Bigger than the defense takeaway - cause I'll believe it when I see it from him on the Rockets, consistently - is the fact that the guy would be even better with any other back court creator. This is the Chandler Parsons fallacy amongst the media. The guy scored... By either taking a three, in transition, or off setups, usually from Harden. Think about how many times Harden is set up.... Basically never. He doesn't have a Wade, Ginobili, Westbrook running mate. Which is why the prospect of a Dragic type joining the team is so intriguing and keeping that other thread alive.
The only way I see Harden becoming a solid defender is if he gets into good enough shape that it takes no effort to play it. If he has to spend energy on defense he will start off good and then slowly reform to his old self (this is what happened last year in preseason).
Harden will be a good defender when we have a coaching staff that puts more emphasis on defense. He is not one of those guys who will go all out on defense on his own, but as part of a sophisticated defensive scheme where everyone is held accountable, then he will excel, much like TMac did when JVG was here.
Out of the 3, you could say George is the best defender and probably worst on O by far. Durant the best on O, with Harden just slightly behind. Pecking order should be: Durant Harden George
I'd love to see that gifted offensive game in the playoffs one of these years (in a Rockets uniform that is).
It's all about minutes. He's had to carry this team for two years and playing 40+ minutes a game doesn't help him keep energy for defense. The hope is getting a competent backup behind him to help take pressure of his body. Then he can be rested enough to play both ends.
I don't ever think he'll be a good defender, but he can and hopefully will soon be an OK defender. First he has to upgrade from very bad to below average, then he can make the jump to an OK defender.
He actually is. Like him or not, Harden is elite offensively. All stats, numbers etc point to that. In fact, I would say he is the 3rd best offensive player in this league behind LBJ and KD. Think of it this way, he is a top 7 player in this league by most consensus despite everyone knowing he is amongst the worst defenders in the league. He has to be elite offensively to cover up his non existant D.
PG-JH-KD 3 minutes video (awful quality). I saw only the 1-minute video posted. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2bniqGnnEes" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
^^ Thanks. The video shows what most of us know. Harden is pretty good man to man defense when focused and can go against anyone in this league offensively.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Most surprising part of competition was when James Harden blocked a Kevin Durant layup & talked smack to him. Those guys were going hard</p>— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrMichaelLee/statuses/494869190893780992">July 31, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This article is getting me so geeked up for the season. Watching harden play is so much fun. Two really great takeaways from the article; 1. Harden focusing on defense at practice. He's so skilled and crafty offensively that it's easy to forget that he's only 24 years old. Defense is about commitment and effort and if he brings that he's only going to keep getting better. 2. Coach K Identifying him as a leader: He was called out as a leader among some of the NBA's most elite by a legendary coach. Again at 24, this is a great sign about his growth. Can't wait to see this pay off for the Rockets.
