Misleading thread title.. I think his D will get better with less Harden iso's and when the team shares the ball more. I think having JLin run the offense will take some of the burden off of Harden, that way he can commit more on the other side of the ball. His defense isn't completely terrible I just think he could give a little more effort.
I know Harden at times slack a little on defense but he is not that bad as people make him out to be. I know he had a lot of bad habits from the Thunder days because that team was so talented that their defense didn't have to be top notch. Plus, another thing is, Harden never really have a real defensive minded coach who preaches defense and got him to become discipline on defense. Another reason why Harden kind of gambles a lot on defense is because of the style the Rockets are playing. Harden knows that if he gambles and failed, he have Asik to back him up. Which makes sense because if he does get the steal, its off to the break. Harden is not an All NBA defensive team type of player. He tends to gamble a lot at times on defense. But Harden does play some decent defense when he really had to. Harden was never asked to be a top notch defender in his life and his role throughout his career in the NBA is to score and be a playmaker. But he's still young and this is the first time he's been with this team. I think a few years down the road, I think Harden will become a better defensive player once he gets more discipline on that end. But he's still learning and the Rockets need his scoring more than defense. That's why the Rockets have defensive minded players around Harden in Asik, Parsons and Patterson.
I agree with this. I would probably also add I think that once he gets a little relief on the court in MPG, he'll probably feel less pressure. When having to play 40 minutes, its hard to pull a player out that you need in the game after the second or third foul so I believe James probably plays it safe.
Misleading how? Lowe says that HOU perimeter D is leaky and that Harden "has emerged as the worst offender." Does this not mean Lowe finds Harden's D bad? And Harden has sucked on D, he gambles too often and, at times, show a total lack of effort. It isn't just my opinion or Lowe's either. Jason Friedman made same observation and said on the podcast today that coaches have talked to Harden about it. It is not non-fixable (like Kevin Martin's sucky D-- KM just lacks the physical tools) but it has been a very real issue.
Turnover machine-no defense-chucker! Get rid of him. Morey, why did you give him a 5 year max contract? This guy is clearly trash & overrated. Send him back to OKC. Give the Rockets Martin and Lamb back.
Parsons had a few solid games defensively last year, but he is not known as a 'stopper.' A stopper is a guy you throw out there against the offensive player in an ISO set and say 'get us the ball back.' Tony Allen, Andrew Iguodala, Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard, Mike Conley, Tyson Chandler, Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo. Those guys are stoppers. Parsons has potential and has shown flashes of it, but he's not there yet. And in general, let's not be homers about this. Harden is a bad defender, and the #s don't lie. He regularly makes opposing SGs look above average. Parsons is an average defender with above-average potential. And Delfino has not 'shown flashes of being great.' He has played passable defense in some games.
Misleading because Harden isn't gay. On a serious note, I agree with you. His defense is very inconsistent because of an overall lack of effort on that side of the ball. I think this team is better off with Lin as the primary ball handler creating for the rest of the team. This way Harden can focus a little more on the defensive side. It seems like when Harden is playing the point, that is when we get in trouble. The ball stops.
Jesus. I can't believe the homerism here. Harden is a true number 1. But he can't be a superstar until he does it on both ends of the court like a true champ does. No one made those rules up for Harden. That is how it's always been done. McGrady had all the talent in the world and never won squat. Why? Because he was never committed to D up. Same with Melo, but you can see that he is starting to try more and you see how dominating the Knicks have been this year. Meanwhile Kobe, Lebron, and Wade never complained about playing defense and scoring points. Neither did Jordan, Magic, or Bird. Should we count the rings? Lets look at Chis Paul, Rondo, Deng, and Batun. All these guys contribute a lot to offense and play great D. That's not even getting to the big guys like Shaq, Duncan, Howard, Hakeem, and Garnet who all played great D. I love Harden, but why are we going to let him coast? Why not let him feel some heat so he can grow into being a better player instead of just smothering him with homerism so he can never win a championship. Don't even get me started on Pippen covering for Jordan. Jordan was a superb defender who took it personally when his guy started to score. Do you ever see Harden do this?
When the coaches asked Harden to play both 1 and 2 positions, they really couldn't ask him more than he did in the defensive end. Now Harden is more of a 2 than 1 so I guess he is asked to put more effort into defense.
TMAC was a good defender. He won squat because he was a loser that gave up on his team when it mattered most.
What you fail to mention is _ look who super stars like Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, etc had/have on the floor with them... When Jordan first came in the league, his defense wasn't great either. When Shaq left L.A. and Kobe was on the court by himself, he lead the Lakers straight to the Lottery. Your comparing Harden to them when Harden is on the floor with a bunch of inconsistent players, offense and defense. A team full of bench players. On any giving night either Harden's teammates can't hit a shot to save their life or play horrible defense. Parsons is arguably the 2nd best player on this team and that's not saying much... When there are other consistent options on this team and Harden's defense isn't great or good than a legitimate discussion can be made...
So the fact that Harden's team mates are not stars means that it's ok to throw them under the bus to defend Harden's lack of effort on defense, something which is solely down to his won will?
Those are all good points that I agree with in general. So we'll just have to agree to disagree. I guess I'm just willing to accept Harden's deficiencies on defense because I don't think of him as on par with the all-time great two-way players of LeBron and MJ. Having good interior defensive presences will make your perimeter defenders look much better. We know Asik is solid, but I'm not certain he puts fear into the hearts of other teams. What we really need is a genuine shot-blocker at the 4 and backup center. That will help erase many of the mistakes made on the perimeter by Harden. I swear I remember Patterson being a better shot blocker his rookie season. He averaged twice as many BPG his rookie year per 36 than he does this year. If he could start doing some more of that, I'd be content with him as our PF.
Please point out where I said anything that was not true about Harden's teammates.... I didn't disrespect any of them just made a true statement. And are you insinuating that he NEVER EVER puts forth effort on defense...??? This is the young man's first year as a starter and he's in the top 5 in scoring and he is the only player who is in the top 5 in scoring and is in the top 10 in steals ( #8, he was #4 behind JLin before the Utah game). And there is only one player who averages over 20 points a game who averages more steals than him (Westbrook). You don't rank high in steals if you are not putting out at least some effort on defense. Would I like to see him be a lock down defender, of course I do... But I'm not going to be the person to b**** about a guys defense in his first 40 plus games as a starter on a young team building on their chemistry.
