Well my serious thought is that he's already behind the 3 pt like a lot of the time from running the offense and taking more 3s so there is no need for him to sprint back
Right. So when he drives (see @BigMaloe comment and @basketballholic ) and when he doesn’t drive, he’s way out front of the play. These generic video stats of player movement are fun, but can be silly sometimes
And how the hell do only 79 players qualify for this stat. I mean, what is the criteria. Sounds like a Harden Rule criteria to me. This must be the only stat I’ve ever heard of that has only 79 qualifying players... if we’re talking all positions.
The fact that Harden is one of the best players in the NBA and MVP candidate doesn't change the fact that he is still a bad defender. While it doesn't matter in the regular season, it will matter in the postseason especially since the Warriors are the best transition team in the NBA and also the team that forces you to move on defense the most in the NBA. I do hope CP3 coming back will help Harden get better defensive instincts. Because Harden even trying a bit more on defense may be the crucial improvement to beating the Warriors. But I have no idea if at this point Harden is capable of turning on the switch. If he can, great. If not, well he's still a superstar regardless.
Its funny how stats without context can be twisted to make it look like the sky's are falling - https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/1...-league-s-worst-at-getting-back-in-transition "Rounding out the top 10 laggers: LeBron James, John Wall, James Harden, Trevor Ariza, DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Kyrie Irving, and Bradley Beal."
there we go, by far the most useless stat ever created just to single out Harden lol. who would have thought those who drove to the basket would be slower to get back on defense.
He is slowest in the NBA at getting the ball across mid-court, it stresses me out watching him step across the line EXACTLY at the 8 second mark EVERY play. It's not really a problem, just stressful as a fan Everything else has been fine this year, his defense has been good enough
Yes, if you try hard enough, it's possible to find something to complain about regarding Harden and the Rockets.
A lot of point guards or primary ballhandlers I think ariza has to do with him being in the corner so often
I absolutely hate it when he just decides to stand there and swipe at the ball when an opponent is dribbling full-speed at him on a fast-break Probably my least favorite part about his game.
This is really racist against people who don't have two eyes, man. ....anyway, you guys talking about Harden taking layups versus Ryan Anderson taking 3's are correct if they're measuring speed in terms of time (seconds). However, if they're measuring by miles-per-hour (actual velocity), then that argument doesn't make sense. Note the quote: Is there some kind of magical gravitational effect where the closer you are to the baseline, the slower you can run? In that case it would make sense.
Harden's defense is better this year but he still isn't a hustler on the court. I think we all know that.
