On an unrelated note Celtics did it again they scored a star in Jaylen Brown and a superstar in Tatum. People talking about Giannis and Miami as up and comers but once Celtics can get rid if Haywards deal and get more talent surrounding Brown and Tatum they are gonna be the new force in the East for the next couple decades again. That team is just so well run its crazy.
When Westbrook commands a double team at half-court every game, he’s the most valuable. Until then, the opponents have shown us the MVP of the league.
Lol, if profits are their number one priority, they would want as many teams with high profile successful stars as possible. Your narrative makes no sense in the grand scheme of profit making. They would want fans to embrace the old guard and the new guard. Some of these media conspiracies by Clutchfans posters can be rather zany with no cohesive narrative structure with no properly fleshed out motivations.
The last thing in the world you would want to do with a ultra speedster like Westbrook is try to full court press him and trap him. Similar concept to backyard football where you tell the new kid "don't rush the qb, he's going to fly by you" because the new kid doesn't know how fast the qb is.
Well, it's kind of self evident that very quick and fast players break presses and attempts at traps easier than slow footed players. Pressing Russ the length of the court makes it easier for Russ to go coast to coast. The best way to defend Russ is sag off him and build a wall around the paint.
russ is definitely in win-now mode. Russ seems to be free after okc with something to prove at the same time after the capeala trade. The rockets are obviously searching for identity as a team, yet the team is giving Covington another shot. It bewilders me that covington is given a second shot coming back to Houston yet the team basically didn't even give Carmelo a fair shot and the staff basically quit on the co-development of Capeala and House as a package.
I'm talking about the media here they dont see any profits from the teams they arent team owners. Nice optimistic stories dont sell well how many good news vs bad news do you see on tv and online? Look at Rachel Nichols she gets access to Harden, asks him a leading question about Giannis and then goes to her show the next day saying Harden lashed out unprovoked and she has no idea why he is upset. Thats not the behavior of somebody working on good faith that is the behavior of somebody who wants to create drama and escalate the beef so that if these two starts trading shots publicly they have a lot of material to discuss on their show. You're the one with no cohesive narrative as you are confusing media people like Stephen A Smith with team owners.
I like the fact that Harden and Westbrook play well together. From what I see Harden is still the same as last year and before, his play has not diminished. Westbrook is playing better next to Harden than he did last year in OKC. I have no problem with either Harden or Westbrook getting the MVP
It’s still Harden because his mere presence bends and distorts entire defenses. His gravity is similar to Curry’s. Russ then batters the weakened defense into submission. But he himself does not distort defenses like Harden does.
It’s pretty hard to argue that James doesn’t bend defenses. He forced Utah to scrap its entire defense last year and got 2 easy wins in the playoffs. He forces every team to get creative and throw double teams at him. Curry bends defenses by running around and confusing the defense. Harden just has to have the ball for the defense to bend. Russ then proceeds to break the defenses after that.
What? Curry has gravity while running around confusing defenses and when he has the ball. Are you serious? Do you think teams sag off Curry when he as the ball? Curry is a better off the dribble shooter than Harden.
Who cares? They are 1A and 1B as far as I'm concerned. The better question is... how are all of those people that spent the first half of the season crying about how much they miss CP3 feeling right now?
does it matter? before the capela trade this team was hardly anything to be excited much about. they made the changes to make it a better fit bc it obviously wasn't that great beforehand. a lot of people here said you couldn't have 2 people on the floor next to harden that couldn't shoot. which is correct. so look what happened. they got rid of 1. so now you have a better fitting team. that's what it was about. lets see what happens cp3 and okc are doing just fine over there. the rockets are on a better track then they were before the capela trade. simple as that
Uh yeah? I think this is pretty elementary stuff. Haven’t you been watching GSW at all? Golden State runs Curry off a series of picks and makes defenders have to make multiple decisions every possession. That’s their style. They don’t run ISOs for Curry and not that much PnR either. In fact, that’s what a lot of GSW fans complain about and use as basis to say that Curry would produce just like James if he had his usage. If Curry has the ball at the top of the key, then of course the defense would not sag off him. But the defense would not throw a double team at him every time he crosses half court, and they would not try to play behind him or on his right side. Besides, that’s not how GSW wants to play anyway. Curry’s an elite shooter and an elite off ball player and that’s how GSW deploys him and makes use of his gravity to bend defenses. James on the other hand an isolation wizard and makes teams have to send double teams right away as soon as he has the ball. This is not a commentary on whether he is a better shooter than Curry. Teams react to James that way because he scores over a point per possession in isolation, whether by hitting the stepback, getting a layup, or by getting to the line.
When Spurs Game 6 or Clippers Game 6 or the several other playoff games where Harden looks disinterested and passive come around I am very thankful that we have a killer mentality guy who won’t lose focus or intensity. I love Harden but we all have seen the dribble jack up a 3, no sense of urgency, no attempt to get in the lane playoff efforts. With Paul he couldn’t get to the rim. Russ is the dog this team needs to get over the hump.
I can't believe how much our own fans disrespect what Harden does. We can will a team to the playoffs in the West by himself where as teams like Portland with two superstars, and OKC with Westbrook with George can barely do it with two. Harden makes it easier for everyone else except for point guards that want everyone to run circles around them so they can get assists.
I think it's a false narrative that Harden gets doubled as soon as he crosses the half court. The vast majority of his doubles come after a few seconds of him starting his iso through the leg dribble move or after he stands around through multiple screens waiting for the right match up. I'm referring to majority of the time. Harden does get full court pressed sometimes but defenses know full court presses really slow Harden down because the dude already barely crosses the half court line right before 8 second violations and if he's being pressed he has difficulty blowing by. That's when you see Harden get frustrated and start pushing defenders off and getting called for offensive fouls. Curry has much more quicker feet and is harder to full court press. It's easier to double Harden because he is far more stationary than Curry. That is the only difference here. Otherwise Curry would see far more doubles because the dude is the deadliest shooter of all time and gets his three point shot off with ease because he has that crazy high arc shot when heavily contested that somehow goes in at a high percentage.
Who cares? Together they make the team better. MVP title doesn't matter. All that matters is a Championship.
