Game 45: Rockets vs. Grizzlies 24Jan14

[BaYBaller]

So I re-watched the game. I'm not sure what McHale was thinking. If you wanted to get Parsons the shot why put him as the ballhandler in a PnR? Parsons had the outlet to Dwight rolling in the middle off the trap from Memphis.

IMO he should've put TJones in instead of Bev, have him do a PnR with Harden. If trapped, hit TJones as the roller since he's better at that then Howard. Howard can camp under the basket for potential put backs or dump offs. Then have Parsons in the cornor on the same side of the pick. Thus if no trap Harden can drive and either dish to Parsons if his man helps or get a free lane to the bucket, with a possible dump off to Dwight. Then Lin could rotate in to the spot behind Harden's drive as an emergency outlet if something goes haywire.

[Hank7]

Our best PNR creators Lin or Harden should have come off of Chandlers pick and pop. Howard and Jones should be in there to crash the boards or feed off creation.

It'll be interesting to see what happens today in Memphis.

[tedb]

Yup we are going to struggle vs these teams without either some stronger post-play or lights out shooting from 3. We don't really have great 3-pt shooters though (especially considering how many we take), outside of Harden and Parsons.

Hardens a good 3 point shooter? His shootin percentge is .326.....thats not good

Have you just started watching basketball very recently? Harden was a .390 3-pt shooter in OKC when he wasn't the focal point of opposing defenses. He's a good 3-pt shooter. I would trust him or Parsons to hit the open 3 over any other player on the team.

No actually I have been watching bball for a long time.....and his shooting percentage this year is .326.....thats not so good is it?

[tedb]

Hardens a good 3 point shooter? His shootin percentge is .326.....thats not good

Have you just started watching basketball very recently? Harden was a .390 3-pt shooter in OKC when he wasn't the focal point of opposing defenses. He's a good 3-pt shooter. I would trust him or Parsons to hit the open 3 over any other player on the team.

No actually I have been watching bball for a long time.....and his shooting percentage from 3 this year is .326.....thats not so good is it?

you see hes not in OKC and hes shooting from 3 at .326.....

[BaYBaller]

Have you just started watching basketball very recently? Harden was a .390 3-pt shooter in OKC when he wasn't the focal point of opposing defenses. He's a good 3-pt shooter. I would trust him or Parsons to hit the open 3 over any other player on the team.

No actually I have been watching bball for a long time.....and his shooting percentage from 3 this year is .326.....thats not so good is it?

you see hes not in OKC and hes shooting from 3 at .326.....

Then you should know he's taking much higher degree of difficulty 3's as the #1 option in HOU. That doesn't make him a worse 3-pt shooter, he's just taking less efficient shots. While it's also true he's not shooting that well this year for one reason or another, he has a proven track record of a legit 3-pt threat. Which is the whole point, because no defense in their right mind is going to leave Harden open for 3 on purpose. As long as the defense respects the threat of your 3, it's effective.

Contrast that to Lin or Bev, where defenses quite often leave them open for 3 (as in, they rotate off them first when defensive help is needed), even though they both shoot similar 3-pt %'s as Harden currently. Why? Because Lin or Bev are not good 3-pt shooters, and their %'s is due to probably 90% of their 3's being wide open.

[tedb]

No actually I have been watching bball for a long time.....and his shooting percentage from 3 this year is .326.....thats not so good is it?

you see hes not in OKC and hes shooting from 3 at .326.....

Then you should know he's taking much higher degree of difficulty 3's as the #1 option in HOU. That doesn't make him a worse 3-pt shooter, he's just taking less efficient shots. While it's also true he's not shooting that well this year for one reason or another, he has a proven track record of a legit 3-pt threat. Which is the whole point, because no defense in their right mind is going to leave Harden open for 3 on purpose. As long as the defense respects the threat of your 3, it's effective.

Contrast that to Lin or Bev, where defenses quite often leave them open for 3 (as in, they rotate off them first when defensive help is needed), even though they both shoot similar 3-pt %'s as Harden currently. Why? Because Lin or Bev are not good 3-pt shooters, and their %'s is due to probably 90% of their 3's being wide open.

Well then he needs to move the ball instead of shooting 3's when hes clearly not hitting them. Why would you shoot a contested 3 when you have Howard in the post? Or Chandler Parsons on the floor who is clearly a better shooter....?

are you saying Harden is a selfish player? Im saying it...Hes a selfish player whos not a great shooter, whos great at getting to the line.....who loves to iso and not play defense....and whos shooting .326 from 3 point land...

[BaYBaller]

you see hes not in OKC and hes shooting from 3 at .326.....

Then you should know he's taking much higher degree of difficulty 3's as the #1 option in HOU. That doesn't make him a worse 3-pt shooter, he's just taking less efficient shots. While it's also true he's not shooting that well this year for one reason or another, he has a proven track record of a legit 3-pt threat. Which is the whole point, because no defense in their right mind is going to leave Harden open for 3 on purpose. As long as the defense respects the threat of your 3, it's effective.

Contrast that to Lin or Bev, where defenses quite often leave them open for 3 (as in, they rotate off them first when defensive help is needed), even though they both shoot similar 3-pt %'s as Harden currently. Why? Because Lin or Bev are not good 3-pt shooters, and their %'s is due to probably 90% of their 3's being wide open.

Well then he needs to move the ball instead of shooting 3's when hes clearly not hitting them. Why would you shoot a contested 3 when you have Howard in the post? Or Chandler Parsons on the floor who is clearly a better shooter....?

are you saying Harden is a selfish player? Im saying it...Hes a selfish player whos not a great shooter, whos great at getting to the line.....who loves to iso and not play defense....and whos shooting .326 from 3 point land...

Well yeah it's pretty clear he likes his isos and is selfish in that respect. But his PPP in isos actually produces at a similar level than the average team-wide offense, so it's not necessarily hurting the offense. My concern is really his sub-par defense, which IS hurting the team. And I think the two are connected, because isos can really tire you out.

[tedb]

he just needs to move the ball.....find the open guy

[panarama]

I've come to terms with Harden lately because he still is a young player who still have a tremendous upside.
Though Harden shouldn't have let the skinny 6'1 PG, Beverly guard 6'5 SG, C. Lee last night sorely from a leader's POV. That is pretty embarrassing and not good for the moral of the team. And no, he didn't use up all his energy due to his constant ISOing which in fact he hasn't done that for past 5 games.
But overall, last night game wasn't sorely on Harden, we really do need a legit back up center and a better coaching.

[tedb]

I've come to terms with Harden lately because he still is a young player who still have a tremendous upside.
Though Harden shouldn't have let the skinny 6'1 PG, Beverly guard 6'5 SG, C. Lee last night sorely from a leader's POV. That is pretty embarrassing and not good for the moral of the team. And no, he didn't use up all his energy due to his constant ISOing which in fact he hasn't done that for past 5 games.
But overall, last night game wasn't sorely on Harden, we really do need a legit back up center and a better coaching.

I fdont think it was Hardens fault. I think it was Harden and Beverlys fault.....and it was Mchale for not benching Bev on such a poor shooting night. He damn well would have benched LIN. Theres som truth I think to Lins short leash.

[BaYBaller]

I've come to terms with Harden lately because he still is a young player who still have a tremendous upside.
Though Harden shouldn't have let the skinny 6'1 PG, Beverly guard 6'5 SG, C. Lee last night sorely from a leader's POV. That is pretty embarrassing and not good for the moral of the team. And no, he didn't use up all his energy due to his constant ISOing which in fact he hasn't done that for past 5 games.
But overall, last night game wasn't sorely on Harden, we really do need a legit back up center and a better coaching.

Harden was terrible on D last night though. That much was clear.