Yes, Harden did have an impact on the Kings' run to end the third quarter. He had an impact in the sense that he didn't play at all during that time. As Harden sat, the Kings went on a 14-0 run. At the start of the fourth, they still had some momentum until the lead was cut to 2 and McHale called a timeout. After a little back and forth, we expanded the lead (thanks to Harden's 15 point quarter) and didn't look back.
Defense is overrated especially in the reg season. This league is now about scoring, scoring and more scoring. Individual and team defense is gravy. See Memphis Grizzlies then take a look at: GSWs. In the postseason u ramp up defense.
100% correct. It's hilariously apparent how few posters on here watch the actual games. Harden sat during the entirety of the Kings comeback. He gave effort on defense and boxed out well.
Just quoting for truth. donkeypunch may have donkeypunched himself on this one.... And sure, our defence is struggling, but that's because we are so thin on bigs. The perimeter guys can't close out as tight because then they give up a layup at the rim. If we get a PF back anytime soon, we might be in business defensively.
Like I said, it wasnt entirely his fault that the lead dwindled down to even. There was even a post I made that the kings cut the lead down to 10 without haren on the floor but you guys can pick and choose what you want to read. The run the kings made wasnt on haren but the entire lead blown had his hand in it in the 4th. Next time Ill just jot down time and quarter so yall can go back and check it out. To think that haren is playing 'good' defense while this whole team is playing atrocious defense is downright hysterical. To each their own though.
As long as mchale is coaching, harden will pretty much have to create our entire offense on his own. So what if hes bad on defense? like we already knew that ****. Get over it
*Didn't watch the game, will download later to watch in detail. Uhmmmm yes exactly. COMMUNICATION is the basis of defence. Overhelping ->>>>> BAD DEFENCE. If you switch or go to help and not talk to your teammates it leads to holes and open threes or opponents having a red carpet to the basket. That's one of the most basic problems with Harden's defence. He rotates and switches without opening his mouth to let his teammates know what he's doing. This is the no.1 reason of a teams bad defence. Every bad defensive team in the league, every single one, doesnt' talk. The ones who do talk have good defence. That's the most idiotic silly low bball iq post I have read in this forum. And I have read a lot of bad crap.
This is a weird game to call him out when he was responsible for half our points and the lead went to crap every time he got subbed out and ballooned anytime he was on the floor.
NBA Radio reported the Harden/Lawson combo is -41 points this season. Our thin rotation of bigs doesn't help, but that number is scary. We'll have to improve to have a legit championship opportunity.
I saw one play where I was disappointed in Harden's defense. Rudy was at the three point line, wide open and drained a three on a catch and shoot. Harden was way down by the basket giving Rudy a full 18 feet of space to shoot. But the thing is, Harden knows we're without rebounders right now and getting killed inside on putbacks is worse than an open three. He made the right play even though it was a negative play. He sealed off the rebound and if the shot went up instead of the pass to Rudy, we were set. His "bad d" has more to do with being in a small lineup because he's rebounding right now as if he were a 4. Does he need to learn how to be a 4 a little better? Yes. But the position is new to him and overall we're lost without him. So what is the ultimate point here? Because if we give up on rebounding inside, we're donkey punching our small lineup that's been working. Protecting disadvantages is not bad defense. It's simply hedging your bets. Great game by Harden tonight. He helped us win the rebounding game against a team that has been winning the rebounding battles on the year (+.9 while tonight we were +6). James sealing off the weak side on the boards all game made quite the difference defensively. Those rebounds are defense. Chuck Hayes looked good too. He took the rebounding pressure off Harden so he could guard his man a little tighter.
We have literally no chances of winning the NBA this season. GSW is blowing teams like Memphis by 50 points and we're struggling to win in last seconds against worst teams in the NBA.
GS is a juggernaut no doubt, but let's not fully judge our own squad until we get healthy. We had a decent series against them last season without DMO, Bev, Lawson, and Thornton. I wouldn't bet against GS though. They might legitimately challenge 70 wins. Damn we had their number just 2-3 seasons ago.
It's hilarious that you accuse others of rationalizing when clearly you are just trying to justify your own faulty assessment. +1
