I'm really disappointed in him after an awful performance (bad nights do occur) his awful overall defense really became a big story Harden came out and played some amazing defense tonight (had an overall great game) But in a way it has left me extremely disappointed in him. Now look.. if Harden sucks at defense because he doesnt have the skill then that sucks but it gives him something to improve upon, I accept that and hope he has the drive to try to improve his skill weakness. However, tonight showed that Harden has that talent already... Harden exposed himself tonight-- that its not because he sucks at defense- being a flaw in his ability but its an mental issue and he decides to put zero effort on defense... that really peeves me off to have our superstar player not trying his best or putting forth effort, instead just deciding to be lazy. Thats not a leader or the makeup of a winner I can defend him and say he 'has' the potential (to get better at defense).. but when he has already mastered the art and just decides to not utilize it out of sheer laziness.. that doesnt sit right with me
Harden doesn't play defense = Fans disappointed in him Harden plays defense = Fans disappointed in him Only on Clutchfans...
He's played more bad defense than good defense this season. Could have just been Klay had an off night..I still got to see more.
If he always plays bad defense, it makes you think its a skill issue. You can tell yourself 'He can work on that in the offseason, he can improve) however, then he shows he CAN play defense whenever he decides too.. you scratch your head and say wtf man, theres nothing to improve on, you just need to stop being lazy when he decides to stop being lazy for more than 1 games ill stop being peeved.. right now the ratios are off
well that's what armchair Gms are here for. There always going to be players that are temporarily or significantly playing better than Harden. It would help Harden if he were the best player on the planet not just the best Shooting Guard. But even then there will be fans questioning him. Just deal with it.
Harden doesn't play defense= fans disappointed in him but wonder if its because he's hurt Harden does play defense= fans disappointed in him because they know he can play defense but often doesn't want to Harden plays defense consistently= fans happy
¿? He was able to stay in front of a non specially athletic small forward, and contain his post game thanks to his body strenght and hands... Basically, it fits perfectly with his qualities as a defender. Nothing changes. Of course you will never see him following a Klay Thompson over the baseline, arriving in time to contest the shot.
Happy with his performance but he's not off the hook. He needs to be consistent, not just 1 good defensive performance out of 10 games.
Yes, I'm definitely peeved. The inconsistent effort is unacceptable. If he really wants to be the man and wants to win then we need to see consistent effort every night. Don't dog it one night and play great the next. If you're injured, grab a seat. If you're just lazy and unprofessional then you should be called out for it.
Superstar guard takes plays off on the defensive end. People act as if this something new the NBA has seen. The only thing that's new is the obsessed followers(wouldn't call them rockets fans necessarily) that spend every waking hour compiling YouTube videos and Gifs to try and expose Harden as some sort of criminal that stole your lunch money. He's young, he's gonna have an ego(all greats have them), and he's going to have to be the one that decides when he's going to give 100% on the defensive end. The only thing the rockets can do is try and instill a defense and hard working culture around him to hopefully infect everyone on the roster including Harden. They can replace supporting players and coaches at any point. You can't just replace a superstar talent whenever he hurts your feelings. The only other option they have is to trade him.... Which would be the dumbest move in the world to make unless you are getting Lebron, Durant, and maybe now Paul George. So be as pissed as you want to but it's not going to change a thing. It's something he's got to decide he wants to do every night. At least we know that he's physically capable unlike someone like Kevin Martin and we know he's going to show up defensively in the playoffs.
Except Harden seems to take games off and not just plays. Plus I doubt Harden is the only star to get flack for his defense. Melo got it all the time. Love gets the same flack.
It'd be fine if when he took off games he was just average or even below average instead of embarrassing.
His on-ball dense is not that bad as he has strength and agility. His off ball defense, in particular again P&R, is purely a disaster if you watch a large volume.
Pathetic thread. There are 100 Harden defense threads, you can't just comment on how disappointed you are that he played well. Guess what, this is the NBA. Sometimes players suck, he bounced back which means he at least has enough pride to correct himself. Here is a change, how about we be happy that we dominated the Warriors.
I never was. He's not going to be on every night. And yes, he has lazy-ass, frustrating nights. It only bothers me when those nights lose games like Utah. Outside of that, he earns the occasional flubber. Do we really not know what he is capable of at this point? I think most of us do. I am patient.
This, that's why a lot of us has been said about coaching overall defense IQ, AKA having a well rounded system like Thibs where even naturally bad defenders aren't liabilities because of coordination and discipline
