The Houston Rockets have been a major topic of conversation early on in this NBA season as they were expected to compete for an NBA title but they have gotten off to a rough 4-7 start to the season. Because of the slow start the Rockets decided to make the tough call and fire head coach Kevin McHale on Wednesday morning but he isn't the only one under fire. Rockets players are reportedly unhappy with the way James Harden has played and his "aloofness," according to Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports.
Harden got off to an extremely difficult start to the season in the first couple of games and although he has picked his play up a little bit since, he is still not having close to the year he had last season when he finished 2nd in league MVP voting. Harden is averaging 27.3 points per game but he is doing so rather inefficiently as he is shooting 37 percent from the field and 26 percent from three.
It isn't just on offense that Harden is letting his team down it is also on defense and off the court. Harden has never been known for his defense in his career and he is typically not great on that end but last year he stepped it up and was actually a capable player on defense for the Rockets. So far this season Harden has been dreadful on the defensive side of the ball and there are times when it doesn't even look like he is trying.
Kevin McHale ended up taking the fall but in the end it is the players that are on the court losing the games. McHale was just given a three year $12 million extension last year but it is much easier for the Rockets to eat that money than the $50 million plus they owe Harden over the next three years.
Harden is the star player so he will get the brunt of the blame but he isn't the only culprit in the Rockets bad start. Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas and Patrick Beverley have all missed time with injuries and their big offseason acquisition, Ty Lawson, has played terribly (8.5 PER.) Even if Harden was playing as well as last season he would still need his teammates to be available and playing better than they have been in order for the Rockets to reach their lofty goals.
In the end the Rockets are an extremely talented team that proved last season they have what it takes to make a deep run in the playoffs. Kevin McHale is gone, J.P. Bickerstaff is now in but none of that will matter if Harden and the rest of the players don't improve their play on the court very soon.
