Portland forcing Harden to his right: Where is the coaching adjustment?

we also haven't seen harden in the post much, if at all, this series. i recall we had a post pick and roll with james and jeremy that was very effective in getting a smaller defender stuck on james in the post. don't know if this is the team/coaching staff not getting enough variety in their playcalling, or james not demanding the ball in the right spots. maybe a bit of both but it really looks like he's just drifting around the 3 point line waiting for someone to give him the ball. he makes little effort to get in position to get the ball himself.

 

James Harden was able to get 7 assists last night. Scoring isnt the only thing Harden can do...If he is getting his teammates extra shots, and better shots, the Rockets will win. Unfortunately, he has mentally checked out...Basketball has so much of a mental component, and its importance gets magnified in the Playoffs. Sure Harden is playing bad offensively. However, that doesnt mean he doesnt have the ability to do other such things...Seems like he conserves all his energy for the offensive end of the ball, and if he doesnt get it...stands around ball watching. Tough coaching can help break him out of such a funk.

Last night Lin kept getting to the rim and attack the lane...forcing the defense to collapse. If Harden joins the attack, the defense become unstable and it just cant be contained. The Rockets can do this...but we need James to play his best game in game 6 to have a chance.

 

Three words: Pick and Roll

I just can't believe they don't do it more.

 

mchale talked about this last year when asked whether harden and lin can play together. one attacks from the left and one from the right. we never actually saw this in games, though. don't know why...

and really, is this a new weakness that teams are just finding out about harden? he's been around for a long time. you'd think teams would've figured this out midway through the season LAST year. i mean, the label "can't go left" was slapped on lin like 4 days into linsanity.

i think teams have always known that and played him that way. but he hasn't been able to counter that in this series because batum and matthews are actually good defenders.

 

all things considered i'm more impressed with some of strategy i'm seeing in this thread as compared to what i've seen in X's and O's in the actual games.
some of the analysis is pretty amazing and surprised the coaches haven't seen what is being seen here.

 

I'm tired of hearing this "Harden is checked out" BS, and "we'd be better off just sitting him". The dude is struggling and still helping the team in ways that not all of us can understand.

If he wasn't playing, think of how easy it would be for Portland to defend us. He is considered a threat (whether he is playing well or not) to Portland so they have to spend a lot of energy trying to stop him (whether they are stopping him or he is stopping himself.)

I got real tired of our guys trying to drive into the lane only to have LA and Sideshow Bob come over and block it in the first few games. That's normally a big part of Harden's offense. With that said, he is still trying...just not seeing the same opportunities. Defensively, I don't think he's as bad as people say he is (most of the time). He takes too many gambles. A lot of the time when people see somebody "blow by him," he goes for the ball as the guy goes by him...trying to get a steal or at the very least disrupt the play. Our team defense leaves a lot to be desired, and rarely do we rotate correctly on these types of plays.

This isn't T-Mac...it's not all on James.

 

We need a new coach.

 

It's pretty simply on how to correct this for Harden, he has to strengthen his left leg since that's what you jump off when you do a right handed layup. The reason why it doesn't look like he attacks with as much force is because he doesn't step through with the same amount of power, hence, he can't turn the corner or power through his defender because he doesn't plant with as much strength.

 

you're probably reading a bit too much into this.

but then again, harden is a young player with the "franchise player" and "superstar" labels bestowed upon him before he has even proven anything, other than being a very talented player. keep in mind, harden was the guy that was upset that he only got 5 shots in 20 min of playing time when OKC beat miami in one of the games during the Finals two years ago. he was pouting, staring at the stat sheet while his other teammates were excited about the win. people attribute this to him being "competitive" and just upset that he couldn't contribute more, but i think it's just immaturity. and really, as a 22-23 yr old player at that time, immaturity is expected.

i'm sure he has grown from that, but he is still young, nonetheless, and learning how to be a leader of his team even if his shots aren't falling. maturity takes time. and it's probably taking longer with the approach that mchale is taking but you need to give him time.

 

Where’s the PLAYERS adjustment?!

If forcing you to your right is limiting your abilities that much then you need to devote an entire offseason to practice solely on your right hand. You’re about 15 - 20 years late!

Going to & finishing with your right shouldn’t be a big deal, but expected.

 

Seriously. And it doesn't have to be a coaching adjustment either. Harden can and should communcate with his teammates and ask for a screen.

Run the pick and roll with Dwight/Asik

and

Pick and pop with Daniels, Lin, CP

or he can drive if he sees the opening.

Basketball 101.

 

It's really simple... Harden should just go right!

 

Where's the HARDEN adjustment? He can't dribble with his right hand?

 

wes and batum are playing him well, but for the most part, they're just playing him 1 on 1. it's not like the way they are guarding him is opening up lots of easy opportunities for the rest of the team. and i disagree that they're spending a lot of energy trying to stop him. they are denying him the ball, but he isn't making them work too hard to do that. he just drifts around the perimeter and rarely do you see him run off picks or make quick cuts to come get the ball. so all the blazers have to do is keep a man attached to him and he's effectively frozen out. they're giving troy daniels basically the same treatment, so having harden out of the game doesn't seem to make a huge impact on their defensive gameplan.

he is exactly as bad as people say he is. gambling and swiping at the ball instead of moving your feet to keep your guy in front of you is the very definition of bad defense. yes, our rotations are often not quick enough, but it also isn't fair to keep putting your teammates in the position of having to clean up your mistakes. i'll bring up troy daniels again for contrast since one is an undrafted d-leaguer and the other is a max contract guy. but troy was moving his feet and was more engaged on the defensive end than harden. if troy is shooting the ball more efficiently and not giving up any more than harden is on defense, what exactly is harden bringing to the table?

i understand that harden is far more talented than he's shown thus far this series. he's probably the most talented player in this series. but i'm not going to dismiss his struggles and say he's still helping the team more than he's hurting just because of the way portland has to gear their defense around him, or because of the other things he's doing to help the team win. he needs to play better, period.

 

McHale should put a giant mirror behind the basket so Harden thinks he is going left - Placebo FTW

 

Iam a big harden fan but he has gradually morphed into tmac. He has failed to elevate his game to playoff mode, two seasons in a row. Harden is due for a big game but I fear its too little too late.

 

T-mac might have never won a playoff series, but regardless of what his haters on this board think, T-mac always showed up to the playoffs. If Harden was producing like T-mac use to in the playoffs we would have already closed out the series last night.

 

There were adjustments. They told him not to ISO.