What happens to his sweet floater he was doing in the beginning of the season? That thing was deadly when he was driving down the lane We could have used that last night
He started getting called for charges, he’s gotten away from it since. Last night the way the Knicks were camping in the paint not sure it would have helped. Harden may have fouled out by the half. His 3 needs to start falling
yep, and teams also started undercutting him hard after the release, and of course zebras always looked the other way
He hit 2 of them last night if I recall. The main issue is that his jumper is broken right now. He was 5-9 in the paint last night, and that’s with him smoking 2 easy layups. Meanwhile he started off 0-8 from deep.
I didn't see the Knicks game, but I recall that Boston was doing it pretty bad to him the game before It not only gets Harden into foul trouble, but it takes away some of his aggressiveness, and also increases his chance for injury when he inevitably lands on the defender. I'm not surprised that the refs allow it to continue.
His offense has certainly regressed in 2020. Far more inconsistent than he was. Hope he's back by playoffs.
Lately he got more n more euro step while driving to the hoop, ever since we start playing micro ball , more spacing in the lane n less big defenders clogged under the rim. floater would be better used to deal with big man under the rim.
Notice how James in his 1st year with the Rockets seemed to be more athletic and in shape. He made quicker decisions and didn't let the defense prepare for him. He didn't shy away from making a pull up jumper if he saw the paint was clogged. Nowadays he lazily tries to bamboozle his defender with his dribbles before making a desperation stepback 3. 2 years ago he would be able to drive past his defender after the dribbling, but he doesn't have that explosive first step anymore. The stepback 3 would be a good option if he was in better shape, but he's not in that condition right now. Obviously defenses have also keyed in on James with the double teams and the packing of the paint since then, so thats a big factor as well. So James, please get in better shape, or at least add the jumper back into your game to make it less static.
Pretty much. It would discourage defenders from camping in the lane and with the ease at which Harden blows by defenders, they won't be expecting Harden to pull up, and would probably foul him from behind. Harden just needs to add some unpredictability to his game.
Comparing Harden at age 22-23 to age 30? Come on. Obviously he was more spry 8 years ago; can't exactly get youthful legs back. And Harden still beats his defender every time - he just needs to add more moves so that opponents can't gameplan every time for the step back 3.
WTF are you talking about? I can literally post gifs of Harden less than 5 games ago with his first step looking just as good as ever. Harden is the type of player that doesn't use the full extent of his physical capabilities on a game-to-game basis. As a Rockets fans, you should know this by now. Some games, he chooses not to go as hard and his movement just won't look quite the same. He's done this for years. Russ is the opposite, in that he goes hard and puts his physical abilities on full display every single game. It's pretty clear to me that Harden has been coasting more than ever this regular season and he knows he can because of how well Russ is playing. I can guarantee that when the important games start coming, particularly in the playoffs, you will see the best form Harden has. He's just been holding it in the tank.
His dribbling and blowbys this season haven't been as good as they were last year or the year before it. Just because he's able to do it sometimes doesn't mean its as good as it once was. Maybe he is saving his energy for the playoffs as you say. We'll see.
Harden's style has always been more craft versus athleticism, which is why I find it concerning that he may have lost some significant spring in just 1 year. I hope thats not the case. I put up that video to show how his offense was more diverse back then, with a variety of ways to score rather than just relying on the step back 3. So I agree that he needs to diversify his offense to keep the defense guessing.
The point is that he's had plenty of games this season where his explosiveness has been just like it always has. The capability is there and that's what matters. People always complain about Harden going too hard in the regular season and having not having anything left for the playoffs. Now, he's finally having the opportunity to coast and it will pay dividends.