Name: Rockets Film Room: Why does James Harden stand back at midcourt?
Brand: theathletic.com
SKU: theathletic-com-186
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Rockets Film Room: Why does James Harden stand back at midcourt?

preview

Jan 13, 2020 stood ahead of , looking back at his teammates signaling coverages. Harden did not have the ball. Instead, he stood mostly idle, tiptoeing toward the perimeter and out of camera view for a majority of the possession. His teammates attempted to execute a 4-on-4 scoring opportunity.First, tried to take advantage of his defender and attacked with his dominant right hand but was unable to get off a floater or layup. drove on the closeout, but he also struggled to create penetration. He passed it to , who was unable to launch a perimeter shot. Meanwhile, hovered inside the 3-point line, deciphering when his teammates would need a screen.This 4-on-4 possession with Harden standing stationary near midcourt against the went viral on Christmas. It begged the question: What is Harden doing? Why is Harden standing to the side and not involved?Watch James Harden on this possession.— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf)This is not uncommon. Ever since Harden was traded to the Rockets in 2012, whenever positioned off-ball offensively, teams would face-guard him. In the past he would stand on the perimeter, either in the slot or top of the key, acting as a fail-safe for an end-of-the-shot-clock isolation or catch-and-shoot opportunity.In the above example, Harden stood in the opposite slot, ready for a catch-and-shoot attempt if necessary. brought the ball up the floor and initiated the offense.Fast forward to the 2018-2019 season. More than other teams, the often had a defender crowd and follow Harden all over the court. In one particular game that was out with injury, face-guarded Harden and the Rockets took advantage.In both examples, Harden slowly drifted away from the perimeter and close to the halfcourt line while his teammates executed the offense. The idea was to take away a help-defender from the defense and force four defenders to have to rotate and make crisp rotations in extra space. In doing so, secondary ball-handlers had more freedom to either finish around the rim or draw defenders to create a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.Moving onto the 2019-2020 season, Christmas was not the first time Harden stood alone near midcourt. Often when pushes the pace in transition, Harden will take his time across halfcourt, either as a trailer or to provide as much space as possible for his teammates to score.With how much the coaching staff has emphasized getting the basketball in Westbrook’s hands early in games and in transition, Harden has made a habit of doing this more and more as the season has gone on.Privately, when approached about this topic, coaches discussed the positives and mentioned that Harden creates many scoring opportunities for his teammates. From 4-on-3 when defenses trap Harden, to 4-on-4 when defenses face-guard and he is off-ball or when he has the ball in his hands and creates for others.When teams first began implementing double-teams on Harden, the coaching staff was dumbfounded at the lengths opposing defenses went to deny Harden the basketball. Defenses essentially allowed another former MVP in Westbrook to create for himself and others in 4-on-3 situations. In that scenario, the math always favors the Rockets.The trapping scheme only works when all five defenders are inside or near the perimeter to make crisp, fast rotations and hard closeouts. Take away two defenders, and the 4-on-3 is an optimal situation for both Westbrook and to take advantage. Ideally, the coaches want Westbrook adjacent to Harden, where Westbrook can drive to his preferred left hand on rolls and slashes to the rim, with Gordon opposite of Harden for deep catch-and-shoot attempts.A similar success rate is seen when Harden takes himself out of plays and creates a 4-on-4 for his teammates.Harden often begins offensive possessions with the opposing team’s best perimeter defender pressuring him with or without the basketball. On these 4-on-4 possessions, Harden essentially concedes himself off-ball and makes it a halfcourt game for his teammates.Opposing defenses know that the Rockets are 14-1 this season when Harden scores 40 or more points in a game. The purpose of their complex schemes is to limit his touches and force his teammates to score. This is why the best perimeter defender always shades Harden.You would think having the best perimeter defender face-guard Harden would be a blessing and deny the Rockets offense to develop a rhythm. However, that leaves Westbrook and three other players to contend against defenders that are not quite as good.When Harden takes himself out of plays and stands stationary away from the perimeter, near halfcourt, or even toward the sideline, that is one less defender, one less player, and more empty space in the halfcourt on which ballhandlers can capitalize.In these 4-on-4 situations, Westbrook often isolates and attempts to get near the basket, an area where he’s shooting 58 percent. As of Jan. 15, Houston was 15-2 in games where he shoots 43 percent or better from the field. With his fingers back to normal, it’s no coincidence that he had shot 43 percent or better in eight of his 12 games (10-2 record) through Jan. 15.Watching Harden on these possessions, the same patterns occur. Harden takes the lengthy defender away from the play, often away from the camera angle completely. Westbrook isolates in the middle of the floor. Two or three shooters go deep in the corners or toward the sideline in the slot, creating empty voids of space. Westbrook beats the initial defender off the dribble to create a layup for himself or penetration for a catch-and-shoot attempt.A major critique is how uninvolved and disinterested Harden looks on some of these possessions. But these plays add up and ultimately help him conserve energy in parts of the game where he gets tired. As the engine of a top offense in the league, and as a player who needs the basketball in his hands, he will take possessions off. And strategically, this alignment of 4-on-4 still creates efficient and optimal scoring opportunities.Coach Mike D’Antoni discussed Harden’s off-ball play with The Athletic, emphasizing that defenders never help off of him and that he would not like Harden to move around off-ball with the way defenses are playing.“Where to go?” D’Antoni said on the reason he would not want Harden to move around with how teams are defending him. “I mean, are you going to get into Russell’s way? Russell’s going to the hoop. So just stand there. If they come off, he’s going to catch-and-shoot. But to move around and run around and get him tired for no reason? No. You can’t make James more efficient, I don’t think, than what he is. I think it’d just wear him down.”Recently, some defenders have caught onto this. They will leave him near the sideline or deep beyond the perimeter to stunt at Westbrook or another ball-handler driving to the rim. Harden and the Rockets must adjust.Although only 4.4 percent of his possessions are spot-up attempts, Harden is in the 90th percentile and is shooting 49 percent on such attempts. To deny predictability, more catch-and-shoot attempts could be a positive for the offense.Moving forward, teams will create schemes intended for Harden to have to move and create without the basketball. Westbrook and Harden have struck a great balance in the first half of the season, but issues remain that need to be fixed. This doesn’t mean having Harden and Westbrook come off staggered off-ball screens or fancy halfcourt sets. However, implementing more 1/2 pick-and-roll, which will become more common late in the season, will give Harden more off-ball possessions as a screener. This will allow Harden to defer to Westbrook, achieve the same positives from the current 4-on-4 possessions, and create advantageous offensive opportunities.(Photo: David Sherman / Getty Images)

Jan 13, 2020 stood ahead of , looking back at his teammates signaling coverages. Harden did not have the ball. Instead, he stood mostly idle, tiptoeing toward the perimeter and out of camera view for a majority of the possession. His teammates attempted to execute a 4-on-4 scoring opportunity.First, tried to take advantage of his defender and attacked with his dominant right hand but was unable to get off a floater or layup. drove on the closeout, but he also struggled to create penetration. He passed it to , who was unable to launch a perimeter shot. Meanwhile, hovered inside the 3-point...

public

Alykhan Bijani

Get every sports story that matters. Download The Athletic app: https://linktr.ee/TheAthletic

Rockets Film Room: Why does James Harden stand back at midcourt?

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS