There's a great article on TheScore.com that goes pretty deep into the methods that have been devised to stop Harden. It also talks at length about how he (and/or the Rockets) counter those moves. It's well worth a read in its entirety, but here's the TL;DR version of the five ways the article says teams are attempting to stop Beard or mitigate the damage he inflicts: 1. Drop the big, to force the drive while preventing layups and alley oops (Bucks) Harden counters with floaters before the big can react to his drive 2. Switch non-bigs to avoid a big guarding Harden on the perimeter (Warriors, Thunder) Harden counters by continuing to seek out a switch that lands him the worst defender 3. Double-team or trapping (Nuggets) Harden is pretty good at getting the ball to an open teammate, forcing the defense to reset 4. Hedging and recovering without switching (Pelicans, Thunder) Harden gets a quick pass to the screener or drives before the hedging defender can recover 5. Zone (Heat, Nets) Rockets clear out the strong side to create an open man Again, very well worth your time to read the whole thing. The writer, Joe Wolfond, did a great job with research and has numerous example videos.
IMO? Tightly contest the stepback and make sure you contest and jump to his left, or his right from the defenders POV, as to not foul. While keeping a big sagged in a fashion that restricts him from driving, but not so sagged that it entices the lob. Hope he is having an off night. Try to force him to take 15-20 3s, be sure not to foul on his jump shots, and hope he only goes 5-15 with single digit freethrows
we've seen guys do well on him on occasion such as Josh Okogie. Guys that also get into his head and frustrate him also impacts him. See Corey Brewer. You have to be discipline enough at all times but that's actually easier said than done for alot of guys.
Harder than it looks, to contest his stepback. If the big sags off, Harden can go for a floater. If the big plays too tight, Harden drives past. I think the only think you can do is hope Harden has the mindset of taking 3s all night and/or have an off night. Point is, I don't think there's anyone that can stop him. Only Harden can stop Harden.
what I've seen work on occasions: - scrappy defenders (get in his head by gluing themselves to him and defensive full court) - versatile big with the length that can defend Harden on the perimeter. - Referees getting Harden in foul trouble and slowing him down (when Harden is in foul trouble, he is less likely to drive and attempt deflections thus making refs jobs easy)
Foul him a lot acting mad every time after foul swearing you didnt and hope/ pray the refs will swallow the whistle
6. voodoo pinning/noosing a james harden player plush doll in their locker 7. offering a sacrificial GOAT to their local pagan church 8. calling up silver and begging to send foster/brothers/mauer/callahan/goble/davis/malloy
This kind of thing shouldn't be commended, especially if the article is actually good. If the site / author earns some part of their paycheck via clicks, then hopefully you guys at least click on the article link.
I usually don't read a bunch of the articles and the delivery of this post encouraged me to click it and read. I agree with you that we should click on the good articles while ignoring some of the bad content (ex: Skip)
Wow... beautiful article and worth reading every word if you can make time for it. My takeaway is that Harden's ability to counter defensive coverage is rivaling an MVP level Hakeem. Both had/have an answer for everything you throw at them. Two smart players who work hard for our Houston Rockets. Gotta love it!
I would argue that Harden is more offensively versatile than Dream because of his passing and the fact that he could bring up the ball so he's harder to deny. Even during the championship years, our offense with Dream was slightly below average at 15th out of 27 teams. During the second championship year, our offense got better because of the Clyde trade and Cassell maturing.
I guess what I mean is that no matter what defense you threw at Hakeem, it was still a safe bet to make him the focal point. I'd say the same about James Harden. There's no comparison to the offensive firepower that we have now to then just like there's no comparing the defenses from then to now.
This where I draw the comparison of Harden to Brady. I think the most impressive aspect of Hardens game is his ability to process information so quickly. He can manipulate the defense and pick you apart based on what you’re conceding. Of course it’s dependent on our guys making shots but even then Harden can single handendly carry the offense. I’ll keep saying it, in my 30 years of playing, coaching, watching basketball I have never seen anything like him.