So post all star break 2018, after 5.5 years of playing a high pace game, Harden proclaimed “enough mother****ers I wanna play slow” and the organization said “yes sir” ORRRRRR Post all star break 2018 the organization made a strategic decision that slowing it down was the way to go.
Why would they make that decision? harden himself has been walking more post 2015. He even mentioned he's just gonna go at his own pace. As far as the data I think that had to do with roster changes. As you can see, 10th in 2018 was already the lowest in years
It was optimal to play slow last year, and the team destroyed everyone outside of the Warriors. An older team would like to play slow on offense, and switching everything on defense means players don't have to chase opposing players around. Plus Harden and Capela still don't seem like high stamina players yet so playing slow helps. But yes we should run more selectively such as on turnovers and long rebounds.
My honest answer is that I think if Pringles wants James to do something other than walk the ball up that way (when he does, which isn’t always, of course, but when he does, I don’t always understand it myself), if he tells him to “do it differently,” Harden will. I hear you and would like to see us do more of what you mentioned. We get too predictable, IMO. Definitely would love to see us exploit fast break opportunities more than we do. It isn’t like we don’t have two superb ball handlers simply unable to do it. We have two of the best. I would like to see Chris handle the ball more than he does in the offense, and I’d like to see James play more off the ball with more movement. I hope we work on that before next season, and I hope we have some personnel changes that will impact the offense, regardless. Butler, if we manage to get him, would really shake things up. Plenty of other possibilities are out there that might not have Butler’s game and cost, but could really help us. @Clutch mentioned a couple, and so have others that are intriguing. We need more length at both ends of the court. Oakland exploited that weakness. Just how much magic Morey can conjure and how much Fertitta will open his wallet remains to be seen. I have a lot of “hopes,” and I’m far from the only one here, but as frustrating as it may be to wait (and it is), we’ll have to see what Morey does. We clearly need to get better, both our coaching and our personnel. The changes to our coaching staff on the defensive side will be interesting to see play out, but we may see changes on the offensive side, as well. How that impacts MDA remains to be seen. He’s yet to get an extension. I hope some of that is coherent. Where’s my coffee?
Reading some of these posts, part of me wishes James would just ask for a trade. Maybe get to a SuperTeam and ride a stacked wave to a title ala Durant. For all of the crap he takes, I'd be happy for him and the Rockets would be in full rebuild mode.
Harden doesnt get any chances to practice offball when CP3 is injury the majority of the season... every season
Playing off the ball demands running around looking for spots. It gets you tired more than standing around waiting for your teammates to go 4 on 5 when you don't have the ball.
This is essentially the Crux of my post . I think harden is capable and willing to play any style he's asked . I think MDA loves the idea of harden creating a 4 on 4 When his defenders started sagging off of him a bit , we should have changed it up , we were no longer getting a 4 on 4 I'm just disappointed that so many people here think that harden is some lazy, hypocritical , tyrant who doesn't want to play hard if it's not his style and basically rules over the coach James has improved his game every year . He's improved his defense dramatically . We've put more on his plate than any other player over the last few years and yet he keeps chugging along . People really don't think that if we have him spot up he's gonna make 4/10 threes ? People really think that if you ask him to cut to the basket more he's gonna do it lazily because he wants to ISO instead ? Im pretty sure we will see harden off-ball more next year . But I also think that change will be driven by James himself and maybe chris . MDA is content to isolate James and CP3 all day long as we get a good PPP out of it .
Yeah, people who make this point must have forgotten OKC Harden who accepted and sacrificed his game to come off the bench. He's played and accepted every system and role he's ever given. From 6th man OKC to traditional SG under McHale/JBB's "play harder" offense, to a PG in D'antoni's pace and space to now an isolation heavy offense. He's done it all.
