I think doubling Harden is here to stay. Taking the ball out of his hands is still your best chance to beat us.
This adjustment is going to be hardest for Harden. His game became predicated on the Capela pick and roll while he either took that floater in the lane or lobbed it up to Capela for the dunk/layup, besides his perimeter 3-point shooting. Capela's move out was to cater to Westbrook and his faults, not Harden and his. In the end hopefully both can readjust because we'll need both of them in the playoffs anyway. All that being said, we'll likely still have trouble with the other team's with solid big men in the playoffs. Beating LA on their homecourt is definitely a step in the right direction.
Let them do it so Westbrook goes off for 40. They did it to Harden last year as well but CP3 couldn't score 30+ like Westbrook consistently.
They cant double both Harden and Westbrook at the same time ..... and either one of them will eat teams alive one on one. As long as Westbrook's shot selection is what it was last night against the Lakers , doubling Harden is a pick your poison situation. It doesn't matter which one you double , the other one can go for 50. The other thing that might have been overlooked last night was the play of D.House early on - He was attacking and making the right pass. Someone has to be able to attack the rim if they are doubling Harden with Westbrook isn't on the court.
it'll be a pick a choose on a game by game basis. teams are going to try whatever they can to disrupt what the rockets are doing. harden is that good and garners that much attention, that doubles will never probably stop. the thing is when this happens the others will need to do their part but we've said this before playing 4-3 absolutely is in favor of the rockets. It's just a matter of actual execution
he’s not doing that bc he’s drawing the double, so we can have the advantage 4v3 against the other team.
You forgot that when the Rockets truly were bogged down against the Warriors in the playoffs, they were already playing Tucker at center. Harden has never had issues playing in small ball lineups whether with Russ or CP3. His stats are down recently because teams prefer Westbrook beating them than Harden. Correct move until maybe now.
I think teams will stop doubling at halfcourt very early (to prevent the early shot-clock Russ downhill 4:3) and start sending them later, which means conceding more early Harden drives and stepbacks, he should hopefully be mindful of this.
I think it works in the opponents favor. With Harden you have to respect his shot so when he switches on a big they must come out and he can drive by. When they double James and Russ ends up with the ball the big sags and Russ can’t get all the way to the rim. He got caught in the paint numerous times last night. MDA will need to add a pnr wrinkle to this.
they doesn't mean it doesn't work. Wb just needs to be able to make a better decision. he got caught in the paint bc he was indecisive on whether to continue to be aggressive for his shot or kick it out to a teammate. that's on the actual player and not anyone else.
We're talking about two different things now. CP was a different player and with a completely different team when we made our run to the Finals. Harden didn't have issues, then, with CP3 but he's had issues with trying to share the PG duties with Russ, without a doubt. They just don't compliment each other the way CP and Harden had. This is also a big part of why we've been outplayed more often than not away from the TC. We just need to mesh better. Also, Harden's stats are down because he's finally shaking out of his shooting slump (or so we thought). It's been a work in progress and so will this (perma) small ball death lineup that we've conjured up.
You can go back and look yourself, but all early season stats had Harden and the offense playing well with Westbrook. The biggest issue was that Westbrook minus Harden lineups were bad, while previously CP3 minus Harden lineups were good. Harden has always been basically teammate proof throughout his career here. Dude almost won MVP playing with DMo and Terence Jones and Corey Brewer. etc. This trade is certainly made to make Westbrook better but Harden year in year out has basically been his own thing. It's why he's the best offensive player in the game
