Is it just me or does anyone else notice Harden dribbles it out for 15-20 seconds and pass it off to a much less capable scorer to pull off a last second shot? It was pretty evident with this most recent game but he seems to constantly put other teammates in a hole all season with this.
It seems like people are reading my mind today. I lost my thread privileges for some stupid reason but I was going to start a thread on this and the midrange aspect. Yes. It is VERY annoying. If you are isoing like that and want to take that last shot don't pass it off with 1 second to go. If you want to get that person on an open look, do it with at least 4-5 seconds.
i disliked that he did it this time when the team was down 10 with 7-8 minutes to go. we needed fast points, and he slowed the pace down at that moment.
He's trying to be "unselfish" by passing it to someone else instead of taking it himself. Unfortunately he needs to quit the stupid dribbling and move the ball earlier in the shot clock .
That really ins't unselfish. That is actually more selfish. If you are going to dribble the ball for that long don't pass it off to a teammate so that they have to take that desperation shot. He wasn't doing this earlier in the season, this just has started to really be a big issue post all star break.
Harden seems to have the same issue as Francis had back in the day. Dribble, Dribble, Dribble, create nothing, pass to guarded teammate with seconds left, teammate takes bad shot.
Yes, this is crap... Plus we shoot 3s like they're goin outta style all season long, then down by 16or whatever points, we slow the ball down and try to work it inside...WTH is that!
the huge difference btw harden and lin is harden is always trying to beat his man so he dribbled a lot or sometimes did fancy tricks to beat his man. it's a typical elite player's habit. well, on the other hand, lin is always looking for defense cracks to score. when he saw an opportunity, he accelerated. unfortunately, this is nba. sometimes, defenders were closing in faster than he expected. it is a reason we saw he was caught in the air with no place to go sometimes. but at least he tried to play smart instead beating his defender.
He didn't pass because no one is open, if defender is focused and settled in, you have to do pick/cut/set plays to get someone open, unfortunately it is not our strong suite.
Yes.. You can't entirely blame Harden on this also. This is on Mchale allowing players to be contempt with just staring at Harden while he dribbles air out of the ball. This team needs to learn how to do curls, screens and cuts.
That's the offense folks... Isos and pick n rolls... Once the defense tightens up, this is what happens... Dribble, dish, give back, dribble , dish, late second FG attempt
That may have happened, (didn't see it) but he tries to look for an opening and when it is late in the clock he passes. He does it too often and it is a bad habit. If he wants to dominate the clock then he should commit to take the shot or stop before 5 seconds and give some time for someone to do something.
I refuse to complain about James Harden until another player on this team can average at least 19 points a game.
Pretty much. The whole offense is dependent on Harden and Lin beating their guy off the dribble or using a pick at the top. If they do not get the pick then they either pass around the perimeter and find someone whose willing to take the shot. This is what they have been doing all year long, too long to break these habits. If the team had set plays with players moving and cutting trust when I say Harden would pass to those guys. But since the offense is mostly ISO then crap like this happens.
Right, but his intention is to be unselfish. I've seen Lin pass to Harden or someone else with a few seconds on the shot clock a few times, Is he trying to be selfish when he does that? No. Is it the right decision? Of course not.
i thought this was going to be about how he always gets caught ball watching and leaves his man wide open. that's a lot more problematic for me than his offense.
