Um Harden didn't play off the ball in OKC, he was predominantly their playmaker when he was on the court (they basically played him the same way the Spurs play Gino), he actually gets more scoring near the rim in Houston off the ball than he did in OKC, so I really have no idea where you got that idea from, are you just looking at Westbrook's assist rate and extrapolating here? (and lol @ OKC running plays, did you really just say that?) Howard? eh, he'd be in heaven if we got someone who can throw entry passes to the post, and honestly, having Rubio's man sink off Rubio and onto him is his primary reason for turnovers, Rubio in that would make things worse for him, not better. The rest, eh, you're just infatuated by the aesthetics of his game, it wasn't Wall's "passing" that was getting Ariza his points, it was defenders being sucked in to help allowing Ariza to get open, he was shooting corner 3's, Wall is pretty good at that as his driving is pretty damned elite. Washington had 2 guys whose both shot and drive had to be respected and could bust the d open with their drive. You don't need to replicate Wall, because Harden >> Beal, but ideally you want to replicate the structure, drive, kick, shoot coming at you from both guards.
While I agree that Harden should play more off ball as it will probably be better in terms of efficiency and less wear and tear with him having to do everything in the offense, the fact of the matter is, play making and setting up teammates makes James Harden special. Other than Lebron, Harden is the best non point guard in the game. I would hate to take that creativity totally away from Harden and that would have to be the case if Rubio is on the floor with him. Rubio needs the ball in his hands at all times There is no off ball or spot up shooting in his game. It would be a waste of both Harden and Rubio's talents if they were on the same team together. I would much rather prefer Bledsoe or Dragic since both can play off ball as well as run the show on offense at times when Harden plays off ball or is on the bench. They might not be as good as play makers as Rubio but the ability to hit open shots and play without the ball in their hands make them more desirable to this team.
Don't crucify me due to the "source," but this has been flying all over twitter the last few hours from various outlets <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Report: With Rajon Rondo looking to test Free Agency in 2015, the Boston Celtics are looking at Phoenix Suns G Eric Bledsoe</p>— N B A T A L K (@Talk_NBA_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Talk_NBA_/statuses/503751852329295872">August 25, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sounds like more of Phoenix's smoke and mirrors to me QT, Boston all but blew up their team to bottom out, and this would be both a long term contract and anti bottoming out, neither make much sense given their last 2 years (and who they drafted).
(1) Thx for sharing, KlutchQT (2) Not trying to say anything re: Rubio, just found this nugget at rotoworld and I didn't think I saw it posted
I know you are just being facetious but Harden is looking good under Coach K and Thibs with Team USA. Getting a D assistant from Thibs staff or Antigua formerly of Calipari's staff would be a nice way to continue his progress.
Morey should replace himself, McHale and the like of Finch and especially Bickerstaff with Jerry Colangelo, Coach K, Thibs, Antigua, etc. Thibs would be a great defensive assistant for the Rockets.
yes, please. Collangelo would be able to get all the stars to play for free under the premise that they would be representing more than themselves....we would be loaded 1-15!
This would work if Les Alexander sells the Rockets to Obama and makes the franchise into the USA National Team. This way, we can get all of the patriotic American players. But Les is far too selfish to do it so it is a pipe dream.
You all know that Carl is being facetious right? I understand his hatred for Harden but mannn its gone to other levels lol I love Harden and I understand that he's the easiest to rag on, rightfully so, but lets see how this upcoming season plays out cause who knows what can happen
Yeah I know CH hasn't been the same since PPat left.. But.. according to CyberX, the Rockets FO are considering (very preliminary from the gist of things) making some coaching change to help Harden keep this up.
Coach K has to be the most overrated coach of all time. He has a stacked team year in and year out with players staying around and his teams lose in the early rounds of the tournament. He's a good coach, but people treat him like Phil Jackson or Pops.
Ehhh I don't know about that. If anything players expose themselves as being overrated once they leave his system. Of course he has talent every year that's the advantage of being a college coach. Besides players who have really good 1 on 1 games like kyrie most of his players look worse without him. Obviously he's not on Phil or pops level but the talent they have hasn't exactly been bad.
Were you referring to the Legendary Phil "I have never won anything without 2 1st ballot Hall of Famers in my Lineup" Jackson
