It seems like last game vs. Spurs Harden's ball hogging was worse than ever. You could just see over and over totally wide open teammates who he didn't pass it to them. Yes, he scored 29 points on 10-16 with 5 assists and 4 steals, but his play prevented them from ever developing any type of rhythm offensively. I believe this tweet by Carlos Delfino is referring to Harden's ball hogging: Carlos Delfino (V) @cabezadelfino Tough lost against a great TEAM...We Must learn from this, stay together,turn the page & get ready to bounce back tomorrow at home vs Mavs See how he capitalizes "team". He tweeted the same thing in Spanish capitalizing EQUIPO. I am not a LOF either. Linsanity has become Linsuckity, but the coaches are giving Harden the biggest role, which I don't think he is capable of or he isn't listening to them, therefore he deserves the majority of the blame. I can't imagine the coaches ever being happy with a player constantly ignoring wide open teammates, particularly when he doesn't have a good play for himself.
Harden was red hot - everybody else was cold as ice and bricking everything. He had several nice passes, but everybody kept missing. I´m not saying that I like him isoing all the time - but that is by coaches design. But Harden is a very good and a very willing passer, so I wouldn`t say that is the problem here right now.
If your teammates are ice cold and you are hot and the spurs are building on their lead, what would you do? sigh, harden hater.
Dont know how you read "Hardens a ball hog" out of this tweet Did you even watch the game?? Everybody else played like crap. Most #1 scorers take twice the number of shots when nobody else can hit the side of a barn Can you imagine Melo, Kobe, or Durant only taking 16 shots when their teamates are playing super shi**y???
Not going to lie, I miss the fluidity of last seasons offense. It may have lacked the firepower that Harden brings to the table, but I'd rather watch KLow/Dragic, Kmart, Parsons, Scola, Camby moving the ball around finding the open guy opposed to Harden recklessly driving the the basket or throwing up shots every time he touches the ball.
Harden's ballhogging normally annoys me but this last game against the Spurs he played well. The major culprit this game was Cook. Once he entered the game, the moment he got his hand on it, it was guaranteed he wasn't making an extra pass.
Delfino and Harden were the only guys that wanted to shoot. 2 or 3 bricks, and our guys lose confidence quickly. Inexperience/youth?
In the Spurs game, Delfino hit a 3 and shortly after that, he was wide open for another 3 on the wing, but Harden didn't pass the ball to him. I saw Delfino throw his hands up in frustration and then go camp out in the corner. So, Delfino's frustration was obvious in the game -- you don't have to interpret some tweet to see it. Instead, Harden held the ball for the last possession of the quarter, and ended up turning the ball while going ISO. This example really jumped out at me because firstly, Delfino can shoot the 3, especially open ones, and secondly, he was feeling it in that game so it's good to feed the hot hand. Forgoing an open 3 by a teammate -- either by choice or due to having blinders on -- to take a predictable ISO. Perhaps to some this is what good 'playmaking' is supposed to look like, but to me the offense looked especially stiff in that game, with no flow and little ball movement.
iso ball is ok at times, but not as a first option with 20 seconds on the shot clock. contrast that with how the Spurs play. Delfino is saying the Rockets are not playing as a team. Who else is responsible for that besides Harden? Harden's teammates not playing well is partially a byproduct of his ball hogging.
No. Besides it's not ballhoggin when you are making your shots. Period. End of story. Harden was far from ballhoggin, he tried to get his teammates involved and they all proceeded to suck. If Delfino is going to get angry at being passed up for a open three he really should look in the mirror. He's not exactly the guy whose known for passing the ball...
It doesn't matter what WE think is going on. If Delfino is frustrated for not getting the ball when he is open, then that's a fail. The point is not just about an objective view of what the best kind of shot is, or who should be taking it -- it's also about managing people. The main ballhandler/playmaker/leader should be handling the personalities of the teammates, instead of frustrating them.
every single game this season i have seen harden drive to the basket against 2-3 defenders while wide open guys are in the perimeter waiting for the ball. ive seen chandler parsons hide his disgust several times at this. harden wants to keep his hold on his scoring title position and it shows every game.
Last game he was the only one making his shots, so I understand why he hesitated to pass the ball. But in some other games, I have noticed he is showing ballhog tendencies. He needs to get better at decision-making.
I think you are reading too much into Delfino's tweet. However, Delfino getting mad at someone for not passing would be pretty ironic.
