Not sure if he can do more with the addition of another superstar, but rockets will achieve more this year.
he's not going to be handling the ball 90% of the time. That defeats the purpose of having Lawson. You're worried about the simple fact of Harden running through picks and screens when those are basic principles of basketball. Do you really think Harden will be able just to stand there throughout a game and that's how he'll get open because of drive and kicks. Basketball is not that simple.
Here's the thing though. We've been improving every year. The players you mentioned were in situations where contention is questioned. Now if we keep losing in the first round for the next 3 years, yeah it's possible. I just think management has done a stellar job of improving the team yearly.
Harden needs to improve his D. if he can just get to decent this year that will be the 'more' we need. if Lawson is going to be his primary running mate at the 1, its almost an imperative.
If a player wants to go for any reason he's going to go, team success be damned. Lebron left Miami after two championships and four straight finals appearances to rejoin a bottom feeder in Cleveland. He stated that he didn't expect Cleveland to be a contender right away, he just wanted to go home that badly. Lamarcus Aldridge got out of the first round for the first time in his career last year. Says he will re-sign with Portland as soon as his contract expires. They extend Lillard. The 15-16 season starts and Aldridge is halfway out the door already. All we can hope for is that Harden is happy here when it comes time to re-sign. Sometimes, players just want to go.
No I don't but if you know basketball so well then you wouod also know that's how the rockets generated most of there 3 point attempts last year. By harden driving the defense collapsing and him dishing out to an open 3 point shooter who either shoots it or passes it for an even more open 3 point shooter. It's very simple with Lawson harden can now be the one floating around the the 3 point line. If the defense still sucks to him without the ball great there going to be leaving Ariza or dmo/jones open to either shoot a wide open 3 or attack the hoop in jones case. But I still hold my initial statement harden will be handling the ball a lot maybe not as much as last year because of ty being on the team but I'd imagine 80% of the time atleast. And I think his rest will come in the form of being able to play less minutes not change his playing style. Having ty here lets him take a few possession off as the primary but more importantly keeps his minutes Low which I think was the main reason ty was brought here.
Exactly, if the coaches wanted Harden to run off screens like Ray Allen, they could've done that last year or the year before. You don't need a Ty Lawson to deliver those passes. Beverley could have done that already. A highschooler is capable of making those passes, since Harden will be doing all the work to get open. That defeats the purpose of decreasing his workload. No, the way Harden will benefit is by the wide open looks he will get when Lawson breaks down the defense on his own, while Harden is pitching a tent out at the 3pt line taking a breather.
the point of ty being here is to make things easier as a whole for the team while being more efficient, specifically for harden because hell no longer be the primary playmaker which he had to be by default. The making's of a true pg. Of course the rockets generated a lot of 3's by harden driving and kicking but that's because he had to do it. no one else was capable. But that's not the only way to get shots. Now that Ty is here, this open's up a lot of other ways to get guys open and the ball when they need it where getting a shot doesn't have to be generated with the same degree of difficulty as last year. The great thing about Ty is he allows the Rockets to have a variety of different looks created on offense now. This includes Harden being able to simply spot up for jumpers off screens/picks a few plays here and there, dumping it down to Dwight when he has his man pinned under the goal (something no other pg could do until now), pick and rolls will be even more deadly bc Ty can actually run it and be a threat at the same time. Of course those are just a few examples. Harden is not so much changing his playing style, he'll just be getting a few more shots this year easier.
What's wrong with harden running off a few screens to get a simple 3 for a couple of possessions. That's simple basketball. It makes it alot easier for Harden when before he had to dribble the ball up the court, dribble for about 10 seconds, and take a tough step back 3. Is that going to be Harden all game? No but things like that will decrease his workload and go a long way.
There's nothing wrong with it. Maybe Harden doesn't like running off screens. Maybe McHale doesn't like drawing it up. Whatever the case may be, we didn't have to wait until we got a Ty Lawson to start running Harden off screens. They could have done that already in past, but didn't. So don't expect them to now.
it's not like it hasn't happened at all. A lot probably don't really notice of little things like that. Regardless whether people will expect it or not, it's one of the various ways Harden will have his workload decreased this season.
Is it really a foregone conclusion that Harden will be just as good off the ball as dominating it? He was just the MVP runner-up playing one way, so I guess the obvious thing to do is completely change his role on offense? I wonder why he can't just focus on having fewer turnovers while dominating the ball. Is that not possible?
Everything you say here is true. But keep in mind that Lebron left Miami after winning multiple titles TO BUILD HIS LEGACY. All of his titles came with Wade and Bosh as the other two stars. He went back to Cleveland because taking a bottom-feeder team from his hometown and turning them into a championship team was the next step in building his legacy. Sure, Harden might think about leaving for LA after winning a few titles as the alpha dog with Houston to build upon his legacy, but until he wins those championships here, with the team that was built around him, leaving this situation means that he's tarnishing his own legacy. Yes, leaving Houston is a possibility. Any player has the right to leave a team in free agency for any reason. I'm just saying that I don't think there's anything to worry about at this point. His legacy hasn't been established yet. He needs those chips before anything else. He's both smart enough and aware enough to know that.
If Harden wanted to dominate the ball as much as last year again he wouldn't have wanted TL to come here. All the work he had to do made him (and the team) realize he needed help when the season ended. This problem actually showed in spurts throughout the regular season but was easily masked or overlooked. I've said it before, it was a luxury the fact that harden was able to play both pg/sg and show significant results. Theres not many players capable of that and still have that level of success. He had an MVP caliber season no doubt but the glaring weakness of the team became evident as the playoffs went deeper. Is it possible for Harden to dominant the ball but focus on fewer turnovers? Sure it is, but that still doesn't solve the huge problem of lack of playmakers outside of Harden and the huge workload on him. Harden with Lawson now as his backcourt mate is going to be a huge problem for teams. Harden is still going to be Harden scoring the ball but now with Lawson much of those will be easier shots. Decreasing his workload while maintaining a high level of efficiency.
That didn't answer my question. My question was: Is it a foregone conclusion that Harden is going to be as good off the ball as dominating it? I know all this other stuff. Perhaps I should introduce myself? I frequent the site sometimes.
why wouldn't he be? This isn't his first time showing the ability to play off the ball. I guess maybe some people are use to seeing Harden in such a way like last year and aren't accustomed to change. It's no secret Harden is good shooter. Having an open shot created by someone else for significant portions of a game goes a long way. He now gets to be the recipient of the playmaker for a change. Harden's #1 strength is putting the ball in the basket. If he's able to get easier shots this year like he will, there isn't really any reason to think he won't be as good if not better than last year.
We know what off-ball Harden looks like based on his time in OKC. While he's certainly gotten a lot better as a player, his last year there was his most efficient scoring-wise. This turnover percentage has actually remained constant over the past four years, so there's not much hope of reducing that. Harden was still very efficient last year, but he was clearly working hard for his points. Things came easily playing next to Westbrook and Durant. He made things easier for them too of course, that's what playmakers do. Last year, we didn't have another playmaker, Harden did everything. We run a ton of pick and roll and Lawson is extremely good at that. He won't necessarily make Harden better, but he should allow Harden to rest more, which can be just as important.
This is pointless to talk about so early, but we do better hope the Lakers are still mediocre by the time Harden becomes a FA. They are likely to be our biggest competitor.
I doubt Harden ever matches or surpasses kobes career. Someone I think would be a good goal to reach for Harden is Wade. If Harden can reach and match Wades career I would be very impressed and happy with his career.
