Tldr: I have been lurking since forever and this is my first post sorry I don't have stats and graphs but this is what I believe cp3 and harden need to do to win together . So just read it ok thx Whenever Chris initiates the pick and roll with a big ,James must use the other two guys to do a separate concurrent play that will decide which player gets open at which spot . Use screens and misdirection to co fuse the defense and work in tandem with the pick and roll happening on the opposite side of the floor. Mix up the action with Chris setting screens or planning a quick hitting dribble handoff or lob and keep the defenses guessing . The more layers and intricate planning / mind meld/ "chemistry " will allow our team to score points efficiently . .. Alternatively when James is running a pick and roll ,cp3 should be doing the same thing with the other three guys. They can do a 1-2 pick and roll or should I say a 1-1 pick and roll and fluctuate mismatches in the backcourt . Target the weaker defensive player in the back court every time down . Get open threes or layups every time. Except the times when Chris or a big or James pops open for a midrange step back jumper 15 feet out when the defense is scrambled. On defense we have to force jumpers so we can get long rebounds for transition points . Easier said than done but I suggest zone defense mixed up 1-3-1 and 2-3 to confuse the offense . Discuss ? At least it's not a fake news or melo thread guys . Thanks .
Biggest deal with CP3 is we don't have a drop off when harden goes to the bench. Also he improves our fast break and makes it impossible to trap Harden. I imagine we will do a lot of 1-2 pick and rolls with these too also, which will unlock more layers to the offense. Finally CP3s midrange game will keep us from having the lulls in the offense that we had in the playoffs.
The biggest benefactor of CP3 is Capela. Capela shot 75% on passes from Harden last year. 55% from everyone else. Capela's national profile is going to explode this year.
E.G. Coming off the bench is a really great situation for us , to stretch leads and punish opponent second strings absolutely agreed Clint will show the world he's on deandre Jordan's level lol I can understand why you'd think I'm a troll on a new username but nah I'm legit lurker since clutchcity.net , my family owns a chain of popular pho restaurants in Houston
I hope he will realize he looks this good because of Harden and CP3 and will not demand a max contract. We can't afford him for max.
The Rockets and especially Harden don't run a ton of off ball stuff. They purposefully do the opposite so everyone knows where everyone is and just let the simple high PnR create thenoffense from there. It's not my cup of tea all the time. But hey it works pretty good - no warriors but pretty good. In the regular season really really good. If all that happens in the regular season is the same thing just with CP3 and ultimately Melo in place of Bev and ultimately Anderson... then it's way better. All three guys are really solid open catch and shoot players. They just don't get a lot of those looks historically because they're always initiating the offense. The big difference will be in the playoffs since it'll be much harder to gameplan defensively when any of the three can go off or just make the right decision offensively. Defensively... well CP3 is a better defender than Bev and anyone is a better defender than Anderson.
They're two of the smartest players in the league they'll figure it out . Great time to be a rox fan. Gonna enjoy this season but let's not get our expectations too high. Will take time to adjust . As long as we're healthy during playoffs that's all that matters imo
warning SI link - despite my distaste for their biased mean spirited journalism ... the op has focused on how Harden & Paul should play together but perhaps just as importantly is how the Rockets will fare when one of the duo sits. Carmelo or no we should see significant gains when JH is on the bench this season.
Thanks. My only hope is that they will actually play together and not take turns, while one guy is taking control of the offense and the other is resting on the court. Unfortunately i can see that hapenning. Harden definately needs to learn and be willing to play off the ball at times, because he can be a monster when cutting and get the ball in the right timing from CP3, drawing tons of And ones. But most of the time it will be the usual good old Pick&roll. Nothing wrong with that.
