To be honest, I don't think Harden will every flourish at both the defensive and offensive end of things. You look at his body movement/speed and it's going to be very hard for him to ever be a locked down defensive player. For a shooting guard, he just doesn't have that Kobe or Dwane body? You need speed and agility to be a good defender, which Harden doesn't. He's going to have issues with an opposing guard that is very mobile. It's not a knock on him, as his body is great for getting to the basket because he's very strong.
Clips are a tough matchup for opposing shooting guards. They arguably have the best SG tandem in the NBA as you really cant rest as you are either chasing Redick through screens or dealing with Crawford crazy dribbling. Harden is still by in far the best SG in the NBA....
lol, yeah I saw that as well. Reminds me of my ex, you have one minor argument and all of a sudden she wants to break up…
Harden was much worse on offense than defense. Barely tried to penetrate at all, wasted a ton of possessions on hero-ball 3's. I almost threw up at the end of the 3rd quarter where instead of waiting for the clock to go down and get the last shot, he threw up a contested 3 with 9 seconds remaining, which gave up 2 unnecessary points at the other end before the buzzer.
Wasn't so much as benched at 4th, rather game already in blow out, no point put him back in, espically b2b tomorrow.
I miss a guy like Courtney Lee. He could have been a great back-up to Harden. We didn't try Ronnie Brewer tonight on those 2 guys who were hot. Of course, he would have no offense.
Too much responsibilities is put on his shoulder by McHale. That's not healthy. There is no indication that Harden is the kind of ironman that PP, AI, MJ, Kobe etc are. He is only 24 and is already worn down. This can't be good. The way he draws foul takes a toll on his body. He didn't get a minute of rest in the 2nd half of last game.
I'm pretty sure the ankle sprain vs Utah was the cause. Not that Harden has ever been a defensive player of the year candidate, but he had zero explosion offensively either. Couldn't dunk his break away layup, couldn't score on JJ Redick, minimal lateral movement, none of the crossovers or change of direction set ups at the top of the key when he had the ball. All moves that are very painful to do if you have a sprained ankle, likewise with trying to slide defensively. He deserved to be benched because he was unable to play well, and it was his worst game as a Rocket. But I don't think it was because he wasn't trying, I think it was because his ankle was slowing him down. In the end it doesn't matter for the result of the game, but if I am right that he was trying unsuccessfully to gut out the game on a bad ankle, that is a different story than just not trying due to laziness or whatever.
Pathetic defense by Harden. How he is rated the best SG while playing zero defense and chucking up 3's is beyond me. Letting Reddick go for 26, I doubt even KMart lets that happen. I would trade Harden for George right now.
I can't count with my fingers now how many times opposing mediocre SGs have record offensive games against the beard. He's talented, but he needs to try. Many times, his lack of effort on defense is neglected because of what he largely makes up for with his offense, but they should not be. Take a look at this game, which is generally considered one of Harden's best games. Focus however on how he just stands and watches on defense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBnhyCGYHEo
