James Harden impressing the USA Coaching staff with his defense

Agreed Clutch......We need more positive threads around here. You would think more fans would be happy about having James Harden? I mean we haven't had a 1st team NBA player since dream and he's 24 and he has the talent along with the size to become the 3rd best player in the game by this year.

I don't know about you guys but this is the exact type of player I was hoping Morey would get when he was star chasing. We couldn't have asked for a more ideal fit, james was the perfect franchise player for any rebuilding team, and quite possibly the best 3rd year player to ever be traded?

 

Hope this means that Harden's improved effort on D will carry into the next NBA season, when, unlike he does with team USA, Harden won't be on a team that is 12 deep with top level NBA players that allows everybody to rest when needed. The Rockets are not going anywhere without Harden substantially improved-- or traded for someone better.

The fact that Team USA coaches are "impressed" with Harden playing defense shows that these guys were not expecting much defense from him after watching him play for the Rockets last season. Some of the Rockets fans who are still in denial of how crappy Harden was on defense need to face reality.

 

yeah, that's the key.

Defense is easier when you are rested with less minutes. Harden has that luxury on Team USA, but will not have that luxury on Team Rockets.

This is your interpretation of the comments. You don't know what Coach K told Coach Gonzalez. He may very well meant it in absolute terms rather than your conjecture that it was a relative statement to what Harden showed in 2014.

Here is the quote again for Coach Gonzalez

"The fact that he came in and was focused on being a lockdown defender blew them away."​

That sounds like an absolute statement to me.

 

Were there really many people at all denying his crap defense? I'd say about 99% of the Harden supporters recognized the bad defense, they just didn't let it dismiss how good he is and how few other players there are out there that are better than he is.

 

That's good news hopefully when the season starts he puts out the same energy.

 

Harden can play defense. It just doesn't go away. The problem here is the clueless, incompetent joke of a coach that is McHale and is coaching or lack thereof.

No surprise that when a real coach like Thibs takes over, Harden's D makes a 180. He is playing D right now at all NBA defense level, small sample but still.

 

There's no reason for harden not to be one of the best defensive players in the game. The notion that he's not athletic is a joke or has poor lateral speed is another myth. The guy is 6'5 and 230 lbs. he's the biggest and strongest guard in the league and he has great length. He has all the tools to be great. It's just locking in and being committed the talent is their and it seems harden himself is realizing how important it is.

This guy loves basketball and is gym rat I don't get why so many people here question his dedication to his craft. No one get was good as him by luck.

 

cool thread op. Love to see improvement on D from him and not just jumping the passing lanes for a steal. I am sooo glad he was not hurt like PG a couple days ago. Stay healthy Beard, stay healthy.
Can you imagine the pessimism around here if Harden were hurt instead of PG.

 

Nothing new. We all knew he is capable of being good defender. The problem is he does not give any effort to it. But this must go to the couching too for two reasons: 1. Not emphasizing necessity to give best on D and give penalties/shouting/warnings/whatever when he is not defending. 2. Overplaying too much - knowing how many minutes harden is playing, maybe it's crucial to him to rest while defending.

 

You said "bench him" which would seem to mean "put him on the bench" and not "reduce his minutes," at least not in the context I have heard and used it.

But punishing him for something you think he did last season by cutting his minutes this season seems like a terrible idea. What if he plays good D in camp and practices? What if he plays good D for Team USA? Just ignore it?

I support cutting his minutes for his own benefit, but doing it as a punishment for something done a year ago can't help anything. The playoff series was a failure on multiple fronts by multiple people. No benefit can be had for punishing Harden because of his lame D in the playoffs while ignoring everything else. Should McHale bench himself (ie, reduce his own minutes coaching) through the first few games because of his mistakes in the playoffs?

Besides, these are adults and this is the pros. In high school a coach could get away with this, but I don't see any coach - much less one without a winning reputation - making this move in the NBA.

 

Believe it when I see it.

 

lol sure

 

That is freaky. You must have a lot of free time.

 

Well I can't wait to see the improve D by Harden this coming season. It will be whole different team on the D side of court this season. The bench should also be much better on the D side of court. Asik was great but he did not want to be in H-Town and his effort was not there all the time.

 

I think I'll wait before celebrating...
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YES !!!!! I'm very happy to hear this . I'm hoping Harden will prove this season he can be a great two way player.

 

We'll see...

 

Nice to read an honest thought on Harden from Carl

 

He didn't make that..

 

So true. McHale's defensive scheme is for everyone to stick to their man, play hard and hustle.