Also to add, one way to know if a guy is really bad at defense is if the other team starts ISOing against him. Like many teams did against Martin. They would really go at a poor defender and you never see that much against Harden. I think what stands out is that when Harden gets beat he just lets his guy go.
This is my biggest beef with Harden's defense so far. He doesn't try to recover or do anything to help once he gets beat. It's just pure effort, or lack of.
Yea, the same thing with closeouts. There would be so much space between him and the shooter numerous times.
Hardens defense is a concern due to effort, but it is something I can live with as he bears the lions share of the offensive load. The thing with low effort guys is you can always step up effort when it matters. You can't step up talent whenever you want too.
I thought defense in general was his biggest weakness when he played for OKC and I think it's still the case. Given his skills and athleticism you would think he could be a great lockdown defender and one of the better wing defenders in the league but whether it's effort or something else, he just isn't great on D.
The main reason he was a sixth man in OKC was because the coach wanted a defensive specialist and they had that with Thabo. Hopefully he will give more effort on D. Another reason I think Lin should handle the rock more than he is now-it'll save Harden some energy that he could use to play more hard on D.
I am guessing that Harden is saving his energy for offense. You just hope that he can score more than he is allowing. Most of the time, it's true.
I love how when Harden doesn't play any defense, the coaches are either too afraid to chew him out or give him a pass all together. But when Lin, Parsons, or PPat don't play any defense, the coaches lay it on them right in front of the fans and their teammates. It must be nice to not be expected to play any defense and still have the offense revolve around you. You're not a winning coach in his league unless you can deal with egos. Sampson is not a championship coach.
