Harden's D has definitely started to become a national topic. Last year, his D was thought to be nonexistant, but this year he's made it a point to show us his D on several occasions. Even Morey is raving about Harden's D. You can't expect a SG to have Greg Oden level D, but what he's been able to do this season proves that his D has the potential to make opposing teams take notice. Now this pissant writer is hearing about Harden's D so he has to write an entire article discrediting the D. Maybe that writer should take a look at the D of some other SGs in the league who are volume offensive producers. Oh wait, there aren't any. All I know is that I've been impressed with Harden's D this year and I can't wait to see how he continues to grow from here.
Who believes Harden is an elite defender? All we're saying is that he IS playing defense this year. I'm not sure where you found the elite quotes....
I do not agree with either the tenor nor the conclusion of the article in question. However, it does raise two interesting queries: (1) must the MVP be a true "two way" player and (2) what precisely constitutes a "two way" player. I do not claim to know the answers to these questions. But lets consider them theoretically, at least. First, the latter question as to the definition of a "two way" player. I think my answer, without statistical reference, would be I know it if I see it on enough observations. As examples, Paul George, Gary Payton, Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone come immediately to mind. I am certain there are many others who easily could be added. In brief, a true "two-way" player dominates the game on the defensive end just as he dominates the game on the offensive end. Second, if the premise above is true (and it may not be) and the MVP should be a "two way" player, then it is extremely fair to state we have doled out MVPs to a lot of "one-way" offensive players. Witness most recently Durant, Bryant, Nowitzki, Nash twice, Bird and Erving. I'm not saying these guys were defensively inept (although Nash's defense has never been noteworthy), but none of them have dominated defensively. It seems to me the MVP should demonstrate either (1) at least adequate performance on one side of the ball and completely dominating performance on the other side of the ball or (2) be sufficiently dominating on both to be able to take over the game. Based on my amateurish take on the MVP the field of early contenders would include Andrew Davis, James Harden, Chris Paul, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, and Jimmy Butler. The final issue, largely discounted by the article, is whether the MVP should play on a team with a superior won-loss record. I believe he should. Not necessarily the best or second-best, but his team at least should be playoff worthy. I would appreciate anyone's comments.
I guess being a "two way player" means you have to be a candidate for defensive player of the year. The problem last year was that his defense was among the worst in the entire league on many possessions. He'd score 25+, but have games where average guards like Corey Brewer would go off for career nights. This year he has been an impact player on the defensive end for the Rockets, instead of the man the other team iso's as the weak link. You can't watch the Rockets games this year and not notice how much better his defense is. He only had to reach average as a defender to be the clear best 2 guard in the league, and he has been well above average. He is not best defender in the NBA elite, and there are things that he can do to further improve his defense that are not talent related like keeping better aware of his man off the ball. While he still makes mistakes, there are individual plays where his defense is elite now. And he hasn't had Dwight to protect the rim for about half the season, which would allow for even more aggressive on the ball defense. You can certainly say there are better defenders in the league, but you can't say Harden's defense is a liability with the level he has been playing at so far this year. And his defense being a major liability is the only reason it was a topic in the past.
....the media just loves the splash brothers - that's it. I don't believe that Klay Thompson is a defensive two way guy or that Steph Curry plays better defense than Harden. Nobody says a thing about Curry's defense while they are talking about how amazing he is, but this "no defense" thing comes up every time someone says James Harden's name. This is blatant readership pandering by Amin. He is thinking, "Everyone hates Houston so why not write about Harden's bad defense - people will eat that **** up".
Are kidding me!? So because it's starting to be known that harden has become a good defender, we have to write an article shedding light on subtle imperfections of his game! "OH NO! People are starting to catch on to this 'Harden doesn't suck' thing! I better nip that **** in the bud real quick!" The guy seriously called out his body language...! This is complete garbage! Shame on ESPN for publishing it, shame on this no-name peice of crap for writing it! Shame on you for sharing it! And shame on me for reading it! It's no coincidence this crap comes out right after the video of his good defense comes out! Fnck this guy!! He should be fired, then burned!
Read the first couple paragraphs, then thought to myself it was probably Amin Elhassan. Looked for the author, and sure enough...
"Two way player" is an arbtirary tag that means nothing. It's strawman. The question is: is he decent at defense? The answer, this year, is yes. Therefore, Amin is wrong. He's a slippery little worm that keeps trying to shift the perspective of the evidence to fit his position. That's not so hard to do.
So stats don't matter now? So body language and watching the ball defines your defensive skills.....not the ball you just stole from your opponent or the shot you just blocked. HOW ARROGANT....he still hasn't watched more than 3 games this year, I'm willing to bet my Aunt Georgia's Pomeranian's life on it! How do you spell agenda? ESPN
Is Kevin Durant regarded as a two-way player?? What about Steph Curry? This is trash, and the guy showed his true colors when he went to personal attacks on KlutchQT for no reason whatsoever.
completely unnecessary article. just another writer trying to knock the nba villains down a peg. EMBRACE THE HATE. NOBODY WOULD BE HATING IF WE WEREN'T BALLIN OUT. SO JUST KEEP BALLIN. #SWAGCHAMPS
Pick a side: Harden has been a good defender this year. Harden is a horrible defender. Your choice! Otherwise we can all sit here and pontificate forever. Everyone keeps trying to move the target on this conversation.
