I would say that Battier might have words about being an elite defender with only average athleticism.:grin:
That's not true. A lot of defense isn't about having great speed, it's about doing the little things that add up. Putting up your hand up does NOT require great Defense. Staying in front of your man when they are NOT moving does not require great quickness. Bodying up/crowding a known jump shooter does not require great quickness. Staying on the ground does not require great quickness. Positioning your body to an opponent's weak side does NOT require great quickness. For example, it is well known that Dirk shoots over his RIGHT shoulder, yet defender after defender positions directly in front or on his left. ONE small step over and you cut Dirk's efficiency down significantly. Keep your hand up and force him into a jumper with limited visibility and it makes a huge difference. You can make up a LOT on the defensive end with minor adjustments. They don't require great quickness, they require paying attention to details and the scouting report, and occasionally physical strength (which Harden in spades). Just those minor adjustments would make Harden a better than average defender. Here's a good example of good bodying up and minor shifting in terms of forcing a player to the weak side. Lin vs Kobe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppNFQ-lF95g Now, Kobe will get the better of you the vast majority of the time, but you notice how he forces Kobe towards the baseline with incremental footwork and staying on Kobe's left shoulder (forcing him to spin right). Nothing about quickness, just good defensive decision making. Harden can improve a lot without becoming a lightning quick defender.
He gets beat off the dribble so easily for someone of his length and good (but not great) lateral quickness. People overrate his athleticism though. He doesnt have great to elite foot speed. What he does on the offensive end relies more on strength and body control along with his long strides than pure quick twitch athleticism like most elite superstars in the game. And don't give me the BS that he just coasts on D so as to conserve his energy on Offense. He gets in a low stance and is in position and seems intent on trying, but he still get blown by a lot of times.
I remember watching that play live and being blown away by Lin's flawless defense. It's even more incredible when you frame that play with the fact that Kobe's at his offensive mental peak, scoring with ease even at 34 due to a diverse array of moves and great timing. The great thing for the Rockets is that Lin being taken to the post doesn't necessitate a double team. So many bigger players think they can just back him in and do whatever they want, yet their post games are so unrefined that they end up taking awful shots against smart post defense.
Just like quickness, there are many different types of strength/power. Unfortunately, Harden has the Boozer type. He has a lot of power for many types of movement, but the strength to hold his ground with somebody backing him down is not one of them. Harden has the exact same crouching defensive stance as Boozer has. This makes it very hard to make small turns and small lateral moves to stay in front of his man while looking like he has re-established position after each adjustment. If you pay attention to Harden's modes of locomotion, then you will notice that everything he does is big. Every stride he takes is huge. This is great on offense when you are making your opponents adjust to your movement, but on defense it takes the opposite when you have to react to your opponent. You have to make small adjustments and re-establish position, as that is the criterium by which the officials judge contact as either good defense or a foul. The key is to make it look like with every tiny move you make you re-established position almost immediately. You don't want to be bodying up people while you are in the middle of a long stride. Lin had a lot of the same problems as Harden on trying to defend on long strides last year, but he worked on it over the summer and the difference is plainly visible this year. I don't see any good reason why Harden cannot make the same adjustments if he chooses to work on it.
I agree 100%. And with time and more help offensively, I think you'll see better fundamentals out of Harden. But I'm not concerned right now, as Harden currently exerts too much effort on offense and play way too many minutes. He's also only 23, and OKC relies much more on natural talent than fundamentals on defense. With that team's length and athleticism, as well as incorporating supposed stud defenders in Perkins and Thebolosha, they're still only 10th in the NBA. I don't think Harden really had great coaching on D.
Hmm, good point. I don't think that McHale or Sampson is going to let him get away with it once a decent break/practice time hits.
Playing long enough together alone can not make it. The defense culture has to come top down from the coaches, especially team defense. We are getting a little more than 103 points per game now, but are giving up about the same. I don't think continuing to push for more offensive points will bring us more wins. The key is better team defense and allowing less points by the opposing teams. My concern is that I have not seen much emphasis from the coaching staff yet. An indicator of that will be giving players due credit for their defensive efforts and contribution to the game, win or lose, in the post game interviews.
What interviews are you watching? McHale talks about the defense in every other interview. There was that talk from Sampson about TD's D. Are you watching the shootarounds and post-practice interviews?
In the knicks game did you see a 7 foot copeland drive pass harden fo a lay up? lol also I never see harden take any charges too.
Good analysis of what it takes to have better defense at the player level. It's great that you have found this video clip to demonstrate how good Jeremy Lin is in defense. What's been eating me is that most of the time his silent efforts and contributions like this got totally overlooked by the coaching staff, and our posters here in general. Especially when he was unduly benched. He has got a lot of unfair criticism for his low points until the last couple games and his passing the ball to other player, while he was too bent on defense and helping his teammates score, especially when they were shooting better than he at that moment, knowing that his own points matter less when the team already had enough firepower but the opposing was good enough to return fire. He had it clearly in his mind what was more important for the team's winning than his own success. Actions like these need to be recognized and appreciated to foster a better team defense culture which is the top most needed for the team's rapid growth, and winning games as well.
because his body is already beaten enough drawing fouls from defenders. but that's a great point though.
This. The post game is all but a lost art for many offensive player in today's NBA. I miss Big Man Camp. Lin's defensive footwork is good, but he'd get eaten alive by a tall fundamental post player like Tim Duncan. Still, fundamentals are such a lost art that the list of players that can operate in the post anywhere near a player like Tim Duncan are few and far between. All Lin has to do is be competent defensively and more often than not you see bad shot after bad shot. It's actually a bit hilarious. :grin: Still, I'd be happy just to see Harden closing to within 5 feet and putting his hand up for a start.
