I hear from some that Harden is very good post defender I always find that this is an interesting praise. To me, it is like saying a PG is a good offensive rebounder or a PG is amazing with throwing outlet passes Dont get me wrong, it is better to be good at something vs bad but is it even important? Franky there arent that many guards that post up so the skill is not really utilized regularly
When they run a switching defense it matters. He very rarely defends guards in the post. He’s defending bigs, and very well at that.
In this case, it's extremely important. The Rockets switch and don't have traditional bigs. Houston can treat him as a defensive four, which allows them to field a small, scoring lineup without losing much defensively in the post. He's strong enough to hold his own again bigger post players.
The answer here is that it doesn't matter what position you play, it matters what position you guard. If you guard players in the post then it's important to be a good post defender. If you never guard players in the post then it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that Harden is a guard, it matters that he guards players in the post. And he's good at it.
To answer the question: "It probably depends how much PF/C they play via switches". I'm guessing you watch the Rockets? If so, you would know how often Harden is found defensively in the post. The nonsense of him being a bad defender is all based on a selective video made by Rinfans years ago, which the ignorant focus on. Harden, for years, has been a solid defender (elite when switched to the post). Yes, he takes a play off now and then when up (or down?) 20. But go watch the tape of his D in close games and you'll see him winning Houston games by taking a charge, getting a steal, blocking a shot, getting a stop (etc). Side bar: chef Curry actually IS an atrocious defender, to the extent his coach takes him off for defensive plays. But no Rinfans made videos, so nobody cares.
Wasting your time with this moron, he does not understand the first thing about basketball, nevermind the system his "favorite" team runs. He is a Harden hater first and foremost.
It depends, it is relevant but when holding one's own isn't good enough, if you need elite production at it facing the best night in night out, then likely no. Interesting what a potential weight loss would do to one's post D.
this dude really said “there aren’t that many guards that post up”...so u don’t even understand that the Rockets employ a switching defense and that Harden is regularly guarding bigs in the post... Harden has allowed just 0.65 points per post-up in 2019-20, the second-best mark of 50 players with at least 50 post possessions defended. He's also been an effective pick-and-roll defender. Harden allows just 0.78 points when defending the ball-handler in a PnR, ranking 31st of the 164 qualified players. this season Harden is 3rd in percentage of defensive possessions spent guarding the post among regular rotation players, and he’s leading the league with 107 possessions spent guarding the post...the next closest is Maxi Kleiber with 83 last season he had the highest frequency of possessions spent guarding the post at 20%...next closest was at 12.5%...he had 212 possessions spent guarding the post with Cauley-Stein being the next closest at 144 so yes, an NBA player who plays in a switching defense, spends the most possessions in the league guarding the post, is the best post defender in the NBA, and is also good at guarding the PnR ball handler is a huge deal I give this thread 0/5 stars destroying Harden haters like OP is my favorite pastime...coronavirus had put me out of commission, but with the NBA coming back, I’ll be back to continue handing out these beatdowns
/thread. Obviously, someone like Caruso probably isn't going to look to back down Harden to try to get points. However, switching his defender (Harden) onto someone like Anthony Davis should, in theory, be the more favorable matchup. Even though the big man offense is "dead," you still have guys like Davis, Harrell, Jokic, Porzingis, Aldridge, etc who all like to use the post. And that's just in the WC.
It’s definitely important for a switching defense and harden is great at it. HOWEVER, I don’t think enough attention gets paid to how many times he doesn’t even try to fight over the screen. And yes I know you guys are going to say it’s by design but none of our other guards do it. Either way two things can be true, he’s great at it and I love when teams try to attack him there. At the same time, I’d like to see him at least try to fight over the screen more.
Interesting comparisons. Good offensive rebounding PG's (like Steve Francis) are helpful for the same reason anyone getting offensive rebounds is helpful. And I've seen Stockton & Magic win games with key late-game outlet passes.
@hikanoo49 if it weren't for Harden your hero Jermey Lin would have made one of your predictions a reality right? 1. A pass first Derrick Rose with better BB IQ 2. A younger more athletic Tony Parker 3. A more athletic John Stockton without the jump shot 4. A stronger more athletic Steve Nash