Perspective: My view on our coaching, Harden, and chemistry

great post, glad to have you on board. What kind of business are you in? All I got was the sales rep part.

 

Really enjoyed the read, OP. You should post more often. Excellent points from a different perspective than we usually see here. I can see where you’re coming from, and will have to give that some thought. If you’re right, our coach has dropped the ball, and that’s unacceptable, in my opinion. By not making Harden accountable, it’s not only putting Paul in a bad spot, it’s not what Harden needs. It also impacts the rest of the team, who are seeing both of their leaders at cross purposes.

 

I think the situation between Harden and CP3 is more complicated than it seems on the surface. Here's my best guess on what happened:

Last year we played an ISO-heavy game and it worked so well we would have gotten a chip if CP3 hadn't gone down. So we bring in his buddy Melo and hope that puts us over the top. Instead, it contributed to our horrible start and we have to cut Melo loose, which couldn't have made Chris happy. We were a .500 team when he went down with an injury in late December, and MDA correctly stood back and watched as Harden balled out of his mind and saved our season. Even when CP3 came back, we continued to rely heavily on Harden, and to a great extent that was because CP3 never really played very well during the regular season. Or at least as well as he did the previous year. He seemed to be reeling from having his buddy Melo dumped so early and seeing the team he co-ran with Harden suddenly become the team Harden saved.

Then during the playoffs, all those emotions start bubbling over. CP3 finally comes out of his season-long funk and starts playing up to his own level in the last few games, and suddenly becomes the guy who wants to correct the offense in mid-series. Not that he was wrong about what he wanted, it's just that MDA might have made that adjustment during the regular season if Harden weren't playing out of his mind and if CP3 had seemed like he actually wanted to get to the finals this year. Instead, CP3 waits until the last possible second to resume being a floor general.

Just like our .500 season in 2015-2016 had many problems, it all hinged around Dwight not buying in and becoming a big problem as the season went along. This year, I think the questionable-in-hindsight decision to bring Melo on board was the first domino to fall and it reverberated throughout the entire season in CP3's play.

TL;DR: CP3 was right to want Harden more involved while he ran the team, but if CP3 himself had been more involved all season long, chances are we would have already made that change.

 

I think that's more on MDA than it is on Chris, as far as getting him more into running the team during the regular season, more than we saw after Harden's epic offensive streak. I didn't notice that dynamic as much as I could have at the time. There was a lack of communication going on between Harden and Paul, if that's what was happening. Isn't it MDA's responsibility to recognize that and do something about it? Not just leave it to both of them to work it out themselves? if MDA is that "hands off" with his two star players, he was making a serious mistake, in my opinion. The OP was talking about the importance of leadership. Leadership at the top. Isn't the head coach "the top?"

 

I’m sorry but there’s a lot of assumption here. The media tends to blow disagreements out of proportion. We all have disagreements or philosophical differences at work it’s part of the territory. As to MDA not coaching harden I’ve read a lot of articles where MDA is simply saying that the offense is designed to maximize hardens strengths which is beating opponents off the dribble on top of the key or at the Wing. Most of the chemistry issues is not proven and we will never know. The issue here is tactics with the high screen and roll/iso and stagnant offense as discussed as nauseum on this board. That’s the criticism against MDA is lack of off ball screens and flares and reluctant to make adjustments in the playoffs. There’s plenty of evidence for this thought as shown in the game tapes in quarters 3 and 4 of most games throughout the season and it caught up with us and killed us in the end.

 

I won't argue with that, and it sounds easy from where we sit, but I don't know how easy it actually is when you have one star player giving 100% all season and another giving only 80%.

 

In before Holic posts.

1) Coaching
a) D’Antoni is a players coach. Firm, yet for the most part easy going. By firm I don’t mean strict...I mean
he supplies structure and boundaries. Vets tend to like D’Antoni because he won’t exhaust them in practices.
b) D’Antoni offensive scheme is a “Read and React” scheme that often delivers points and gets players paid.
Nash, A’Mare, Harden, Capela, Lin, Tyson Chandler to name a few. Again players like that.
c) Business/College/school is different than the NBA. Supervisors are taught not to show favoritism and teachers
or college professors are taught not to show favoritism. In the NBA it’s known who gets paid what. Harden gets
paid x amount while Hartenstein gets paid less. Kobe got paid more than others. LeBron gets paid more than most
of his past teammates. More is expected of them. When Harden sits......CP3 runs the show....and yet they struggled
this year scoring points when Harden sits. Harden had to go full shogun warrior to save the team this year. Does
a business continue doing shoddy work or maximize its profits and minimize mistakes for greater efficiency? Rockets
did what they have to do this season.

2) Chemistry: CP3-Harden-Tucker had issues last season and still won (1st seed). It’s a non issue to me.
Did CP3 decline further this season? Was he injured this season? My opinion was/is “Freedon of Movement”
enforcement took a lot out of CP3 at both ends of the court. His frustrations became apparent. The only
game CP3 showed up for was the final game imo.

3) System: Spurs run a “Motion offense”.....doesn’t mean they are better than Houston. Rockets/Morey/myself
believe that made 3-pointers matter. You rarely hear that a team that made 18 three-pointers in a game
loses that game. Did we have enough good shooters? Did we? I do expect some mid-range/floaters from the proven vets that can convert them. I feel like the Rockets used floaters against the Jazz; but
abandoned the floaters vs the Warriors. Attempted mid-range shots was about equal in both
series......I just didn’t find a stat distinguishing between the two shot types.

It’s a matter of perspective I guess. I think the Rockets can get over the hump with more size. Raptors and Bucks
would present problems for the Warriors because of length and athleticism. Tonight’s game was close despite
the assist difference between the two teams. Warriors had 34 assists to the Raptors 17 assists.

Take care OP. Post more often.

P.S. Spurs have the coach.......have the system.........but they are not better than us. Players matter. Stop Harden/Capela
in the lane or our 3-point shooters. Playing the same system with 5-out would make a tremendous gain. Harden iso
on a smaller player or slower taller player works more times than not. Harden needs more All-Stars to help.....I’m not
sure CP3 gives him enough of that help. Rockets could win with Harden/CP3/Another star or Harden/Another star/Capela
But something has to give due to money restraints. That’s the business part of the NBA.

https://www.poundingtherock.com/2016/4/3/11355120/spurs-playbook-motion-offense-vs-read-and-react

 

Our championship aspirations in a nutshell right there.

There are many possible reasons: physical decline, upset about the handling of his buddy Melo's situation, jealousy at Harden going supernova... who knows?

Doesn't matter why, but our second star didn't come close to performing like he did the previous year, and it cost us a shot at actually beating the Warriors.

 

great post. I agree that there was no accountability this year. I agree that there was a fracture in unification reminiscent of the Dwight/harden days -where its either one or the other, but they never seem to play well at the same time because they don't play TOGETHER.

I blame the injuries for lack of chemistry. when its James out there with 4 rec center guys on 10 day contracts its hard to develop chemistry with your actual teammates. I blame morey/tilman for not spending on depth which lead to a revolving door of lineups and different players being signed, cut, or traded.

however, MDA was always lacking in accountability and we won 65 games that way. while I agree with the premise that we need a coach to hold James accountable, we have seen that without it we were only a hamstring away from a championship. I'm not sure how necessary it is if we can win without it, and if James seems to get better every year without it.

the disconnect between Paul and harden was there. they didn't play together but rather traded off being the leader. the nature of the system is mostly iso and PnR, neither have our two best players working together to be threats on the same play. I think that is a weakness in our system, and in our chemistry. Paul lost a step and can't really iso effectively anymore so when he takes the reins the offense looks different and its not the offense that's best for James. therein lies the disconnect and breach of unification from our leaders.

morey is right to look to trade CP3 this summer as he no longer truly fits our style or with James. morey is also right to look for a coach to will actually coach. I think MDA lets his players play, and Paul lead an offense at times that morey may not have wanted (more motion, mid range j's, etc...) while MDA stood by. if morey believes in a system that is built around the strengths of our perennial MVP candidate then we need players to commit to it and who can flourish in it, and we need a coach to hold them all accountable to implementing. so here we are replacing MDA and CP3 this summer... lets see if morey can pull off those moves and replace them with equal value.

 

Good post OP

 

Exactly. Would a Jimmy Butler get 38 minutes a game and allow Harden to rest more on and off the court. I believe
management is considering it.

Then maybe the corporate lawyers will sit with the Office manager who sits with the sales rep who sits with the clerk
who sits with the janitor for lunch. Participation trophies for all. Lol.

 

I said most of that in my post except for the love of the game thing.

 

Get more talent on the team.

Warriors have had their share of "chemistry" issues with Green and Durant but that hasnt stopped them from winning.

Get more talent. Everything else is secondary and nitpicking at this point..

 

Man who cares

 

I don’t have the exact stat in front of me (maybe someone can look it up later....I saw it at season’s end):
CP3/Rockets (Plus/Minus) when Harden sat and CP3 on the court in regular season: +12
CP3/Rockets (Plus/Minus) when Harden sat and CP3 on the court in the playoffs:: —9

*side note: may be reversed: +9 (reg season) —12 (playoffs) this year.

 

You'll find a more entertaining post very soon.

 

You guys over think things.

Out rebounded and didn't hit shots. Got beat by a more talented team. Get more talent. Everything else matters very little.

 

Fantastic post, enjoyed reading. I think this is spot on. This team could have been better this year, but it just didn’t happen. Why? I too never saw this team have each other’s backs fully; at least not on a consistent basis.

Look, I appreciate Harden and the season he had, but he is not without warts. Once the team got healthy he seemed to lose the urgency of his greatness. I don’t think for one second it was because he was tired. Part of it may have been him being a little upset because most guys didn’t play as well as they should have consistently. Gordon had a nice stretch for a while, Capela wasn’t really the same after coming back from injury and CP3 had a down year imo.

Harden had the numbers in the playoffs, but I never felt like he impacted the game as he did in the regular season. Of course Harden in game one was officiated poorly and it hurt the team. I felt like Harden deferred a bit, wanted guys to step up and I never felt like the team truly did that as a whole against the Warriors. I wanted to see Harden take over and show that he had taken the next step into greatness and I never saw that kind of effort or fire.

So what is the problem? So hard to say, really. The roster does have holes, they can improve in a couple of areas without question. Is there an issue between James and CP? Maybe. If so, how can that be remedied? Coaching? I’d say yes. Trade CP3? Possibly, but it is probably not the best way to address these issues.

I want to see a coaching change, I just think it’s time. D’Antoni has had a nice run, but I’m not convinced he’s the one to move the team forward. Part of that is because I feel management has moved on from coach. That cannot be good for the players.

Roster upgrades are also a must. Where do you make them? Stretch 5? I think it will help in the current system. I think we see Hartenstein get a real shot to make an impact next season. Still, need a vet like Dedmon that can start imo. This team also needs length that can defend and shoot the 3. Have got to get guys that rebound the ball too. The Rockets cannot continue to get outworked on the boards.

For a team so close, it stil feels like so much is missing, at least for now.

 

Another nicely disguised Harden hate thread.

We wouldn’t make the playoffs without James. Chris Paul and his buddy Melo played like real vets from a retirement home and almost brought us to the lottery.

Then Chris Paul complains at the end when he was crap all season. His shot disappeared and his shot creating and getting to his spot disappeared. We were crap all season long when Harden sits.

Without Hardens historic run we’d be maybe in the Zion sweepstakes. Maybe we should blame him for that too.

This roster has major flaws now. We need size at forward position to defend and rebound. Or perhaps create something. This forum has glorified mister House who disappeared against the warriors. But bashes Harden who was by far our best player and he actually improved immensely on the defensive end. But no mention off that let’s bash Harden for Chris Pauls decline and Capelas no show and an expected no show by g league stars and minimum signings