I'd rather he save himself for the playoffs too. If that's whats happening right now, then I'm all for it. I just want him to be at 100% MVP Harden come playoff time.
Yea dude's think decline just happens in the middle of the year out of nowhere, not how it works lol.
Yep and we didn’t have the benefit of a Russ alpha game last night ... love James really do, but just don’t think he’s looked right since end of last year, he’s had a few big games and of course has been hammered with double teams for 3 months but he still doesn’t look right and I’m not completely buying that he’s coasting for the playoffs or that there is some nagging injury ... something isn’t right and it may be he’s just hitting a wall to an extent that his level of fitness/athleticism isn’t able to completely overcome at this point
I just view it as lazy. The geometry of defending Harden/the rockets have evolved over the years as the middle of the paint is increasingly more wide open. A few mid rangers to the arsenal for Harden can help free up the paint. Defenders are waiting for Harden near the basket now.
We saw an incredible offensive streak from Harden from the beginning of the season through the end of the year. While this was going on, his defense also improved, based on what I saw in the games. This may be his best defensive season that I’ve seen since he came to Houston. I haven’t looked at the stats, but he looks to be busting his ass, especially in the post, but not just there. That’s taking more energy, but I’m glad to see it. In January, his 3 point shooting really fell off after a very long outstanding streak. What happened? Every player has a slump from time to time. Was that it? James seemed much more like himself right after the break. Unsurprising with the time off, but after the initial burst, he seems more up and down again. I keep having the feeling that physically something is bothering him. Surely everyone has noticed the huge bags of ice he has on his knees as soon as he sits on the bench during games. That’s relatively new. What’s up with that? Harden strikes me as someone who would never say that anything is bothering him. Heck, he never complains about injuries. He’s famous around here for being an iron man. We’ve seen him get hammered, or step on someone’s foot looking, at least to me, like he should go to the locker room to get his ankle wrapped at the very least, and yet shrug it off. Russ has been getting regular games off, post knee surgery, which he had several months ago now. Harden never takes a game off. Maybe he should from time to time. D’Antoni might have to put a gun to his head to make him do it, but I’m beginning to think it could be a good idea. Maybe it would improve his floater. Maybe I’m just crazy. ;-)
It was most effective as an alternative to the Capela lob. Now that that is gone, its use is a lot more limited.
I feel that one of the benefits of having a lob threat was the floater. When teams stayed on Capela he would punish them with a floater. Now when they help on his drives, the defender can commit 100% to Harden (thus, eliminating the floater) since there isn't a threat for him to throw up a lob behind the help.
We make it easy for the refs to control the game because we refuse to step in for a midrange. Undercut us for 3's and swallow the whistle when we drive.
Harden 18/19 36.1/6.6/7.5/2.0/0.7/5.0 44/37/87 EFg : .541 TS% : .616 19/20 34.9/6.3/7.4/1.7/0.9/4.4 44/36/86 EFg: .538 TS% : .620 The Harden of this season has been almost identical to the Harden of last year. Weirdly identical. Actually his most efficient scoring and lowest turnover % season of his Rockets career. The January slump didn’t/hasn’t been happening all season.
James should incorporate the floater. Even if he just shoots 3 or 4 of these a game, will make him more unpredictable and keep defenders off balance
