I'm a fan of passing up a good shot for a great one. The key here is to be decisive. Either take the shot or drive strong to the rim. Rivers and Tucker have done that over our recent winning streak. It works well with CP because he'll keep probing and whipping the ball around. For all the great things he does, Harden tends to take his time with the ball, which throws things off sometimes.
Too many people talking like House being an upgrade over Green is a given. Especially on the subject of offence?? Green is actually averaging more points than House. And the argument that House was new to the team is negated by the fact that House averaged more minutes for the Rockets. EDIT: And who between them has playoff experience and is more likely to be happy with whatever minutes he’s given?
Yes, Green can be a better scorer. House is a better player than Green. It's not because House is great. It's because Green is very very bad.
Normally I'd agree with you, but we're not built that way. The guys we have passing up 3 pointers and driving aren't the cold blooded rim finishers we had last year. PJ passing up the 3 and driving is a bad idea. Too slow and doesn't finish well driving to the basket. He's much much better finishing at the rim as a post-like player after he rebounds it. Iman Shumpert doesn't sell me on a drive, neither does Rivers or Clark. But House does. That's one nice thing about having guys like Trev/Luc last year was that if you overplayed the 3 point line, they'd punish you at the rim with super high percentage shots (usually dunks). That all being said.. we're built to beat the Warriors and those dudes recover to the rim way WAY too well to make that part of your offense. So to me, we should be who we are.. the team that shoots when they're wide open at the 3 point line. (unless you're Cap or Ne)
They all got Ryan Anderson disease. Gun shy. That is why this team needs Green. He's never afraid to shoot.
Some players need more time and space to get their shot off. Clark needs to be completely alone. Green shoots the ball in the blink of an eye.
I came here to post this. That’s what I love about Green. I think it’s important to have the mindset he does in the offense the Rockets run. How many times earlier in the year did we see the offense sputter and seemingly no one being able to pull the trigger? In the playoffs where we see guys tighten up and they need to not be afraid to pull the trigger. That’s where I love Green’s mentality. Yes Green has his moments of being off or missing assignments on D, but he is NEVER afraid to do his job. Funny because I just had a conversation about this the other day on Twitter with @The_Yoyo
thats on them, not Harden. GG isnt shy about it. When PJ is wide open, he always takes the shot and if u ask me, the less Rivers shoots the better.
I might be going out on a limb here but this might be the residual effects of running an offense predicated on hoisting up 3s every night. Psychologically, most of these guys grew up playing basketball where there were definitely more autonomy to move around and shoot from whereever--mid-range, 3s, inside the paint, etc. In today's NBA, which made this shift to hoisting 3s only recently, you're more or less responsible for hitting 3s and not having to worry about anything else. In practices, shootarounds, and then in game, you've now conditioned yourself to only do one thing on offense. What happens if you go cold for a few games where nothing is going in? You don't have the luxury to pass up the 3s to drive to the basket because that's not your assigned job on this team. You then have to start worrying about whether or not you're hurting your team's chances if you continue to clank 3s every night. So what happens? You hesitate where you didn't before or you pass up 3s you normally would have taken without doubt. It might be easier for an elite 3pt shooter like a Kyle Korver or a Klay Thompson to keep on firing because, historically, they've been able to bounce back. But a shooter that's not accustomed to being a 3pt shooter? That's something else altogether. The psychology element might be coming into play here. Ryan Anderson used to have a more evenly distributed breakdown between 3PT attempts and 2PT attempts even when he took 7-8 3s a game in Orlando. Then we he came here, it was 66% from 3 his first year and then a whopping 71% from 3 his second year. I'm not defending Anderson's reluctance to shoot at the end of last year but I'm thinking the mental fatigue of it all (going from a more 55/45 split to basically a 30/70 split, then injuries, then a cold spell, etc.) played a part as to why he was so scared to shoot by season's end.
agree if we only had Rivers or someone Rivers-like as Cp3 insurance we would have won the chip but I think if we want Harden/Cp3/Ego not to be injured while keeping Austin ready to play if needed Harden/Cp3/Ego's minutes should be close to 86 total while Rivers closer to 10 minutes
I love Green's gunslinging ways too but I think it's because he knows that's his job--to come in and take as many shots as he can because he offers little to nothing else. If he gets going, chances are we'll win the game because his production is just the cherry on top. If he doesn't get going, MDA will put him back on the bench and another guy will get a chance to shine. It's easier for him to get into that kind of mentality versus, say PJ, because we ask PJ to defend, rebound, start, and also make 3s whereas Green's sole mission is to catch fire.
I agree that Rivers has been the most reluctant to shoot when given space. It hasn’t bothered me as much because he is making good decisions when he puts the ball on the floor. He doesn’t finish everything at the rim, but he does well enough considering his other attributes. He’s actually a better playmaker than I had anticipated. He gets a lot of assists making quality passes around the rim, and he does a good job finding open shooters around the 3 point line. He’s a classic old school point guard. He thinks pass first and he takes his defensive responsibilities seriously. His dad probably raised and taught him to not just keep shooting 3’s if your missing, but do other things to help your team as well. That was the old school mentality. He probably has a hard time getting that out of his system. His defense has been extremely good vs some very good guards Westbrook and Curry included. Many posters have already pointed his defensive strengths and I agree completely. Austin’s defense and playmaking ability make up for his reluctance too shoot imho. He never hurts the team when he is on the floor. It can be frustrating when when he won’t pull the trigger, but I guess I can live with it.
no, harden has a part it this also. he has to realize he doesn't need to play the same way he was when guys were out of the lineup. he's already acknowledged that on several occasions, so I'm not worried about the adjustments from all sides. But make no mistake, its not just on the others
everyone beginning from coaching down MDA and staff simply needs to actually coach and not simply depend on Harden to ball out everygame
If he's on, Green's hell on wheels offensively. On defense? Ouch, but he's been better at it than his time with us last season. That's not saying much, but still, if GG has a hot hand, you run him out there until he cools off, imho. He can score in bunches and you try to cover for him at the other end. He's not a terrible rebounder, either.
