Harden's 3 Pointers in the Playoffs Needs to be Cut down

in 2015, 37% of his threes were assisted in the postseason...he took many more spot-ups, didn’t force so many bad threes, and most of his threes weren’t a foot or 2 behind the line

this really all changed once MDA came...no more midrange at all, and literally went from mid-30% of his threes being assisted in the postseason to not even 20% of his threes immediately

not sure if this would change with a different coach, or if this is just who he is now

 

Honestly. . . . his attempts to get assist on 3's need to fall too

Rocket River
They not falling

 

I’m really dismayed at how passive and un-energetic he was at the end. You want the best player to be up and ready for the moment. This was very discouraging and frustrating.

 

if only he had the same attitude as the quote in your sig

we need westbrook and his attitude back now

 

Agreed. It has made us unbalanced and it can hurt us doubly when long rebounds puts strain on our transition defense.

 

My dude...I hate to break it to you, but this is who Harden is in the playoffs. Great performer for 3 quarters, then forgets how to do anything but step back contested 3's in the 4th while the other team comes back. It's just the nature of his game. We've watched him for, what, 8 seasons now? This is who he is.

 

2010: 2.7 att | 37.5%

2011: 4.5 att | 30.3%
1st rd: 4.4 att | 31.8%
Semifinals: 4.9 att | 29.4%
Conference Finals: 4.0 att | 30.0%

2012: 3.9 att | 41.0%
1st rd: 3.3 att | 46.2%
Semifinals: 4.0 att | 25.0%
Conference Finals: 3.8 att | 60.9%
Finals: 4.4 att | 31.8%

2013: 7.3 att | 34.1%

2014: 9.0 att | 29.6%

2015: 6.3 att | 38.3%
1st rd: 6.2 att | 38.7%
Semifinals: 6.9 att | 35.4%
Conference Finals: 5.6 att | 42.9%

2016: 8.4 att | 31.0%

2017: 10.5 att | 27.8%
1st rd: 10.0 att | 24.0%
Semifinals: 10.8 att | 30.8%

2018: 10.2 att | 29.9%
1st rd: 10.4 att | 38.5%
Semifinals: 8.8 att | 29.5%
Conference Finals: 11.1 att | 24.4%

2019: 12.5 att | 35.0
1st rd: 12.0 att | 35.0%
Semifinals: 12.8 att | 35.1%

2020: 13 att | 32.7%

 

Yea... Rockets twitter can't even manipulate stats to make it look prettier. He's an inefficient chucker who decides to be an inefficient chucker.

 

he probably won’t...I only think a large part of it is coaching because the change happened immediately, it wasn’t gradual...MDA came and he immediately went from a healthy dose of midrange and assisted/spot up looks, to basically none of that at all...maybe it’s too ingrained at this point for him to change

everything during the MDA era has been to the extreme

I really wonder what they will do if he’s not brought back. The number of established coaches that will fully buy into 24/7 small ball and hoisting up 50 or more threes by any means necessary is probably very small. No other coach in this league is running or has ever run something so extreme.

 

That's a lot of zero-point possessions. Sometimes, you need to just put points on the board. Don't let the other team go on big runs. If Harden can't hit the three and he's also not getting to the line, suffice it to say it's going to be a struggle.

 

It seems that's what the Harden era turned into, extremes and increasing the volatility.

 

Worse, how many of those led to transition points on the other side due to long rebounds.

 

I agree in most cases. Today for instance he started off like 3/3 from 3, so keep shooting them. But once he missed a few in a row, work a few midrange shots in. Don't restrict yourself to shooting from only one area of the floor. Take a couple of easier shots to get in your rhythm.

Harden is in many ways a better player obviously today than he was in 2015, with respect to defense, decision making and turnovers (also his usage % is way up from that year), but his offensive game has lost that versatility. I don't think it's by accident that he had his most efficient TS% in the 2015 playoffs where he regularly shot midrange shots to keep the defense honest and stay in his rhythm.

I'm not saying to start shooting more midrange shots in any situation, but there needs to be a healthy mix when the game calls for it. Of course if he's hot from 3 then keep shooting them.

 

This is something that's been brought up repeatedly on this board and I'm surprised it's not talked about more often. This can't just be coincidence. I'd love to hear what Harden/MDA/Morey have to say about this. Unfortunately I don't think it's something we'd ever be able to get a real answer on.

 

Harden when he gets to the basket, he draws fouls/ And-1's, & his floater is money. He also sucks the D in & creates open looks for his teammates, & gets the other team in foul trouble... This also creates variance in his offense & the defender is prone to give him space as not to get blown by, giving him open outside looks as well. The only way to stop him is to double him at half court basically, BUT if he's not being doubled & he still consistently settling for pull up 3's off dribble shooting 30% not only is that making the game tougher for himself, he also bogs the entire offense down. I can only pray that somehow Harden realizes that we DESPERATELY need him to get to the damn rim.