1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

[Feigen] "It's like he [JH] is getting better every game." -- PJ Tucker

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by heypartner, Nov 22, 2017.

  1. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 1999
    Messages:
    62,498
    Likes Received:
    56,094
    He was great last year, but with one summer under his belt training for a known system role, we should have expected the improvement which comes with being comfortable and more experienced in the system -- seeing it, slowing it down in your mind.

    Some good quotes on the game/system getting easier for Harden in his 2nd year of it:

    Featuring -- On Being Faster

    "I'm moving better, a lot better, so I'm more efficient," Harden said. "I'm more able to get to my spots I want to quickly, not taking those unneeded steps on the court whether I'm trying to score or I'm trying to make a play for somebody else. Just trying to be a little bit faster and be more efficient.

    "I'm moving faster and no wasted steps, straight-line drives, and getting to my spots a step or two faster. It's hard for a defense to guard that."

    And -- On the Step-Back 3

    "I work on that. I practice it," Harden said. "Defenders are scared or kind of nervous about me getting to the basket because they know it opens up a lot of opportunities for my teammates. So they give me a step. The step-back helps me out even more."

    INB4: Yeah, but can he do it in the playoffs.

    Stay down, Parsons

    [​IMG]

    James Harden has found a way to be even better for Rockets
    By Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle | November 21, 2017

    The statistics that James Harden has often insisted do not interest him have said plenty. He said more.

    All that was missing was a mic to drop.

    Closing in on a quarter of the season, Harden is the NBA's leader in scoring (31.6 points per game) and assists (9.9), bidding to become the first to lead in both for a full season since Nate Archibald in 1972-73. That has inspired teams to try just about every defense they could find, from switches to traps, from going over and under screens to sending swarms of defenders to the lane to keeping them on shooters at the 3-point line.

    Harden dismissed each with equal measures of indifference.

    "Seen it all the last few years," Harden said. "Ain't nothing they can do about it."
    Teams will no doubt try. Harden will have to demonstrate he can make the best 3-point shooting of his career (40.4 percent) last. Since opening night against the Warriors, who began the season slowly on the defensive end, the Rockets have played relatively few defensive teams.

    To the Rockets, however, there is an answer for each defensive tactic, with success or failure in their hands - and usually in Harden's.

    "Last year, I thought he was unbelievable," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I don't know what he is this year. He's gone up another level."
    Harden's assists this season have led to an average of 24.2 points per game. The 55.8 points per game he has produced either from his scoring or assists lead the NBA and are one point per game off Archibald's league record.

    Defending Harden has become much more difficult because of his range shooting. In the past nine games, he has averaged 36.7 points, making 47.2 percent of his shots and 44.5 percent of his 3s. In the first eight games of the season, he averaged 26 points on 42.2 percent shooting and 34.6 percent 3-point shooting.

    Step-back 3 big weapon

    When Harden makes his 3s, especially when he knocks down step-back 3s off the dribble, defenders have to step out too far to stay in front of him.

    "I work on that. I practice it," Harden said. "Defenders are scared or kind of nervous about me getting to the basket because they know it opens up a lot of opportunities for my teammates. So they give me a step. The step-back helps me out even more."
    When Harden is making his step-back jumper, D'Antoni said, "I would say it's all over. But it's all over, anyway.
    "The guy is so good offensively, it makes him so much more difficult to guard, if that's possible. But his efficiency is off the charts. That's where he's really good: how efficient he has been. A big part of that is making shots."
    Harden, however, cites the change in the way he feels. NBA tracking data indicates he has been playing at roughly the same pace as last season, moving roughly as rapidly. But Harden, about 12 pounds lighter, said he has been quicker with the ball, making him more difficult to defend one-on-one and more efficient with his moves.

    "I'm moving better, a lot better, so I'm more efficient," Harden said. "I'm more able to get to my spots I want to quickly, not taking those unneeded steps on the court whether I'm trying to score or I'm trying to make a play for somebody else. Just trying to be a little bit faster and be more efficient.
    "I'm moving faster and no wasted steps, straight-line drives, and getting to my spots a step or two faster. It's hard for a defense to guard that."
    'Full-time attack mode'

    Harden has had mixed results against the best defensive teams - the Grizzlies and Jazz - the Rockets have faced. His numbers have been generally down against Memphis (27.3 points on 40.5 percent shooting) and were way up in his one game against Utah (56 points on 76 percent shooting).

    The Rockets have not played the Thunder and Spurs, who slowed Harden in last season's playoffs by having a long defender go over screens and forcing him into backpedaling rim protectors in the lane, a defense the Rockets hope they can solve with the addition of Chris Paul as another playmaker on the floor with Harden.

    Those tests will come. For now, Harden might be on an offensive roll as impressive as any he has had. There might not be a defense to take away everything, to the point that when Harden hits step-back 3s off the dribble, "you have no chance," says teammate P.J. Tucker.

    Tucker says Harden is better than the player he defended so many times over the years.

    "He's going to score a lot of points, but now, how he picks and chooses times when he attacks, when he finds Clint (Capela), when he kicks it out for 3s, that progression he makes in his mind is even better," Tucker said. "Full-time attack mode all the time is what makes the wheels go on our team.
    "The game is easy, man, for him. It comes so easy. He makes it look so easy. He's so smart, picking and choosing when he attacks, when he makes plays, when he passes, just everything. How he dissects other people's defenses is amazing. It's like he's getting better every game."
    =================================
    And to think he has this guy to relieve some burden off his shoulders, and to learn even more from.

    [​IMG]
     
    #1 heypartner, Nov 22, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2017
  2. Os Trigonum

    Os Trigonum Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2014
    Messages:
    72,469
    Likes Received:
    110,429
    surprised nobody's jumped on the media conspiracy angle of this.
     
  3. BamBam

    BamBam Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2003
    Messages:
    9,582
    Likes Received:
    9,692
    Dare I say ...."It's Hard to defend Harden" ...o_O
    .......
    .......
    .......
     
    Houstunna and Os Trigonum like this.
  4. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2008
    Messages:
    26,227
    Likes Received:
    29,306
    Yeah, but can he do it in the playoffs?
     
    Houstunna likes this.
  5. vlaurelio

    vlaurelio Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2005
    Messages:
    21,310
    Likes Received:
    11,755
    stop whining no one could have gotten us farther last year

    not 10 game rest/I need 2 stars at least to compete/51 win in the least Lebron
    nor 10+ game injured Lebron/can't win with WB, those cats, and coach/I need join a superteam/got the GSW with less wins than the year before KD

    the rockets team around Harden was a 50 win team at best and sure not a WCF team

    GSW with Harden last year will still be the champs
    Cavs with Harden will still have reached the Finals
     
    don grahamleone and D-rock like this.
  6. vlaurelio

    vlaurelio Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2005
    Messages:
    21,310
    Likes Received:
    11,755
    you mean Tucker is part of the media?
     
    don grahamleone and napalm06 like this.
  7. Os Trigonum

    Os Trigonum Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2014
    Messages:
    72,469
    Likes Received:
    110,429
    Feigen cherry-picking his sources. Typical anti-Rockets, media conspiracy d-bag move. :cool:
     
    don grahamleone likes this.
  8. vlaurelio

    vlaurelio Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2005
    Messages:
    21,310
    Likes Received:
    11,755
    so there are actually players out there who doesn't think Harden is playing MVP calibre ball this season? you mean those same players who voted him for players MVP in 2015?

    LOL whatever you say WB trip dub nuthugger
     
  9. RudyTBag

    RudyTBag Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2006
    Messages:
    28,029
    Likes Received:
    21,125
  10. BigMaloe

    BigMaloe Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2012
    Messages:
    13,802
    Likes Received:
    14,998
    I think you missed napalms sarcasm there vlaurelio
     
    Houstunna and AroundTheWorld like this.
  11. vlaurelio

    vlaurelio Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2005
    Messages:
    21,310
    Likes Received:
    11,755
    thanks. my bad if he was
     
    don grahamleone likes this.
  12. Os Trigonum

    Os Trigonum Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2014
    Messages:
    72,469
    Likes Received:
    110,429
    seems to be a common issue this morning
     
    BamBam and BigMaloe like this.
  13. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    47,156
    Likes Received:
    36,002
    The combination of him gaining more stamina from his weight loss and having a superstar pg as a teammate easing his burden should make him ready for the playoffs.
     
  14. larsv8

    larsv8 Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2007
    Messages:
    21,663
    Likes Received:
    13,913
    Harden is unreal. We are watching one of the greatest offensive players in NBA history. Just an absolute basketball juggernaut. I don't even see a way were he could realistically play any better.

    At this volume, there has been very few instances of this level of efficiency.

    [​IMG]
     
    Fullcourt, da_juice, Patience and 2 others like this.
  15. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 1999
    Messages:
    62,498
    Likes Received:
    56,094
  16. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 1999
    Messages:
    62,498
    Likes Received:
    56,094
    Since Lebron and Harden are in that list for this (incomplete) year, here's the table sorted by WS/48, rather than the WS totals, giving us a better idea of where his WS total could be at the end of the year, compared to Jordan.

    [​IMG]
     
    #16 heypartner, Nov 22, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2017
  17. Will

    Will Clutch Crew
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 1999
    Messages:
    5,056
    Likes Received:
    9,002
    Somebody in Houston's giant medical center needs to put Harden in a brain scanner. I'm positive that he's diagnosable and that this accounts for his genius. His weird, spaced-out, eye-wandering behavior during interviews must be related somehow to his uncanny ability to absorb the movement of nine other people while handling the ball under pressure. It's as though time slows down for him.
     
  18. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 1999
    Messages:
    62,498
    Likes Received:
    56,094
    It helps him in strip clubs, too.
     
  19. RockWest

    RockWest Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2015
    Messages:
    1,378
    Likes Received:
    898
    The secret? His beard.
     
    da_juice likes this.
  20. s3ts

    s3ts Member

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2007
    Messages:
    3,109
    Likes Received:
    2,847
    It's the Houston Chronicle.........
    ...

    ...
    .....
    .
     

Share This Page

  • About ClutchFans

    Since 1996, ClutchFans has been loud and proud covering the Houston Rockets, helping set an industry standard for team fan sites. The forums have been a home for Houston sports fans as well as basketball fanatics around the globe.

  • Support ClutchFans!

    If you find that ClutchFans is a valuable resource for you, please consider becoming a Supporting Member. Supporting Members can upload photos and attachments directly to their posts, customize their user title and more. Gold Supporters see zero ads!


    Upgrade Now