On the second day of the training camp for 76 people, a picture on the court made coach Rivers somewhat dissatisfied.
Harden broke down with enbyd, Harrell relieve a garrison against Harden, Melton against enbyd. Harden chose to play small and big in the face of internal dislocation defense, instead of passing the ball out and letting the low enbideqiang eat.
After the training, Rivers said he didn’t want to see this kind of scene again. Rivers said: “Harden has been playing in a way over the years. Today, this situation has happened again in training. The defender has been relieve a garrison, and enbide has fallen low to face small-sized relieve a garrison, the ball must hit low. In the past, Harden would choose by himself under such circumstances, but now we have to give the ball to enbide eight times in ten times.”
On the third day of the training camp, Rivers continued to instill his ideas into harden. He hoped to establish enbide’s core position at the offensive end, while Harden had to find a balance between personal attack and passing organization.
In the past three days, Rivers’s transformation plan for Harden has been very clear: as with the season, Harden will not be the first attack point of the 76-man attack system. He needs to play the role of the point guard most of the time, he needs to change his playing habits, especially to reduce the number of singles in the case of disassembling and manufacturing dislocation. But at the same time, Rivers did not require Harden to become “ha don’t attack”, and he hoped Harden would take on the task of attacking the key at a critical moment.
In short, Harden wants to be a defender who can fight hard.
The words of rivers have caused some controversy. Harden fans believe that Rivers plays double labels and his thinking cannot play Harden’s strongest power. However, judging from Harden’s attitude and reality, “a defender who can fight hard” may be the most suitable role for Harden at present.
In fact, Harden has been consciously self-transforming since he left the rocket to join basketable nets. Harden played with the point guard in the last eight games of the rockets and 80 games basketable nets.
From the 2014-15 season to the 2019-20 season, Harden’s usage rate of the ball rights exceeded 31% for 6 consecutive seasons, and the peak season reached. He played the big core of the ball to the extreme.
In the 2018-19 season, Harden’s 100 rounds of singles were up to 19.8 times. From 2017-18 to 2019-20 season, he had more than 12 100 rounds of singles for 3 consecutive seasons. The ball was handed over to harden, and others only needed to watch his performance or wait for receive the ball shots.
However, on the one hand, the playing method of holding the ball has its limitations. On the other hand, Harden’s age is increasing and his injuries are increasing. This kind of high-consumption playing method of attacking and spreading one shoulder is no longer suitable for Harden. Therefore, Harden began to transform.
In the past two seasons, Harden’s usage rate did not exceed 30%, and it fell to after joining 76 people. For comparison, enbide’s usage rate is 37.2%.
Harden’s style of play has changed dramatically. In the 2020-21 season, the number of 100 rounds of singles dropped sharply to 9.3, while last season it dropped to 9.1. In these two seasons, Harden’s 100 rounds of gear removal were 9.8 times and 8.6 times. Harden’s single fight was less. He played more teams in series and broke down with enbide. The Two achieved each other. According to statistics, when Harden and enbede split, 76 people scored 1.15 points per round, and they were the combination with the highest efficiency. As a point guard, Harden’s performance is absolutely top-level, and he was the second in the double league last season.
The problem is that Harden did not do another part of his work well-to overcome difficulties. In those powerful dialogues and Call of Duty, Harden not only had few excellent works that could be taken out, but also repeatedly dropped the chain, which made him criticized. The most typical game is the regular season match with basketable nets and the sun. Harden cast 0 out of 10 shots in the penalty area and 0 out of 6 shots in the penalty area.
In the sixth game of life and death in the eastern semi-finals, Harden scored zero in the second half. The whole game only scored 11 points, and 76 people were out of the battle. Harden scored 32 points in the second half of the whole series.
Not many people questioned Harden’s point guard play, and rivers also recognized Harden’s contribution to the organization. But 76 people want to move to a higher level. They need a tough and aggressive Harden at the critical moment.
Harden failed to meet the requirements of 76 people last season, which was caused by various reasons. The first is Harden’s hamstring injury. He has never been an outstanding type by explosive force. His breakthrough depends on rhythm, speed change and confrontation. However, due to the shadow of hamstring injury, Harden’s strength and willingness to fight on the ground have declined, which is the main reason why his breakthrough rate last season was only.
Originally, Harden’s breakthrough ability declined. Coupled with the adjustment of blowing penalty rules, Harden relied more on the three-point hand feeling and the referee’s blowing penalty scale than before. There are many fouls and three points on the outside line. Harden can get 30 + points, but it is difficult for him to stabilize this output. Because last season, Harden’s three-point hit rate dropped to 33%, while in the past, his data was stable at 36%-38%.
Therefore, Rivers has no problem with Harden’s transformation plan as a whole. What he requires is that Harden can hand over the ball to the low-level enbide more when he disconnects with enbide, let enbide eat the basket with a strong height advantage, and the efficiency is obviously higher than that of Harden floating in outside singles. Rivers hopes that Harden will adjust his playing habits and improve the blocking and dismantling effect of Harden and enbide from “excellent” to “ruling level”. This kind of play has another advantage. Harden can retain his physical strength to the critical moment and take over it in the last 5 minutes.
Rivers also said that Harden, the scorer and MVP version of the rocket era, was already a thing of the past, and there was no need to take the previous standard requirements for Harden. People accustomed to Harden’s performance during his peak period must not be used to the 33-year-old Harden’s transition to the current version, but everyone should accept the reality like Harden. In the future, it will be the norm for Harden to put the organization first and try to take over again at a critical moment.
For Harden, getting more balls to the basket is just a habit adjustment. The key to determining the upper limit of him and 76 people is whether he can take over in the last 5 minutes?
During the off-season this year, Harden practiced very hard. His hamstring injury seemed to have no effect and his body remained good. Now 76 people don’t need him to forcibly take over the game for a long time as in the past. If he can get back the end of the basket, the throwing efficiency and the excellent retreating shooting efficiency, he can finish the tough fight if necessary, harden and 76 people are expected to pierce the window paper floor.
“This day will come, it just needs time,” Rivers is full of confidence. “as long as Harden realizes this, we are unstoppable.”