The issues are real, but we aren't even 1/4 of the way through the season. We have new players, new rotations, and have had injuries and we are still 13-7. It's just seems to be an over reaction at such an early point in the season. These things take time.
Did you ever heard around the league that PJ Tucker is an elite defender? He did not even get a damned single vote for all defensive team, even Beverly got one for half a season. Why his D is so effective on Harden? It is not just last game, you watched long enough, you will recognize that in last few meeting with Suns, Tucker completely outplayed Harden. Why PJ's body on body D does not work on other stars? Think about it. People keep saying that Harden was guarded too close by a defender, and we don't set good pick for him. All true. To get a wide open shot consistently, good pick is not the complete answer. You need to move without ball effectively, and then people won't guard you too closely. Because when Harden does not have the ball, he does not even want to move, so everybody knows just bodying on him is perfect dense while chasing down defensive rebounds and getting steals. All the teams realize that putting a body on Harden and denying the pass lane to harden, you can cancel out Harden in offense to some big extent, and the expose his laziness and zero effort in the defensive end. I cannot even count how many times, the play who guard Harden or the one Hard guarded got season high or even career high. In the last two games, wow, Gorden Haywood was playing like Ray Allen at peak, and PJ Tucker was like another Denis Rodman...
Patience just isn't something a lot of people here are familiar with. It's "what have you done for me lately," that only looks back to the last game, and never expects progress.
Sometimes teams/players are simply bad-matchups for whatever reason. I haven't taken a second look at the film, but Harden is probably the most unguardable player in the league when his shot is dropping. His shot obviously wasn't and along with no-one else's shot dropping and no one else stepping up, it didn't turn out well. There have been some very bad teams that have had edges on really good ones in history. We were a terrible match-up for GS last season despite being just about equal in ability. I don't mean to paint excuses for anyone, but I also don't feel like writing a thesis on the prospect.
Ehh, forget the obvious superstars, is he that much more unguardable than Kyrie? or even John Wall if his shot is falling? By definition if you're a superstar, you should be able to impact the game even if your shot is not falling. Paul George shot horribly vs the Pacers, but he made big steals and hit enough shots that mattered. Plus when Gordon Hayway shoots 4-17 or whatever and scores 12-13 points, you dont have to score 30 to win your team the game.
An example of a knee jerk reaction would be saying that this team has no hope, trade everyone, fire coaches, etc. However, it is not a knee jerk reaction to say that this team is pathetically bad on the defensive end, and if it doesn't improve soon then changes must be made. To personnel, to the coaching staff, to everyone involved in running the organization. There is no excuse to play defense as poorly as we do, NONE. Defense is all about effort and playing smart offense and not simply jacking up three pointers. If you can't make the opponent play defense against you for the full 24 second clock, while also scoring on them then that means your offense is not efficient. Currently, we don't make opponents work on defense because we jack up shots, even if they go in it doesn't make our opponents use any energy to guard us. So they just come right back and jack up an open shot and we're right back were we started. Part of the problem, as you can see, isn't just the fact that we don't give much effort on the defensive end, its the fact that we don't force our opponents to use much energy to guard us when we have the ball. This is why guys like Don Nelson never won championships, they never understood the concept of smart offense. Scoring points in bunches is great, but when it comes to playoff time you must make your opponent suffer in terms of endurance at BOTH ends of the floor, or you will never win.
It's a recurring theme. Do you know that Paul George has scored zero points against the Indiana Pacers in his entire NBA career?
PJ Tucker is a terrible match up for Harden for two reasons: 1) He hustles like crazy. That's his niche, and the only reason why he's even in the league right now. He gets his points, rebounds, and steals by out-hustling everyone on the court. 2) His size & stature. He's 1 inch taller than Harden and 5 pounds heavier. I don't know if you know this, but Harden is a pretty big dude. PJ Tucker, however, is a SF who's built like Barkley. It's no wonder he can snag rebounds over the trees and get put backs at 6'6". This season, he's finally added a 3 point shot to his game, which is the major reason the Raptors waived him after just 1 season despite being an early second round draft pick in 06. It's too bad hustling isn't reflected on the stat sheet, because he could have been signed for pennies. All that said, Harden's foot injury looks to be more serious than most of thought. It's the worst injury in basketball to let linger.
All top scorers in the league are considered 'unguardable' when their shots are fallen. There are more of 'bad matchups' for Harden than other top scorers, T Allen, Iguodala, Sefolosha and now Tucker. So far, Harden is batting below average where he had more 'off' games than on when playing against them. This is not a good sign for the following. When Harden's game is off, Rockets will lose most likely. There are/were many great players when their shots are off, they find other ways to contribute to win the game. Harden is not one of them. The more frustrated he becomes offensively, the more he shoots, as if he is zoned out and totally oblivious of the game that's taken place. This is not a trait of a great player. I am more disappointed by his offseason this year; he had not had any improvement or other skills added. I was hoping he would add a mid-range game into his arsenals. It really saddened me to have to watch Paul George's improvement while Harden remain the same Harden.
Once everyone is healthy that will be the case but in the interim it takes time to gel with new starters and players coming off the bench not use to playing extended minutes. I am still looking for the Asik trade to happen on or after the 15th. Hoping for a player that can contribute right away.
why anything posted here other than compliments will be taken as criticism from opponents, rather than fellow fans honest opinions about how the team can improve. Not everyone likes to sugar-coat their suggestions.
Maybe all we need as fans is to know and trust the people in charge of accountability know all these issues already and are doing things to address them according to the timing and pace they think is best. I don't think it's reasonable to expect these issues to all be gone even by the end of this season, but I do think its reasonable as a fan base to be reassured that the leadership, growth, and accountability process is and will continue to be in good hands.
Without a playmaker out there with him, he's left to create offense for himself and for others. That is one case to have Lin out there with him. Let Harden focus on getting is, and use Lin to create plays for others.
I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. He had 2 bad games at the beginning of the season, and that was about it. In fact, he's really only had 2 or 3 bad games the entire season. Other than that, he's played very well so far. I think many people already recognized that Parsons was the glue guy prior to his injury- it's more like this is just somewhat of a confirmation to them (myself included). Parsons is such an all around player that even when he's performing badly in one area, he can find ways to contribute in others- and he almost always brings the energy, intensity, defense, and passing. To me he's our real leader on the court.
