LAST PLAY Harden missed Terrance Jones for the easy layup

No way, that would've been a turnover. Pull up long 2 was the best option IMHO. Credit to the Warriors defense who recovered really well.

McHale said he saw 2 Warriors down so it would be 4 on 3 or 2 but by the time Harden gets down there everyone is trailing so it was actually 2 on 3.

 

That was such a tiny window, and we are talking about Terrence "Butterfinger" Jones. I know it hurts, but they made a heck of a defensive play. I think harden pops that first shot if Barnes doesn't fly by him from behind. It is what is. I'm still as proud as ever of Harden and the rest of the team... Sans josh smith obviously.

 

My thoughts exactly. Ariza should of ran to the top of the key for the Harden pass.

 

At first I was yelling call a time out! call a time out!, then i saw 2 defenders back and harden pushing it. Then he passes to howard and right there I felt even though howard was at the 3 point line, he could have EASILY drove straight to the front of the basket and his option would be to kick to terry in the corner or terrence underneath. THAT'S what i was thinking live.

After watching it, Harden should have taken the shot when he bumped Curry off with everyone crashing the boards for tip. Could have ended it with a STepdaddy like he'd be doing all night.

Tough either way with not even a shot being taken at all. This will be tough for them for the 1st day but I feel they are ready and itching to get back onto the court. The Puzzle that is the GS warriors is almost solved. I'm just worried that it might be a little too late, but I have faith.

 

Ariza also seemed to hesitate as Harden was gathering the rebound. (to be fair it was in slo-mo).

Then he compounds it by jogging down the court, dragging yet another defender into harden.

Would have been nice had he sliced down court a lot sooner to the corner and dragged Curry or Thompson away instead, or gotten to the middle to catch the pass that Dwight took.

 

I believe he was trying to take as much time off the clock as possible. We all know Curry is a sniper who was sizzling hot.

 

In situations like those, Harden should drive hard and take whatever shot he can get. He visibly slowed down, overthinking what play he can go with.

I think he is kicking himself for passing the ball out to Howard because when he got it back, he was even more trapped.

 

That's not Harden's game though - to go full blast straight line to the basket, he's all about misdirection and stopping/starting. In addition I think he probably didn't want to score too quick and let Curry get off a Lillard shot.

Kicking himself, and kicking chairs in the locker room about it.

 

Harden should develop the Kobe mentality. You are the reason the team is still in the game. We can accept you taking the last shot, hit or miss.

As Smith said, you must be willing to take the consequences of taking those shots.

Still I'm excited to see Harden growing right before our eyes.

 

I would have trashed the whole locker room

 

Maybe he was hesitating because he didn't know where Harden was going or what he was going to do. Harden uncharacteristically for a fast break, ends up going to his left, instead of running the middle of the floor which he should have aimed for. You are supposed to fill in the wings on the fast break. If Ariza had run any faster, he might have brought his defender to make a triple team on Harden. It was just a bad play for all of the Rockets unfortunately. But don't fret, we got this. We will win 4 of the next 5 and advance to the finals!

 

He wanted to take the shot. You can see it in his initial drive and you can see it when he passes the ball to Dwight. Watch the play again. IMMEDIATELY after releasing the ball to Howard, Harden is clapping to get it back.

It was a reset to try and get better position, not a pass to give the ball up. He knew what he was doing, GS just stopped it from happening.

 

I disagree with all the posts about giving it to T Jones or Dwight to drive from the 3 point line. Jones fumbles passes a lot, and Iggy could have easily rotated to him, and a top 3 defender was right behind him.

With Dwight, why are yall so confident that he can drive all the way to the basket from the 3 point line? That's not his game. Didn't he try it vs Dallas or LAC? Someone would have stripped him, or he might have dribbled it off his foot.

It's easy for us to complain now, but when James was in that moment, time running out, etc. it's impossible to think about all of those different situations. I'm sure he wishes he could go back and call a timeout, but that's hindsight now.

 

Harden made a mistake but he will learn from it

 

Because he has the ability to? plus there is still enough time on the clock to kick it out to Terry. Harden is heavily doubled on one side. Ariza guarded, Terrence in the paint with 2 guys 1 of which is shadowing Terry. HOward has tons of space in front of him and can take just 2 dribbles to get into the paint from the 3 and draws in defense and kick out to Terry who himself is clutch.

Also harden could have given it right back to HOward when howard gets to the free throw line instead of dribbling.

I know hindsight is 20/20 so i'm not TOO upset with the play now as it unfolded but there were plenty of options. Harden was hot so I definitely don't fault him for wanting to take the shot. Part of the learning process. it just might be too costly at this point.

They'll just have to pull another page out of clutch city and come back from 0-2 down .

 

I wanted to rep you, but for some odd reason I have been having an issue with my reps lately. Excellent post, and pretty much my feelings on the subject.

 

Really wish Howard would have screened for Harden after he gave it back to him instead of rolling to the basket

 

1. Jones fumbles in traffic and if Harden zips the pass or toss it up for a lob, Iggy has no chance to rotate over there.

2. For a big man Howard does have solid handles. Even though he did the right thing by passing it back to Harden. He also could have called time out.

3.I believe James didn't want to leave any time left on the clock for Curry.

 

On hindsight, Harden should have moved away from the trap when asking for the ball. He should have given up the ball so he could maneuver to a better position like a handoff from Howard.

 

KJ McDaniels?

I couldn't help notice him dressed out in uniform sitting on the bench. This guy is known as a defender and we all know how athletic he is. If he's available why not throw him in there for a few minutes to guard Curry? This would be like Dallas putting Aminu on Harden. Use him and Brewer to trap Curry if McDaniels can't hang with him one on one.

I'd just like for McHale to try something different defensively. McDaniels also has the ability to drive to the bucket, score off pick n rolls and rebound.