking lot instead of attacking the rim? Or a jumper from 18 feet. 14 feet even.

Shooters like Curry or Durant don't do this Harden-like stuff. If they are off that night they mix it up. Sure you can have bad shooting nights but at least try being effective. Dribbling and shooting from 35 feet with a defender on you is just disrespectful.
Because he has an all-time low basketball IQ. Please, I wanna see 0-20.

[highwhey]

i'm fully convinced frank kaminsky is the worst nba player. guy is absolute garbage, he's 7ft getting bullied by 6ft guards. he airballs layups ffs :facepalm

monty williams is semi retarded for playing him so much.

[elementally morale]

That's more like it. Attacked the rim and played for the FG not the FT. Got hit made the shot. From 5 feet. Had another reverse layup. And a 3 sandwiched in between. That's what he should've done right off the bat.

[Proctor]

Lol Harden badly bricked another contested 3pter and two seconds later the refs blow the whistle on the rebound so Harden gets the ball back and shoots a normal 3 during the dead ball and swishes it. Not every shot has to be contested! Wow!

Dumb POS

[Proctor]

Rockets have the worst, most braindead commentators as well. :lol

They actually questioned whether Booker threw a punch at Harden. :biggums:

[coin24]

i'm fully convinced frank kaminsky is the worst nba player. guy is absolute garbage, he's 7ft getting bullied by 6ft guards. he airballs layups ffs :facepalm

monty williams is semi retarded for playing him so much.


Can't rebound for shit and continually misses layups, can't the fool dunk or something?:lol

[coin24]

How is that last call for hardon not an offensive foul :facepalm

League needs to stop this bulshit

[lilteapot]

Is it bad that I want Harden to get injured on one of those 3pt flops?

[elementally morale]

Interesting. Another 30+ point game for Harden and he will score like 20 points in the 4th quarter. Very unpleasant looking yet effective game. Effective in the regular season that is. In the playoffs you can't miss your first 10 three pointers and still be in the game.

[Proctor]

Is it bad that I want Harden to get injured on one of those 3pt flops?
No

[coin24]

Hardon 3/16 from three..my goodness :lol :lol

[elementally morale]

3 for 16 from 3
8 of 26 overall

And he has 33 points. Game is not over. It's not that hard averaging 40 points this way. He will be close to his average on these percentages. Wow.

[coin24]

Lucky for the rockets today chuckbrook isn't playing like a total retard for once, he's making his layups and not bricking a ton of 3s..


Hardon dribble dribble dribble step back brick:roll: :roll:

[elementally morale]

Devin Booker has 30 points. 10 of 18 from the field and 2 for 4 from 3. Looks like a basketball player to me.

And who is 'the star'? Harden. :oldlol:

[coin24]

The rest of the team goes ice cold cause Hardon hogs it so much, can't wait to watch them get destroyed in the playoffs :lol

[lilteapot]

Damn Suns could've made that a 3pt game there. choking.

[Proctor]

McLemore fouls out and the refs keep letting him play. :oldlol: :oldlol: :oldlol:

Wonder if the Rockets will protest this game too

Pathetic

[Smook A.]

Great stuff from Russ tonight

[Wally450]

So I love Harden, but my god, I read his statline in an earlier post... WTF is he taking so many damn shots for? Its actually starting to get frustrating seeing these shitty statlines.

[ArbitraryWater]

Interesting. Another 30+ point game for Harden and he will score like 20 points in the 4th quarter. Very unpleasant looking yet effective game. Effective in the regular season that is. In the playoffs you can't miss your first 10 three pointers and still be in the game.

Except he started like 0-15 against the Jazz this year and won, on the road.

[Proctor]

Harden 8-27 and 3-17 from 3. :yaohappy:

[elementally morale]

Great stuff from Russ tonight


Yes. He played like a basketball player should. :cheers:
As did Booker and Rubio. And Capella. And McLemore. And Saric. A superstar is missing from this list. :(

[elementally morale]

Except he started like 0-15 against the Jazz this year and won, on the road.


It may happen a few times but more often it doesn't work. This game was won by Westbrook.

[NBAGOAT]

It may happen a few times but more often it doesn't work. This game was won by Westbrook.

well it's a good thing harden doesnt usually go 3/15.

[elementally morale]

well it's a good thing harden doesnt usually go 3/15.


Yes. And an even better thing is what actual basketball players do. When you are clearly cold from outside do some other things. That's what Harden himself did in the middle of the 4th quarter. Did other things. Attacked the rim, made some baskets got fouled hard. It paid off. He could've started that in the 1st quarter after his 3rd straight miss from 3.

Harden has the ability to play like a basketball player but most of the time he doesn't. He plays like James Harden. I can't remember having seen anybody playing like this, ever. On his very bad days and last years Kobe was similar but he at least tried doing different stuff and not the same shit all over again. And Kobe those days and last year didn't really resemble a good basketball player.

Harden is shooting like 43% on the season after this game. And it is an easy to score era. I usually don't pay too much attention on FG% but Harden's is low due to bad shots all the time and not because of buzzer beater last second 'must tries'. I mean... he is clearly an effective player... it's just not entertaining basketball to me.

[GreatHILL]

If Suns had Baynes and Ayton they would kill this joke of a team :lol

[Smook A.]

If Suns had Baynes and Ayton they would kill this joke of a team :lol
Since we're playing that IF game... If Harden had shot what he usually does from the field (around 45% and 62% TS) and if Eric Gordon was healthy and playing, Rockets would've easily won by 30-40 points. That's no exaggeration either

[NBAGOAT]

Yes. And an even better thing is what actual basketball players do. When you are clearly cold from outside do some other things. That's what Harden himself did in the middle of the 4th quarter. Did other things. Attacked the rim, made some baskets got fouled hard. It paid off. He could've started that in the 1st quarter after his 3rd straight miss from 3.

Harden has the ability to play like a basketball player but most of the time he doesn't. He plays like James Harden. I can't remember having seen anybody playing like this, ever. On his very bad days and last years Kobe was similar but he at least tried doing different stuff and not the same shit all over again. And Kobe those days and last year didn't really resemble a good basketball player.

Harden is shooting like 43% on the season after this game. And it is an easy to score era. I usually don't pay too much attention on FG% but Harden's is low due to bad shots all the time and not because of buzzer beater last second 'must tries'. I mean... he is clearly an effective player... it's just not entertaining basketball to me.

Well stop using fg% lol, it’s completely outdated. And yes it is obvious someone missing jump shots should attack the rim but it’s a little impractical. Most guys don’t have the energy to relentlessly attack the rim the whole game even if we think they should.

On to something you mentioned in another comment about taking 18 footers which kind of relates to the thread about 3s vs long 2s. It makes sense take an easier shot when you’re cold.

However fans myself included tend to overrate having a hot hand and on the flip side being cold. There are legitimate studies that show you’re more likely to miss your next shot if you made your last one. The rockets and harden at least truly believe taking a 18fter isn’t valuable so why deviate from your normal strategy?

Also we’ve seen plenty of older guys go cold from midrange(like 1/10) and they don’t always get as much criticism for bad shot selection

[elementally morale]

[QUOTE=NBAGOAT]Also we

[NBAGOAT]

I may have not been clear: It's not the midrange shots I miss. It's a mixture of different moves. If you do the same thing all game and it doesn't work... do something else.

As for FG% being outdated... okay. I don't really like stats anyway.

Ah you do have a point there. Harden really does like 4 things well. It