It's nice to think that... or could jus be like Dirty Harry said - "A mans gotta know his limitations" - and CP3 does and is staying within those boundaries.... lol
CP3's locker room and on court leader, defensively communicating. Defended Stephanie well. He gets bonus points for encouraging Tucker and more than once praised Tucker publicly in the post game conferences. He brings good chemistry to the team.
Sure would be nice if cp3 and Capela could have a breakout game for us. It’s unrealistic to assume tucker, rivers and Gordon will keep having these great games while Klay Thompson continues to play as bad as he does. Harden has played well so far can’t really expect him to take it up another level. If either cp or Capela(similar to last year g7 stats) can win one for us without the others playing amazing I feel more confident about our chances.
He's got a great shot but mentally he's still in point god mode despite his athleticism trending downward. Getting ahead of ourselves but CP3 needs to work on his 3 from all sets and all spots on the floor during the offseason and start to transition to more of a shooter as he gets older. He's got a great shot already just needs the reps and confidence so he doesn't hesitate.
Last year he went off in game five and blew out his hammy. Lets hope tonight we only get the former and not the latter
CP3 is a role player now, still a very important one, but I don't think we'll see one 30 point game out of him in these play-offs. Even if we pass the Warriors. EGO has become our #2 guy now so I'm glad he's saving our ass, though CP3 at least had some hustle in game 4 and got under KD's skin. I'd like to believe he's still the guy who could show up like last year, but he just isn't. Accept it and appreciate what he still can do, which is defend, hit the occasional big shot, pass and be a nuisance.
Let’s do a HOT TAKE. I’ll take the opposite argument but I will acknowledge that he is being passive, not solely because injury risks but also part confidence issues in taking open shots. He doesn’t trust his shot and thinks others have higher chances of making it. This absolutely does not fit our team philosophy and strategy. He should be burned at the stake. There are two arguments that need to be made. One, he is playing very well on the defensive end, he leads the team in DRTG in meaningful minutes, but shots not falling offensively, which I would say isn’t prone to injury risks. He’s just deferring to others who he thinks have higher chance of hitting it. The other part is that, without hindsight, Games 3 and 4 were way more important to win than any game following those, as not winning those games would have been near impossible to win the series. If he was going to come out blazing, it would have been those games. All the games have been close, but CP3 on the offensive end isn’t the same as last year. He’s a step slower which makes all the difference against an elite defense and one with quickness at all but 1 position (PG). CP3 is just not playing well offensively due to not only an injury mental block but also confidence in hitting shots. If he was to have coming out party, it was needed more in Game 3 and 4. However, I think he’s playing to what we need right now since others have been stepping up. We need more from him on the offensive end to close out the Worriers, refs, and NBA. I believe he can do it for 1 or 2 games in a series like this, he has shown it in limited minutes. I don’t know if he’ll come out of those games healthy though. CP3 is absolutely needed in even his current form with toughness, smarts, game and situation knowledge, canniness, awareness, passing, defense, scheming, player hurdles, and much more.
I’m not sure what everyone else’s definition of a “breakout game” is but to me honestly it’s just 20-25 pts and 6-10 assts, with some timely shots/plays in the 4th quarter. I think Harden and Gordon have proved themselves reliable enough to lean on for offense this series, we just need CP to really just control/pace 1 game for us. I don’t expect and don’t think I want him to have some sort of 40 pt 2018 Game 5 Jazz closeout, that game definitely did not help his hammy against the warriors. And we need it on the road, ideally tonight so that we can close the series in 6 at home.
you know what? I was having these exact same thoughts...not sure if game 5 is that moment i guess it would have to be a a series closing game or perhaps he is saving it all for the finals
The Rockets were 18-0 in games in the regular season where CP3 had double digits assists. They were 21-19 in his other 40 games. They were 14-10 without him. Give me a CP3 double digit assist game. CAVEAT: GSW are amazingly good on defense, and if it's just more efficient to have the ball in Harden's hands, then it is what it is... 18-8-5 on 10-12 shots and its hard to see the Rockets losing...
Look.... to be honest... he isnt anywhere where he use to be on offense. He has been playing defense and has been making winning plays. He needs to continue to do that.
As much as I hate to say it, CP3 has always seemed like Stockton 2.0 to me: - THE best true (pass-first) PG of his generation - Great shooter, especially from the mid-range, since small size limits efficiency at the rim - Intense, annoying defender that constantly toes the line of 'dirty' (which pisses off opposing players/fans to no end) - Ultimate competitor which makes up for limited size / athleticism As such, I always expected his transition into his mid-late 30's to go pretty smoothly Unlike someone like Westbrook, who may not even be a starter by then once his explosiveness has disappeared Of course, if he can't stay healthy, the transition is moot Here's hoping (praying?) that CP3 remains a game-changer capable of swaying entire PO series thru the end of his current contract
