And thats the fun part of the game. But attacking premier guards all game long is just not possible in the NBA throughout a game because of their ability to handle the ball. that kind of stuff works in college/hs but in this league that does nothing but tires the defense itself out. There's a reason why you dont see it
Bro, in the playoffs you do see it for major chunks of games. And I'm pretty sure we're going to see it this year. Because the key to defending him is to attack his dribble and push him right and make him turn right constantly.
no you don't. there isn't any team that has anyone that plays pg's full court all game long or even the majority of a game. that doesn't exist because again that's not possible without suffering your own consequences defensively. You can try it on possessions here and there but as far as extended periods of time nope. the closest was our very own PB and we all know he doesn't do that anymore. I wonder why.
Look at this another way: It is clear versus Wall and Westbrook that you have to get a crowd in front of them or the will score At Will on drives. Harden is the same way. You have to pick a poison even moreso with Harden, because he's a much better passer than WB and Wall, and has equal effectiveness on driving and shooting. I'm confused?? To me, it's the other way around. How do they stop us from running this down their throats. MDA and Harden run the PnR in essentially 101 different ways. High Post, from Wing, 3-man Game with Flare Screens, out of 5-out Motion, Dribble Double Drag, off of Horns action. Harden doesn't do it much out of 21 Series...like he used to as a SG, though. Gordon does that, mostly now. We also set up a lot of action starting with the C/PF have the ball, and do DHO's off of that. The notion you can attack Harden 94 feet has also been beat repeatedly by Harden's great ability to pass the ball up court fast and with amazing accuracy. This is not MJ as a PG we are describing, like some of the strategy seem to imply. This is a true PG. Even if no secondary break happens, he breaks the press by passing up and getting the hand-off back. Well, he thoroughly got out-coached by Donovan, in an embarrassing way, last year. Not sure if he unleashed that in the playoff, or tried it on SAS in the regular season. Donovan does a great job vs Harden, too. We can all go to school watching these 3 OKC games. Break those down, and describe what Donovan does...because that's what other coaches are doing (and me too) He's not hiding anything like a mad scientist in a lab (love the analogy though)...he's trying everything in the reg season like @bobrek was saying. Sure he might try something new in the playoffs, but he'll have no real indication it will work. He typically picks his poison like everyone, and mixes it up well. But one thing is for sure....he hasn't been able to feast on your strategy of forcing Harden to guard WB ... Harden barely ever guards WB.
1. Have a Bev type PG defender to stay with him 94 ft, but up the pressure once he crosses half court. 2. Have a team with a bunch of versatile defenders that won't be victimized when switching PnRs (basically, be GSW with Klay, Iggy, Draymond, KD). 3. Have a Rudy Gobert-like great shot blocker who's also hard to toss an alley oop over. 4. On offense have constant movement and at least 4 shooters on the court at all times so he can't rest any on that end. Run Harden's matchup off several picks and screens; ideally have Harden matched up against Reggie Miller. There you have it. 4 easy steps. Elite defensive PG pest, several versatile wings and forwards, several excellent shooters, and an abnormally tall and relatively mobile shot blocker at C.
All teams can do is pray to lord Zeus that we don't trade for Rubio because then and only then will we win the World Series of basketball
Delly, Bev.....yes you do. And you're going to see more of it because that's where this pace and space fast breaking offensive era is taking us defensively. Defenses are going to have to learn better ball denial strategies. When you look at going up against our team: 1. What are our biggest weaknesses? 2. If you don't pressure Harden then what else do you do to beat us? (If you can't answer this question your effectively saying we're going to win a championship. You willing to go that far?) A. I don't see how anybody can deny attacking Harden offensively. You make him defend your best playmaker and you work him over defensively. Don't see how you can deny that. B. Don't see how you can deny using your offense to effectively start defending Harden before the Rockets even have the ball. Gotta have a couple guys around him at all times. C. Don't see how you just let him walk it up or run it up and go all the way to the rim. In case you haven't noticed, the bulk of his ball handling bringing the ball up is with his left. His left hand is where all the magic starts. Don't see how you don't deny him the left hand and always be in position to contest him from the left side. You got something better? Then lay it out here. Don't just crack on everything were saying without saying what you would do. How would you strategize to beat us? Come straight.
If I'm the opposing coach I live and prefer Harden throwing as many full court passes as I can entice him to throw. Those are low efficiency.
I get what your saying but the downside of that is, when not if he gets passed that first guy pressuring the ball 94 ft it's going to produce either a lob pass dunk or open three in either corner almost every time. Sure if we miss those corners threes then it's great strategy but I'm positive the rockets and MDA will take that shot all game. Plus your going to tire out your whole team trying to defend harden that way. And every team try's to make him go right and they still can't, it's been 5 years now. That's just Hardens gift I don't think there's any scheme that can take his left hand away. I don't think there's anything you can do to really stop this team from scoring. It's the offensive rebounds that are this team biggest downfall. It happens in almost every close game we play.
the only way you're going to see more of it is because it doesn't really exist. It's actually not an ideal strategy because ball handlers are so much better in the NBA that they draw fouls or they get past that defender and look what you just put the offense in. A 5 on 4 advantage. The premier guards are so good in this league that they make you pay and in Harden's case that's a no brainer. Delly? lol ok whatever you say man. You know what you do against the best players in the league like Harden. You stack walls against them especially in the paint. Make them have to go through multiple bodies. But then again that's what has made this team so hard to guard this year because all the same bodies they're throwing at harden this year, our real shooters we now have are making them pay. In the past who did we have shooting all these 3's Brewer, Josh Smith, Beasley, TJ, smh. Tbh out of everyone in the league I have to say Roberson has given Harden the most problems as far as consistently. And that's pretty hard for me to say because I don't think he's that good of a player at all. Okc does have a solid overall defensive gameplan for harden It's no secret this team live or dies by the 3.
Why does 'holic even pose this thread as a question when all he's going to do bark his own point of view and reject all others?
Jopat, it must be obvious now you are going to get killed from here on out when you start a new thread. It's time to change usernames again and get a fresh start. Maybe go with something self-defecating like YuleC and you might get some respect for wearing your scarlet letter with pride.
This. Gobert really impressed me how he took away the Capela pnr lobs. What's given me confidence is that since Capela went down those lob plays, while missed, have gone away and we are still winning. A coach that makes adjustments has done wonders.
I think it's going to be very suitable for playoff defenses to deny our 3-ball shooters. Because our shooters don't have much cutting ability. Especially in the playoffs where the uncalled contract is more frequent.
