Average time of possession vs last night Harden - 9.6 Paul - 7.0/11.7 Rivers - 2.8/2.1 Gordon - 1.9/3.5 CC - 1.6/0.9 Faried - 1.3/1.3 Green - 0.8/1.1 Tucker - 0.8/0.9 Nene - 0.6/0.8 Paul dominated the ball more than Harden has done on average. Everyone is just about right in line with season averages. Oh and dribbles per touch are all very similar other than Gordon and Paul going up for obvious reason Try again.
There is no eye roll sufficient enough for your post. This team is going to be SCARY by April. Chill out.
Paul has been **** all year thats a fact other than clint everyone HAS indeed been **** and it even took clint awhile to get going. not sure what games you're watching but all year all ive seen is harden drawing the defense in to kick to people who cant and wont hit wide open shots. its ****ing sickening. im glad they won last night but one game doesn't erase the entire year we can actually go back and watch games theres a reason why harden has had to score so much and its not just injuries. he's been playing with trash all year. truth hurts but it is the truth.
You do realise when Harden played against the Warriors without Gordon and Paul, we were down by a big margin and won the game with a clutch 3 from Harden. It's always the same with this forum; Harden's to blame when we lose and isn't really that congratulated when we win.
I think that when we get into trouble is when we settle into playing slow. We actually are very good at playing slow but we want that to come from the other team having to slow us down in both full and semi transition. I want to see them working in an offense with Chris Paul is the point guard and we generate two to three easy shots for James a game.
The players who were to blame for the Lakers loss were Rivers, Green and Tucker. In 75 minutes of play, those 3 guys stats were 5/22 FG, 2/15 from the 3pt, 4 rebounds, no assists, 3 steals, 1 block, and a total of 12 points.
Oh really. Have to seen the threads that spam the forum and all the trash that harden apparently plays with. There’s easily more of those
Guys played free when James was out last night. I noticed it. Everyone noticed it. I don’t think PJ thinks to drive while playing with James but he did so freely last night. Perhaps this is where we see the Rockets take the extra step in just playing ball.
please give me a link to where u are pulling these numbers - cause they just dont look right... how can harden average 9.6 per possession - he doesnt even make it across midcourt before 10-12 seconds...lol... Granted there are a few give it up and get it right back scenarios which make for multiple individual possessions per team possession - but still doesnt look right... James has a usage rate of 39.1 for the season and last night CP3 had a usage rate of 26.9... so obviously there was some usage that got dispersed elsewhere... coupled with a higher pace resulting in more possessions... and CC not being utilized to his typical level gave more opportunity to others... maybe it was some guys getting more shot attempts got them more in the flow... faried 17 fga vs 10.8 +6.2 cp3 18 vs 12.6 +5.4 tucker 11 vs 6.8 +4.2 cc 8 vs 11.7 -3.7 ego 20 vs 14.5 +5.5 nene 4 vs 2.7 +1.3 rivers 6 vs 9.4 -3.4 gg 8 vs 8.2 -.2 rivers and CC got fewer fgas and they didnt look impressive... maybe its the energy faried is bringing and a faster pace kept guys more focused...? you tell me... what took us from most guys looking anemic to the level of effort and tenacity we saw last night? guys were obviously more engaged on both ends of the court last night - do you disagree with that sentiment?
And this wasnt a one night thing...i notice it frequently whenever james sits with the rare exceptions...cant tell how many times during the gamethreads few of us rooted for mda to not bring the beard back....to sit him more etc not to spoil the flow and energy of the bench unit balling...
This is why it’s hard to have a basketball conversation with clutchfan nerds who never played basketball. I never said that the step back 3 was an easy shot I said that it’s an easy play to guard. ISO basketball is one of the easiest plays to guard bc you’re not making the defense work, the ball moves faster than the player. The ability to make defenders excert energy on defense is key, not only do you make them constantly move and guessing but tire them out for the offensive side of the ball.
The 9.6 number and all the time of possession numbers is minutes the ball is in their hands per game. Nba.com/stats go to player tracking data What I saw was a much better defensive effort and nothing but better execution on offense. I don’t attribute any of that to things being different without Harden. Paul had the ball in his hands and played the Harden role, but as more of a passer. He had the ball in his hands MORE than your average Harden game. We passed the ball less than we usually do. We jacked 3s like we always do. The role players time of possession and number of dribbles had little to no change from their regular season average. What I saw was a group of guys who have had long stretches of injuries and long stretches of just flat out struggling play on the court throughout the season come together and all bring it on a night they really needed it. Nothing more, nothing less. Lots of biased eyes saw what they wanted to see last night. The numbers don’t lie. Huge game. Glad the team is finally getting fully healthy and what appears to be rounding into strong form all at the same time. But again I’d rather we just stick to facts. Perpetuating crap that isn’t factual is pervasive around here. Knee jerk reactions without fact checking are rampant and it sucks.
Probably was a tad harsh. You handled it much better than I did just because I disagree with your basketball takes. My bad and I apologize
I think Harden is battling a shoulder injury and other nagging injuries that he plays through. I mean he's had plays where he collided knees with other players, elbowed in the head like in the 1st quarter against GSW back in December. Commentators thought he might have had a concussion. I think I even recall him rolling his ankle but I could be wrong. For as many fouls as he draws, he initiates a lot of contact, all of which can take their toll. I know when I play ball, even a muscle tweak on my shoulder or arms has been enough to make me miss typically makeable shots. Didn't he need an ice pack on his shoulder during the Lakers game? It might be time to give Harden some rest too.
And you really think that just because Harden has the stepback 3 in his arsenal that he doesn't make defenders exert energy, make them move constantly, keep them guessing and tire them out? Are we watching the same James Harden?
What’s worse than my opinion is your speed at calling people fake fans for wanting James to ISO LESS. How many times have we seen leads be dwindled because of lack of movement? Harden is a amazing talent, he credits Dantoni for letting him do what he wants and then flips over and tells Curry that he doesn’t like that style? Something is off here. I know he’s had to will the team with so many injuries but Clint and cp3 we’re back against the lakers and he still chooses to shoot 10+ threes. Before you flip out more know that the rockets lost because of that so there isn’t any logical comeback you can make. The proof is in the type of losses this year. All I want is for the rockets to win at the end of the day.
