I will not commend on our defense because that’s beyond repair and is a topic for another day. But our offense which used to be in the top tier year in and year out has become so predictable it's comical. When everyone knows that we either shoot 3’s or lay it up and rarely do anything in between, we are at a disadvantage the moment we walk into the court. It gets so much easier for the opponents to game plan us. I would, however, give last season a pass as we had the personnel to execute it, personnel who can hit the 3 ball consistently at an ok percentage barring the disastrous game 7 vs GSW. So my question is, why are we so obsessed with 3 pointers especially when we do not have the personnel anymore to do it? It’s like we shoot 3’s for the sake of shooting 3’s. It's got to a point it seems dumb. why does it need to be this extreme? Harden used to have a pretty decent mid range game which is now a lost art. Wouldn’t it be better off if he still has his mid range game? CP3 has purposely taken more and more 3’s to embrace the “ offense scheme” these days. It’s only about time his mid range game will get disappeared too. Most importantly, When the pressure is on in the playoffs, the mid range game, not the 3 ball is what wins you the championship. I wish we have more offensive plays set up rather than just chucking 3’s, offensive plays that involve cutting, screening and passing etc.
D'Antoni/Morey really destroyed Harden's mid-range game. Watching James turn down WIDE-open mid-range jumpers off a PNR and then dribble behind the line for a contested 3-pointer makes me wanna puke.
We have this same stupid ass thread multiple times every year. The league has "figured us out" mid range is the solution. If somebody is extremely good like CP3 at true mid range shots then he will take them. Otherwise they are bad shots. When Harden figured out he can make step back 3s at a superior true% he started taking those instead of mid range step backs.
Literally every team in the league has copied what we did these last 2 years and then there are grandpas with their **** smeared diapers who want to do the opposite
I tend to agree, totally abandoning the mid range game has left the offense less flexible and more predictable, there are so many times i see Harden create some space in the lane for an easy pull up around the foul line, only to dribble back out or dribble in to trouble, or try a heavily contested layup where he tries to draw a foul but fails. There is still a time and a place for the mid range game in todays NBA, its just a matter of making the right decision on when to do it.
Whether the Rockets are 1st or 14th in the west- the answer is always more midrange. Good news - Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul are available.
This is an article I read this past March from the WSJ. I think it shows that the mid range game is dying league wide, but how Golden State for one still uses it effectively. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mi...cept-for-the-golden-state-warriors-1521557144
I just think we should take what defense gives us not force things. Defend, play uptempo fastbreak, let the other team get tired playing halfcourt. GG is prime example of whats wrong with our O
lol, idiots still not understanding OP's point. It's not that midrange is inherently better, but extremely predictable execution of the gameplan is the problem. Why do most people call our offense 'ugly' when there are many other teams that shoot just as many threes? Because we do it most predictably. It seems forced and out of sync with the natural flow and rhythm of the game, and sometimes you just gotta take shots that the defense gives you. This team has become an one-trick pony that doesn't have any backup plan when the threes don't go in. 16-17 Spurs series, 27 straight missed thress, etc. are all evidence of this.
GS does have some of the league's best mid-range shooters, so that's part of why. Also sometimes the mid-range is just a means to get a player in rhythm
When did Harden ever have a good midrange game? It certainly wasn't anytime since he's been in the NBA. Do you realize that Harden is one of the most efficient scorers in the history of the league? Why do you want to change a guy with a TS% just under 61%? That's not an issue.
Over the last 4 years, GSW midrange shooting has ranged from 43% to a high of 48.3%. 48.3% on twos is equivalent to 32% on 3 pointers. This year only 3 teams in the NBA shoot 3 pointers at a percentage below 32% (ATL, DET, OKC). You don't have to be a good 3 point shooting team to still be more efficient than every teams midrange. Just because GSW do some thing, it doesn't mean it's a good thing. They also turn the ball over a lot. Should other teams emulate that too?
How are we at a disadvantage? Are you saying that teams know what we are going to do so it's easier to stop? Did teams know what the Laker's were going to do when Shaq was there? Did teams know what the MJ Bulls were going to do? Knowing what the other team is going to do and stopping it are two different things. Harden and Paul are going to run pick and roll. Nobody can stop that one on one. If you choose to help then they will hit the open man. Even though teams know what's coming, they still can't stop it. If teams were shutting us down and preventing us from getting good shots, then your statement would be correct. Despite how badly we've shot the ball this season, we are still getting more open and wide open shots as any team in the league. You can't really ask for more than creating a bunch of open shots. Not hitting those shots isn't a problem with the approach,it's a shooting isssue. It's pretty simple. A 3 point shot is worth 50% more than a two point shot. That's a huge difference. Factor in that only 5 guys in the entire league shot 50% from midrange last year, you don't have to be a great or even good 3 point shooter to be more efficient on 3s that you could be from midrange. It's the reason that every single team in the league is shooting so many more 3 pointers than in years past. It's the same reason that every team has reduced their number of midrange shots. Midrange is an incredibly inefficient shot. The current philosophy of teams is to take efficient shots. It's common sense, you only get so many possessions per game so use them as wisely as possible. If you're a fan of midrange then go watch the Spurs or Cavs. They take a bunch of midrange shots. How did you come to the conclusion that midrange wins you championships? GSW shot 46.7% from midrange in the playoffs last year. That's not good. It's the same as shooting 30.8% from behind the arc. In the WCF vs Houston, the Warriors shot 40% on midrange. That's the same as shooting 26.4% from behind the arc. That type of inefficiency isn't what won the series for them. Today's philosophy is all about getting good shots. That's not taking a 3 for the sake of taking a 3. Houston takes a ton of open 3s and they don't take very many contested 3s. Those are good shots. Unfortunately, we've sucked on shooting those good shots. That's not a problem with the approach, it's a problem with the shooting...it's been bad. I think that most people would agree that our offense has had issues all year. Despite that we're still a top 10 (9th) offense in the league. That's because of the approach. By taking so many more efficient shots, even when we shoot poorly we score better than most other teams. Before you advocate taking more midrange, you really should look at our midrange numbers. CP3 50% - he's one of the elite midrange shooters in the league. He is still however more efficient on 3s than he is from midrange. Green - 44% from midrange. Way more efficient from behind the arc. Gordon - 37.5 on midrange. That equates to 26% from behind the arc. Gordon's 3 point shooting has been terrible (31.1%) but that's way better than his midrange. Harden - 30.8% on midrange. Harden is uber efficient overall. Midrange is really the only area where he is inefficient and he's really inefficient. Tucker - 25% on midrange. Again, horrifically inefficient. I realize that we're struggling from behind the arc but why would you advocate that we replace those shots with something that is even worse than what we are currently producing.
I don’t think GS needs to emulated exactly. I think many of posters here can’t wrap their mind around the continuous shooting of 3’s when we go ice cold. It’s hard to watch. A mid range shot by an efficient shooter seems logical in those instances where we just need a bucket. I don’t think anyone wants us to go back to shooting a ton of mid range shots. But like Kerr eluded to in the article, you still need points to win the game. If a wide open mid range shot wide open, they simply take it. It’s a delicate balance that only GS seems to have figured out.
This is such a ridiculously short-sighted stat because Harden has only shot 13 mid-range shots this season...he's 4 for 13. Let that sink in. This is a guy that shoots damn near 13 threes a game and has only attempted 13 mid-range shots on the SEASON. How do you expect a guy to shoot a high percentage on a shot he NEVER shoots and probably rarely even practices anymore because of the system? Basketball is about taking what the defense gives you...something Harden refuses to do now and it's f*cking maddening.
LOL you must be kidding? These two reasons are why we should go to midrange??? Cmon dude, this is not a good argument.
