Harden plays too slow. He needs to pick up the pace.

Yeah that's because he needs to lose weight and having Beverley the fraud next to him doesn't help either.

Mike Anthony needs to have a talk with Harden

/ thread

 

Great thread. Would read again

 

Probably true. If there isn't an easy bucket to be had via a quick outlet, Harden usually takes about 6 seconds just to advance the ball up court. I'd personally prefer that we try to get more quick looks against unset defenses.

That said, I wonder if Harden's making the conscious decision to conserve some energy on offense, rather than rest on defense. If that's the case, I can live with it. Sprinting the ball up the court does take a lot of energy.

 

He's more prone to turnovers when he hurries, (But not as prone as his one hand passes. when he uses two hands, he hardly miss his target though)

 

Yes, I agree. I don't like slow, overthinking JH, too. Hopefully it's a temporary thing.

 

That's how he plays. He's not Steve Nash. It's a slower sort of pace with him because he likes to see how the D and his shooters will be set up.

I thought this year was about accepting and embracing who Harden is and playing to his strengths? Which is why we surrounded him with shooters, brought in MDA, and made him the PG. And all that seems to be working, so why would we tell Harden, who's playing at MVP level again, that he needs to change the way he's playing the game?

 

This isn't your imagination. D'Antoni has talked about it. Harden does not like to push the pace. When Bev is running the point we move at a league leading type pace, when Harden is on the point we are just above middle of the pack (if I remember the stats right.)

 

Spoiler: Sauces say ...

"I think James and every point guard has their pace, it's whatever they're comfortable with," D'Antoni said. "I think people have a misconception of pace. It's how the ball goes; it's once you get it over half court, we're pretty quick at it. You play it all kinds of different ways."

 

I agree. I always wonder why Harden is so slow bringing it up court. MDA doesn't seem to mind though. He says Nash had his own pace too.

 

Yes we've noticed but it seems to be working anyway

 

It's true, but it doesn't bother me until he goes full Isoball in the last 5 minutes of a tight game.

 

I think he's just accommodating who is at the 5. When it's Harrell at 5, the pace is faster...not so when Clint / Nene are at 5.

 

I don't feel like there is a point in pushing the pace if the defense is already set. I notice Harden selectively picks when to push the pace and when to take things slow.

The Rockets are currently near the top of the league in terms of offensive efficiency, and just 11th in terms of pace. The Rockets as a team are number 3 in TS%. I don't see why an adjustment on offense is needed when the Rockets are already doing so well on offense. The improvement this team needs is on the defensive end.

 

Harden is an elite scorer. The defense has to shift to stop Harden from scoring, creating holes in the defense. Unlike Nash, he has the luxury of being able to slow it down. Once the defense breaks down he's at his best, seeing holes in the defense develop before they are there.

Nash was like a soccer player, pushing and creating in the flow of the game.

Harden is like a quarterback, calling plays and waiting for the play to develop.

The tempo is fine with Harden. The bench coming in and pushing things is actually a bonus to me, a change of pace confuses the defense. It's almost as if they have to gameplan for 2 different offenses.

 

17-7

DD

 

Fixed and noted.

 

So Hardens has played no part in the 17-7 record? I guess Harden has played no part in the Rockets being the best first quarter team in the league and being second in points and 3rd in field goal%? some of these threads are outlandish.

 

He can be even better if he was getting into the action a bit quicker. Sometimes he overthinks it, sometimes I get a feel that he just spaces out for a few seconds... it could be energy preservation as some suggested, but in that case having a possession now and then run by Bev or EGo would give him that breather.

 

Then that would be quite a departure from last season when he would run it down and shoot it just as Dwight got to the FT circle.