...run down the wing on 3 on 2 fast break for a layup? You don’t. When he’s not initiating the offense, he’s disinterested. He’s walking, he distorts space, he pouts. - Jalen 100% fact. This sums up my feelings on Harden perfectly. Harden still takes plays off, still plays lazy, still refuses to make the changes needed to win in the playoffs. 47 TO’s to 44 assists in elimination games?? That isn’t anything other than a player that simply doesn’t know, and dare I say care enough, to be better. I’m still amazed at how many on here give him a total pass on these glaring deficiencies. Deficiencies that he has COMPLETE CONTROL OVER. Jesus Christ y’all SPURS GAME 6.... that was a player that QUIT on his team, the franchise and us. The one thing he can control is his attitude and time and time again he’s shown little more than an infuriating aloofness in the most critical situations.
lol You’re still bringing up Game 6 against the Spurs? You know between that game and the end of this season he’s won an MVP, will probably finish 2nd in MVP voting this year, the Rockets went to the WCF, etc? Lol did someone just wake up from a coma one day from a 2 year nap and decided “man F*CK Harden! That game last night against the Spurs makes me believe he’s a fraud!!”
He definitely has his issues but hopefully he'll change things up going into next season after all the drama surrounding his style of play that has recently come to surface.
Nothing short of winning a chip will erase Spurs games 5 and 6 for me. Or warriors games 5 and 6 this year to a lesser extent. But.. There's zero point in dwelling on it. The team just needs more weapons, especially at SF or PF, to add new dynamics to the offense, regardless of Harden's mood.
Bringing up a bad game from 2-3 years ago is silly at this point. The criticism of his activity level without the ball is very fair. It drives me nuts. I'm a Harden stan and I have no problem admitting that it is frustrating beyond belief. However, he doesn't ruin spacing with that activity level. His guy still stays glued to him when he stands near halfcourt and let's the others run the set. The Rockets were great in the playoffs in the minutes with he and CP3 on the court.
and Bingo was his name-o. I don't trust Harden to be clutch in the playoffs. He's never been but he is an MVP candidate every year and maybe getting him someone who is clutch in the playoffs (CP3 in 2018) will help get us a ring.
Harden has the second highest usage rate in NBA history and you expect him to never take plays off? Drop his usage rate from 40% to around 33% and you’ll see a huge difference in his late game performance and effort level.
Having a bad game is OK but that Game 6 vs a Spurs team without KAWHI and Parker in a packed Toyota Center was not a bad game. Harden pretty much QUIT. That is inexcusable and will forever be a stain
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18238123/james-harden-runs-dantoni-offense-own-pace James Harden puts his own spin on the D'Antoni offense HOUSTON -- Back in the day, when Mike D'Antoni had a mustache, the Phoenix Suns took the NBA by storm. D'Antoni's Suns led the NBA in offensive pace and scoring behind point guard Steve Nash. Now D'Antoni, sans mustache, is with the Houston Rockets, and he's turned over his high-powered offense to James Harden. But the Rockets' offense isn't about pace. In fact, Houston is 10th in the NBA in pace, at 100.1, and has been in the middle of the pack for most of the season. So what gives? "I think James and every point guard has their pace, it's whatever they're comfortable with," D'Antoni said. "I think people have a misconception of pace. It's how the ball goes; it's once you get it over half court, we're pretty quick at it. You play it all kinds of different ways." On the season, the Rockets lead the league in points after an opponent's made shot at 1.12 and are seventh in seconds per possession at 16.2. The Rockets are averaging 0.972 points per play in the half court, which ranks fourth in the league. In transition, they're at 1.14 points per play, which ranks just 10th because transition opportunities are generally much better. The pace, as far as the Rockets are concerned, is not about rushing it up the floor, but doing something when you get there. "The best part is me throwing advance passes and guys are scoring and guys are running hard," Harden said. "Our bigs and our wings are running hard, getting easy layups and easy 3s, that's the fun part." Pushing the ball up the floor isn't the main goal of Harden as the point guard. He takes his time as he looks for a long pass for an easy layup or an open 3. If that's not there, Harden brings it across the timeline with 18 or 19 seconds left on the shot clock. That's when Harden does his best work. "I think James and every point guard has their pace, it's whatever they're comfortable with."Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni The Rockets will send a big man, normally Clint Capela, to screen for Harden. If Capela rolls with a defender, Harden keeps the ball, continuing to look for an open man. Ryan Anderson, the stretch 4 the Rockets signed in the offseason, will also screen for Harden and remain in 3-point range looking for a shot. Harden will also get double-teamed in the frontcourt, allowing Anderson or someone else to remain free for an open jumper. Harden leads the league in assists at 11.4 per game and is fourth in points per game at 28.5. He also leads the league in points per assists (27.6) and potential assists (21.1). The playmaking ability of Harden has opened a door for his teammates to produce more plays. Anderson's range has increased this season to a career-high 18.6 feet per shot attempt. Anderson, for the first time in the last two seasons, is shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range. "It's funny because sometimes I don't even realize how deep they are," Anderson said of his shots. "But being able to spread the court that much around James gives him that much room. If you move back a few feet on the perimeter, there really haven't been very many teams where a guy is going to be in the paint when I'm standing outside the 3-point line. So guys really hug up (the lane). Imagine having James having that much room, where I guess guys hug up, I guess, 3 feet off the 3-point line during some moments. It gives us a real advantage." Trevor Ariza has attempted 155 3-point shots this season, up from the 120 he attempted through 21 games last season. Capela is a favorite target of Harden's on pick-and-roll plays and lobs to the basket, to the tune of a .634 field goal percentage. A lot of these plays are made in the half court when the defense is set and trying to anticipate what Harden will do. "Yeah, it's good," Harden said. "The advance passes, and we get into our offense and try and score as quick as possible, not just any shot but the best shot, and from there use our basketball instincts." When Harden isn't on the floor, Patrick Beverley or Eric Gordon pushes the pace a little quicker. The Rockets have a strong bench; Gordon is second in the league in bench scoring. In Wednesday's victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, Beverley was just three rebounds shy of a triple-double. The Rockets had a season-high 35 assists. So while offensive pace can be read in different ways, the Rockets basically up the pace in the half court. That's the only real pace that matters. "I didn't know what to expect," Harden said of D'Antoni's offense. "Now it's free-flowing. (D'Antoni) doesn't try to control anything; if he has a play, he'll throw it at me, and if I have something better I'll just tell him I got something better and he's cool with it. That kind of relationship goes a long way."
This is a valid argument. Usage and minutes matter. When people criticize the rockets they aren't only criticising the ISO, but also the reliance on one guy. This is also the argument Paul was making in games 5 and 6 but was crucified by the fans because he played a underwhelming series. Nuance is dead.
But didn't we hate him then too. because we came back against the Clippers without him and lost to the warriors 1-4 So . . what has changed? Even if he does what you want. . . .you all will find a new reason to hate him . . . .. Rocket River
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2018/4...y-interview-houston-rockets-nba-playoffs-2018 Daryl Morey: I don’t like that our pace has gone down (Author’s note: The Rockets rank 26th in pace since the all-stargame). That actually hurts us. It would be better to be high paced and doing what we’re doing
People here are apparently quick to nitpick about movement and spacing because some talking head says so. Isn't it on the coach to, y'know, implement an offense that can bring out the strengths of the TEAM and not just the player? Harden isn't blameless but he is playing within the system/offense that has been put into place by D'Antoni. It was just two years ago when Harden led the league in assists because D'Antoni envisioned James to be his transcendent point guard...y'know the season that included that game 6 against the Spurs. D'Antoni then pivoted away from that offense to rely on isolation play more because *drumroll* the Rockets acquired ANOTHER player that was elite in generating points in isolation. D'Antoni probably thought "ah screw it--we have Harden and Paul scoring at will in isolation so I'm going to ride ride this gravy train until it's over". Then this past year happened when everyone went down with injuries and Harden (and indirectly, MDA) had to make due with G-League players and castoffs that he had to dig deeper into isolation play because who else he he going to rely on to score 20+ a night? He had to drop 40+ a night just to keep the Rockets afloat. Then players come back from injury and conveniently wonder "why isn't James moving more? why isn't this system more about movement"? LOL. It's been like this for the past 2-3 years!! No one b****ed about isolation plays or lack of movement when we rode it to a Game 7 against GSW.
Let's put it this way, if D'Antoni and Harden butt heads, who is going to get fired? That tells you who has more power to change the way things are. But mostly, I blame Morey for the current state of affairs. I don't believe that Harden wants to play this way at the expense of losing, though. I honestly believe D'Antoni and Harden just need a better roster. We have an awfully anemic front court. When you only have guards that can do anything (Harden, Paul, Gordon, Rivers), "move the ball more" just amounts to different guys running ISO plays. That will be less efficient than Harden doing an ISO play every time, hence, Harden runs all of the plays. However, if we get some big men who can pass, post, or at least see the floor (think Brad Miller on the Kings), we can actually do NBA-level ball movement. This shouldn't be a D'Antoni-Harden argument but just a roster balance argument.
