No.. though some may act like grown man babies they arent kids. that bs response is exactly what i was talking about though so thanks for the example lol.
that's the bad side of Harden, too many freaking iso plays, and more than 1/2 of time he bricked or air a contested shot. No flow to the offense whatsoever.
To be honest, I finally see what's going on. 1. Harden is an elite talent, but he must learn to keep the ball moving (Talking about the 4th quarter), it seems he doesn't trust his team enough to score. Which allows other teams to save energy just watching Harden ISO for 20+ seconds before throwing up a contested three. Harden needs to start attacking early in the shot clock and look to score or kick out to move the ball. 2. Teams understand what the Rockets want to do. It isn't Rocket science to know that the Rockets want to shoot tons of threes. Teams just ain't allowing anymore and starting to protect the three point line. For example, Green will be on the top of the key with Harden. Harden will pass the ball to Green, the defender will close on Green. Green pass the ball back to Harden, we're back at square one. What Rocket did differently against Portland is, rather shoot a contested three or pass back to CP3/Harden. The catcher finally started driving and scoring in the paint. Houston must keep doing this. 3. Switching defense is killing us. We don't have the same team last year with Ariza and Luc on the floor. Both of these guys was critical on helping us keep centers/powers forwards out the paint to allow us to grab a rebound. This year, we are allowing Clint to switch on guards WAY TOO OFTEN. Finally last night against Portland, rather than allowing Portland to drag Clint out the paint. We switched, however, our guards went back to the guard and Clint went back to the center which help us in the rebounding department late in the game. 4. CP3 with Bench is PERFECT. In my honest opinion, I rather see CP3 playing with the bench unit over Harden. Harden doesn't trust giving the ball up to a House/Green for a drive to the rim. CP3 will. It showed last night. Key improvements from last night was bench, limiting switching defense, CP3 with the bench. However, CP3 needs to shoot better from the field.
People act like .. . .they would be satisfied if we played beautiful basketball . . .and was losing Rocket River
The issue is rebounding. Specifically all the offensive rebounds we allow leading to second chance pts
Our defensive rebounding issue can be majorly addressed by just boxing out more frequently. Guys have brainfarts so often and get caught ball-watching.
to play devils advocate... Harden actually had a -14 tonight - meaning we lost by 14 points for the duration of time that harden was on the floor... but we offset that negative (and more) with him off the floor... and to say we'd have lost by 21 without him... you're assuming nobody would have played in his place and all the possessions he used (scoring, missing, free throws, turnovers) to amass his 29 would have been a 0 net result otherwise... which is just silly... lol Obviously Harden is our best player... the majority of the time he's going to be our best option... but there will be times he's not the best option (you cant expect the dude to be Superman 24/7). Plus (for the sake of getting others involved and engaged) - just bc Harden is our best option - doesnt mean he should be our only option... We gotta play as a team and keep everyone involved.
you mean, you hate Harden? why didn't you make the title "i hate harden"? is it because you wanted me to read and reply to your shitty oh... f you.
So many people making excuses. Stats bullshit....which are all offensive focus, don't necessarily account for defense or points off of turnovers. Harden is an ELITE offensive player, who turns it over too damned much - and a putrid defensive player when he doesn't try, which is far too often. He is amazing, but he can be so much better with just a little more effort and control....and the team needs him to be. It is not a big deal if some of the fans want more out of their superstar, you don't automatically have to come from giving him a backrub or reach around to post about "How dare we criticize the man"........he has earned our love, and our EXPECTATIONS to lead this team. Don't forget a lot of us watched Hakeem play both ends for years.....and lead this team to 2 championships....at this point Harden is closer to McGrady than Dream. DD
Harden's scoring kept us in the game. But yes the ball movement that built the lead in the 4th stopped when he came back in and started to go ISO. Harden wasn't the only culprit. I saw CP3 playing some hero ball there that about killed us. I've seen EG do it too. Last year we might have gotten away with it because we had a swagger going. Now we freak when teams make runs and we start dribbling out the clock and going ISO - which for 2018 has been a disaster.
James Harden is 29, he will be a free agent again at 32. His style of play will likely age nicely, so say he gets another super max for $250mm (assumed super max in 3 years). $250mm + $228mm current extension, plus about $100mm in prior NBA earnings, plus $200mm from Adidas plus however much he got from Body Armour being sold (kobe likely made 8-9 figures off of this deal) plus all of his other sponsors, if he tanks the value of the franchise he can purchase 51% of the team when the Tilman is broke. If he never gets married or has kids, he will become a billionaire.
One of the big differences this year is that we're just not getting out on the break very often. Last year this team was elite in transition - plenty of open 3's that were executed in the midst of a fast break, and right now our playing style is just too dribble heavy and slow to revive that. Last game we saw what can happen when we start running the break, and we've got to start embracing it again.
It’s funny how you say Harden isn’t the problem than follow up with our defense being the problem..... am I missing something here