Funny how no one complains about Harden Iso's anymore

If the shots stop falling the complaints will start again. Sports fans are fickle like that. People complained about Kobe shooting too much even in his championship seasons, so even winning won't necessarily stop the haters.

 

Shooters are finicky creatures. Some days its like the hoop is as big as the ocean and everything you throw up seems to go in. Other days, it's like you're building apartment complexes with the amount of bricks you make. When shooters are on though, man it's a special treat!

 

He still dribbles the ball sometimes almost until the clock expires but now for the most part he takes that deadly step back J which is money and passes off very few times.

No problem with Harden doing that. His IQ is really high and he knows when to take over and when to pass off

 

How much of this is Harden and how much is this the team truly gelling and learning to play together?

I catch myself re-watching games and marveling at the chemistry displayed on the court

 

Yes, the coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for helping mold Harden into the amazing player he is turning into. They've done an excellent job letting him learn from mistakes and putting him into positions to succeed.

I think they're actually doing this well with a lot of our young players. Hence leaving the bench in during the 4th quarter even when they were blowing a near 30 pt lead.

You have to let young players play in tough situations and make mistakes. So that they can mature and improve from the learning experiences. Especially the type of high bball IQ players we have on our team.

Kudos to coach McHale and staff.

 

It's because they're too overwhelmed defending Lin's slump in the other threads.

Ba-dum-tsssh!
:grin:

 

And comparing Lin to lillard

 

We're winning, however, we're a much better team when he makes a move to pass, shoot, or dribble drive. The 10,000 hr jab step rountine kills the offense because everyone knows he's going to shoot that step back..

 

His AAU reach around defense with your feet planted into the court is flatout horrible. All they ask is that he stays in front of his man. I've never seen someone so gift at moving their feet on the offensive end be so poor on the defensive end.

 

Well now these ISO are working. Most time he was just jacking up shots. Now he is getting space with his step back and scoring.

 

He is definitely starting to pass to his teammates more and showing more trust. Interestingly enough, it's actually helped his game improve. Funny right?

 

I thought it was pretty obvious that Harden practiced hiss step-back in the off-season which opened up all kinds of options for him. It's not just the fact that he can create a reliable shot on his own from the perimeter now, it's the fact that because of it, you can't really defend him.

Harden ISO's last year often ended in horrible shots because all a defense had to do was take his driving lanes away. Now, however, it's not that simple. Kobe has explained it pretty well at some point, but I'm not sure where to find the video. The juice is that when you can 1)shoot the 3 reliably, 2)get to the rim and finish, 3)create space and pull up off the dribble from mid-range, you can't be stopped by one defender. A single person can't cover all those 3 possibilities by himself, he has to give you at least one and just pray that you miss it. "Triple threat" he called it.

That's how you run a good ISO. Good to see that Harden recognized it and added the missing element to his game. Fundamental stuff.

 

It's going in. And we're winning games. More importantly, WINNING GAMES.

 

Not only are the shots falling--they are demoralizing. His crossover has gotten better as the year has passed. His ankles seem healthy. He has started taking more fast break 3s which are also demoralizing to the opposition. Obviously he will have some cold games but I'm okay with him taking them, particularly in the 4th.

 

The question is can he sustain this level of play? Has he truly turned the corner? I hope so. We'll see over the next few weeks.

 

Why complaint when most of his shots are falling and when he has a plan B or even a plan C?

Last year Harden ISO with himself in mind. This year he ISO with his team mates in mind.

 

Or maybe its what happens when that player isn't nursing nagging injuries.