Teams are starting to figure out that trapping Harden late in the shot clock is the most effective way to slow down the Rockets, especially with CP and Gordon out. And it looks like we have no answer for it so far.
Once the trap happens then its 3 vs 4 but you have to allow Harden more airspace - enough to where the extra defender cannot recover. It happened on 2 distinct plays in which Austin Rivers drove and scored effortlessly
first, don't wait until late in the shot clock to get a shot up. second, ????. third, celebrate the wins.
Every time a trap works against Harden, we get this thread. It doesn't work consistently. Traps are nothing new. There is no Silver Bullet defense for Harden or the Rockets....other than what @疯狂伊文戴德蒙 describes ... lulz Memphis opened the game trapping Harden, and we managed to go on a 22-1 run. lulz Also, they never trapped with Gasol, so any play involving a Capela pick wasn't trapped. JBB dropped. ie, you sometimes can stop traps by just changing the play. The end-game stuff was desperation defense doubling him even without a pick,,,hawking him without the ball. He was tired, looked somewhat like he just wanted the game to end (fairly insurmountable lead), and made bad passes that really had little to do with some type of Silver Bullet defense. bottomline: JBB trapped to start the game. It didn't work.
Or can't get the switch we are looking for and wasted 15 seconds doing that. It was evident at the end of Pelicans game. Jrue fought over the pick all the time and stayed with Harden which made Harden uncomfortable. I am sure with CP and EG on the floor, it will be much easier issue to resolve.
When teams start trapping or doubling after every pock, Harden should not call for a pick and make a quick move against the primary defender or a quick pass. The key here is making quick decisions instead of the defense having time to set in their double team and closing the passing lane. By then, it's too late and it's when Harden generates a lot of turnovers.
fwiw: Here's a play to beat the trap before it can even form, by using a staggered pick. MEM plans to trap here with Green, but the second, drag pick from Capela's stops it.
I've been burning a lot of other plays in the 4th, maybe post them. But man, some of the plays stuck in ppl's mind were when we were in our Prevent Offense to run time off the clock. One play that the Game Thread is pointing to, when Rivers tries to pass back to Harden over the defender for a TO, we passed up several looks and a drive just to burn time off. If you're worried about that play, don't be...we were basically in a Four Corners offense. I gotta get outside, finally warmed up ... maybe post each 4th Q play later. It's not that bad. It's mainly a double-team...not a trap (distinction being, there was no pick, they just come out and double him)...so it was a very risky defense that we won't see much.
BINGO Trapping works best when Harden is tired and maybe feels the game is already done The Rockets go into their silly 4 corners offense or something Rocket River
There was another one at I saw where Harden passed out of it and immediately cut to the basket, getting the ball right back for an easy score
