I thought the following was key to our success last night: 1. Inserting Faried into the starting lineup to put a body on Durant and help rebound on both ends. 2. Tucker to guarding Draymond to bring him out of the lane to cover Tucker 3s from the corner. 3. Everyone not standing around watching the action and actually getting a fast break. James walks the ball up the court allowing the defense to get set. I would love to see a starting lineup of Faried, Harden, CP3, Tucker, and Capela. This will solve our early game rebounding problem and let Gordon, Green, Rivers, and Nene play together. Also, gives Tucker a chance to rest on defense and stay fresher.
Faried guarding KD around the three point line is less than ideal, while he's offense and rebounding might make up for it (it does most nights), he fits the Gerald Green mold in 1-on-1 defense, quick, long, occasionally produces a highlight block, but no defensive instincts or awareness. Tucker playing fewer minutes really did up his effectiveness guarding KD tho.
Common sense logic I say. No need to scream idiot or child to those who make any types of critiques either way. No need to say nothing can be done smarter or better because he is breaking scoring records. You have to make the coach the most responsible to coach, and not just let those 5 possession rants happen when time is crucial, or not make adjustments when guys are getting slow and lazy because they need to rest. Bring in fresh legs, play defense with energy, and just do our best.
Apology accepted. My take on this is the Rockets are a lot better with Harden - but I think sometimes he gets into trying to do too much, and is still learning how to balance that. My only 2 criticisms of him are that he is inconsistent on D, and his turnovers are too high - but the dude is an all time great, and we are lucky to have him, just because some of us criticize him a bit, doesn't mean we hate him, most of us love having him as a Rocket, and want him and the team to do even better. I believe the TEAM would be better if he did a little less on offense and a little more on D, and yes, he had to score for a while with all those injuries, but he doesn't now....so let's get him 30ish and get those assists up. DD
And it continues again after ONE game without Harden. Whose to say we dont win this game with Harden we've had GSWs number all year. Lets see how they do for a stretch of 10 games without Harden against other teams. That will push all this bullshit out the window.
It’s not that complicated... He’s gotten into a habit of playing this way because his teammates have been **** for the vast majority of the season. It was always going to an adjustment once we got healthy. Now is the time for that adjustment.
You are such a genius, you caught me. I think you should join FBI or CIA with such genius brain of yours rather than wasting your time with Rockets forum.
I think harden has been hurt and has been trying to play through it. Which has lead to some of his play style lately .
howzabout we had 27 fast break points... vs our normal avg of 11.6... thats a pretty substantial piece of factual data... a differential that would swing the outcome of a 6 pt game... and i would think that that would tie into the fact that although we are normally one of the slowest teams with a pace of 98.29 our pace was at 106 - which is higher than any team is averaging for the year... could those be contributing factors in our success? those facts do seem to support my original assertion... coincidentally... when we beat GSW at Oracle the first time we had 23 fast break points... so that seems to be the key...
I mean our pace last year was slightly slower than this year. Lots of things played a factor into that win last night. Harden being out isn’t even worth mentioning, yet it was a dominant reaction to the win. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me. I layed out all the numbers for you. It wasn’t about more touches or more time of possession for everybody. We played a damn good game against a good team. Everyone stepped up. We have done the same with Harden playing the way we play countless times.
For the most part, James is a willing passer and moves the ball around. The issue is when the game gets tight or when we're up by a lot. When it gets tight in the 3rd or 4th he too often goes into iso mode and only seems to pass to get the ball back. This can literally go on for five to six minutes of game time consecutively, while achieving low levels of success (turnovers, hoped for fouls that don't get called, and high difficulty threes that miss). When we're up by a lot, he goes into the same mode, and chooses to loft high difficulty shots. These tendencies can be paired back, but they are bad habits that have become characteristic of his game and I'm hoping can change.
Short of some impressive streak that harkens back to last season I think we are locked at 4. OKC is going to suffer from Westbrook reverting. He was on good behavior for a while but cannot help it anymore. PG13 is getting too much shine.
Anytime you take the MVP out of a contest, it's going to be a major factor - in many ways that may not necessarily show up in the stats... guys know they have to step up and push themselves, GSW doesnt have the usual sense of urgency, GSW is defending different tendencies that they aren't accustomed to, etc... The key point people miss when they say things like the 'we dont need harden' misconception is that last night is not sustainable... like when a bu quarterback goes in and looks great... the other team will get film, grow accustomed - and then he aint gonna be that hot... there's tons of film on Hardem - he's still virtually unstoppable - unless yer wearing a referee jersey..smh... My whole point - as its always been - is balance. Have CP3 bring the ball up quickly and see if we can get a quick easy bucket before the defense gets set... if it aint there - back it out and give it to Harden and let him do his thing... but having Harden slowly bring the ball up and running a halfcourt set against a set defense is already eliminating potential opportunities... we're not maximizing MDA - we may as well have JVG coaching - lol Whether it was Harden and D12... or slo-ball Harden and fastbreak faster pace CP3... we have to maximize all the talents available to us... Harden can singlehandedly win us many games in the regular season - but he cant do it all himself in the playoffs - the talent level is too high... we cant pigeon hole ourselves into 1 style of play, 'just play our game' and expect it to work all the way to a championship. We have to be willing to make adjustments and lean on whatever is working best on any given night against any particular team... and we have to instill that diversity now during the regular season... as I've said for years... just because Harden is the best option - we cant make him the only option... The 3 ball may be the best option - but you gotta be willing to take the midrange when the 3 aint dropping - or if thats what the defense is giving you... Spacing is great... but you need a low post option who can create down low when the game gets tight...
I don't think we will go anywhere without Harden. At the same time, if we get contributions from our role players like last night against the warriors, we will be fine. Most often, our role players are misfiring and it is putting pressure on Harden to score more. I agree that the game will be a lot easier if we can get some fast break points and easy layups rather than iso Harden way too much. The best way is to push the ball and try to score in less than 12 secs, if not, then pull back and do a half court set, try some off ball player movements as well as some ball movement to keep the defense from resting. Pick and Roll with Capela/Faried and Harden or CP3 iso are our bread and butter plays. Since we have Faried and Capela now, I think we should do something to take advantage off that on offense now. Lets hope D'antoni has made some tweaks on offense to make us better. Go Rockets
This was definitely a trap game for GSW. Kerr warned them about it. They came out lazy.. no Harden right so cakewalk only Houston hates GSW with a passion so they were in for a fight.
yep it was a couple trap games... GSW loses to a no Harden Rox... and Fakers lose to a no AD pelicans... bookmakers musta made bank! lol
