“A Match Made In Heaven” – It’s Valentine’s Day, so over at SI.com, Rob Mahoney is getting all mushy-gushy about how great all the Rockets’ players compliment each other on offense:
That aspect of Houston’s approach is often overlooked when we view this team as James and the Hardenaires. The Rockets’ entire offensive enterprise was transformed by Harden’s arrival, but such an approach is only possible because the personnel just so happened to provide a fantastic conceptual fit. Houston has the speed and young legs to get up the court quickly, the positional flexibility to go small and get away with it, the specialists that make the system go and a depth of shooters that space the floor for their bread-and-butter plays. When Harden looks to execute a high pick-and-roll, the attention of fans and opponents alike is fixed on his workings with the ball. He’s earned that focus with deadly drives and accurate shooting. Yet out on the periphery are a crew of complementary parts that make it all possible — spacing the floor, moving without the ball and doggedly adhering to the plan in place.
I mean, when you’re talking about chemistry, I’d put a Harden-Asik pick-and-roll right up there with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Joe Versus the Volcano.
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