Harden is better this season. We see him making adjustments to the maturing defensive adjustments of last year. Had he not, his numbers would probably have flat-lined or gone down. Doncic is currently struggling with schemes of three contenders in a row. We see this because the defenses have copied each other and improved via study, yet Harden's unfazed. He's unfazed and better, because of his off-season preparation resulting in a clear better 3pt shooting stroke, improved dribble and footwork to get more mechanically steady jumping of his step-backs ... which appears as less forcing it. He is also attacking with his right-hand dribble more and better than ever before. We're seeing more cross-overs left to right than before. This is a response to how help defense behind the primary dribbler is often ready to collapse on left drives. his handles, footwork and stroke are all improved from last year.
Honestly even if Harden is just standing there for ingame rest purposes and nothing else, so what? He still has the opposing top defender guarding him and that's basically the job of an offball player in the Rockets offense
I've got no problem with him laying behind to open things up a bit for the other guys, but I don't like when it puts him in a state of suspended animation. Last game there was a play where he stopped around mid-court while the other guys did their thing, yet failed to make it back in transition after a turnover to prevent an easy bucket.
Yes. Harden needs to learn to score better. You really should change your name to Major Jones (no offense, Major).
The fact this article had to be written is also another example of a strange phenomenon regarding Harden. Through his career he's shown us things never seen before, and each time, narratives are created to explain it away or make it a negative. The new thing here is how many players have we ever seen get guarded without the ball that far out. That is amazing in and of itself. So, we have a coach say, "Well, let's exploit this amazing thing via the simplicity of 4 on 4." Who cares the strategic response though, the defense itself is amazing. But, instead, many look for reasons to bash him, in this case, essentially claiming a coach would never exploit a defense that way ... simply because ,,, well ,,, they've never seen it before -- which gives them the wiggle room to claim any narrative. sigh -- so weird
Sooo.... the contention is that removing the all time greatest offensive player (that is the title people are trying to sell, right?) from the play is beneficial because we are removing a defender from the play as well... I would agree in instances where 2 guys are guarding Harden and giving the remaining guys a 4-3 advantage - but a 1 for 1 trade off doesnt seem very logical... I'm sure the other team would be more than happy to just have a player stand at mid court all game if it takes Harden out of the offensive mix... Additionally, the guy sagging off Harden at half court is usually in a decent position to get a long rebound or loose ball if it goes past the top of the key... This is the kind of nonsense that pisses me off about MDA and this team... always trying to find some way to be clever and work the system - as opposed to just putting nose to the grindstone... As I've stated forever, things like an inordinate number of 3s, trying to trick the refs into calls and other 'gimmicks' are what you do if the other team is better than you and you need to find a way to make up the difference... but at this point I feel we have as much (or more) talent than any team out there - SO JUST PLAY THE DAMN GAME THE WAY ITS MEANT TO BE PLAYED AND RAM IT DOWN THEIR FREAKING THROATS!
Harden pinning a top defender at half court has been a thing since the first year with CP3. This only works when you have a great secondary ball handler, which both CP3 and WB are. The only reason it didn't work last season was because CP3 never recovered his lost step and was consistently unable to beat a big man off the dribble, much less a guard. This is one of the reasons I was cautiously optimistic (even made a thread about it, something I rarely do) about how we again have another player Harden can dump the ball to and chill and let abuse 4 v 3/4 matchups. WB can do this. He won't do it with as much finesse and skill as CP3 once did as CP3 is legitimately superior from a decision making and ball handling skill point, but as we all know, WB has a serious case of zoomies and can break down the D in his own freakishly athletic and speedy way.
The so called 4 on 4 strategy is overblown in most case, when you are standing at half court, most of the time your defender will be at least near the top of the arc as no one expect you will shot at mid court. When you are standing at mid court while the other guy is 5-6 feet more closer than you to the basket, he is almost a for sure fast break threat once the long rebound coming his way. A lots of people somehow will try to praise Harden for his improved defense, but the fact remains that he is doing much better at low post because of his size and no because of his movement. So any one on one fast break will basically be high efficiency for score for the other team or sometimes even worse, a foul by Harden on defense to affect him more. Also, when you playing 4v4, it’s more likely to be iso ball than setting pick and roll, ideally you have Russ to go for it but everyone knows his game is fast break and not his strength at half court ball, especially when times he need to make good decisions.
Another method they could try to use to get Harden to conserve more energy is to let him rest on the bench every once in a while.
Great article. Also ignore texasasianfan and the multiple ids this clown uses like rocketschamp, ashleym and got knows how many more. This clown is a butt hurt lin fan
Harden draws a lot of fouls with the ball and fans from other teams hate him for it. Now he must master drawing off-ball fouls in order to further increase his FT attempts and further irritate the haters.
One of the more underrated one liners ever. "Refs have got to quit falling for this crap - it's ruining the game. He didn't even have the ball and they gave him the bucket!" -- opposing fans.
I think people are more pissed that he doesn't try on defense after he turns over the ball and it results in an automatic 2+ points for other team and since he turns it over so often, it's really noticeable.
I think the major issue with defending Harden is . .. he can hit from ANYWHERE on the Floor. You give him space it is a three You crowd him . .. he goes to the basket . . .. not only that but he can stop at ANYTIME and hit the shot from a long 2, to the midrange, the the floater, to the layup, to the slam -- he can do any of them at any time while you trying to stay in front of him . . . .. If somehow you manage to prevent ALL of that . .. he is an excellent passer Rocket River
Hell, I'd get a Peloton, if it came with that wife from the commercial. "A Peloton wife! That's so great!" Then I'd make a video diary of my first year with my Peloton wife: "Day 263. Another penny in the jar. Clink!"
