When the blazers were switching everything while staying home on shooters, you force the switch with a ball screen and pick on the shitty defenders. Thats the gameplan for that defense, you saw it a lot against the Sprus and Thunder in the playoffs last year, and it worked pretty well until the Gasol elbow in game 5. Now that defense is even more vulnerable with CP3 on the team, another great efficient ISO scorer. The only team I can see properly pulling this off against us is Golden State, but thats one of the reasons why they have been in the finals 3 times in a row.
Freeze the video at 6:00 for a glimpse at why the centerless lineup worked so well for us last night. With Harden at the top of the key and all the other Rockets spread out around the perimeter, the Blazers have to match up, leaving the paint as wide open as you'll ever see it in an NBA game. Nobody can stop Harden 1-on-1, so the help has to rotate. As soon as that happens, Beard can either keep the ball if he's got a good line on the basket, or pass to whomever is open among 4 extremely good 3-pt shots just sitting there licking their chops. Switch Harden and CP3 and it still works beautifully. This is the new NBA in a nutshell. Play someone at center who's bulky enough and tough enough to match up to the opponent's big guy in the paint on defense, then on the other end, leave him way out on the perimeter to open up the paint for your offense to violate in the nastiest way possible. And although I hate the guy, I have to admit that Draymond Green is the prototype .
Is he a beautiful mind? Thinking this in depth on the fly? Reading and reacting like Deep blue playing chess? Or is he the epitome of instinct? Poetry in motion?
Can somebody please tweet this to Andrew Sharp from SI? I don't know how that guy thinks Harden is boring to watch. It's crazy how fun Harden is to watch! Even the way he draws fouls is so masterful!
A few players have given Harden problems in the past. Wes Mathews, Roberson, Sefolosha, Paul George, Kawhi, Klay Thompson, perhaps more. But if Harden has one of his nemesis guarding him, hopefully CP3 can slice and dice his guy. Wes Mathews- can’t see Dallas challenging the Rockets Sefolosha-Utah has been no match Paul George & Roberson-OKC is predominately iso with Westbrook/Melo/George. Rockets defense should prevail Kawhi-?? we shall see. CP3 vs Parker/Mills. Bring it on!! Klay Thompson-?? we shall see how a healthy CP3 vs Curry goes. Tucker/Luc/Ariza/Gordon/Ryno locked & loaded with new guys up to speed with the Rockets off/def system(s).
This. One of the reasons Harden gets players in bad positions is he is outstanding at reading and reacting to how the defensive player shifts his body. Very few players in the league do this at all and no one does it as well. Good defense for the most part but Harden is the best equipped to read players and make smart moves. Interesting point about Stotts - he nearly pulled off an upset sticking to those 3 point shooters and not helping. You can bet other teams are going to experiment with the same. One interesting sub plot there was Houston started draining clock when it became clear Portlan wasn’t going to leave 3pt shooters open. I’m not 100% sure of this but I think taking a higher percentage 2 at a slower pace is a more effective scoring strategy when a team won’t conceed the 3pt shot. The advantage of a 3pt shooting as a strategy only works when you get a lot of possessions/opportunities.
Good post although I have a hard time believing that the Rockets won't score more per possession on average with someone like Vonleh guarding him 1 on 1 with no help than in other possessions. Vs. a team that competently switches everything then it would be an interesting argument for sure.
Harden has pretty much torched Klay everytime they went head to head. Step back 3's or took him to the hole. Klay dosent give him any problems. The Warriors team defense is why they are so good.
True, I was only thinking about it from a defensive standpoint. Chuck had the ability to defend guys in the low post, and was nimble-footed enough to switch onto perimeter players and hold his own outside as well. He didn't protect the rim, but he was great at stripping the ball from players before they could raise up and at drawing charges in the paint.
The play at 4:45... Isn't that illegal offense? One entire half of the court is cleared for Harden's ISO.
People need to start throwing in the Edward when they talk about James ... "Put some respeck on it" James Edward Harden Jr. -- may end up being the best there ever was. Pay attention.
Recognition is spreading! Hate to be that guy but James is known to kill it in the season but not in the playoffs....I’m not going to get to excited although this year feels different
