How did he look in the Playoffs?...because that's when it counts can't remember, he could be coasting though.
Magic Johnson.... Difference is Magic had excellent defenders on the team with him. Parsons and Lin are just as bad as Harden defensively. They show more effort but effort ain't sh!!t when you can't stop anybody from scoring...Lol.. Harden is just a 2nd year starter. All these guys are young (except for Howard). What da heck are you expecting...????
Thanks for your efforts RoxOn RoxOff! But... :grin: ...Harden always plays like he has 5 fouls. Leaving aside your idiotic claim that Lin and Parsons are as bad, what kind of logic is that? So it's ok not to try at all if someone, even when trying, is also bad? Makes sense, I have no idea why Harden tries on offense when there's someone like Corey Brewer on the team. How about some effort?
+1. Every team has their superstar/go-to-scorer. Are we gonna assign responsibility to LeBron's scoring when we play Miami, Love when we play T-wolves, Rose when we play Bulls, etc? I mean, Melo scored 45p on us couple nights ago ... so?
NOT saying we play stellar D. I mean, our D can definitely use tons of improvement, but I don't see the merit in assigning "responsibility" on a per possession basis. As long as our players put in good efforts, learn from their mistakes, and improve, I think we will be just fine.
Yeah, assists aren't the primary defenders fault. I mean, you never see a guy beat his man off the dribble, forcing help and opening up other players.
I forgot Harden had 5 fouls, but I think McHale should have taken him out during the hack a Dwight because they were specifically wanting to switch Lawson onto Harden. But think our PNR problems is that the help defense is staying with their guy most of the time and that creates a lane or an open spot on the defense.
Harden's actually a pretty decent defender when he's engaged When he's engaged being the key words there.
Glad someone said it! Of course the assists come from poor man-to-man defense. This was really terrible display by our PGs, they either got beat for the score or forced others to cover up, opening their man for assists. Harden's effort is lacking, Lin's lateral quickness is the worst of a Rockets PG since Matt Maloney, and even PatBev didn't have his intensity tonight. We won, though, so lets not make much drama out of it. I hope in the future we'll find ways to stay in front of guys like Ty. He's good, but not DRose or CP3 level.