I strongly disagree. They would love if Harden ran into Golbert or pass it out where they can predict the passing lanes so easily due to how predictable the offense is. Hence why our offensive efficiency tanked by a wide margin this series. We we're **** offensively. We won because of defense and the Jazz having a brick fest from 3 along with having a young 22 year old sophmore being their go to scorer.
What Harden is doing is fine. He's clearly taking advantage of a situation and getting his other teammates involved. Why should he force up a fade away mid-range when he can pass it to an open teammate for the easy layup/dunk or an open 3.
what in the world are you talking about? how is it open when the jazz have a defender playing his backside literally
I expect a drop in efficiency but below average leave efficiency is absurd for a player of the caliber of Harden even against elite defenses. That was a Westbrook like scoring for the series.
I am not one to bring politics into what should be a fun place for Rockets fans, so it is disappointing some do..... FWIW I put a tremendous amount of faith in our nation and its credentials....Everyone CHOOSING to live here should...I have always believed that...regardless of who the president is...who by the way is not the only one running the country. Also, I LITERALLY said in what you replied to that we have every right to question players, coaches, GMs, presidents, other fans, etc.....My only point is that just because one disagrees with said decisions does not make them the dumb or "not as smart" as they are said to be. Question and criticize away....it is just a bad look for anyone to question their intelligence and call them dumb.
His mid-range won't be completely open though. He still needs to stop and set his feet and pick the correct mid-range shot, which takes time. Even when he drove right past Rubio, he still wasn't open all that much. The only thing Harden maybe could do is post up and do a post fade shot... but I doubt that's going to work the majority of the time.
Against the DPOY Rudy Gobert and a defense solely focused on him. Westbrook has guys sagging off him daring him to shoot. STOP.
Well that's why you don't do that stupid slow stationary dribble and run up the court with some momentum and make the quick move so the defender who is guarding your left hip or is directly behind who has his feet set can't catch up and voila! A wide open mod range shot for an excellent shooter.
That doggystyle defense is nothing special; theoretically you can employ that same strategy to Durant or Curry to reduce their 3PT attempts, because it's really tough to get your shot off or even possibly get blocked when the defender is right behind you. So why aren't most teams doing it? Becuase Durant and Curry will kill them from the midrange if you leave them wide open from there. This only works with Harden because Harden plays in a very limited way, for the sake of 'efficiency' (ironically this is what makes Harden less efficient and prone to meltdowns in the playoffs when teams analyze Harden's set routine and plan against him)
Offense is probably a C+ ( he did have 2 very good games and then 2 games where he delivered enough playmaking / scoring in the 4th) Defense B+ Overall B
A "defense slowly focused on him" is basically just giving up the mid range area and playing him from behind and have someone camp in the paint... Because his game is predictable.
It's a large part of the reason why this team goes on epic scoring droughts and why we give up large leads so often.
rush a quick move for what? just to shoot this midrange you're for whatever reason obsessed with. nevermind the fact that the jazz throwing all these looks at him. this basic just shoot the midrange logic isn't how the game works
Rush a quick move for an open look for a great shooter. Crazy huh... If he does that a few times a game, defenses would understand that they can't just give him the mid range. You really are trying to beat up a strawman of what I'm advocating for. I'm not advocating for Harden to completely abandon the 3 and paint game. Do you think this defensive gimmick would work on Curry and Durant?
I think I've figured out why we are disagreeing here. What makes you think Harden is an excellent mid range shooter? He has never been excellent from the midrange in any season of his career.
I think the mid range game should only be used by certain players. In our case only Harden and Paul should be allowed to shoot the mid range jumper. Everyone else should stick to the regular game plan. There is no value in any of our other guys shooting the mid-range if they are going to miss just as much as they do from three. I rather go for the extra point if that's the case. James and Paul, they spearhead our offense, so it is essential that they have a little more variety in their game so they can keep the defense guessing.
yeah just totally go away from what the rockets do. crazy huh. all the great teams are doing it. just go away from what makes you that good nvm the fact that harden has never been this great pull up midrange shooter.
No, the defense was forcing him to either drive to the basket and make a shot with a defender guarding his shooting hand, a defender guarding the paint or the choice to pass. The Jazz want Harden to shoot bad shots. Midrange shots ARE BAD SHOTS. You aren't going to convince me or the GM of this team any different. You want Harden to get good at something bad. That's just stupid.