Harden is a giant RB enforcer body type. He is not a skinny sprinting WR type like Thompson. You expecting him to be able to do things that he isnt going to be good at is no different than me suggesting that Westbrook do things he won’t be good at it. Westbrook can’t be part of a winning team. So how can we be a winning team with Westbrook?
the better solution is for him to learn how to dribble and pass much better...to learn how to make much better decisions let’s just stop it with the ignorant statements like “people just mad he won MVP in 2017”...that’s a joke he was averaging 4.6 turnovers a game from January-March, and despite much lower usage than in the regular season and damn near getting completely ignored by defenses, his turnover percentage was still sky high in the playoffs as well during Westbrook’s January-March stretch, the best offensive rating he posted was 115 in February...meanwhile, Harden had months where he posted a 124, 127, and 125 offensive rating...CF logic is then to give the ball to Russ more... Russ’s best stretch came because of how he was playing off Harden...he was taking advantage of Harden’s gravity and constant double teams aimed his way...he also wasn’t playing as dumb as normal when the ball is in Russ’s hands, we generate mediocre-trash level offense as a team...we saw it all year...Even at his best, how were most of the lineups when Harden wasn’t on the court with him putting him in a secondary ballhandling role?
They were able to do that because we didn't have motion either...I mean, that's obvious. Kobe explained this exact situation and if anyone knows about it, it would be him. But hey, maybe a 5x champion and a guy that learned under some of the greatest bball minds is stupid for thinking we should have more motion in our offense. CP3 and Russ are not the same players, you're asking why Russ can't do what CP3 did...because he's not the same player. Thinking you can plug and play Russ into this offense was a stupid idea, if you get Russ, you need a lot of things to change to optimize his play. That's just how it is and how it was always going to be. Again, Westbrook had his best years with bigs. Period. Adams is no sweet shooting Center either. You have no idea how his injury would affect play or how much it affected him? Also, his lineups being least efficient doesn't matter, the point of the lineup is to get Harden rest, it's not always about efficiency, sometimes the goal is to spell your best player and tread water. Teams didn't adjust in the bubble either, they were doing the same thing, Russ just played worse, probably because he had a quad injury that the team played him on, made it worse, and then likely rushed him back because Harden (and you know..the SAME Harden you say doesn't need Westbrook?) and the Rockets were getting beat by OKC. You've literally ignored that some of our best lineups include Westbrook... I'm not sure how real that decline is. He's still an all-nba player apparently...so we should probably see if we can utilize him better. We are ISOing Russ more than he's ever been in his career. You can check the numbers. It's not the best idea, he doesn't have a crafty dribble just his first step and explosion. If the guy is slow of foot, fine, but if he's not Russ isn't getting past that guy. Yall bring up PG13 like he's a first option himself, Russ ain't, PG13 aint, no surprised they lost to the Blazers and Utah, both better coached and more well rounded teams. One of those years he lost they were like the 6th seed and that was right after Durant bolted? But, to tell you, again, it's how he's used. I don't care about his stats in the playoffs, I really DGAF about playoff stats, but he went full Wildbrook mode and chucked up shots. Coach allowed it, so they lost. Except...he literally was the 2nd option on a team that went to the Finals...
These people always claim that this board has "Harden haters" when at the same time they don't give an inch and just refuse to accept that Harden adding some versitility might help. When you don't give an inch expect a lot of back and forth poo flinging. Like the moment I make a comment that Harden needs to move without the ball sometimes I get harassed by an army of Harden acolytes. If people actually agreed with that sentiment there would be less back and forth poo flinging about this subject matter. It's as if they believe that criticizing Harden and acknowledging he brought forth the second greatest era of Rocket basketball are mutually exclusive premises.
It "vanished" before WB came here. Again.... if it was solely about maximizing WB then Capela could have been moved around the lineup. LOL. What about it? Well it gives a sample size for when WB isn't back from a quad injury..... You basis for bashing WB is how he played when coming back from a quad injury that saps his athleticism.... Does WB rely on his athleticism?
People don't understand that Harden's stationaryness exacerbates Westbrook's poor decision making. The overall stationaryness of the overall offense exacerbates poor decision making. Defenses know where to concentrate their defensive efforts and pack the paint and run off three point shooters.
How do you utilities a guy who is horrible decision maker as a point guard. To me he is a SG who can’t shoot. I do like his post up and mid range game though.
Also keep in mind that we came back from a 4 month hiatus which is essentially a full off-season and when the season resumed Westbrook was almost immediately injured which means the games he played in during the playoffs would be equivalent of preseason games in past seasons in terms of training and getting your legs back into games shape conditioning. We essentially had a Westbrook that was essentially in preseason conditioning in the playoffs.
I think the team should have MORE versatility. I think their lack of versaility exposes and HAS exposed them in the playoffs over and over again. Yes, they almost beat the Warriors that one year, the other years outside of that? Embarrassing outings. Losing to Kawhi less Spurs, Harden running out of gas for the Warriors and Dwight getting outplayed by Bogut, losing to KDless Warriors... Every year, other than ONE year, we've not ended the season with a good taste in our mouth. I'm sure Denver fans will be sad if they lose tonight, but at least they didn't go out like this. They lost, they had their young guy come out and say they needed to change some things, they did. Rivers has been trying to keep up with them, lowering Trez's minutes because Denver's bigs have exposed him. This is how a playoff series is supposed to be. So yeah, I think in this series Russ should have had the ball more, because HArden having the ball resulted in the same thing over and over. It really shouldn't be too much to ask Harden, for a win that would bring him closer to the Finals, to do something different. It's harder to double player that are off ball and moving. This is just a fact just as it is harder to not foul players that are constantly driving. If Russ brings the ball up and Harden is off ball, how are the Lakers reacting to that? They can pack the paint for sure but means cutters baseline can get open off screens. The thing is, what we do, is predictable. The other team knows its coming and in the playoffs they just key in on it. So yes, it works in the regular season but it does not get you past the best teams. If the counter is "The other teams are more talented," all the more reason to get the most out of your team and try to out coach the other team.
I could careless about that. Who makes better decisions with the ball? Even a harden hater Like you can’t with a straight face can’t say russ. Russ turnovers are careless and downright stupid. Hardens decision making for 90 percent of the game is elite but with Russ it’s completely vice versa
always gotta find a way to twist it to being Harden’s fault huh no, his decline in skill exacerbates his poor decision making all those sh*tty passes he was throwing...all the times he came down the floor 100 mph and dribbled it off his leg or just lost the handle...it all happened whether Harden was on the floor or not enough with the excuses...his ballhandling and passing this past postseason were below average for an NBA guard Now we’re supposed to believe that Russ could run a motion offense?
Couldn't care less is what I assumed you mean. Well you should care some as the people who agree with you on this matter are extremist analytics hawks who insults posters who use the "eye test".
LOL. WB wasn't injured? Again. I'm trying to come up with ways to maximize Harden and WB and you only care about defending Harden and bashing WB.....
Nonsense, Harden can do it for spurts. Playing off ball isn't the same thing as not being able to shoot..... Again.... Harden has done it before at OKC. Maybe and most likely. But it's our problem to solve and you are just giving up.
I'm using the most rational explination. Westbrook before COVID was one of the top scoring guards on the league averaging near 30 pts on 50% shooting for almost two months straight. He didn't magically just lose it. He just was in preseason shape while the rest of the team wasn't as they played a lot of bubble games while Westbrook only played a couple before being thrust into the game 5 of the first round. He was essentially on preseason legs.
Harden is like Tmac, he is not a leader, he is an individually skilled player - he NEEDS to be with a player who is smarter than him that he respects - or he needs a COACH that can get him to change the way he plays... He does not need someone that will pander to him, as that will waste his career...he is 31 years old - he has 3 years of max play left.....time to change the way he plays. I would be more confident if we still had Capela... DD
Those parts of his game are fine really, but he's a pace fast break player, he's a slasher. Russ isn't stupid. I'm not sure what that's about, he just thinks he can hit those shots. Kobe took a TON of bad shots but no one would say he had low bball IQ. Also, some times, especially this series, the Lakers were rotating so well that guys were passing up shots and sometimes it'd get to Russ who had to hoist because everyone became gunshy.
