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Dort best Harden defender!

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by 1Deep, Aug 23, 2020.

  1. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    Toxic...

    Man do people really take defending Harden seriously.

    These people criticizing Harden aren't using offensive language. I don't know how they can be "toxic"? Look at yourself if you think this is "toxic".

    What's toxic is someone like@caprah labeling anyone who says they are Asian and criticizes Harden as "Jeremy Lin only fans" and cresting threads in the feedback section begging for people to be banned just because they criticize Harden.
     
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  2. HP3

    HP3 Member

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    I wasnt really referring to you, I can disagree with you but I wouldnt say you are toxic at all. Just that you have bias towards hating Harden and that clouds your judgement on objectivity. And honeslty a lot of your posting is skewed toward the negative as well...so sometimes I do have a problem with that and we can argue/discuss it.

    I argue with @durvasa sometimes too but actually this dude is pretty impartial and fair most of the time. I would say he's different from both you and especially different from JR

    I'll fully admit I'm more of a homer but I'll criticize the team when necessary.
     
  3. TEXNIFICENT

    TEXNIFICENT Member

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    Yet if the Rockets win the chip no one will care about this crap. They gave away a game because of mental errors. Players and coaches have to better to win the series. Let's win and no one will remember who criticized who.
     
    Crashlanded19, HP3 and Invisible Fan like this.
  4. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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  5. apollo33

    apollo33 Member

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    Actually I was just thinking that. Thinking about the Portland series, Matthew got into Harden's head and made him shoot really terrible shots.

    This time Harden seems to be doing better mentally. It's usually the quicker and stronger defensive players that give Harden the most trouble because he can't drive on them.
     
  6. Air Canada

    Air Canada Member

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    Dort is good at defending drives, but most of Harden's misses were from 3 where he just missed good looks he typically makes.... He's been shooting bad from three regardless of Dort.
     
    ThatboyPhuong and D-rock like this.
  7. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    [IKO] James Harden vs. Luguentz Dort as seen by Vince Edwards, former teammate of both

    “The Thunder getting Lu back is a big piece”

    As this text flashed across my phone in the midst of Saturday evening’s Game 3 between Houston and Oklahoma City, I was instantly reminded that as much fun as playoff basketball is for analysts, media, and fans, other NBA players are just as tuned in.

    One of the top storylines of this Rockets-Thunder series three games in has been the matchup between James Harden and Luguentz Dort, and the stifling defense that has accompanied the latter.

    Over the first two games, Dort has been nothing short than stellar in the role that Billy Donovan has placed him in. His offensive shortcomings will be attached to his name until they’re no more, but the Thunder have been able to leverage his strengths in spots to keep their half-court attack decent—using his physicality as a screener, his power as a finisher.

    While Harden’s overall scoring has remained close to his season average (32.0 ppg for the series), the majority of those points have come when Dort has either been off the floor or when Houston’s screeners and ball movement have allowed attacks to initiate away from him.

    Being an undrafted 21-year old guard wearing the pride of Arizona State and Canada, his path to the league has been unorthodox—eight months ago, he was suiting up for the Thunder’s G-League affiliate. Nevertheless, since his January insertion into the starting lineup, the Thunder have been a better overall team (16-5 record) and their playoff defense is notably better with him on the floor than off (+36 in net rating).

    So what caliber of defender can we classify Dort as given his relatively short amount of NBA experience? The term ‘stopper’ is such a sensitive word when describing defenders and scorers because of the intricacies that go into those battles.

    There are some scoring possessions you can chalk up to good defense as well as ones you can attribute to bad offense. When it comes to defending Harden, however, you wouldn’t be laughed out of a room if you referred to Dort as a stopper. Harden is shooting just 3-21 from the floor when defended by Dort, a total of three games, 13:42 of game time, and 54.4 partial possessions. During the regular season, Dort held Harden to 2-13 shooting over 7:55 of game time and 32.6 partial possessions. This adds up to nearly half of a full NBA game of data, and when you account for all the possessions that go in a game and the 24-hour shot clock, that is a lot of data.

    Perhaps we might have been able to reduce Dort’s defensive credentials if he only had this level of success against Harden. The span of a season tells us otherwise, though. Dort is routinely placed on what we would consider as the number one options on the floor. That speaks to an enormous amount of trust from the Thunder coaching staff and also speaks to his defensive acumen. There are varying results against the league’s best and he hasn’t had as much success against others as Harden, but the proof is clearly in the pudding.

    Dort's Defense

    Player | Matchup Minutes | Partial Possessions | Turnovers | FGM | FGA | FG%
    Devin Booker | 10:43 | 41.2 | 3 | 11 | 15 | 73.3
    Zach Lavine | 6:52 | 24.3 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 46.7
    Donovan Mitchell | 10:41 | 37.5 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 15.4
    Kemba Walker | 7:13 | 26.6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0
    Damian Lillard | 6:08 | 20.5 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 37.5
    LeBron James | 4:26 | 21.3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 20

    Vince Edwards, a 6-8 sweet-shooting wing who currently plies his trade for the Canton Charge, the Cleveland Cavaliers G-League affiliate, has been particularly glued to this series and this matchup in particular. One reason for his enjoyment of the series thus far is his relationship to both parties. Edwards, who was drafted by the Rockets in 2018, spent a season around the team and Harden. In the other corner, he also played with Dort for the Oklahoma City Blue this season.

    As much as basketball analysts and media study players’ games, these are at best, secondhand observations. Teammates that spend much of their time around these players, have the best opportunity to study their individual games and attributes. With this in mind, I wanted to get a player’s perspective on the battle ensuing between Harden and Dort, two people Edwards knows pretty well. I showed Edwards three clips of Dort blocking Harden, the three possessions I found the most impressive, to pick his brain.

    Play 1: Harden has the option of using Covington’s screen but Dort negates that, doesn’t bite on Harden’s spin, and causes him to throw up a wild shot.

    Vid

    Vincent Edwards: Houston is looking to get the switch by setting the ball screen at the top of the key because of Dort being a solid defender. Harden knows that he might be able to catch Lu slipping because he’s a young guy. [He wants to] get him looking and turn with a misdirection, turn down the screen so he can get an angle, and get inside the paint for whatever he wants to do. Find shooters or finish at the rim.

    For Dort, exactly what James wanted him to do, he didn’t. Lu knows he has to slide his feet and play without fouling because of James’ savviness to draw fouls. Lu’s job as the defender is to pick James up and wear him down but to also not let James turn down the screen. Because Lu is a more physical guard he can take the contact that James would use against smaller guards. Lu chests him up and slides his feet without fouling with his hands straight up.

    He is rewarded by being solid and using fundamentals and his gifted abilities as a defender. Great possession by Lu.

    Play 2: Harden uses a running back-like change of direction to try to score before the Thunder’s defense can get set, but Dort does his best cornerback impression, slaps the layup off the backboard.

    Vid

    Edwards: For Lu, he’s in a bad spot because James is coming down with speed and space in transition—which is dangerous. All of OKC’s players should build a wall. But Lu stays solid and knows he might get beat but believes in his athleticism and quickness, he can recover and get there to either try and cut him off or chase him down and block the shot! GREAT recovery.

    For James, this is exactly what you want as his speed and size and handle he can get what he wants in space. Makes a great move, shifts Dort’s hips and once he sees his angle, he attacks and then uses his frame to keep it. Great offense, better defense. In some situations, James will sneak by his defenders and rise up. But he laid it up and Dort was able to get to it.

    Play 3: Harden has Dort again on an island, normally toast for defenders. Dort is able to hang with Harden the whole way and wins the battle of bumps, throwing Harden off. Seems like Harden was expecting a foul call that never came.

    Vid

    Edwards: For Dort, this is impressive and speaks to how good of a defender he is at that a young age, because he’s on an island with the leagues leading scorer. He can’t give up any angles at the top of the key. He stays solid within arm’s length and mirrors the ball with that hand to be up on a contest, knowing James can step back at any time. When James drives he stays in a defensive stance, able to move laterally, take the first bump, and keeps playing physical. Once again, [he’s] athletic and quick enough to keep up with him and contest and/or block the layup attempt.

    Now for James at the top of the key, it’s his island. He can get whatever he wants with the ability to step back and create whatever he wants. It’s all about getting what he wants, he sees Dort and rocks him to sleep with his rhythm dribbles, and he’ll either change speeds and directions to blow by or go into a quick step back.

    If he sees the help defense asleep, he’s a great passer. He can sling it across the court or anywhere on the floor to the open man, whether it’s for a 3 or a back door cutter because other defenders fell asleep watching him.
     
  8. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    Adjustments

    Naturally, with a player as aggressive as Dort playing with such confidence and tenacity as he has been through three games, the obvious question becomes how to make things a bit easier for Harden. One tweak could be to have higher, harder screens set for Harden to give him more of a downhill runway. Another would be exactly what the Thunder did in Game 3: play faster. When Harden doesn’t have to hunt for his points and doesn’t appear to be struggling against a particular matchup, there’s an inherent trickle-down effect that results.

    Film guru Alykhan Bijani posed this exact question to Mike D’Antoni on Sunday, and he explained it having seen Game 3’s film prior to practice:

    “A little bit of both, those are good solutions,” D’Antoni said. “We try to do both of them. Having Jeff come off the screen by James sometimes can give him more room on the pitch back. There are little wrinkles we’ll try to put in there to help him. But how many points did he have yesterday, 38? So, they’re doing a great job, James got 38 points. Okay. And he’s not hitting his threes like crazy. Of all the things we need to fix, he’s not one of them. We’ll try to make it easier, which I agree with, but it’s tough. They’re going to have heir game plan and Dort’s tough. Again, just put in perspective, of how good James is.”

    Internally, it seems as if Houston isn’t too concerned with Dort’s individual effort. A team source explained that Dort is making Harden work, but ended it with a one-liner: James had 40.

    Regardless of how much credence the Rockets want to give Dort, Houston will be in a pressure-filled Game 4, whether they acknowledge it or not. Just as Donovan made adjustments, D’Antoni will have to as well.

    The Green/Harden pick-and-roll as D’Antoni alluded to is probably the most interesting potential wrinkle. “It’s huge for us,” Harden said of the combination following Game 1. “Now I don’t have to just dribble the basketball up.”

    “It can affect anybody. If he’s bringing the basketball up and I’m setting the screen, there’s only a handful of things you can do. You can switch it or show.”

    Honestly, when you see Green’s effectiveness within Houston’s offense, it makes you wonder why this move wasn’t done sooner. Green’s been excellent as a roll man so far in the playoffs, an eye-popping 2.1 PPP on 9 plays so far, but when the roles are flipped he’s been able to produce as well—an even 1.0 PPP on such plays. Green is a good enough ball-handler to initiate some offensive plays, quick enough to get by some mismatches, and a nice finisher around the rim. At times, he can put his head down a bit too much, but he’s by far the best skilled ‘big’ they have on the roster.

    Using Harden as a high screener forces the defense to pay attention to a potential pop, even if it’s for a split second. Green is also 6’8 and 240 pounds, much larger than the 6’5, 220 Harden. By the time Green turns the corner and Dort and Adams realize, it’s too late. Harden is one thing, but Green is a tougher ask here. He’s simply too quick for Adams and too big for Dort:

    Vid

    Clint Capela was Houston’s best screener for a reason: power and purpose. Often times, you’ll see smaller players not be as aggressive with the screens set, Harden included. More of this from Harden, slamming (legally) into Noel taking the largest Thunder player out of the picture. None of Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, or Gallinari is impeding Green’s date with the basket.

    Vid

    “I think it’s terrific,” D’Antoni said of Green’s ability operating with the ball in his hands. “He opens up so many other possibilities, getting guys shots or wide-open shots for himself or giving James a little bit of a break to get open. All he has to do is pick and pop back. If they don’t switch, he goes to the rim and dunks. If they do, then James has the ball in a great spot.”
     
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  9. The_Yoyo

    The_Yoyo Contributing Member

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    I think Lu has been amazing on defense on Harden but he definitely has been allowed to be more physical with him than most defenders and without getting called for fouls. Now again that stuff is really like 50/50 - you could call it or you dont need to. Game 2 he defense was good but he immediately got the huge boost in rep as "playoff defender" since Harden had such a crappy game shooting. A lot of Harden shots weren't really contested by Dort and he just missed them in game 2. I thought Dort did a much better job in game 3 (even though Harden scored more, but again terrible from 3) especially when it came to contesting his drives to the rim. I do think though if Harden keeps putting pressure on him driving he will get Dort in foul trouble. Also Harden did well posting up Dort which doesnt happen too often. It seems Dort isn't as good at post defense as he is with his lateral quickness and strong body. Harden will have to rely more on his step backs since Dort does a really good job at guessing and getting to the spot Harden wants on driving. Hopefully his jumper is there because I think if he has his jumper going Dort is going to have a long long night.
     
  10. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    This is true. Dort doesn't fall for any of Harden's dribble moves but if Harden can make his usual tough contested 3 pt jumpers like he did in the regular season bubble, Dort's defense becomes almost ineffective. Harden needs to get his 3pt shooting back to counter Dory's defense. It's the only way.
     
  11. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    [Seth Partnow] The Analytical Lookaround: Throwing Dorts at Harden is having a ripple effect

    Luguentz Dort has changed the complexion of the Oklahoma City-Houston series. I’m generally loathe to describe such things mono-causally, but in Game 1, which Dort sat with a knee injury, James Harden was untouchable, scoring 37 with a blistering 72.5 percent True Shooting, using 36.5 percent of Rockets’ possessions, leading in large part to a gargantuan 133.3 Offensive Rating with Harden on the floor.

    After Dort recovered in time to start Game 2, he assumed the lion’s share of responsibility for checking Harden:

    James Harden Defenders RD 1 vs OKC

    Defender | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Series TOT
    Luguentz Dort | 0.0% | 48.0% | 57.7% | 61.7% | 43.8%
    Dennis Schroder | 33.9% | 26.1% | 5.2% | 10.7% | 17.8%
    Terrance Ferguson | 28.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 4.9% | 7.4%
    Danilo Gallinari | 10.7% | 6.6% | 8.9% | 3.9% | 7.1%
    Chris Paul | 5.8% | 7.4% | 5.5% | 7.2% | 6.4%
    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 6.0% | 2.5% | 9.8% | 4.6% | 5.7%
    Steven Adams | 6.2% | 2.6% | 5.9% | 3.2% | 4.3%
    Nerlens Noel | 1.1% | 5.5% | 4.3% | 3.3% | 3.6%
    Darius Bazley | 0.1% | 0.9% | 3.4% | 2.8% | 1.9%
    Andre Roberson | 4.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.9%
    Hamidou Diallo | 2.4% | 1.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.8%
    Mike Muscala | 1.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3%

    In Games 2, 3 and 4, Harden has still averaged 30.3, but his True Shooting Percentage has dropped to a more pedestrian 56.3 on 32.2 percent Usage, while Houston has only scored 105.3/100 with him on the floor.

    Some of this change is likely happenstance. Performance ebbs and flows, and Harden wasn’t going to average nearly a point-and-a-half per scoring attempt for the series, regardless of who guarded him. But we can be pretty sure Dort has had an effect, not just because of Harden’s drop in effectiveness, but also in the way Harden and the Rockets are looking to attack the Thunder defense.

    Let me explain. Measuring defense is hard. Especially by and on perimeter players. “Shooting percentage allowed” on jump shots is a poor measure because it is often a product of small samples and has proven non-predictive of future results against the player. A metric capturing skill rather than normal variation or statistical noise will tend to have some stability, and percentage allowed on jumpers largely fails this test, though similar measures on shots in and around the restricted area does have sufficient stability for use as an evaluative tool.

    The reason shooting percentage allowed doesn’t much work to identify good perimeter defense is choice; well-defended players tend to not shoot at all. In many situations, that is the best outcome from the standpoint of the defender. In fact, successful defense is all about influencing the offense to change its choices.

    Which gets us back to Dort. By all accounts, one of the main reasons Houston felt comfortable, and in fact, compelled to trade Clint Capela and go all-in on never playing any sort of traditional center was the degree to which its offense moved away from pick-and-rolls and toward Harden isos. Why set a pick for Harden if he is perfectly capable of creating advantage situations one-on-one while a screen simply brings a second defender closer?

    Over the last few years, this alteration was visible in the in Harden’s offensive profile. In 2017-18, Harden used the fifth-most possessions in the league out of pick-and-roll in the NBA, with 35.8 percent of his scoring opportunities coming from that play type, per Synergy numbers. During the 2019-20 regular season, he was 29th, with only 17.9 percent of his opportunities coming as a pick-and-roll ballhandler. Capela’s dive-and-dunk offensive skillset suddenly became less useful when there were half as many dives off of which to dunk. Since nobody could stay in front of Harden, it wasn’t missed, and, in fact, Capela’s lack of shooting range exacerbated Russell Westbrook’s own jump-shooting issues.

    Even over the course of this season, Harden has decreased his use of ball screens. Through Capela’s last game for Houston (Jan. 29), Harden received 32.4 ballscreens per game, according to data provided to The Athletic by NBA Advanced Stats. For the rest of the season, this declined to 25.1 per game. Through the first two games of the series against the Thunder, it was more of the same, with Harden receiving 24 and 23 ball screens in Games 1 and 2 respectively.

    After the introduction of Dort to the series for Game 2, Houston started setting more ballscreens in an effort to free Harden. He received 33 in Game 3, which jumped all the way to 61 in Game 4. The change in strategy is perhaps the best possible testament to the job Dort has done guarding Harden in one-on-one isolation situation. According to Synergy, Harden has scored seven points on the 13 isolation chances he’s used when covered by Dort in Games 2-4. Harden and the Rockets have had some success in terms of scoring off of these ballscreens:

    Vid

    But as we talked about earlier, he has been closer to “regular effective” than game breakingly unguardable.

    As further evidence of how much Dort himself has bothered Harden, consider the degree to which the on-ball picks Harden has called for (as in the video above) have come with Dort as his primary matchup.

    Dort Defending Harden

    Game | Matchup % | Ballscreens | % Ballscreens
    1 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0%
    2 | 48.0% | 14 | 58.3%
    3 | 57.7% | 25 | 75.8%
    4 | 61.7% | 46 | 75.4%

    Whether these screens are an attempt to create offense directly out of pick-and-roll or are simply an effort to force a switch of a less well-equipped defender onto Harden varies case-by-case, but for the first time in a while, it appears the Rockets aren’t simply isolating Harden and letting him cook.

    This isn’t to say Dort has swung the series toward Oklahoma City’s favor. OKC is only scoring 102.8 points/100 with Dort on the floor, as his own shooting struggles, 5 of 23 on 3-pointers, including 4 of 16 on uncontested attempts, have given Houston little reason to guard him. This leaves the Thunder with very little margin for defensive error. But little margin for error is far better from their standpoint than the relative ease of Houston victories in Games 1 and 2.
     
  12. HewbieTrippin

    HewbieTrippin Member

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    Dort's proven to be a great defender this year. Going into the series, I knew he'd be the main assignment for Harden but thought that him being a rookie would result in him not being able to not foul James, on top of his trending towards average 3pt shooting in the regular season taking a hit (as most rookies do).

    I didn't think he'd be able to do this well against Harden thus far, but so far he's been very disciplined. He has all the physical tools but also looks like he's really watched tape on how to best attempt to slow harden. But his 3pt shooting was indeed noticeably worse in games 1-3 than it was throughout the regular season. Being 3/9 yesterday was his best showing but we'd be in a lot of trouble if he was able to shoot a bit better.

    I do think if Russ comes back, James' matchups against Dort will trend upward though. By only having James as the ball handler for almost all 48, it's bound to drain him some and that only works in favor of physical guards like Dort.
     

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