i wouldn't want an mvp who wasn't a two way player. harden has been just that, not only that but he has become a leader of man. I wasn't expecting that so soon.
Leonard & Butler aren't really great 2-way players. Butler's career scoring average is 10ppg, & 12.9 per 36.
I liked the article. He's giving props to harden for improving, and he makes a good point of Harden also not being a two way player like Paul George and gives the evidence as well. If yall think he's the same defender as Paul George I don't know what to say.
Stopped reading after these comparisons. Only PG deserves to be in that list. Amin's reachin for a reach around.
I don't that like the article, certainly you can smell the hating, BUT he's right at some points. Harden's body language is still poor as well as his positioning very often. He has improved defensive numbers, he's putting more attention and being more effective at 1on1. He's still not reliable, specially against good offenses. But I'm glad with the improvement shown. He was atrocious, now he's just bad sometimes, other times even good.
Since he referenced some players, I took a look at the first 2: Klay Thompson The above implies that Klay also ball watches but he gets a pass. Paul George letting Ariza get all those open 3's - Self explanatory
That article read like something out of Mad Magazine! ESPN should be ashamed of itself for allowing a writer to write pure garbage! Unfortunately many will take this bozos comments and think that he actually is writing a piece with journalistic integrity, but instead he's deliberately spreading false information to the uninformed plebeians! ....... ....... .......
Big Smile, James! Kick those shoulders back, lift that chin! I need body language! I need personality! This isn't basketball, this is jazz dance! Fosse Fosse Fosse!
Why doesn't he just use stats? That would help his argument so much more than these "body language" GIFs/pics and later on going "oh btw, this is how Harden plays D all the time..." Oh, alright then - i'll just have to take your word for it, Amin! These ESPN guys are pretty terrible. I've tried listening to NBA Lockdown podcast, just because I always have podcasts playing during my commutes, and man it's pretty bad. Amin and friends often spout their opinions without much basis and clearly don't prepare the way Lowe and the other quality media people do. They aren't even entertaining the way Smith and Bayless and Wilbon and Kornheiser are. Anyway, the point of all that was just to say that Amin sucks.
....just wow. I guarantee if Harden's defensive stats weren't what they were, he'd be using that as a reason as to why doesn't play defense. Instead he goes after body language? Really? So he decided to pick a couple of plays where Harden was doubling, or lost his man. Sheesh, glad that never happens to ANY other player in the NBA. Oh, and someone should ask him how that Dallas game (That he chose to show as an example) ended up. Let me remind him, with Harden playing absolutely terrific defense against Ellis to force him into a bad pass to Dirk which ultimately was stolen by Ariza. I'm just flat out sick of this. Harden will never get the respect he deserves until we're in prime time games, and he shows he's improved greatly. Man I cannot wait for the playoffs. It's going to shut a lot of people up if he keeps up this mentality. Wear it as a chip on your shoulder Harden.
I don't watch too many Warrior's games so I haven't noticed him being a great defender, but the only time I ever heard of Klay Thompson being a two way player was during the offseason, during contract negotiations when he was lobbying for the max. Is he really that good on Defense?
Please find me one quote where someone here even insinuates that Harden's defense has been at or near Paul George's level. All everyone here is saying is that Harden has been a good defender this year and he deserves props. No one is saying he's an elite defender. And if they are, they're delusional. Amin does point out some plays where Harden appears to be falling into his old habits. But he's doing exactly what the maker of the video did: seeking out the examples to fit a narrative. But his narrative has 4 plays (totaling 1.5 minutes at most), while the video maker has about 8 or 9 minutes worth of plays.
Poor body language. Haha. Those who can't, make ambiguous, morally based criteria. Poor body language... he's probably thinking about Butts or headphones. FOCUS, GLORY BOY.
LOL, y'all cant give anything a chance. There are some good critiques in that piece. It's not like Harden is an elite defender right now. Here comes the "but, but, but... his win shares" argument in 3... 2... 1...
