He's bailing out the defense by shooting ridiculous 30 footers that constantly bounce off the front iron. His 3 point % has dipping to under 20% this post-season FFS. BUT he's shooting 60% at the rim (similar to Muscle Chestbrook) and half of them are unassisted. We know he's capable of creating his own shot so why hasn't it been addressed that his abysmal shooting is costing the Rockets critical playoff possessions? Spoiler Gordon's performances are best in these two lineups: Gordon-House-McLemore-Tucker-Rivers - +40 Net Points Per/100 Gordon-House-Rivers-Tucker-Westbrook - +31 Net Points Per/100 His scoring efficiency improves drastically when he's the main (or co-main) ball handler in the line-up. But D'Antoni has been using him as a spot-up shooter in the starting lineup and his efficiency has been costing the team. We can get away with it against OKC, but the Lakers will burn us. Cut the 3 point attempts in half, drive to the rim, and come off the bench.
I think they did address it in the last game. EGo only attempted 3 3's and had a total of 17 shot attempts. I'm ok with him taking 3-5 3's as long as he's still attacking the rim like he did in the last game.
I have a feeling he's going 5-8 on 3s tonight. Seeing the ball go through the net always helps. OKC is probably trying to adjust to actually keep him out the paint instead of sprinting out at him on the perimeter.
I think last game, really bumped his confidence. I see him continuing to attack and if his 3's fall, it's game over. Westbrook can rest again and CP3 get's bounced again.
The tough part is that with his first step, which is fine but by no means elite, if he isn't a threat to pull up every time he won't be able to get into the paint at all. I hate that they aren't dropping as much as anyone, but the threat of 30 foot 3-pointers is one of the key elements that keeps the defense stretched out to their limits. Keep jacking EG (and maybe even hit one now and then).
Everyone should play like Russ, but there is one Russ. EGO is who he is. He needs to get out of the shooting slump, but he is playing fine in terms of attacking and shooting I think.
My first thought is: EG's in a slump and he has to bust out of it at some point. Then I realize I've been saying that ALL FREAKIN' YEAR, and his non-slump games have been rare. If you remove just his TWO best games shooting from 3, he was under .300 from 3 in the other 33 games he played. And of course, he's only .189 these playoffs. Take away those 3 in a row he hit in Game 4 and he's .118 for the series. In other words, he's more likely to suck from 3 than he is to suddenly find his stroke again. So OP is right, he's much more valuable to us driving to the rim. The problem is that he has to keep shooting 3s or the defense will sag off and make those drives more difficult. I think we'll just have to get used to the idea of hearing that familiar "clank" for most of the game and hope enough others are hitting their 3s to compensate.
I think you and I are mostly in agreement. OKC has to sag off him because he's absolutely blowing by people and half his layups are barely contested because of his first step. It's going to force him to shoot a few to keep them honest. Whether or not he hits them remains to be seen, but I'm optimistic that his other-worldly display of attacking the basket will give him another layer of confidence he wasn't shooting with since returning from injury. I believe in playoff Gordon.
Day and night to me. Russ is the probably most explosive guard ever played. But on the other hand, he can't shoot 3 to save his life. Eric has a very explosive first step and can finish around the rim with some English. But Eric cannot do what Russ does at will. Eric is more of a timing and bouble threat guy. He needs his shooting to be effective on his driving. Russ is on another planet as a guard attacking the rim with brute force.
Naw im one of the few that trust Gordon on this site. He always to me comes to play when it means the most. So keep doing you ego
I don't know... I get what you're saying, but Westbrook is more like a guided missile steered by kite strings while EGo is more like a crab that just got set on fire. Slump, notwithstanding, EGo's game has become mostly an outside game until he thinks to attack while Westbrook scares the hell out of me taking anything beyond 20 feet.
Gordon has been a good 3pt shooter his whole career, he shouldn't abandon an entire part of his game just because he is in a slump. That would also kill the Rockets spacing. But sure, drive some more until your shot starts falling, that's just common sense.
I just think his conditioning is off. It'll take an actual full offseason of rehab and strengthening to get him back to old Gordon. He just doesn't have the lift that he is used to with the leg injuries this year. Unless we win it all I don't see him sticking around.
SVG is that you? He needs to play like Gordon. If he can’t hit 3 threes a game on 35% shooting ... ON TOP of his agressive driving, then we’re toast in the 2nd round.
If they give him the Dort treatment and leave him wide open, I have faith that we would see his shot go in at a reasonable clip. Roco couldn't hit the side of a barn inside the bubble but now he has gotten out of the slump, I can see that for EG too
He looked far more to drive than shoot last game and I think a lot of this is actually having westbrook back. Westbrook by virtue on the court gives more space and allows Gordon to rest from other duties like ball handling and trying to create. It also gives Gordon (and for that matter Harden) way more time to rest on bench because Westbrook is going to play 30 minutes and not like a varied amount of 10-20 that Rivers or McLemore would. More rested Gordon is far more willing to keep driving instead of settling for 3s.
you mean like game 7 vs the warriors? he shot , what? something like 2-13... yeah... he better stick to the drives... cause he has no shot and we really need one not... just keep attacking the rim ...its working...
this was already mentioned by me and also the poster @harold bingo if i recall well made and in depth analysis his 3pt shooting for his entire stay in houston was always poor with the exception of an exceptional month or 2 every year that raises his average back to decent basically he is always in slump except for a lucky month or 2
