As individual, one on one defenders, they're fine. The problem is the defensive philosophy and their TEAM DEFENSE. You cant keep playing the "switch on all screens" like it's street ball - that's how you end up with Dwight or DMO guarding players like Curry or Klay and Bev on players like Draymond in the post - and these players are smart enough to take advantage of the switches. Look at the way GSW plays defense. It's rarely ever 1 on 1. Their defense is constantly communicating and constantly helping each other - there's always a help defender that's helping the help defender.
Who on this team would be a starter on another competitive team? We have Harden and the bench players. Even Dwight is hardly starter material anymore.
I agree completely that the whole switch every time philosophy is ridiculous. I disagree that Howard, Beverley and Ariza are fine as far as individual defense. They've all had issues this season with individual defense. Too many times Ariza is squared up on his man and the guy blows right by him. If nobody is behind him to help out then that's a team defense issue but regardless the fact that Ariza can't keep his man in front of him this season is an individual defense issue. I don't know the cause, but for some reason Ariza has had trouble staying in front of his man and he's been very slow to close out on shooters. Better team defense would help cover those issues but nevertheless they are issues. Ditto for Beverley. His defense hasn't been the same for two years now. When was the last time Beverley hounded an opposing PG and made him have a miserable night. Now days, his primary defensive value is more of an agitator rather than a defender. Dwight has just lost too much to injuries. He's one of the worst bigs in the league when he directly defends a shot. Guys that would never have even thought about attempting a shot anywhere in the vicinity of Dwight are now scoring over him.He simply doesn't have the lateral movement to be able to cover like he did and he no longer has the explosion that helped erase many mistakes. It's not Dwight's fault, he just doesn't have that type of athletic ability anymore. McHale talked about that very thing last week. Dwight can still play verticall but he can't move laterally and that's a huge problem defensively.
This team is washed up and beached. Ariza can't hit shots and is slowing down. Beverley is a bench sparkplug, shouldn't be a starter. Terry is stuck in molasses. Brewer is a shell of what he used to be. Jones never did have an IQ for the game. Motiejunas is enigmatic and a wildcard each game. Howard is breaking down before our eyes. Harden is an other-worldy scorer with questionable leadership and minimal defense. Beasley is a great streaky scorer with a questionable IQ KJ is a rebounding and blindside blocking machine with no discernible offensive skills Capela is a raw talent with clumsy hands Sam Dekker is a teenage goober Andrew Goudelock is one of those players on NBA 2k without a photo Best of luck to anyone coaching that. But if you're going to coach that, you'd better be ready to rotate like crazy for matchups. Bickerstaff failed in that regard.
I know this is going to irk some but is Harden's high level of volume statistics (29 7.5 6) something that quite a few talented iso players could accomplish if they were swapped in Harden's shoes in the Rocket's offensive system? This offensive system is so anemic and stationary I don't think there is a precedent where you can say "well x player had the same system in x team and they didn't have that high of a volume production as Harden" because I honestly don't believe there has ever been as anemic and stationary of a offensive system at the NBA level as what we have witnessed this season with the Rockets.
I know BPM is not a perfect stat, but it seems like Harden was literally the only positive contributor in the playoffs so.... there's that
that was not the point. everyone else besides Harden was a negative influence in the playoffs. that's pretty damning fact, I think.
Playing the greatest regular season team of all time and trying to use a YMCA offense probably didn't do anyone any favors. One of Harden's best traits is that he prefers playing 1v1 basketball.
Motiejunas is a wild card due to JBB stupid gameplan. Get me a coach who uses his post game consitently and that guy can be the 2nd or 3rd best scorer on a playoff team.
ISO ball can only take you so far... if you have the right guy, then you can win against mediocre teams... you might even have some playoff success... but in the long run, it's a flawed system that will not work among the top level teams on an ongoing basis - they will adjust and shut it down! The only way we are going to win a championship is through unselfish TEAM play! If Harden can play off ball, put in a consistent effort on BOTH ends of the court and be a TEAM player - as opposed to an aloof stat padding ass... then we can build around him... If he is going to continue to dominant the ball too the extent that nobody else can flourish... then he needs to go along with the house cleaning....
Harden's usage rate is not historically high and Harden's shot attempts are not historically high and yet, his 29-6-7 stat was achieved only by 4 players in the history of NBA (BIG O, MJ, Lebron and Harden) explain how that's possible
You are ignoring so many factors. Players become more disinterested when they just stand around. The don't touch the ball as often. Those factors can have an impact on spot up shot accuracy.
Nobody commands Ariza and Beverly to just stand around. Harden is a willing passer, so he will pass to whoever is wide open. Ariza and Beverly is just not quick enough to make themselves open. Harden does not design the offensive system, and even back when Parsons and Lin was playing with Harden, we played much more dynamically. That's on the coach.
let me make sure i understand your point first. are you saying harden is on par with or maybe even better than those other 3 players? "i read stats and i can tell things." lol.
exactly this. one thing i am not certain tho is that if our style of play on offense a direct result of how harden decides to play or it's a combination of morey, mchale and harden. my guess would be the latter, plus the lack of accountability as a team. so in other words, it's not entirely on harden.
