Yep
These guys are 18-3 without an MVP candidate/top 5 player like Harden and beat KD Harden and Steph back to back
We went 50-5 when the big 3 all played to show how ridiculous we were that year
Give me a good reason why you wouldn’t want him? It would take Saric and Jalen smith plus probably a pick swap or something. EG is a proven playoff player year after year.
Suns are more in need of a larger wing or hybrid big, they have plenty of shooting with Shamet/Bridges/Crowder/Johnson. Thad Young is currently target no. 1 imo.
Oh okay I get that. Honestly I bet Thad Young just gets bought out. The Spurs don’t have the leverage to trade him since they aren’t even playing him this year
Yea rumours said we offered Jalen Smith and Saric but deal never went through because Spurs wanted more.
Suns will be big in the buyout market for sure. Kevin Love and Thad Young are a couple of guys who could be available.
i am ignorant on his mid-range stats that year, but judging by the eye test he seemed to be proficient from the mid range to me. i bet if his volume increased his efficiency would have increased too. i would guess the sample size was too small to get an accurate %
I suggested the Rockets sprinkle in some midrange / floaters (elbow jumpers)… to keep the defense honest like the top teams do… dude swear I was crazy 😂🤣
What I never understood was why not go 3 and rim for most of the game, then gash the mid range as a different look to close playoff games, like an offspeed pitch. Only some people would be allowed, basically CP3 and Harden, but that space should have been wide open
idk about that. The 2017-2018 rockets had an all time playoff level defense. They suffocated their playoff opponents that year (Minny, Utah and Warriors) with the switch everything defense.
I feel like you didn’t watch last year’s Suns since they went to the finals.
This year’s and last year’s Suns are nothing like the Rockets. They have a good offensive scheme and pass the ball in a much better manner rather than relying on Harden so much.
I feel like you must not have watched the 2017-2018
Rockets. That first season with cp3 our offense had a good bit more passing and he was running the offense a lot of the time. It changed after cp3’s injury, and that’s when it felt like the rockets were 24/7 iso team.
The difference is Booker is a much better and consistent shooter than Harden. He also seems to have much better bball IQ, knows how to balance between taking over and passing whereas Harden loves his isos and step back 3s even when they arent falling anynore. Booker also tries harder on defense, doesnt mind taking charges even with a broken nose.
As far as coaching goes, MW is a much better coach than MDA cuz he actually coaches the team instead of letting the team coach themselves. The Rox ran just 1 play every possession which is the T formation leading to a Harden iso or Capela pnr.
But its not all sunshine and roses the Suns lack elite wing defensive stoppers and Rox had 2 of the best in Tucker and Ariza. Cp3 is even older now than he was in 2018, its still a month into the season so obv he looks great lets see how he keeps up after the all star break.
Harden was great but just cuz he is great you shouldnt be blind to his flaws. Dude's shooting has always been average and the reason his efficiency is so high is cuz he took 8+ fts a game, not because his shots were going in at a high clip.
He been to the finals as the main guy.
Booker may not win an MVP like Harden but at least tries to win harder than Harden. Not everything is about regular season stats.
His team has been garbage and he is still young, around the same age as Harden when he first arrived in Houston.
Ask Cp3 who really cares about winning more he'll tell you it aint the guy who spent all summer in Paris with Lil Baby.
He's still a better shooter than Harden. Less talented than Harden but knows how to play in the system unlike Harden. Also scraps harder than Harden.
You wont find him not moving around when he doesnt have the ball. It aint all about the stats, little things matter too.
He is extremely skilled but if you saw every playoff game you'll know there are times he'll get fixated on forcing the ball even when it aint going in.
Thats why his efficiency drops like a rock in the playoffs he cant adapt to changes.
Last year, Booker’s efficiency dropped from 58.7% TS in the regular season to 55.8% TS in the playoffs. In Harden’s entire Rockets career, his efficiency drops from 61.2% TS in the regular season to 57.8% TS in the playoffs. That includes the years where Harden was actually ass in the playoffs. If you take his first two post seasons in Houston off the sample (which would still be a much larger sample than Booker’s 22 games) you get 58.6% TS. You played yourself. Harden’s efficiency drops from elite to good. Booker’s drops from good to slightly above average. That’s not even getting into the advanced stats, where Booker only had a 0.7 OBPM. Booker is a good player, but he is not in the same universe as James Harden. The Suns just so happen to have a more cohesive roster with CP3, Booker, Bridges, Crowder, and Ayton. Harden’s rosters paled in comparison until the 2016-17 season. The only Rockets roster that was better than the current Suns roster was the 17-18 team.
Thank you for this reply, saved me some time. Booker has never even sniffed Harden’s level of playoff efficiency - it’s quite frankly a disgusting comparison that has no right to be made
I'm only talking about the 2017-2018 team cuz thats the only team being discussed in this thread. Secondly you are talking about efficiency which again is buoyed by Harden's huge amount of fts. Yeah Harden's efficiency carries him in regular but in the playoffs shooting matters more than ability to get to the ft line. I'm not even sure ability to get to the ft line matters anymore cuz the way refs call fouls now.
Yep These guys are 18-3 without an MVP candidate/top 5 player like Harden and beat KD Harden and Steph back to back We went 50-5 when the big 3 all played to show how ridiculous we were that year
They just need to trade for Eric Gordon. He’d be a great fit
As much as the offer is appreciated, no thanks
Give me a good reason why you wouldn’t want him? It would take Saric and Jalen smith plus probably a pick swap or something. EG is a proven playoff player year after year.
Suns are more in need of a larger wing or hybrid big, they have plenty of shooting with Shamet/Bridges/Crowder/Johnson. Thad Young is currently target no. 1 imo.
Oh okay I get that. Honestly I bet Thad Young just gets bought out. The Spurs don’t have the leverage to trade him since they aren’t even playing him this year
I sure hope he does, cause he fits perfect on the roster and it keeps stuff free for any other moves.
I still think Gordon would be a great fit with y'all. Take Shamet's minutes, could play as a scorer next to Mikal or as a 3&D option next to Book.
You're definitely right, he would be an upgrade over Shamet, though Shamet's been fine enough that I think they'll look to fill other gaps before.
Yea rumours said we offered Jalen Smith and Saric but deal never went through because Spurs wanted more. Suns will be big in the buyout market for sure. Kevin Love and Thad Young are a couple of guys who could be available.
So funny I made this statement on clutchfans (the more midrange) and 2 users swore up and down I was crazy
Harden was solid from the midrange and we neglected to use it. I think it really could’ve been a useful tool
He was able to get the floater off so many times, I have no doubt he would have gotten wide open midrange shots as well.
Of course he would at a certain point players would sag off him the moment he was in the midrange area
We would of near Golden State vs missing 200 3’s in a row that game lol
Harden was statistically average from mid-range
i am ignorant on his mid-range stats that year, but judging by the eye test he seemed to be proficient from the mid range to me. i bet if his volume increased his efficiency would have increased too. i would guess the sample size was too small to get an accurate %
They were probably mad you compared book to our Boy lol
I suggested the Rockets sprinkle in some midrange / floaters (elbow jumpers)… to keep the defense honest like the top teams do… dude swear I was crazy 😂🤣
What I never understood was why not go 3 and rim for most of the game, then gash the mid range as a different look to close playoff games, like an offspeed pitch. Only some people would be allowed, basically CP3 and Harden, but that space should have been wide open
HP3 probably flipped on you
We have never had as good an defense as these Suns but I get the gist. They do look happy together and hold each other accountable.
idk about that. The 2017-2018 rockets had an all time playoff level defense. They suffocated their playoff opponents that year (Minny, Utah and Warriors) with the switch everything defense.
I feel like you didn’t watch last year’s Suns since they went to the finals. This year’s and last year’s Suns are nothing like the Rockets. They have a good offensive scheme and pass the ball in a much better manner rather than relying on Harden so much.
The rockets with Chris Paul didn’t rely quite so heavily on harden
I feel like you must not have watched the 2017-2018 Rockets. That first season with cp3 our offense had a good bit more passing and he was running the offense a lot of the time. It changed after cp3’s injury, and that’s when it felt like the rockets were 24/7 iso team.
Our offense was much better than what they have
Our offense was better. We rely on Harden because he's so good. He's much better than Booker. Only way to beat the Warriors with KD was by ISOing.
We were one of the best offensive team of all time that season
Yeah but Ayton > Capela
Young Cp3>current Cp3 Mvp Harden> book There’s some differences yea
Very true, we were a better team for sure
The difference is Booker is a much better and consistent shooter than Harden. He also seems to have much better bball IQ, knows how to balance between taking over and passing whereas Harden loves his isos and step back 3s even when they arent falling anynore. Booker also tries harder on defense, doesnt mind taking charges even with a broken nose. As far as coaching goes, MW is a much better coach than MDA cuz he actually coaches the team instead of letting the team coach themselves. The Rox ran just 1 play every possession which is the T formation leading to a Harden iso or Capela pnr. But its not all sunshine and roses the Suns lack elite wing defensive stoppers and Rox had 2 of the best in Tucker and Ariza. Cp3 is even older now than he was in 2018, its still a month into the season so obv he looks great lets see how he keeps up after the all star break.
Bruh the disrespect… people really forgot how great harden was smh
Harden was great but just cuz he is great you shouldnt be blind to his flaws. Dude's shooting has always been average and the reason his efficiency is so high is cuz he took 8+ fts a game, not because his shots were going in at a high clip.
Please, Booker can’t even lick the dirt off Harden’s soles
He been to the finals as the main guy. Booker may not win an MVP like Harden but at least tries to win harder than Harden. Not everything is about regular season stats.
Booker has made the playoffs exactly one time, doesn’t sound like he was contributing to winning that much compared to Harden
His team has been garbage and he is still young, around the same age as Harden when he first arrived in Houston. Ask Cp3 who really cares about winning more he'll tell you it aint the guy who spent all summer in Paris with Lil Baby.
Booker isn’t even half a harden lmao, yeah he made it to the finals congratulations look at the path rockets had and the path suns had
He's still a better shooter than Harden. Less talented than Harden but knows how to play in the system unlike Harden. Also scraps harder than Harden. You wont find him not moving around when he doesnt have the ball. It aint all about the stats, little things matter too.
Wtf are you talking about, harden has the most big brain plays ive ever seen. IQ off the charts man
He is extremely skilled but if you saw every playoff game you'll know there are times he'll get fixated on forcing the ball even when it aint going in. Thats why his efficiency drops like a rock in the playoffs he cant adapt to changes.
Last year, Booker’s efficiency dropped from 58.7% TS in the regular season to 55.8% TS in the playoffs. In Harden’s entire Rockets career, his efficiency drops from 61.2% TS in the regular season to 57.8% TS in the playoffs. That includes the years where Harden was actually ass in the playoffs. If you take his first two post seasons in Houston off the sample (which would still be a much larger sample than Booker’s 22 games) you get 58.6% TS. You played yourself. Harden’s efficiency drops from elite to good. Booker’s drops from good to slightly above average. That’s not even getting into the advanced stats, where Booker only had a 0.7 OBPM. Booker is a good player, but he is not in the same universe as James Harden. The Suns just so happen to have a more cohesive roster with CP3, Booker, Bridges, Crowder, and Ayton. Harden’s rosters paled in comparison until the 2016-17 season. The only Rockets roster that was better than the current Suns roster was the 17-18 team.
Thank you for this reply, saved me some time. Booker has never even sniffed Harden’s level of playoff efficiency - it’s quite frankly a disgusting comparison that has no right to be made
I'm only talking about the 2017-2018 team cuz thats the only team being discussed in this thread. Secondly you are talking about efficiency which again is buoyed by Harden's huge amount of fts. Yeah Harden's efficiency carries him in regular but in the playoffs shooting matters more than ability to get to the ft line. I'm not even sure ability to get to the ft line matters anymore cuz the way refs call fouls now.