I'd much rather have Harden take the midrange jumper off the PnR or the fadeaway off a postup, than his iso-step-back-3. All about making adjustments, and Harden made them last night. Kudos.
as long as harden is mixing in that midrange jumper on the PnR then the offense will be less predictable
The thing is, floaters are usually used when the big comes out to contest a drive. Anytime that happens, you might as well lob it to Dwight or swing it to the other side for a better look. That said, Harden certainly has the touch to perform floaters. It would just seem like a waste since the only players that use them regularly are small PG's that benefit the most from it. Brooks could use it but he already has a repertoire of hooks that serve the same purpose.
people need to get off this idea that a fifteen foot jump shot is a bad shot. for nba players its a great shot. the key is to get open.
Come playoff time the midrange shot is what teams are going to give up (for the most part teams defend the paint and the three point line) and if Howard doesn't have his post game together _ the Rockets are going to have to take advantage of the midrange shot. I'm glad to see Harden using it more and I would like to see Lin use it more too... Always trying to get to the basket is hard on their bodies and risk for injuries.
Some players you give the green light to take the midrange shot. Think about those shots Harden took last night. If that was Kobe Bryant you would want him taking those ~10x a game, and certainly more often than the 3 which he relatively sucks at. If you take NBA players who really work on their jumper, then the midrange shot can be a high percentage shot too.
This. If you watched Harden in OKC, in the high pick and roll, if he didn't go all the way to the rim, he shot the 15-18 foot jumper. Harden is really good at that shot and I wished he would take more of those like he did last night. I think he is the one guy on this team, Morey or any analytic guys wouldn't mind taking some midrange J's sometimes because it can open up more opportunities for everyone to score. Picture Howard setting the pick, the big man that has to pick up Harden has to come out because Harden has hit a few of those jumpers, not you have a guard trying to roll with Howard. Deadly.
I guess what I am wondering about is how to assess the Rocket's start with Dwight. The team can look awesome at times, but fifth place is still fifth place. We are just over a quarter into the season winning two thirds of our games. Most years this would get you better than fifth. Statistically, it is tough to call yourself a contender below third place in your division. It would be interesting to find out how predictive a quarter of a season is to the final seeding. It's nice to think that all we need to do is gel and we are a championship team, but I bet we are not done. It's hard to think of someone you would like to see go. I really like the team.
For some players, it is very effective. This is what shot charts are for. The problem with the midrange jumper is that every player thinks they are good at it.
A career 36% 3-point shooter (this year driving down the average) sucks at shooting 3s? Not accurate. Kobe Bryant is a career 33% 3-point shooter, as are Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, and Michael Jordan.
all mid range jumpers aren't the same. a wide open elbow shot off of a screen from a big body (howard) seems pretty safe to take. you just dont want guys going one on one and taking a contested 2.
i dont think the problem is the basketball. it's mental. mchale has problems getting the team to focus and be disciplined.
One thing that I've noticed is that when teams start doing hack-a-dwight, our defensive intensity plummets. In theory, our defense should be set, making it harder for the opponent to score. In reality, we let their guards get full heads of steam and the whole defensive possession is sloppy as hell.
Nothing wrong with taking too many midrange Js if you're knocking them down. Rudy Gay, Josh Smith ---> NOOOOOO....!!!! LMA ---> Yessss...!!!! I'd rather see them take a few less 3's and a few more midrange jumpers. Missed 3's can make for long defensive rebounds which teams can push the ball and put pressure on the Rockets transition defense. And the Rockets average 27 three point attempts per game and miss on average 17.. Taking around 5 less 3's per game (in addition to cutting down turnovers) would give a major boost to the teams defensive efficiency. Usually top 5 defensive teams don't jack up a lot of 3's... They keep it around 20... And the Rockets would probably score just as many if not more points than they are now. They went 6-28 from three point range last night.
Just in case the real jtr is reading this, just want you to know that your account had been hacked! Please log on and change your password.
The mid range jumper is the easiest bucket most fundamental basic winning shot of all time. That's why MJ is the goat.
