you're putting words into my mouth. you said anyone could achieve that stat if given the chance. and yet, those players who had higher usage rate or shot attempts than Harden couldn't do it. so you're just wrong on that point.
When you're only playing half court - you can get a lot more accomplished.... That's why I was never impressed with Dennis Rodman... a rebounding machine - but if that's ALL you do - you should put up the best numbers at it...
no they didn't. Harden was still an iso heavy player then. that's for sure. He didn't play any differently than what hes doing now. He simply just got better from that time. The difference here was that lin and parsons are a lot more versatile offensively then guys like bev and ariza.
i was just asking you. i didnt put anything in your mouth. you otoh are putting words in my mouth. where the heck did i say "anyone" could achieve what harden has?
and that's my point. Bev and Ariza are just as guilty for our current offensive system, as is the coach
Last year, our team was still known to be 3 pt chuckers that were not incredibly efficient. The main difference between last year and this year is defense. But let's take two steps back and realize even with competent defense and the SLIGHTLY better offense the season prior there was still a large gap between the Rockets and the current Warriors/Spurs. The limit of this team with the current system is middle of the pack Western Conference playoff contender. Remember there was a fine line last season between the second seed and 6th seed last season. It wasn't like the Rockets were the clear cut second best team in the West last season. I honestly believe that the limit to what this team can achieve with this current system with Harden having a stranglehold on the offensive system was the 2014-2015 season. That's the best this team will ever be with a system that caters towards Harden's strengths. The goal here is to win a ring. That means being better than the Spurs and Warriors. Being a 56 win level team isn't enough. The team needs to transcend their current limit of what they can be with the current system in place.
Ariza, Beverly and declining Dwight is no where close to being best complementary players to Harden. Not even close.
Coaching has been deplorable - amongst the worst I've ever seen... Our role players nosedived... Brewer and Terry had NO BUSINESS being in the rotation... period! Guys that COULD contribute were frozen out (Dwight) or relegated to standing in the corner and waiting - til they got fed up and disinterested.... This team is a huge cluster**** that has to be retooled in its entirety... I'm a Morey fan... but he needs to be the GM and get a REAL COACH to run the oncourt action - not have his gameplan dictated by Morey and Les....
Harden's usage rate was only 32.5 percent this season. Was 3rd in the league. It's not even that high honestly. MJ, Kobe, Wade and T-Mac all had much more higher usage rates (hence more ball-hogish) than Harden when they were the sole offense of the team. Bring in a player like Durant, and I'm sure Harden's usage will drop significantly. Harden's relatively high usage rate has to do with our lack of talent and personnel more than anything else.
Role player feel more engaged when they are moving and can touch the ball. Don't pay attention to usage rate - it is majorly flawed in it's calculations about how often one person has the ball. Usage rate: a player can “use” a possession in three and only three ways: a made shot, a missed shot and subsequent rebound, and a turnover." Hardly covers every trip down the court, does it......so if you dribble dribble dribble the clock down and pass it off - you are not counted in the usage rate. DD
Do you watch the games? Do you watch harden when he DOESN'T have the ball in hand? He then does NOTHING! No movement, no screens... he just wanders off and stands in a crowd.... it's like he's saying "I'm taking this possession off - you guys try to score..." I won't rehash his defensive efforts - or lack thereof.... but the dude needs to play for the entirety of the time he's on the court. If that means fewer minutes or not bringing the ball up (so he can catch his breath) or whatever... he has to play when he's not just benefitting his stat line....
Agreed. We didn't have any shot makers. Historically good opponent + poor game strategy + lack of motor / effort + lack of skill Seems like a pretty stacked deck. I mean, this team was expected to be top 4 in the league before the season and ended up making the playoffs only because the Utah Jazz out-lost them towards the end.
And the main guy also feels more engaged when his role players actually make wide open 3s. Works both ways. and do you have other metric in mind that would be better than usage rates? seems pretty accurate to me
I'm on record many times as not liking Harden's leadership or his body language. But he'll be better on a better team with a better coach, I'm sure of that. He's not an alpha dog, so an improved culture will rub off on him.
Do other guys move around beside Harden? Hello, not a single player does that on this team. Dwight is just as lazy as Harden, and so are other players. DO you think if the coach actually comes up with an offensive scheme where players are constantly moving they will not do it?
you and Darryl need to look beyond analytics...they are a tool - not the end all indicator of ability, contribution or success....
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features...-with-four-versions-and-counting-of-one-stat/ Usage rate is not what you think it is. It doesn't simply mean "how much a player has the ball in his hands".
no its not really on the coach. its actually on just finding guys that fit with Harden. First you have guys that are versatile offensively next to Harden like Lin and Parsons. But in the end no, it doesn't "fit" bc the defense sucks. and that's what you need next to harden says the outsiders to cover his weakness Then you switch to Bev and Ariza, defensive first guys who are limited offensively. shows some success for some time but the end result from this season is complete embarrassment. You can't have it both ways. So which one is it? The system is based on your personnel not the coach.
Please explain how a guy can dribble 20 seconds off the clock, pass it to his teamate and it not count toward usage rate. And how that is accurate. DD
it's the closest metric we have to measure the ball-hogishness of a player. I never said it was perfect. if you know the better stat, please do suggest.
