Should Harden take more midrange shots?

Harden takes the shots he wants to take, so no, he shouldn't

Harden's lack of mid range has nothing to do with Morey, and all to do with Harden.

 

Depends, if the game is being officiated like the Chicago game then I can see him taking more midrange shots. As long as they're within the flow of the game of course.

 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hardeja01.html

Harden shoots 33% on shots taken from 16 to 23 feet this year, 37% for his career. Not sure why he should take more shots from that range.

Obviously he does take some shots from that range (almost 2 a game), and these come within the flow of the game-- when open or when the defense presented no better option-- but why do we want to make an effort to get him more of these low% shots?

 

Yes, Harden's midrange game is lethal, but you are misstating Morey's Mantra.

Morey's Mantra is you need a superstar to win. Everything else he says is about the role players. He went after Melo, no? who has the best midrange game on the planet.

 

check his stats with under 5 minutes in the game. thx

 

Yes. We saw his Dirk fade-away again tonight. You look at his shot chart this year and there is this one mid-range spot where he is red hot. If he's there, shoot.

 

The man seems to be putting up solid numbers with the amount he's already taking

 

Because he is likely to keep on getting better with it. His mid range shot already presents problems for the opposing defense.

 

This...

And this...

It seems as if he's unstoppable from midrange but he hasn't been very great overall. I think the % of midrange shots he takes is working as is.

 

I diff wouldn't mind him taking more mid-range shots since he seems to be going to the post more often.. And i sure his % would go up the more he focuses on his middle game...Its worked for guys like Kobe, Pierce and Dirk... But like others have said he been an MVP doing what he has been doing this year so...

 

You really want him to turn into another kobe or melo? stick to the formula and excel.

 

He goes into his post play when he is missing his 3s. Mix it up; opponents cannot stop all of his moves.

 

Harden doesn't do post play. You're confusing him with Melo.

Harden does midrange like MJ.

 

the thing is Harden never really had a midrange game... when he was in OKC he shot about the same percentage of his shots from midrange as he has done here.

Its just not his game

 

welcome to 2015

 

I do want him to win championships like Kobe did when he started to post up alot... but no, I want Harden to be what he said he was "Best all around player in the league".

 

I think Goldsberry touched well on the issue

Despite injuries, massive minutes, helping lead to shooting slumps, not having any Kyle Korvers, we're the 10th best team on jump shots.

 

Right now Harden is shooting 33% from 16-23, and 37% for his career. As has been drilled into our head, those are not great shots. Equal fg%, and it's worth one less point. The argument that long 2's are not great shots isn't really up for debate. People associate mid range with anything that isn't a layp or a 3. The true mid-range is 12-17 feet, those are the shots some want more of, not the long 2's.

The area that Harden has turned himself into a truly lethal player is the actual mid range shots. Over the last 2 seasons he is shooting 46% from 10-16 feet. Those mid range shots are almost always contested, his 3's aren't always contested. I would venture to guess his FG% on contested mid range shots is more valuable than his FG% on contested 3's. My point being in an isolation situation working his way into a mid-range shot might be more efficient than a step back 3. Although he seems to make a lot of contested 3's as well so it may not.

20% of his shots come from mid-range, it's a myth that Harden has no mid-range game. I think Harden does a very good job of diversifying his offense. I'm at the point where I'm OK with whatever he does.

 

Harden should take any shot he thinks he can confidently make.