Some people are saying he’s washed, I don’t think that’s the case at all, he just is what he is at this point. Mediocre on-ball defender, awful off-ball defender, great when given the keys to run the offense. I honestly don’t think anyone had to go to the bench, it’s not like Russ and Harden are gonna play 24 minutes each, so they’ll have to play with each other anyway. Harden’s style of play raises the floor for the second unit. Imo they should’ve just started all 4 and then stagger them in a way that Harden gets basically all the minutes with the bench. Regardless, I think he’s getting unnecessary hate, he’s still a pretty good offensive player.
He’s not totally washed, but he’s missed a step now.
Dribble dribble dribble
Harden’s usage is under 20% for us for some reason.
Obvious coaching weakness. Ty either doesn’t undertsand efficient offense, or is too afraid of taking the ball out of Kawhi and PG’s hands.
Harden is our best option on ball every half court possession unless there’s an obvious mismatch for Kawhi, and he is by far our worst player off ball.
The thing is you can’t just judge his value on ppp. The way he plays effects the rest of the offense. Basketball is a rhythm game. How is the offense when he’s not in PnR or isolation? Do our guys shoot at a lower clipp because he’s massaging the ball?
We didn’t need offense, we needed and still need defense and rebounding.
Harden forcing Russ to the bench is the death knell for this team.