Over the past few games, the Clippers have put up some hard-fought performances. On Friday night, in a 133-127 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. An Sunday afternoon, in a 121-118 defeat against the Boston Celtics in Boston. There was one player that stole the show for the Clippers in both games.
He would finish both contests with a game high of 41 points versus the Mavericks and 37 points versus the Celtics. High-arced floaters, step back three pointers, multiple high pick and rolls actions, and his savvy ability to draw fouls. I mean it was a show to watch, but is it the key to building good habits? Let’s look at history.
On November 2nd 2023, when it was the first day Harden arrived in a Clippers uniform and had his introductory press conference. The legendary short phrase that came from him was.
“I am not a system player; I am a system”.
However, that seems to go over many people’s heads when speaking on what Harden meant.
An extremely talented offensive player that has gotten used to running teams from the Rockets, Nets, and now the Clippers in a certain way where no matter who else is on the court he is in control.
Despite all the memorable performances from Harden, this style of play only goes so far when it comes to winning not because of talent but the scheming of the style in a team sport.
In basketball, coaches have game schemes both for their team and against the opposing team. Like Bryant said, “with this style of play it won’t win championships because it is easy to defend.”
That was in 2018 when Bryant made that statement.
At that time Harden was in his prime, where 30, 40-point games for Harden was like rolling out of bed for him. He had 26 30-point games, 11 40-point games, and 4 50-point games in the 2017-2018 season.
Historic scoring that season, but the furthest Harden went with the Rockets was in the Western Conference Finals in 2018, losing to the Warriors in game 7 with that same system. Where the Rockets missed a record amount of three pointers on their home court.
Some may look at that as a success facing the Warriors at that time, but some will look at that as a golden opportunity lost. That was Harden who was six years younger, a few steps quicker, and a couple of tiers more athletic.
So, the question then becomes, what has Harden done to adjust his game as his speed and athleticism has declined? The simple answer is nothing. He has played the same ball dominant style of basketball since he arrived in Houston over 10 years ago.
After losing Norman Powell and Amir Coffey two sharpshooters for Harden to throw the ball to pile up his assist numbers, and teams beginning to slow down that pick and roll with Harden and Ivica Zubac. Also, injuries to Bradley Beal, Kawhi Leonard, and now Derrick Jones Jr.
The Harden system is becoming more about him having these crazy scoring outputs that isn’t exactly what’s needed to win games.
The solution: Start Chris Paul next to James Harden.
If Harden wants to focus more on scoring. A simple solution could be just to move Harden to the shooting guard position and use someone else as a full time point guard. This is not a job for a defensive guard like Kris Dunn or another ball handler like Bogdan Bogdonavic. Neither have enough experience running a successful team offense.
Chris Paul is the guy.
Whom started with Harden with the Rockets making the Western Conference finals in 2018.
With all the injuries and people who have left the team. The Clippers are going to have to move some things around with the offense and play a different style where more ball and player movement is implemented into the game plan, making it harder for teams to defend.
Paul 40, still can do that. Last year he demonstrated that playing all 82 games with the San Antonio Spurs as the starting point guard.
Chris Paul this season:
10.5 PPG | 8.4 APG | 3.8 RPG | 44.6% FG |
37.3 3P% (5.4 3PA)
Spurs with CP3 off:
-50 ± | -10.3 NET Rating
Spurs with CP3 on:
+49 ± | 6.3 NET Rating
Has a 5.9 NET Rating, the highest on the Spurs by +2.2
39 y/o with the highest impact on an NBA Team pic.twitter.com/D6Fq5c9AW4
— 🥽 (@spursbeliever) November 13, 2024
Unfortunately, in the system Harden is used to playing in only stagnates the offense, where the Clippers have been ranked at the bottom 10 in the league for the past two seasons. Some may say it’s because of the inconsistency of Leonard playing.
Well over the course of the first six games of this season with Leonard in the lineup, the Clippers were 23rd-26th in the league in offensive rating. When it comes to team success, the system becomes more about the team’s scheming as much as the individual talent.
Yes, the Paul and Harden back-court may be a step below defensively, but one thing is for sure a Paul led offense with Harden and Leonard on the court is not going to be at the bottom of the league.
