Harden Says Rockets Need Help at Point Guard
The Houston Rockets season ended Wednesday night when the Golden State Warriors defeated them to win the NBA Western Conference title and move on to the NBA Finals.
On Friday, during the exit interviews for the Rockets, guard James Harden spoke about alleviating some of the responsibilities had has in ball handling for next season.
Harden was the runner up this past season for the MVP of the league but committed 13 turnovers in the Rockets Game 5 loss, which set a new playoff record in the NBA.
Harden was fourth in scoring and assists during the postseason, but first in turnovers.
Harden will have a conversation with Daryl Morey the general manager about either obtaining a point guard during free agency or using the ones that are currently on the team to help him with ball handling.
Harden said a point guard is a piece they need to make the team one notch better. He is confident in the group of players he plays with but an addition at point guard would help tremendously.
Harden had the ball in his hands 81.6% of the time during the postseason. He finished eighth amongst the players who played at least 10 games. He touched it 1,387 times, which was second during the postseason. However, he was third in turnover ratio amongst those who played 10 games or more.
Late during the regular season, energy became a big factor for Harden. He had the second highest average minutes played during the regular season at 36.8 a game. He played in the FIBA World Cup during the summer, which gave him little time to rest last offseason.
Patrick Beverley the Rockets starting point guard missed the entire postseason due to a torn ligament. With Beverley not playing, Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni took the point. This summer Beverley will be a restricted free agent, but is expected to stay with the Rockets. Terry, who is 37 and an unrestricted free agent, wants to return.
However, several attractive options exist at the point guard position in free agency including Rajon Rondo, Goran Dragic, Mo Williams and Jeremy Lin.
Houston attempted to acquire Dragic again during the trade deadline, but Dragic went to Miami.
Rondo was sent home by Dallas during the postseason with a bad back, but he might not fit the Rockets lineup that worries about team chemistry.
Coach Kevin McHale says Harden must learn to move better without the ball, but since he has it so often in his hands, he has not had time to improve on that part of his game.
Harden, his teammates and coaches will have the entire summer to try to find the solution to coming up three games short of reaching the NBA Finals.
