Loved the vid man Props I despise Stephen A Smith... can't stand listening to that dude he and that chick on first take are super biased reporters Lets Go Rockets!!!!!
This past weekend I saw Rick Fox and other guys on NBATV totally discounting Harden's defense this year. Rick Fox was actually being complimentary but also stupid. He said something to the effect that Harden was doing so good with assists and rebounds this year as well as scoring that people should overlook his bad defense. The other guys just laughed as if Harden wasn't quite there because of his poor defense. It was clear that Fox didn't know what the hell he was talking about. They were all totally clueless as to what Harden's been doing on the defensive end this year. I've heard some opposing teams announcers talk about how good Harden's defense has been, and I think I even heard Hubie Brown talk about it once. But plenty of national commentators are still completely clueless. Hopefully this video will lay the seed for a change in perception and Clutch's video will cement the whole thing and turn it around. I think as Rockets fans we are all proud of how hard Harden's worked on his game and the improvements he's made. The Rockets record despite crazy injuries testifies not only to how Harden has improved but the whole team.
Awesome vid! Hope this helps change the nat'l media narrative on JH. In all honesty it doesn't matter what the narrative is, as long as we keep stacking W's. That is the only thing that matters...
Feel like Zach Lowe was specifically addressing this video on the BS. Report that came out today. Saying something like that Houston needs to pump the breaks if they are trying to push this Harden is a beast defender now. He basically said Harden is putting in the effort so he's playing ok defense and that's what Houston needs.
Which, to me, is perfectly fair. Most rational Clutchfans won't actually be campaigning for an all-Defense spot for Harden. Our point, and the spirit behind this video, is that typical Harden offense + above average defensive effort makes one of the best players in the league, and you can win with a guy like that - which, surprise surprise, the Rockets are!
This is outstanding, well done! Of course any highlight (or lowlight) video has to be taken with a grain of salt but from what I've seen from Harden this year this compilation is pretty spot on. Clearly James worked on what he knew was a glaring weakness in his overall game. He's backing up what he's been promising us for a few seasons now and it's beautiful to watch. He doesn't have to be NBA all defense to be one of the best guards in the game. And the national media talking heads hate to backtrack on a narrative. It probably will take an entire season (at least) for people to come around and realize that 2014-15 Harden isn't the same cat as before. All he has to do is continue the trend.
Haven't heard the podcast, but did he elaborate? What exactly is "average" defense? I mean, is Harden locking down defenders like Jordan did, or able to guard a bazillion positions like Lebron? No, of course not. But I'd rate his defense as unquestionably above average this year. He has switched from all positions 1-4 fairly successfully. He is a great rebounder. He rarely if ever has those just not even trying moments anymore. He is well positioned, etc. He closes out smartly. To me, that's above average.
To me, as I think I am a rational Rockets Fan, there should be no doubt Harden is playing at least above average defense. The raw stats, advanced stats and just watching him play every night proves that he is one of the 5 best defensive shooting guards in the league right now (along with Thompson, Allen, Green and Butler). All these media guys that are saying Harden is playing defense, but average to below average level proves to me that they haven't watched the Rockets play much. Media is so lazy nowadays that they take whatever popular opinion is out there and run with it. They don't watch the game. It's nearly impossible to watch every single NBA game, but these media people shouldn't pretend they do.
I don't know how long it took MJ to squash the image that he does not defend. In his earlier years, he was criticized as an all offense guy and he took it personally (just like what Harden is doing now) and eventually turned that perception around. It will probably take more than a 10 min highlight or 20 games to change the beard's image. It also does not help that he does commercials where he plays to the narrative - "nobody ever calls me defensive".
Too many words. The root of it all is this: Harden has improved drastically and it is benefitting the team in more ways than one.
Ok, I'm not expecting people to dub him a complete two way player just yet... BUT, they are criticizing Harden for body language and ball watching? He's been burned like what like once every few games from ball watching. How is that a legit criticism if that is something literally every defender at times gets burned by? Harden isn't the defender Kawhi, Butler, Tony Allen etc are obviously, but to disregard him as not being impactful on defense is absurd. Tony Parker for example is a solid defender, but not an impactful defender. Harden's impact on defense has been noticeable multiple times whether its helping out on the weak-side with a block or stripping the ball, stopping fast break passes with timely steals, playing fantastic defense when it matters. Call me a homer. I don't care... But to completely disregard Harden's impact thus far as not being impactful is just foolish.
Thanks JR. I can basically sum up his logic with the following: Premise: Dwight Howard will occasionally miss uncontested point blank dunks Conclusion: Dwight Howard is a below average dunker.
He just has to keep playing the way he is on "D" the rest of the season and playoffs. He'll eventually get the recognition. If not, who cares.
The more ElHassan et al. hate on Harden's D, the harder he will play. They are just setting themselves to look even more stupid later on.
They talked about The Rockets and more specifically Harden and his defense today on the ESPN NBA podcast. Rockets talk starts at the 37 minute mark. http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=12010567 They all seemed to agree that The Rockets and Harden are really being overlooked. Especially how they keep winning without Dwight. They acknowledged Hardens improvement on defense and believe all the scrutiny has pushed him to prove all the naysayers wrong. Other thing they mentioned was that they have heard rumblings that some of the players and people in the organization aren't exactly happy with Dwight.
