That's not great, but it's still a pretty small sample. He's experienced stretches like this multiple times in the previous seasons. He'll still finish the season at 36-37%
Unfortunately, he's shown us time and again, that in the playoffs he'll go through stretches where he can't hit squat. And his FT rate goes down in the playoff. Last year was one of his better offensive years statistically. Nonetheless, I don't trust that Harden can go entire series, much less entire playoffs, deep into the playoffs, being efficient with this style. Perhaps if he practiced being more versatile scorer, moving without the ball, playing solid man defense, not gambling so much on fast break defense, etc, etc.... and by practice I mean doing it in the game.... then when these situations arose in the playoffs, he and the team would have some alternatives.
How do you know its not an efficient shot for Harden? When's the last time you saw him shoot those at even a decent volume? Morey literally told this man that mid-range shots are bad. He stopped taking them. And now he's addicted to 3s. He always needs another hit.
Ive looked at his percentages from 2014-2015...they werent efficient enough from midrange. I think mid range in clutch situations are good, but I really think Harden is fine this way.
Not to be all like "prove it", but the worst stretch a click glance seems from last year is a 3-31 stretch across three games. At least then he slowed down a little on his volume. I can't imagine he's ever gone 5 games in a row, averaging 14 threes a game, shooting 20%. I mean... honestly, has any NBA player ever? Can't be many, if any. I have no doubt he'll go through hot stretches, too. The variability of these stretches (for him, EG, and this entire system) and the fact that when they are cold they literally have no clue what else to do, is that part that always bites them in the ass in the playoffs.
He did last year with the floater. But I will say this, it's kind of a shame that he doesn't post up anymore....Always liked when Mchale would do that back in 14.
Bro, that was 5 years ago. He's improved his game dramatically. Is it unrealistic to believe his mid-range jumper could be better than it was 5 years ago? I highly doubt he's stopped practicing them. He's hit the few I've seen him take this year lmaoo.
You dont raise your shooting level to absurd percentages like that, there are literally only like...maybe 3 guys in the league who can shoot midrange efficiently (Cp, Durant, and Kawhi). Thats pretty much it. Its very VERY difficult to make a midrange efficient.
Analytics are really helpful but I'm not finna listen to a dude who punches numbers about how to play basketball. Simple as that.
Harden doesn't have to shoot more mid-range, but when u start a game missing most of your threes at high volume, perhaps he should try something other than jack more threes. Harden developed a habit of spamming 3 even when he is clearly missing/off. Whether that is due to ego/stubbornness/stupidity/metrics or gameplan... who knows, but it's clearly a problem.
Harden starts slow every season. I’m not worried about him getting his groove back. He’s one of the best players in the NBA and arguably the best one on one player. With that said, it was a one-man show on offense tonight. Harden is a great player but he completely ignored everyone else and continued to go one on one despite being way off with his shot. It’s up to the coach to get the team to play TEAM basketball.
Harden's shot selection is the worst in NBA history. If he would balance out scoring vs getting guys going we'd be a FAR better team. Him jacking us 3's destroys team chemistry
Morey has brainwashed Harden & CF. Durant & West are right. Stop letting nerds tell you how to play basketball. "but but but we had a top 2 offense the past [however many] years!" No defense Jack up and miss a bunch of threes Great combination
Can someone explain to me how it is possible that Houston invests millions in a staff of offensive coaches and this team has no other strategy than to turn each game into a three-point shooting contest? Not to mention that we are the worst defensive team I've seen in my entire life.
