It is quite predictable that tons of posters would jump in to give reasons why this stat is trash. But this post is the most insightful "excuse" given. The numbers don't necessarily show that Curry has been playing better defense than Harden. They may show that the Warriors are better at helping Curry than the Rockets are at helping Harden. Saying that Harden has to guard all those great offensive players is only true to a certain extent. The Rockets perimeter offense isn't chopped liver either.
No he didn't but Harden is who we are going to either live or die with at this moment. Harden was never the best defender. We all knew that. The shooting slump all our players are having is definitely inexcusable though. If harden was regular season Harden right now Curry's numbers wouldn't be looking so great right now.
Harden was actually engaged in the defensive side as well. He wasn't great but he gave effort. The other night he went right back to trying to poke the ball from behind instead of moving his feet. That skit kills the entire defense because now everybody is scrambling out of position.
One the Lowe post, according to one of the guests, Harden gave up 33 points when he was the primary defender in game 1. In game 3 the warriors shot 8-14 or something when Harden was the primary defender...
Reggie loves curry because curry claims to have watched and built his game after Reggie. Too bad Reggie had problems even getting to the conference finals much less an NBA finals. My dislike for Reggie is growing by the day.
The warriors smothered the screen for a switch on Monday. Which made the rockets do a lot of their work late in the shot clock like in game 1. And they sagged pretty far off the wings. They helped curry way better than in any other game. Their length allows them to sag farther and still be able to close out on a shooter. Which is why the ball movement worked killer in game 2. But when we get too deep in the shot clock our ball movement drops. None of that takes away from the fact that curry is a terrible defender. He is just hidden much better on that warriors team than harden is on the rockets.
The Rockets field a team that has: Ariza, Tucker, Luc, Eric Gordon, Capela, and CP3. Let’s be realistic those guys are all above average to great defenders. Worst case scenario, in some instances Gordon and Paul look average. We need to stop making constant excuses for Harden. Curry at least tries on defense. Not surprising why his team is better able to compensate for him. When Harden tries our team compensates for him pretty well also. The problem is that he has these games in which he doesn’t try and instead decides to look like a statue.
Can we win a title with an Alpha Dog that refuses to give 100% effort on the defensive side of the ball? I want him to hire the best defensive guru available this off-season and focus on the fundamentals of playing good perimeter defense. But the absolute first step to James becoming a true two-way player is going to require him to take a look in the mirror.
The problem with Harden's perimeter D is not only a matter of poor defensive stance and lateral movement. It's also that he just gives up on the play when the opposing player gets by him. I mean, he'll try to swipe at the ball, which occasionally works, but otherwise he just takes himself out of the play.
Up and down. He's had some bad plays, but not the type I'm used to seeing (the backdoor cuts). These have been cross overs up top where he at least contests (a couple he got blown by but the one I remember most was by KD so whatcha gon do bout dat). James' offense is what has frustrated me most the last two games. Game 2 he attacked and everyone was in a flow. Game 1 and 3 he slowed it down and we stunk it up (even if he lit it up in game 1). If Harden can't play in the style of Game 2 all the time, then why are we running this offense in the regular season? This is what is so frustrating in the Harden era. Why do we always slam on the breaks the moment we enter the playoffs?
