I think that is over simplifying it- it is not the role players, it is the fact that Russ and Harden both need the ball to be effective, solve the BIG problem first, then you can look at how the little pieces fit. The PROBLEM is that there is only ONE BALL !! DD
I believe there will be a organizational shift. To be honest I have mentioned this before in previous post. We are in the last days of Morey and Dantoni. Baring a significant successfull trade I just don't see us retaining Morey past next year. Dantoni is gone this summer. What they are potentially going to leave behind will be a mess. Mentality wise the stars on the roster are more about self than they are winning and making there team mates better. James as great as he is individually, has to become a better all around player and play off the ball more to give the offense more variants. Russ has to get in the gym with a shooing coach to start knocking down these open threes. Last nights game individually for Russ was good stat wise, but compare his game to Dame's and Dame's was more impressive to me. Portland was never worried or shook by anything the Rockets did. I want our stars to humble themselves and become a team. Most of that is on Dantoni's coaching style. I don't feel like he challenges his stars in the areas of bettering there games for the good of the team. This is what the team needs you to do. He may be none confrontational in that regard but there are ways you can send a player a message. The Utah win showed me that he has it in him with the role players but your stars are you bread and butter. That is the difference between a good coach and a great coach.
Kind of funny People will complain that players need to touch the ball to be effective and say that is why Harden's Iso ball is not working but I guess the coaching equivilent of this is DanAndToni sitting a person for 5 games then getting upset they not ready to produce in their 5 minutes of playing time a month Rocket River
I think alot of us are underestimating the impact health has on us Westie came in injured Gordon was injured Capela is injured James seems injured Rocket River
we need a coach that can keep our superstars in check. aint' scare to bench them if they play poorly.
I think it’s the same thing You find a role , you find a rhythm , you build confidence . Imo the coaches job is to put the players In the best possible position to succeed . I think MDA does that for some types of players, but fails for others ... and he doesn’t do it for the 8-15 guys on the roster . His main focus is always top heavy and I feel that he has the mindset of “let’s do one or two things but do it really well.” I think he needs to do (too late at this point) for recognizing the value of the bottom of the roster , giving them chances , and building a more team / next man up type of mindset . When one of our players go out with injury MDA is waaaaaay more likely to shift the burden onto his “top 7” than give an outside player or two a shot at contributing .... and frankly that’s counter to the rest of the league and counter to what I think good organizations do . As for the iso ball . I agree . Statistics statistics yada yada . Look , baseball was my first love as a sport (they were onto analytics well before basketball) . I also have a masters degree in essentially data science . So I understand the argument FOR iso . Taking it to the extent we have taken it to is idiotic . We are ignoring the actual game theory of the game . We are ignoring that there is another team we are facing with agency . We are ignoring the human element of guys touching the ball . I like your phrasing of paradigm shift . Our thought process needs to change . We might have success , we might still have success this year . But if we do , It will largely be because we have a pretty good amazing of talent and guys can get hot . Our owner is a big question mark in all of this. He can influence things to a huge extent
Which is all the more glaring a reason this roster is so weak as other teams seem to be weathering injury issue much better hen we have , LAL, Clips, Mavs... We have lost to a lot of sub par teams this year when predominantly healthy ... I see what you are saying but something just isn’t right with this team as a whole and injury isn’t the main thing I fear... lack of intensity, lack of heart on some players is pretty obvious, and a coach that won’t allow anyone to develop off the bench to any degree without the quick yank is affecting that bottom line health... D’Antonis short rotations are killing us and we are just over halfway into he season ... face it, we are ****ed !!!
I don't now how to determine this, but I guess my question is......is Russ getting his points out of the same "sets" that Harden gets his points but in a different fashion? Is it possible that Russ is stepping on Harden's production as an unintended consequence.....or vice versa? Its hard to tell based on injury - but is the swing in production a factor of only one guy can score at a time and they both score out of the same types of plays.
You gotta have everyone involved and engaged in all facets of the game... offense, defense, rebounding, boxing out, playing off ball... everyone needs to focused on all aspects of the game whenever they are on the floor - period! If anybody doesnt have the juice or inclination to push themselves in all the different areas - have a seat! 1 or 2 guys arent gonna carry us through the playoffs - it's gonna take a team effort and we have to ingrain the tendencies now for later... Just bc Harden can singlehandedly carry us to wins in the regular season doesnt mean we should use that as a crutch all season! Going back a few years, we needed Harden to carry us offensively - that is not the case today. We got guys that score... WB, EGo, look at the Utah game without our stars... We need to move the ball around and get everyone involved... Sure, harden and WB will take more shots than anyone else - but everybody needs to be given the opportunity to contribute. And I dont mean just have them park on the perimeter and catch and shoot if the ball comes their way - engaged, involved in the play, etc... Some guys (like big shot Bob) can come in cold and drain a 3 - many guys need to get in a rhythm... and if we get contributions from everybody on offense - then there aint no excuse for anybody not to be playing defense! Anybody that wants to be lazy and not play good d can have a seat - and I mean anybody! It may seem like this is a not too thinly veiled attack on Harden - but its beyond that... Yes, Harden needs to relinquish some of the ball control and scoring duties - so he can have the juice for better D and off ball play... but PJ cant be filling 35 minutes and only taking 3 shots... Capella cant be totally dependent on feeds from JH and WB - go get a rebound and put it back! House and EGo need to drive to the rim more consistently - and not just chuck 3s... WB... no 3s man... maybe 1 or 2 just to keep the defense honest... but that aint a strength of his.. Rivers, Hart, and most of the bench need consistent minutes and expectations... if they dont deliver - then replace 'em... Imo... we got the talent... we just dont have the cohesiveness and unified team effort... No to hero ball - yes, to team play!
Shaq and Kobe both needed the ball to be effective. They got a couple of rings out of it. And yeah, I know Harden and Westbrook aren't Shaq and Kobe. But two ball-dominant star players can get the job done with the right coach and supporting players (and owner).
and furthermore... I've never understood this whole "so and so needs the ball to be effective..." What does that even mean? Scoring? Well sure, you cant score if you dont have the ball... but effectiveness goes far beyond just scoring - ask Shane Battier or Dennis Rodman... Now if we're saying that whatever player is only capable of scoring and is too inept to play defense, or set screens or box out or rebound or do any of the multitude of things other than scoring - then that person needs to get kicked to the curb... We're not the GSW of the past few years... we're not so loaded with all stars that we can hide and mitigate the negatives of someone like Curry if he were on our squad... If whatever player simply doesnt want to do all the other things... then again, kick 'em to the curb bc they're fools gold... imo... Again, not saying this stuff as an attack on Harden... just stating my general opinion on the mindset and effort needed for us to win a championship... if the issues or concerns pertain to Harden then it is what it is...
A healthy Harden and Russ solves these problems, both are capable of adapting just like Harden adapted when CP3 was acquired. For a fan, you really have short term memory. Add your faulty logic and it is no wonder you never get anything right.
People are mad because they expected instant chemistry and game play Westie was not really even playing in the summer Gordie has been out a significant amount of time People are also caught up in the eye test which basically means. . unless you screaming and yelling and mean mugging the camera. . . . .. you don't care whether you care or not is irrelevent .. you have to "look like you care" . . it is more important than anything else Rocket River
I don’t share your optimism that we are going to be able to do those things, given our coach and the minf of Harden, but definitely agree with the premise @Rocket River
