James Harden in his prime was unstoppable #nba #basketball #jamesharden #rockets #bball #hoops #fyp
James Harden was such a dominant player in his prime, the teams had to invent new ways to play defense. This is a clip from the 2019 playoffs. And what may seem like a wacky strategy actually ended up being pretty effective. Fearing James Harden step back jumper, the Jazz decided to guard him from behind which completely erased that option but did allow Harden to get a wide openen driving lane. But there is a twist because really what the Jazz were doing was setting a trap for Harden to walk into. As Harden gets baited into going head first to the rim, Gobear is just staying there waiting to set up and stop penetration. So here, Rudy leaves his man to take away that floater. And the last part of this defense is the guy guarding the corner has to sink to stop the lob. A really creative defense. And again on this possession, watch this defender move out the way so Harden can get in front. But with Goar there and this defender completely leaving Tucker to stop Capella, the Rockets fall for the trap again. Now, because of the nature of this defense, the most important player in this entire scheme is this guy since he’s responsible for not only leaving his man to protect the basket. But if Horn kicks it out, he has to recover onto his man and contest a three ball. If he doesn’t do that, like on this play, as O’Neal sinks to tag the roller, and Horn makes a smart decision to hit the shooter. And with no recovery, this is just target practice for the Rockets. In contrast, here after Rubio sets the bait, Houston tries to attack Mitchell, but he then sets the bait as well. Then after Harden makes his move, same thing. Go helps with a corner ready to rotate and Favors does a good job closing out to force a miss.
23 Comments
Dude I was a huge warriors fan in 2019 so I was scared they went to a game 7 with Houston lol
Those closeouts were weak tho
No wonder he’s so good at floaters now 😂
The big nuance missing here is there was always a player open with this defense but it was behind him and it was on his dominate hand side. Making that pass very difficult to see and make
This is just a reminder that basketball is a team game not a 1v1 isolation during 5v5 doesn’t matter how good you are alone
Q Snyder the coach that made that Defense?
This guy was Donovan Mitchell
But cant duplicate those same moves in the playoffs
It’s because dantoni forced him not to take midrange
No they were doing this because the refs always called foul.
Idol ni shai
Yeah and it only rlly works if you have as good as a shot blocker as gobert
Good break down. 2018 Rockets & James Harden were a serious problem
Different type of Isolation Dynamic this man created in his PRIME 🏀💯⚛️🎯😤
More like fearing his stepback travel😂
And it's crazy because that shit wouldn't work with a dbook or KD, because they are midrange dominant.. But Daryl Morey banning mids, it forces harden to drive or kick
It was also because of Harden's infamous foul baiting tricks.
Only if there were 4 klay tompsons
They had to defend him like that because he's the biggest free-throw merchant of all time. That's why he's always struggled in the playoffs because the refs don't call the same ticky tac fouls that they do in the regular season. This clip was probably before the league caught on to that. When the rest of the league realized this, players like Lou Dort would defend him head up.
Anyone allowed to break rules would be unstoppable.. allow any player to carry the ball in between dribbles or take a few extra steps and call it a "gather" or whatever and he'd be unstoppable too🤷
Smart D
Great analysis
Harden and Steph broke the NBA