Correct. The Rockets play smarter and more efficient basketball to help maximize their potential. Nothing wrong with that. Nobody's saying they're going to compete with the Warriors or anything.
Thank you for agreeing with me on this. It seems as if so many posters on this board are personally offended when I state that Harden needs to do some serious conditioning. Like I mentioned before, Harden has THE PERFECT teammate to go drill instructor on his ass over the off-season... Patrick Beverly. Shadow Beverely over the offseason Harden. Follow his routines.
Hey... this might sound crazy. But this team could even be better when Harden learns to move without the ball time to time instead of getting in the way of his teammates because he walks everywhere when he doesn't have the ball in his hands.
This does happen from time to time. No doubt. Doesn't happen very often, though. The offense primarily runs through Harden, and he does a pretty solid job at it, as evidenced by everything this season.
The problem is even Morey doesn't believe that to be true, because if he were, then he would demand his players to only take three-pointers and nothing else. So in some respect, Morey already knows that you cannot just blindly follow this rule and acknowledges the need to react according to the situation, yet somehow Morey still can't get Harden to try something else when his threes are clearly off. Harden is becoming more and more predictable and one-dimensional as a scorer, and his struggles against elite defensive teams will continue as long as Harden and Morey can't find ways to get around this "only layups and three ball" mantra.
I'd like to see him bring down his 3 point attempts from almost 10 a game to around 6 or 7 and replace those 3 point attempts with some midrange jumpers. 6-7 threes a game is a healthy number for him, 9-10 a game is not. If he's feeling it from deep in a particular game, then sure, take 10 of them, but in general, he should look to stay around that 6-7 number. ideally, I'd like his shot distribution to be something like this 9-10 shots at the rim/in the paint 3-4 midrange jumpers 6-7 threes
get in better shape and improve his shot selection...those 2 things will get him to an even higher level
Having your best player, whose contribution to the team is 100% on the offensive side of the ball, having a .55%TS or a .57%TS is not fine, nor is it a very strong number. 55% TS is about the LEAGUE AVERAGE efficiency for NBA players. Hence the reason so many have criticized Westbrook's offensive production vs Harden in the regular season, especially on this board. So lets not all of a sudden just say, "oh anything above 55% from Harden is just fine and great!" Remember last years Finals where Curry's disappointing play in the finals was one of the primary reason the warriors lost? Curry was roundly criticize and rightly so for his play. Whether his injury did or did not impact his performance is irrelevant. His TS% dip from 67% in the regular season (an absurd number) to 61% in the playoffs prior to the finals (still an elite number) to 58% in the FINALS which is merely a good number if compared to ALL in NBA player, but far from good enough when compared to his peers, fellow MVP candidates, superstars, etc... nor was it good enough to help his team win the championship. The 58%TS he shot in the FINALS, also represented the lowest TS% he has posted in the playoffs, having shot at 599% or over every year except his first playoff appearance in 2012. For players such as Curry and Harden, whose TS% is usually elite or at least very very good and who's only significant contribution and impact on their team winning is offense; scoring at an average 55% TS or even mildly good 58% TS isn't fine. This represents a significant dip in the efficiency, effectiveness and impact of their performance.
Some of you people are crazy. James Harden is the #1 or #2 MVP candidate. We won 1st series in convincing fashion. We stole HCA by blowing out the Spurs in game 1. Morey, an absolute genius, makes smart move after smart move. His system, with a first year coach, guides us to what all experts consider an overperforming season. Yet one bad game with a somewhat hobbled Harden and some of you start throwing Harden, Morey, the system, etc. under the bus. Take a step back and breathe! Things are not that bad. They are actually very good!
Dude, it's we've seen 4 seasons with Harden in the playoffs and he always shoots poorly. It's a systemic issue that somehow needs to resolved.
From what I have seen, Harden struggled with nerves his first couple playoffs. Then he helped us to the WCF where we put up a good fight against GS. This playoffs we are off to a great start. A few points of fg% is such a small thing in the overall scheme of helping a team win. All time high assists, drawing fouls, these are things that can detract from FG% yet help the team win. Who knows, if he was 100% healthy he might even be shooting 40-45%. Fact is, with the exception of very small stretches here and there, he helps us win. I don't think anyone would argue that. Let's let these playoffs play out before trashing the system that has vaulted us to the elite echelon of the league.
Players are no cyborgs. Even the most consistent performers do have mild fluctuations in their performance. Rise and Drop.
