[Zach Lowe Podcast] are Harden and Howard's games compatible?

If you have a SG that hesitates to take a open mid jumper then the PnR won't work. Defense can just fall back in the paint and wait for both players to run towards rim

 

Tom finally discovered the LOF....You guys are making it big time now.

 

Howard is a old school center. Ofcourse he can be utilized. The question is Harden even a superstar player to utitilize him.

 

Maybe if we ran a half-court play for these two, we could get them to work.

 

love it, talks bluntly about a lot of things (i) how poorly harden is playing, (ii) how harden sits around and doesn't play D / because he's a moper, (iii) how howard and harden can play together, but refuse to make it easy for themselves... i think one thing they do not directly address, at least in the first 10 minutes is the lack of a strategic coach. i mean they talk about why aren't we doing pnr or reverse pnr, that's on coach.

 

Yes they are, next question.

There is a lot wrong with the rockets at the moment, but the compatibility of Harden and Howard is not onw of them.

 

This.

Funny knee-jerk is funny.

"Portland is a bad matchup for our stars!"
"Parsons and Harden don't work!"
"Harden and Howard don't work!"

 

to be more accurate, they don't work as they play now. they could work, but don't do it. i think that much is clear.

 

Harden and Howard are learning to play combo guard and low post center this season. Both need ball in their hands. They are still young, so they will develop.

 

If Portland's coaching staff is telling their defense to not swipe at Harden, that's probably a good call. However, I don't think it has as big of an impact as the podcast may suggest.

Harden draws a lot of fouls through body contact. He loves to barrel into defenders in the paint and is strong and agile enough to get off his shot. He doesn't do the arms extended low ball show nearly as much as he used to in OKC.

He isn't attacking as much in the half court, and the team isn't getting out on the break as much, where Harden will draw (guessing) four free throws a game alone.

 

I'm finally starting to sour on McHale. I think a new coach and a point guard upgrade could address a lot of the problems.

 

2 playoffs series in a row Harden not getting calls.

 

LOL we won over 50 games and we played our best ball when they were both healthy in February so yes, they are compatible. Next...

 

Great comments on how Portland and Stotts are at the forefront of using analytics and how LA is not a rejection of analytics. Analytics is about taking advantage of what your players do that is exceptional. In this case, LA is an exceptional midrange shooter, so he should take it.

If Houston loses, the loss would be misinterpreted as a failure of "Moreyball" when Morey has stated that if LA was in Houston, Morey would want him shooting midrange.

Analytics is more nuanced than just "threes and no long 2s."

 

false. they already wasted one year of Dwright, actually got only 2 yrs window left, if cant at least reach final, after 15-16 Dwright will bail. no time for this young and dev shet.

 

Grantland's Zach Lowe on LMA and Basketball Analytics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYNbgcyDHzI

For those who don't have the time to watch, he essentially says that LMA's midrange game doesn't refute Moreyball, it in fact opens up more opportunities for corner 3's and other high percentage shots that Morey likes. The Blazers were one of the first teams in the league to embrace analytics and they fully understand how to take advantage of LMA's presence as a distractor to create easy looks for his teammates. That's why they want LMA to be doubled - so the rest of the team gets open high percentage shots.

 

It's not that Harden and Howard don't work together, it's that Harden tends to lose interest when we feed Dwight the ball. He'll just stand behind the 3 point line and watch.

 

Unfortunately, those 2 have that in common. Just posted this in another thread, but how many times this season have we seen Dwight disappear from a game b/c he isn't involved offensively? They just have to get back to both getting theirs within the flow of the offense, which they've shown can be done.

 

I did get a laugh when Lowe told him to talk to Friedman about "the Lin crazies" and how "they view the world through a Jeremy Lin lens"

As far as Harden and Howard not being able to work together, I don't buy it.