At what cost though? He’s shooting 31% from 3pt range on high volume (9/29). Harden was never a sharpshooter to begin with but I believe the energy he’s expending on defense is 1) Impacting his percentages and 2) potentially impacting his decision making by settling for a 3 instead of driving. He’s always been the offense but now with added responsibility to “bring it” night in and night out on defense as well is taxing. Exhibit B: RoCo our 6’7 210 pound starting PF/C has even more responsibility on D than Harden. He’s shooting 21% from 3 pt range also on high volume 6/29. Now, I understand guys have shooting slumps but I don’t think any one can deny those percentages are abnormally low for both guys especially for RoCo. We desperately need Gordon to come back and play well and relieve some of the offensive pressure on the guys.
So let me get this straight, you were all down on Harden for his effort and efficacy on defense but now that he is elite in 2 categories (post defense, TOV - steals, deflections, blocks) you complain about this too? Make up your mind!!! You are a well known Harden hater so pardon me if I don't take your concerns seriously. Harden is a legit 2 way player, same as Kawhi, Giannis, Lebron, etc. Isnt this the same criticism that was used to rob Harden of all his MVPs as well as why he will never win a championship? This is obviously a joke post.
A little sensitive are we? Exactly which part of my post did I criticize Harden? Show me. I simply stated what I’ve seen and backed it up with real stats, a peer example and a possible remedy. You automatically go on the defense and spew some garbage like saying Harden is now on Kawhi’s level defensively. Yes, your post was a joke.
You are a known hater so do not pretend to couch your post in a positive light. The last part of your response exposes your true agenda. LOL
What can we say? It works well against playoff contenders, but not those on the outside quite as well. Since Capela was no longer playing for us we've beat: Dallas New Orleans Charlotte Lakers Boston Golden State Utah New York Knicks Memphis Boston Minnesota Dallas Milwaukee Lost to: Phoenix Utah New York Knicks Clippers Charlotte Orlando Portland 7 victories over teams we might see in the playoffs, 2 losses against teams we might see in the playoffs It's a small sample, but I trust what I see when it comes to playoff teams. We don't lock in against the non-playoff teams. We just don't. (Before someone says it, we're not gonna see Portland, Orlando/Charlotte, or Phoenix in the playoffs but if we do that's a great thing because that either means Finals or Lakers got knocked off.)
I agree with most of the posters here and why I think this is a risky strategy. It's great when the Rockets can make it work and so far in the three games in the bubble it's worked enough for us to win, even last night we had our chances. The real test will be in a grind it out 7 game series when the opponent will be making adjustments game after game.
On the contrary the fact they have to play this hard is a positive imo. cause to win a ring everyone has to play this hard all the time regardless of style.
It's no wonder Nurkic fell down every time someone breathed near him. Gary Trent Jr. seemed to suffer from narcolepsy too.
We've looked more tired than other teams in the last 2 bubble games so far in second halves, but the Bucks win was all heart. The pace that we play at is insane, not to mention the extra distance covered in switching. It must be why we never have a guy shooting 60% from 3 when other teams seem have one every game.
Jeff Green shot 3/4 from 3 vs. Blazers. That's more than 60%, he shot 75% from 3 that game. And Tucker, Covington, Harden and McLemore all shot 50% from 3 vs. the Lakers last night.
