[Post Practice Interview] JB: "I made it harder on James." Has plans to change that. And talks ab

I will believe new plays and schemes to the offense are coming when I see something executed on the court.

 

If I were to guess, I think it would be both. Not necessary just about Harden, but maybe the other players too. McHale always said about "sticky ball." It's hard to imagine the coaching staff intentionally strategize lots of ISO plays to grind Harden to death. There has to be some execution problems.

On the other hand, what JB said is a self condemnation that coaching failed to have a better system to facilitate an offense that was less reliant on Harden.

 

Sorry man, I think this is another case of blaming Harden and then trying to change the truth in order to fit your narrative when you've been proven wrong. He clearly said that he was asking James to do that. He won't anymore, he probably plays Ty more and hopefully Ty delivers. He'll also try more off the ball movement.

 

How long has this been discussed?

Damn, stop talking about it and f'n do it already.

Everyone has seen the obvious since a few seasons ago, yet they don't actually change anything. Just talk about it.

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

I hate this team so much but I'm a sucker for their talk. Now I'm excited for next game :/

 

what r u? still a college junior, eh?

 

Well this is certainly encouraging coming from the coach. I remain, perhaps pathetically so, optimistic still in the Rockets refinding their spirit/defence/effort/chemistry.

 

Right, this is more insightful and interesting than anything I recall hearing about relevant tactics in a long time!

 

By all means, since you are the MAN, enlighten us with your insightful posts about relevant tactics so we can learn something since being optimistic is so beneath you as a sentiment.

 

I don't think Harden listens to his coach as much as he himself realized he cannot win games by himself anymore.

Harden himself has to choose to give up the isos and attempting 3s when he's clearly cold. The ball-watching on defense and ball-stopping has to go. (I don't think our coaches ever taught those, remember even in Harden's first year with us, the ball movement was much crisper when Harden was not on the floor.)

If he finally embraces that, then all the pain early in the season can be worth something.

 

Sounds like Harden gave JB the opening he needed by talking about playing 40mpg.

DD

 

Coach and Harden on the same page? Great news.

 

I'm talking about what JBB said in comparison to the generic statements Coach McHale would say, which is what I thought you were saying

 

Do defenders ever really have to "chase"

I don't ever see Harden running off screens or moving without the ball. This season that is. That's why I have a hard time buying his "too many minutes" argument. In previous seasons he seemed to expend much more energy on offense.

And him being tired doesn't excuse half of his defensive mistakes. It's just straight up ball-watching and laziness.

Harden can be an elite player. Despite his numbers, I don't think he is playing like one thus far this season.

 

The key here is not so much running Harden all over the place. I actually think he may struggle with this as he doesn't like to move much. He likes receiving the ball and deciding what to do. Rest him more on the court not less. When when you watch him take the inbound pass he will post rather than move to the ball. He doesn't like to move without the ball.The key is playing defense in order to make offense less daunting. If you play good defense then you have a little more energy on offense which is counterintuitive, but true. I see that in Harden. That's how you keep him fresh. And I think if we can convince him of that he'll see a marked improvement in all facets of the game. Easier shots. Easier Wins. Less Work on the offensive end but same results. It's kinda like getting to the FT line. That makes scoring easier. Play some defense and everyone will get better shots and have more energy.

 

It must be really difficult to be a coach when your superstar isn't playing well and you aren't winning. Morale is low and nobody believes in each other or themselves.

What do you do in that situation? If you scream at your superstar, he might regress further and lose confidence. If you let them off the hook, they might not try hard enough in the next game..

Confidence is a subtle thing - you can say whatever you want but if you don't believe then it will show in your game. After all, they're all human despite proclaiming themselves to be Supermen.

 

I must be missing something obvious here, but if JBB knows when he'll play Dmo, why won't he tell the media?