≡ Menu

James Harden in the post

I don’t really have much to say about last night’s loss.  As Forrest Walker put it in our recap, the Houston Rockets just need to do a better job of having Dwight Howard.  As we’ve seen in these past few losses, for all of Omer Asik’s beastliness on the boards, with him in the middle, this Rockets team is, for the most part, mediocre.  With Howard, for all of the bitching I do on this page regarding his failure to produce against elite competition, this outfit is a borderline contender.  The task now will be to surround Howard and Harden with the last complementary piece that will allow them to challenge the Thunders of the world.

One thing I did see last night of which I’d like to see more: James Harden in the post.  We’ve seen it a few fleeting times these past two seasons, almost like the spotting of the Yeti, only to not again get a steady dose.

Late in the second, Harden started with the ball up top.  He passed it off, curled around below the baseline, re-received the rock, backed down and hit the turnaround over a slightly taller defender.  The few times I’ve seen Harden in the post, he’s looked not-so-surprisingly deft.  This is one of the two or three most gifted offensive talents in the entire league, at just 24 years of age.  There are facets of his game which have yet to have been tapped which I think we will see develop over the next few years.  With his touch, dexterity, and imposing beer belly*, there are few wingmen who should be able to handle Harden down low.

I’d like to this in spots late in games.  The conventional wisdom (well maybe not the conventional wisdom, but the conventional wisdom in certain circles) is that the post-up is a low efficiency option.  There could be merit to that.  But the problem with having Harden up top for successive plays is that things get predictable – we often see the defense begin crowding him, stuffing out the play.  When I rant about Heroball, people think I’m against Harden having the ball altogether.  That’s incorrect.  I want Harden to either be the end point or the facilitator for every single possession down the stretch of a close game.  (I was livid when McHale inexplicably had Chandler Parsons try to create for himself on successive plays in an earlier loss to Memphis.)  What I don’t want is to see a 1-4 flat on every trip down.  That allows the defense to settle in.  Put Harden in different spots.  Run a 1-2 pick&roll.  Hand it off to him at the elbow.  Bring him around for a dump off in the post.  He’s such a frighteningly gifted player that you can use him in a multitude of ways, never allowing the defense to get comfortable.

*Whenever I mention Harden’s beer belly on Twitter, several of you respond with indignation, citing various pre-draft leaping measurements, wingspan statistics.  Whatever.  The point is, he’s not exactly an underwear model and that’s a good thing.  I’m wary of guys like Dwyane Wade that rely abundantly on their physical gifts.  Give me a fat guy that can straight up ball 10 times out of 10, and I’ll watch him age gracefully into his mid-30’s and still kill defenders with stepbacks and pivot jabs.






About the author: Rahat Huq is a lawyer in real life and the founder and editor-in-chief of www.Red94.net.

in musings
Follow Red94 for all new post updates
Read previous post:
Toronto Raptors 107, Houston Rockets 103 – A basketball game took place
Close