Via small ball, it is now clear to me that we now win when Russ can carry us on his back The way he attacks the basket opens up opportunities for the rest of the team Russ does most of the heavy lifting which frees up Harden, Covington, PJ and the rest of the crew Thoughts?
Russ has been playing great. But the difference between Harden and Russ's efficiency of finishing near the rim is largely due to the fact that, when Harden is penetrating, Russ's defender can always leave him open and help; not the case when Russ drives. I would say Harden created more opportunity for Russ than the opposite.
I wouldn't say he's the MVP but he's probably the guy that should have the ball the most. Harden can get his in so many different ways and offers spacing for Russ.
Why does it have to be one of the other? We need them both. Both can takeover a game or keep us in a game while the team is struggling. It's a joy to see James has someone to lean on now. James is one of the reasons WB is playing so well. His impact and attention allow this. Even when he's off he opens things up for others. Im just happy to have both. I don't take this for granted.
Russ is the anchor of our small ball strategy His FG % is as good or better than any big as he can get a layup or dunk at will His rebounding is like a big and has really shown his leadership to be the man on this team I think all the players view him as their leader
They are Dual MVPs. The Dynamic Duo. Double Trouble, Brothers in Arms, Awesome Amigos, Fire and Fury, and most definitely the perfect combination of skill sets. They don't both have to have a good night to win. One doesn't have to be called the MVP. We don't need to fight over who we like better. Together they are unstoppable. Even if one has a bad night they can still score 60 points between them! Now that's cool. We get to watch the best duo in the league wearing Rockets jerseys. This is as exciting as the old days of the Championship days. I'm loving it!
Leadership is overrated, his FG is great because we have Harden and a open lane. Without Harden on the court Russ would end up being double teamed or teams would pack the paint. I'ts just like the CP3 situation, you need someone who can convert when James draws attention.
I was patient, but it's clearly time to go ahead and start throwing some people on ignore. The last few weeks have led to some absurd threads.
I think Russell is like Batman and Harden is Robin Together they will take us to the promise land along with Covington, Gordon, Tucker etc. Harden had too much on his shoulders to be the alpha dog to win games for us Now with Russell taking that role and Harden filling in I agree with you it is exciting and we now officially have possibly one of the best duos in the league
His skill is also not given enough credit by a lot of people. Open lanes or not, nobody on our team can zip between the defenders like him and score so easily. Nobody comes close.
I disagree, his skill is the reason we run the offense we run it’s been mentioned plenty, we’ve unlocked the best version of Russ. But like I said without Harden it doesn’t work. Just like CP3, we need them both at their best come playoffs
it very well could every team needs to have the alpha that the team plays off of as of recently since small ball, russell has been the man and we are winning with this I think the torch was passed after this game Russ dominated the celtics in boston to a one point win. it is Russ's Rockets now
Harden absorb attention, open lane, westbrook can freely attack. Without wb, harden has no reliable teammate to score. Without harden, wb isn't gonna drive that easily. team effort, i don't care which mvp shows up