The media agenda regarding James Harden's "defense"

LOL. Yeah we were all mighty impressed with his Rock handling skills, which generally consisted of putting it in a catapult and flinging it away regardless of who was next to him.


I don't want to hear about [relevant factor], we brought in Lawson and [fabricatied explanation about Lawson's awful play] . (Therefore [relevant fact] doesn't exist.)

Its almost like your posting here is designed to reinforce your own version of reality to yourself and via the act of posting the unreal becomes real to you.

Look Lawson sucked next to Harden, and Thornton, and Ariza, and Brewer...and the whole team. That was his problem.

 

I'm with DD on this one, after all, in the words of the legendary Kevin McHale (cough), it's not like James is logging tall timber out there.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rockets/article/Durant-paces-Thunder-s-rout-of-Rockets-5100799.php?t=572a69ea84b37d840b

 

Nice to see the "Harden's fault Lawson was an objectively terrible basketball player" narrative is still alive and well

 

Here you go: http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/speed/?sort=DIST_MILES&dir=1&PerMode=Totals

Harden is 7th in the league in miles run. Had he not come in out-of-shape he'd probably be leading the NBA in this category.

 

And something interesting that seems to potentially go against the narrative that Harden is so lazy on defense. He's #4 in the NBA in miles run on defense behind Khris Middlton, Paul George, and Trevor Ariza. http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/speed/?sort=DIST_MILES_DEF&dir=1&PerMode=Totals

 

so the narrative now is that even though he's trying hard, he's still terrible at defense? the lazy narrative actually sounds more palatable to me.

 

My eyes rolled so hard as well.

 

You say a lot of things nobody wants to hear but we grin and bear it

 

Yeah, ignore the fact that Lawson was an excellent player before he got here, but for whatever reason we never had a plan to integrate him.

Let's just say he didn't fit.....with Harden handling the ball all the time.

No shock to those that understand playing styles and how they fit or don't fit.

DD

 

Damn so Harden took the ball with him when he went to the bench and Lawson came in. What a fat, lazy, ball hoggin, selfish jerk!

 

You seriously believe that Lawson's failure here was due to someone other than Lawson? No kidding? I know we both watch the games, so all I can figure is that you've been watching different games somehow. Perhaps in a parallel universe?

 

lol. nice stats. my question looking at these was his mileage a function of minutes played? (where I believe he is #1) I'm pretty sure it is.

But the more interesting statistic is average speed--including average speed on offense versus average speed on defense . . . . :grin::grin: and tell me if he rates 7th in the league on THAT one. especially his speed on defense.

on edit: HINT!! YOU HAVE TO SCROLL DOWN TO PAGE 9 OUT OF 10 TO FIND HARDEN!!!

and again, I'm not looking to bash Harden. I love Harden as a player. But he is not living up to his potential, and as a fan that disappoints me.

 

Lawson didn't do **** when Harden was on the bench.

 

The media is focusing too much on D and his lack thereof

why not just talk about his Offense... lol

 

1) I agree they didn't fit. That's on the coaches. It's clear they were not capable of integrating him properly.

2) I don't agree that it's entirely based on fit and coaching, though. He was bad with or without Harden. He was bad anytime he touched the court. That's on him. It's one thing to not fit in and have a drop off in production. It's another to fall off a cliff and provide nothing positive at all.

 

That would be elevating him to Steph Curry status and the media doesn't want to mention Harden in a positive light if it takes shine away from the sacred cow.

 

I believe that he has to have the ball in his hands for the majority of the time he is on the court, because that is how he has ALWAYS played, and to expect him to come in and play OFF the ball is not just dumb it is ****ING stupid.

Lawson is a guy who has to have the ball in his hands and controlling the game like a mini CP3, he is not going to adjust to playing with Harden who ALSO has to have the ball.

There can be ONLY one primary ball player, you need to find secondary creators like Parsons for instance that can also play off the ball.

That is why Lawson could not, would not work...and yes he sucked, because he was well outside what he has been doing ALL HIS LIFE on the basketball court.

And please don't talk about him doing bad off the bench...ANOTHER thing he was not used to doing, he never could get into a rhythm here.

I am just surprised at the lack of understanding of that situation on here.....it is quite obvious to be honest.

DD

 

He doesn't watch anything in the sense as you or me.

It's like asking Rush Limbaugh for his hot take on Obama.

We know how it's going to come out.

DD has a narrative that is as inviolable and unalterable.

He will broadcast it here - repeatedly - for all to hear.

It doesn't matter if it's real or not. The show must go on.

 

Oh, it's real - you just can't admit that your man crush doesn't play defense.

I wish I was wrong about that - then we could be watching one of the best players ever - instead of just a one sided player.

DD

 

genuinely curious, what did you think about Nash? regarded by many as one sided.