I was replying to the statement that "Maybe his catch and shoot rhythm will improve". His catch and shoot rhythm has been great, not sure why anyone would pick that out as a point for improvement.
It is called "winning" as in Harden's tenure has seen the most wins in Rockets franchise history. Just because Harden does not have a ring yet, you dont have to be disingenuous about the historic number of wins this team has generated prior to this season.
So what is real then? Silas was to be this phenom offensive coach right? Guy doesnt know what to do with Harden? What is Phil Jackson doing these days? I bet he would know what to do with a James Harden. If CP3 would have been in better shape during his stint here then maybe everything is different, but its not on Harden. Not by a long shot. Its always the same thing .. James is surrounded with trash ass players. Hard to be mad at him for wanting a better team.
LOL look at who's doing those drives, do you expect Gordon or Nwaba or Tate to find him??? NO, they never have. Wall is the only one who has ever found Harden. Foggy is nitpikcing there, he should know that these guys will not find James again.
I'm not sure what is real so far in this shortened season and all the context surrounding what Harden wants. Harden is the superstar and the sun in which this team revolves around, by definition it's partly on Harden.
Or maybe not. See I can guess too. But the facts show that he is still a Rocket and is saying all the right things unlike his "nonverbal public demands for a trade". As such, put a system in place to maximize your best player on the court and in the asset sheet.
Shocking that they can't find Harden for kickouts when he's 40 feet from the basket. Shocking, indeed. Once again...I can only assume that anybody who thinks this isn't an issue did not watch the playoffs the last two years.
He's not out there every possession? He's in differnt spots and literally the only person who has ever tried to find him is Wall. And that's been to middling success. You know what the dirty secret is? Lebron, Chris Paul...they do it too.
Even with all the complaints over Harden not getting the ball enough, he's still leading the league in isolations per game, by a hefty margin (6.6 per game, second place is Doncic with 5.9 per game): https://www.nba.com/stats/players/isolation/?sort=POSS&dir=1
Remember that Harden wants to be traded. In other words, whenever he's on the court, he's auditioning for other teams. If you're a star on another team, would you want to play with this version of Harden (especially at the cost it would take to acquire him)?
The asset sheet is f*cked. And basketball is a team sport. Seems we are going to have to agree to disagree that what maximizes Harden also maximizes the team.
I think your point actually supports calling for more off ball game for Harden. The argument against Harden playing off ball is that he is great at ISO, why should he "defer" to Wall or other players to change his game. But the argument for having him do more off ball is that he is also great at catch and shoot. Why not diversify his game to make the defense more difficult to key on him, and at the same time making a better use for the other play maker. I feel that a lot of Harden fans are scared that if you take the ball away from his hands, it means he is deferring, no longer the number one option. That is completely missing the point. (BTW, nobody is advocating that Harden should play off ball ALL THE TIME.)
Wall is the only one. But he mostly looks for his own shot first. There is a reason Harden is leading team (and NBA) in assists and not Wall. Foggy's vids are showing Harden off ball with players like EGo, Tate, etc. ON BALL.
