On this team. The warriors don't stop moving. How else do they set their barrage of illegal screens? This type of play, and the ones where Harden is parked at midcourt irk me. Also, when Harden is in a PNR, then passes the ball he never ever cuts to the basket or even moves. He stands their with his dick in his hands looking like an idiot.
It looks to me like he is taking a few more 3s this year than last, like he is settling instead of driving. DD
it's the same story with GS. nothing different. when curry isos at certain times, the players are just standing there as well. The difference is curry has elevated his play and seemingly makes every shot now so people don't take notice. Also, he doesn't iso nearly as much as Harden. Now when the ball is moving of course GS is moving. Same with Houston. That's why you only hear about Houston's ball movement in spurts bc it isn't as common. And yes those things you pointed out lead to stagnancy as well. If you dont move or set screens for others there will be no movement. And a play will rarely work if you possess these habits.
If we would simply stop letting him bring it up, and let Bev do it and look for an early offensive opportunity we would be much better, it bugs the crap out of me that Harden is consistently flirting with an 8 second count. RUN RUN RUN ! DD
You are assuming that the play was drawn up like that. It goes right back to the question: Is it coaching or is it the players? Or both?
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Some of the arguments against Harden isos are valid but i highly doubt he's consciously trying to pad his assists by forcing his teammates to shoot with the shot clock down. He is taking up a lot of the shotclock, by design, surveying the field and then making a move at the end. when hes making his move, that's when the defense adjusts and shooters become open, leading to a lot of uncontested catch & shoot opportunities at the end of the clock. It's not something immune to other players. LeBron, Westbrook and Chris Paul also have a tendency to make the same sort of pass. Perhaps Harden relies on that pass too much but I'm tired of people pretending other Superstars don't do it.
You might want to watch end of quarters and see how often Harden is the one taking the long shot, or passing it off to a teamate to take the shot which is from half court. He is CLEARLY aware of his stats. DD
he's fatter and slower. Can't help it now that he's out of shape. Dude gets blocked super easily whenever he drives.
That is not true, the teams have figured out his extending the ball and sweeping through the hands to draw a foul move, they are now just standing straight up and jumping....causing Harden to flail away..and turn it over. Harden needs to adjust. DD
I agree thats also part of it, but it has just as much to do with him being out of shape. The guy is missing easy shots he used to make consistently.
Harden gets to the line as much as ever before. Leading the league by a big margin. Yes, defenses have made adjustment, but to say it's at the end-point of drives (defense avoiding contact) is way too simplistic, and not very accurate. The adjustments are at the point of attack. He's being forced right more, and/or they are zoning a man on his left, as a trap. He seems slow on his first step, whether it's mental or physical ... I don't know ... but the adjustments Harden and the team need to make is due to defenses at the point of attack for Harden (whether it's drives around screens or ISO or from hand-offs), Harden's "Gravity" rating has gone up, this year. ("Gravity" meaning how many players he attracts to him.)
Also, the man we PnR should be able to pop from a midrange position, and right now most of the PnRs are with Capela and Howard for the Alley oop or bust...making it easier to guard. DD
btw: That was one helluva behind the head pass to Howard at the rim in OT that Harden made about 5 minutes after this thread was started. And the drive and kick to Ariza was wise. Harden was listening to the OP in OT. Anyone have a vid of that.
That pass was tight! So much action going on there and bodies, to see that materialize, very satisfying. That is Harden "trusting" his teammates to make a play. Huge.
He really seems less explosive to me this year, even when he isn't getting doubled and also when trying to finish at the rim. It's strange
In general the offense takes FOREVER to set up. The Cavs ran into this problem with Kyrie. You can't get the ball into the post with only 7 seconds on the shot clock. That means Howard is forced to take the shot, versus, if you drop it into Howard with 12 seconds on the shot clock Howard can kick it out to a wing, fake it, or take the shot. It gives Howard more options, and it gives the Rockets an approach when the game slows down. Harden bringing up the ball is a big threat to that.
When's the last time we've seen his tomahawk slam straight down the throat of the d. And yeah, getting worried about his drives on the left side, even. His finish is going up short way too often.
