One of the biggest questions the Brooklyn Nets faced when they acquired James Harden via trade earlier in the season was the distribution of ball. With three ball-dominant scorers in Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who would have the ball in their hands to start offense? Well, the Nets seem to have figured out an answer to that question. During a training session earlier this week, Harden and Irving had a conversation to iron out their roles, and it was decided that Harden would serve as the team’s de facto point guard, while Irving would play the ball in a shooting guard-type role. .
“We determined it was now maybe four days ago,” Irving said after Brooklyn awarded the Golden State Warriors 134-117 via ESPN on Saturday night. “I just looked at him and said, ‘You’re the point guard, and I’m going to play shooting guard. “It was as simple as that. This is not a mystical conversation we had.
“He took over the responsibility and did incredible work,” Irving added about Harden. “It just makes my job easier to just play free and make plays.”
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The decision was a wise decision, as Harden has more experience making plays for others. Although he is known as one of the league’s scorers, Harden is also an excellent assistant. He led the league in assists per game as a member of the Houston Rockets during the 2016-17 season, and he leads the league so far this season again with 11.2 cents per performance. In fact, his open acceptance of a facilitator role at the Nets drove Brooklyn’s offense early in the season to historic levels.
Harden may be a three-time champion, but in Brooklyn he allows himself to take a back seat for the overall benefit of the team. With the Nets, Harden scored 23.0 points per game – a significant dip from his past three seasons in Houston when he scored 34.3, 36.1 and 30.4 points per game. The 14.6 field goal attempts per game he averages with the Nets is his lowest output since his last season at Oklahoma City in 2011-12.
“I just want to come in and get a sense of what’s going on,” Harden said after a Netsege over the Heat in late January. ‘Obviously I can be more offensively aggressive, but we have more than enough scorers and guys who can put the ball in the basket. I just have to pick my places, which I feel like I’m doing OK. to let guys shoot, to make our greats end up at the edge, and to just try to defend defensively is what I try to do. ‘
Harden also said something similar on Saturday night.
“I came to this team knowing they have two special scorers in this team,” Harden said after the win over the Warriors. “Obviously I score when I have to, but as long as I involve everyone in it and Ky gets the shots he wants, KD gets the shots he wants, it’s pretty effective. Offensive is not the problem for us; we can “It’s defensive. It looks like we’re getting a rhythm from now on. We just have to keep going.”
The Nets seem to have been figured out at the offensive point, but as Harden said, they should do the same defensively as their team defense was pretty porous during the current campaign. This season, they have the 25th ranking in the NBA, and that just is not good enough for a team with legitimate championship aspirations. Just as they had a conversation to iron things out offensively, the same approach might work for them when it comes to the other side of the floor.