This is the key underlying problem with this offense in a 7 game series where the same team plays you in multiple consecutive games. It's really easy to adjust and defend the Rockets.
Remember when the Suns would bomb teams out of the building during the regular season and then go brick city in the playoffs? Same coach. I rest my case.
I remember the first playoffs we had against OKC with Harden, I was like damn he bricked so many 3's. but he will definitely shoot better as his career progresses. Here we are seven seasons later....
In 2005 Mikes Suns had the best offensive rating in the league. That year in the playoffs their offensive rating went UP 4+ points. In 2006 Mikes Suns had the 2nd best offensive, barely off the league lead. In the playoffs their offensive rating went UP again 2 points.
If LAC can take 2 from GSW we better win this one. Time to play like a team. This is no time for hero ball.
Aside from having dirty Foster on the floor tonight's game should be high drama, we need to come out on fire. EGO and Harden cant go 0 fer out of the gate
The offense is great. It produces the wide open shots anyone would love to have, problem being Houston takes defenders/fringe guys and tries to turn them into 3 point shooters. This team needs professional shooters on the wings at all times. You cant keep missing wide open 3 after wide open 3 and then question the system.
Our offensive lives and dies with Hardens ability to shoot. I decided to look to the numbers to see how much this is actually true, which should come as no surprise to those of you who read my posts. I cut out the first 25 games, since I don't think that 11-14 team is indicative of the way we actually play, then I separated Harden's TS into 5 different brackets. I look at our overall team offensive rating compared to Hardens TS%, and here's what it looks like. TS% - ORtg 80+ - 131.4 70-80 - 126.4 60-70 - 117.1 50-60 - 114.8 <50 - 111.3 As you can see, when Harden shoots well, our offense is good, and when he doesn't shoot well, our offense is bad. If we want our offense to look good, like it did in the regular season, we are going to have to get some better performances out of Harden. He had a 62% TS in the regular season and has a 53% TS in the playoffs. That's gotta get better. A second point I'll make is that our shooters are actually doing a great job, contrary to popular belief. So far in the playoffs, the rockets are hitting their wide open threes at 44.6%. That puts us at #1, it's a higher percentage than anyone else in the league. So no, our catch and shoot guys are not the problem. It's our main guys inability to make shots and score efficiently.
Capela and Tucker were no shows..... We need everyone to show up if we plan on beating the league and the worriers.
I feel like James has fallen in love with the step back 3 way too much. He used to switch it up and kill teams by going to the hole when they were looking for the 3 but not so much anymore.
GSW can't take away the lob. Find a way to make it happen. GSW is not Utah. Their defense should not be shutting down Clint. Get your bodies off that ground and fight for rebounds. If little Beverley can get 10 rebounds on the Warriors then I don't want to hear any excuses!!
These graphics explain what happened well. Capela is one of the big engines of the offense. Without him creating opportunities inside, there isn't as much space - it's much easier for defenders to sit near the 3 point line.
No, he is simply one of the biggest negatives on offense if he’s not moving and receiving the ball st the rim.
There is the crux!!! If your support players are not going to hit WIDE OPEN SHOTS then you more than likely will lose the game if Harden doesnt have a huge output and ultimately will shoulder the burden of defeat when he actually did everything in his power to win, but his teammates let him down.
Led the league in drives during the season and is currently way out ahead this postseason He’s actually driving WAY more in this postseason. Problem is he’s getting the same number of shots off his drives on more drive attempts and scoring less efficiently on those shots. Teams are defending his drive better, especially by not fouling(or not getting calls), and forcing him to pass more. Regular season 19.6 drives per game 9.3 fga @ 52.8% 4.4 fta 2.2 assist / 1.5 turnovers Playoffs 27.5 drives per game 9.2 fga @ 36.4% 3.8 fta 5.2 assist / 1.8 turnovers
