Yea I know bro, your good haha. Sorry if I seem hostile that’s really not how I’m trying to come across, it’s hard to convey tone over the internet.
then you don't see how kawhi impacts a game in its entirety. and specifically what GS was doing If this is your viewpoint of kawhi, then you should never say harden has an impact on other guys being able to do what they do
I hear this often and I struggle with the idea. At face value it makes sense, it would be nice to have some plays up our sleeve to use in those moments, and maybe we should reserve that stuff for the playoffs. But if you think about what you're really saying here, you're saying that the Rockets (or any team) should not be using their best and most effective plays. So in reserving those plays, and replacing them with weaker plays throughout the regular season, you're going to win less games. The Rockets were already the four seed, where would they be if they were holding back, and intentionally playing sub-optimally so that other teams didn't have tape on their best moves? It seems like the warriors have that luxury with their annoyingly stacked team, but I'm not sure other teams do. I'm not saying I disagree with you. Obviously good teams do it, namely the warriors, who rarely run their best lineups or best plays in the regular season. But there is a downside side to it. It's tough.
I think harden can and will play a great off-ball game . He just has to have better players (or a better system) enabling him to do so . He can expend energy on defense and in doing things like pushing in transition and wereaking havoc off-ball if he wants to be more involved when he doesn't have the ball in his hands . I agree than mental engagement when not having the ball in his hands is a bit of a issue for James , but I think that's a symptom of MDA more than a lack of ability on James' part. After all , he played off ball in OKC and frankly was willing to give up possessions to jeremey Lin . in my opinion , MDA sees the ppp isolation numbers for James and thinks ... let's just spam this . I think James wants to play in a system with more ball movement and where he doesn't have to take 40 shots/drives a game . He enjoys making a pretty pass more than he enjoys scoring (from what I've seen) . He's really been GOOD on defense this year . I don't think it's accurate to characterize James as a guy who just wants the ball all game ,every game . He's a team player .
for me I don't think harden is the off ball player he was in okc. he's a completely different player now and that part of the game is no longer a consistent aspect. I'd be completely surprised if his role alters to that significant of a change change. I for one would welcome it but certainly not expecting it.
I agree , unless you are absolutely loaded .... I think every coach has the decision to make about how "hard" to go in the regular season. I'm ok sacrificing regular season wins to put ourself in a better playoff position . The same argument with plays can be made for resting players / load management . It hurts your regular season win total , but puts you in a stronger position once the playoffs begin. IMO is absolutley worth it . I think if what you are being judged on is the playoffs , then the focus on regular season needs to finish a bit.
Gimme more credit than that man. He was scoring in isolation against curry and Draymond,or transition, or being set up by Lowry. Kawhi had an affect on maybe 2-3 of those plays. He was also passing to open shooters. I’m not gonna just blindly ignore the evidence like that. Siakm did that largely without Kawhis help.
I mean , do you think harden has forgotten how to shoot spot up 3's , or pumpfake and drive to the rim ? That's literally all he has to do . He can do it . I dunno if I expect it , because I don't think MDA will make a change like that
Morey signed players for the wrong sport! We have linebackers, when we should have looked for BASKETBALL PLAYERS! Morey plays chess, signs linebackers, hires spelling bee contestants in the front office, and have a casino owner as a boss!
I see a lot of “they pushed the pace” No they didn’t. Pace of last nights game 97.0 Rockets pace in the playoffs 97.8 Carry on seeing what y’all wanna see. Oh and those 3s, layups and free throws. Sheesh, that will never work.
he looks pretty uncomfortable when he does get spot up 3's. in fact he passes them up at times. putting up 24+ shots a game is definitely going to have to come down if he's going to be more active off the ball. yeah I don't see it happening as far as okc harden tbh. Would love to see that new wrinkle here though
I get what you're saying and kinda agree with that, but it's also about a really old/small/unathletic roster...CP3 is 34 and can't get past anyone, Harden is 30, slow and just not an high energy kind of player, PJ is 33, still a freaking beast, but he's also still small and not athletic, Capela is our only core player to be fast and a good athlete for his spot, but he's just not a physical player, Eric is kinda explosive and physical, he's also very strong for his spot, but still small to be a 3, and he's 30 too...
Masai Ujiri Ser Jibaca Pascal Siakam Marc Gasol What do they have in common? All of them are either Spaniards or Africans. The lessons to be learned is that the Rockets do not have enough Spaniard or Africans.
I was basically saying: old (CP3) slow (Harden) small (Eric/PJ) weak (Clint) I've learned in these past days that some people here (not saying about you) like to have a single person/element to blame, but i think every single player kinda costed us something here and there...aside for PJ maybe, i think he was really amazing in every single game, but that's just me.
I really think this team was one big piece away from winning this year after watching game 1 of the Finals. The Raptors owner was willing to go over the luxury tax to acquire Gasol who came up big in game 1. Imagine if he was a backup to Capela or even started in place of Capela who had some non-existent games vs the Warriors. The Rockets had to depend on Nene who is past retirement. Raptors owner took the gamble and thus far it paid off. Tillman opted to deny extending a contract to House who was tearing it up in the regular season up until his contract expired. Given how close the Rockets were to securing the #2 seed, imagine if House was actually present during some of those Rocket losses in his absence. One owner went all in on his team winning this year. The other closed shop and told the existing roster, they're on their own.
