That is the only Westbrook stat worth discussing and ultimately what doomed him tonight. Westbrook was 15-34 from the field. 13 of those 19 missed shots were 3-pointers. Otherwise, Westbrook was 10-16 on 2PT attempts. Westbrook' penchant for jacking up 3s even though his bread-and-butter rests inside the arc, is what killed his chances. This is the fatal flaw in his game. All the other MVP candidates are smart enough not to fall into this trap.
Probably been mentioned elsewhere on this forum, but Harden is just as bad. The sooner he takes away his large volume of bad threes he takes and adds more drives then the better. Harden's 3rd was bad, real bad, michael Jackson while his 4th was pure awesome.
WB: "WHO HE? I don't know what you're talking about. I had 42 points at the time." BEV: "He took 43 shots in one game" WB: "WHO HE?"
He needs to take more midrange shots, he's money on those. Once he makes a few from 15 feet, then maybe he'll catch a rhythm. Dude is not Steph Curry and shouldn't be taking 13 threes like he did tonight, especially when he's only making 2 of them.
Yeah, I agree on mid range jumpers too. I think Harden should get at least a few post ups a game. Not too many obviously. Let him work. I know James likes to let them fly, but sometimes they just don't go in. I really wish he was smarter about his shot selection. Personally, I believe that if he sees himself brick 3 or 4 threes in a row he should start driving in. Watching the ball go into the hoop helps a lot. Especially on free throws. He only took one three in the 4th and that was with about a minute left in the quarter. I think if James limits himself to about 2 to 3 threes in a quarter, and about 7 drives a quarter then he'll be scoring more effectively. Obviously, that's easier said than done though... takes a bunch of punishment and who knows how bad his ankle is. I would love to see him play more off ball and letting Lou run some 3 man PNRs. It's crazy to know how good James is, but also realize that he can be so much better with small adjustments. He played that 4th quarter with just a few mistakes. Had one turnover I think. Probably missed a rotation or two. Failed to box out sometimes. It was all a blur. But he just started driving in and being aggressive. They couldn't contain him, and he was killing OKC. That's when James is at his most dangerous. He's such a skilled finisher at the rim. I don't know how accurate basketball-reference is with these numbers, but this season Harden is shooting 68.3% from 0-3 feet which is his 2nd highest of his career. His highest being his last season in OKC. Still, despite finishing so well from 0-3 feet Harden's FGA percentage from there is the lowest at his career. Meanwhile his 3PA has skyrocketed while his percentages have fallen down. I have no doubt in my mind that Harden could have had a 64+ TS% this season had he drove in more and shot less bad three attempts. I hope this summer he works on his shot and becomes more consistent.
Harden prior to rolling his ankle was averaging 40 points on 49% from the field in the first 3 gamers. The last two games you can clearly see harden is moving at half paced. What is Westi's excuse?
You're right. Harden did say his ankle was hurting and that should be mentioned. It's similar to his wrist. I guess James was put in a bad position where he had no other choice but to settle for threes where he doesn't have the usual lift he does. A lot of his threes this game were just a bit short or a bit long. But check this: Harden went 1-5 in the 1st half. He then went 1-7 in the 3rd quarter alone. 1st three: Misses heavily contested 3 by Roberson w/ 12 secs left on shot clock 2nd three: Makes slightly open step back 3 after Roberson gets caught on Nene screen 3rd three: Misses contested 3 by Roberson w/ 14 secs left on shot clock 4th three: Blocked three by Roberson w/ 4 secs on shot clock 5th three: Missed heaved 3 from half court to end half --- 6th three: Misses open pull up three after Nene sets great screen on Russ w/ 15 secs left on clock (hits back of iron) 7th three: Airballs step back 3 defended by Taj Gibson w/ 7 secs left on clock 8th three: Drains open and deep spot up three w/ Roberson late on contest & 14 secs on clock 9th: Misses late contest by Roberson on inbounds play w/ 15 secs (again back of iron (sigh)) 10th: Misses wild 3 trying to draw foul on Roberson w/ 16 seconds on the clock 11th: Misses pull up 3 after Nene sets another great screen on Roberson w/ 17 secs 12th: Misses pull up 3 contested heavily by Roberson after having to retrieve back from back court w/ 2 secs left --- 13th: Misses step back 3 heavily contested by Roberson w/ 4 secs left I'm not trying to attack Harden or make him look too bad. I know he's hobbled, and a decent amount of these threes he took were just slightly off. I don't know how bad his ankle really is. In the 3rd he had only 3 actual good looks with maybe 4 if we consider the 9th three. Still, you say he averaged 40 on 49%, but I'm just saying he could be better and more selective on his threes. In those first 3 games he shot 10/30 from deep. I don't think we're considering how well Roberson defended Harden from three, and I feel like James should have realized that it was going to be tough to get his shots off on Roberson. Also, Russ has no excuse. Dude was just chucking lol.
in my humble opinion he got to take these to keep defenders honest...otherwise hes easier to defend... hes drives and midrange would be A LOT easier to defend if you knew in advance he wont take the 3s
thing is mid range shots are even harder to pull off than 3 pt shots. I have no idea why people assume people who suck at 3 pt shots will suddenly make mid range shots. It's like saying a swimmer who sucks at back stroke will be better off doing the butterfly.
Harden has consistently been making his midrangers and getting them off with the ease, he's just barely been taking them during the regular season Harden shot 42% from between 10 feet and the 3 point line which is obviously much higher than what he shot from 3, and in the postseason he's shooting 50% from 10-16 feet, and 33% from 16 feet to the 3 point line as opposed to shooting 24% from 3 so your swimming analogy is off base and does not apply
why is that? also you cant say that then start throwing out other stats. Harden was worse 2-13. didn't doom him.
Well if you do the math 43% from 2 is like 30% from 3 so since Harden is shooting 34% from 3 that means he's still better off shooting the 3 than taking mid range shots. Your mid range shot doesn't just need to be higher than your 3 pt%, it has to be ridiculously high like 50% from mid range to equal a 40% 3pt shooting clip. I mean this is the reason why the Rox are 3rd seed even if they are shooting 3s at a barely average rate: their 3s are equivalent to superior 2 pt % from other NBA teams. 50%+33%/2= average of 42% so in the playoffs Harden's mid range shot is indeed higher than his 24% current playoff 3 pt average however Harden hasn't been taking a lot of mid range shots, if he increased the volume and with his ankle bothering him will he still make it at that rate? Like I said before mid range shots are harder than 3 pt shots, especially in Harden's case right now he will have a dude right in his grill all the time. With a 3 pt he can catch his opponent off guard (like when the dude is waiting for him behind the 3 pt line to defend the drive), but in mid range the opponent will already be right in his face so he needs to a do move like an ankle breaker or w/e, point is he can't just stand still and take those shots so it'll put more stress on his ankle. And that's just talking about the shot itself, what about the spacing a 3 pt shot provides vs taking a mid range shot? If Harden is already in the paint, he should just drive that ball inside and try to get fouled, when he takes the mid range shot it just clogs up the paint for other people because all the defenders are in the shaded area.
28/19/70 shooting numbers for Rusty Westy in the 4th in this series. 38% from the floor and 26% from 3 for the entire series. TS% from the other OKC guys McDermott: 73% Grant: 69% Gibson: 63% Adams: 59% Russ: 49%
Just look at Harden's stats in the 4th compared to Westbrook. You'll find out why the Thunder lost those games.