I'm lost? Of course I can see that it looked a lot different tonight, but it was worse, and that's a fact. There's nothing to argue here and there's no room for opinion. Our offense tonight was below our season average performance. Our offense tonight was also worse (by a lot) than the last time we played in Oracle, the game where CP3 and Gordon were out and Harden still got us the win.
CP mainly ISOed in the 4th, during "Takeover Time"; Cousins was getting worked so bad that Kerr pulled him and played Bell down the stretch.
Gordon is so brutally bad from distance this year that 4-12 qualifies as a good game. This is Harden fault.
Yeah.... Harden is elite at iso-ing his man and making the right decision. CP is returning to his elite form of dictating the pace of the game - more important than getting others involved. Both elite skill sets will be needed to beat any of the top teams in a playoff series. Dahntay Jones, postgame, made a really good point about GSW's switching defense being vulnerable with Boogie doing the switch, and that it encourages teams to go to "iso-ball". It just so happens that we're elite in iso-ball in both James and Chris. He didn't say it but to respond to those here trying to make a case that we need to move on from iso-ball: Iso-ball is the key to beating GSW, whether it be on Boogie this year or Steph last year. Another great point he makes about that scenario is that when they switch with Boogie up top, we have a high chance for an offensive rebound with Faried and Clint in the paint. Let's hold off on eliminating iso-ball. I'm in the camp that Harden needs to find a way to draw some gravity when CP has the ball. He actively removes himself from the screen when it's in CP's hands. Also one more thing about Harden's iso-ball style is that defenders are now telegraphing his passes at a higher rate. The difference between CP of tonight and Harden of late is CP's ability to make unconventional passes that sets up easy buckets. Harden's passes almost always end up in a 3-pt attempts. We definitely saw CP go to iso-ball throughout tonight's game.
He is. This is why he has lead the entire universe in points created for like 5 years. Thanks for putting the main point of your thesis at the top so I could flag the rest for future reading when I am in a hostage situation in rural Moldova.
How do feel like it was worse, we actually looked like and NBA offense tonight...this is what people fail to realize when looking at numbers and efficiency. We had a more fluid offense hands down tonight compared to normal Games. I love Harden, defend him daily, but he needs to learn to play more with it the offense, even if guys or missing shots....Against the lakers he was 9-16 and we were up by like 15...he finished like 12-30 or something....And the second half when the lakers made a run, he went to hero ball chucking up shots...All I am saying is that continue to run the offense takes the shot that u have to take, but don’t take shot that u want to take trying to be a hero
A good thing about this game is that it lets us know, Boogie with be the equivalent to Bogut in a playoff series against us...He will be a liability....Guaranteed Jordan Bell will averages more mpg in a playoff series with us
Did you happen to notice how many times it came down to a Paul or Gordon iso late? It’s not like we were really playing a different style tonight. I do think Paul needs to be involved more. Also, we need to give the ball to Lebron Faried and let him break more ankles.
Gordon is a rhythm player, I think for him he needs a lot of touches--the 6th man role suited him as he could be the ace of the 2nd unit. We also know he has the tendency to pout--but it looked like he was having fun tonight
Haven’t read much of this thread... But I’ll say this: Harden has said all along that he’s done what he’s had to to keep this team afloat. In order for him to adjust his style, the guys needed to prove they could help him out. Tonight they proved that. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he sat out partially to force other guys to step up and gain some confidence (as a team decision, not his own). I think we’ll see, to a degree, a different style of play going forward.
You can summarize the lesson into one small thing that can help a lot: these role players are more capable of hitting shots when we play at a better pace and they receive the ball with some motion in their body before driving or shooting. What I love about Harden is he absolutely will adjust, he always learns.
If last season didn’t happen you might have a point. People forget so quickly that last year featured a monstrous dose of Harden and Paul isolation offense. And the defense was still great. If you truly believe last year we were some free flowing ball sharing offense with Harden off the floor you are wildly misremembering things. Last year our 3 point campers were knocking them down at a better rate than this year. Nothing to do with a difference in play.
He needs to go back to 6th man and the majority of his time needs to be without James being on the floor
More Harden off the ball is what Houston needs. The step back 3’s are great but very predictable and easy to guard even when it goes in. Chris Paul James Harden PJ Tucker Kenneth Faried Clint Capela Is one hell of a lineup that MDA has just discovered and unleashed to the world. Having, Austin Rivers Eric Gordon Gerald Green Danuel House (someday) Iman Shumpert Nene Is a sick backup squad.
The thing is, Harden has been playing with an injury for pretty much the last 2 weeks, and it wouldn't surprise me if it's been more like a month but he's been hiding it. The majority of people didn't complain last year..... and the majority of people wasn't complaining when we was winning this season. Fans can be so fickle.
