The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
Not exactly sure how this fits into a column about the Houston Rockets but let’s get started with some cool GIFs nonetheless.
Chris Paul has been back to his shifty self lately. He is 39% from deep in the last two games and has an assist to turnover ratio of 19:0. You read that right. Zero turnovers in two games!
This is a sweet move on rookie phenom Luka Doncic to feed a hungry Kenneth Faried cruising comfortably in the paint.
That was cool, this is not. The Rockets lost to the Timberwolves and a lot of it had to do with the poor defense near the end of the game as Kenneth Faried became a turnstile in the interior.
Here we see poor paint defense by Faried and a poor close out to the perimeter by James Harden.
On a positive note, something Harden seems to be doing better this season in shaking off defenders during clutch time and end-of-game opportunities. In the past, Harden would not be able to create enough space from the perimeter and would be forced to take a much tougher shot. This season he is working all angles during the final few minutes and keeping the defense honest.
On this play, Harden takes the pick, looks to pass, and shakes off both defenders which allows him to have the quick three.
Harden does something similar–albeit much easier–seconds later when he takes a high pick from PJ Tucker and rolls into an open trey.
Harden has been showing shades of this all season. During the Jazz game a couple of months ago, Harden was able to shake off both defenders by slightly looking to another option as he moved through a pick.
However, James Harden can’t do hero ball for every game and the Rockets desperately need a healthy Clint Capela back.
Final Thought: German philosophers are dark. Have a good break everyone.
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