I've said before that Harden is actually a pretty good man defender. His issue is really team defense. He's just watching the ball way too much and drifting too far away from his man. Lin and Parsons do this a lot at times too. It causes them to recover late allowing a jumpshot or an easy drive to the paint. On the other hand that's why they get a lot of steals.
Westbrook-Sefolosha-Durant-Ibaka-Perkins lineup(664 minutes) gave up 96 points per 100 possesions last season. Westbrook-Harden-Durant-Ibaka-Perkins lineup(408 minutes) gave up 109 points per 100 possesions. So not really true, it was pretty bad. For comparison starting lineup with Martin instead of Sefolosha this year is giving up 104 points per 100 posessions.
Clutchfans where you're only good if you score 25pp unselfishly, shoot over 50%, have a PER of at least 30, dish 8 assists, have a maximum of 1 turnover per game, play great defense and of course be a likeable off court guy with a salary inferior to your worth. That's the reason why Melo ain't considered elite on this board, Monta Ellis and Rudy Gay are considered scrubs, a prime Iverson not a superstar and Parsons an All-star. Harden is a scorer, if he played lockdown defense he wouldn't have the energy to score 25 and people would be complaining about how he isn't a max player.
Reminds me of Melo stans on UltimateKnicks. Whatever part of the game their hero sucks at is insignificant.
This is post-game quote from James Harden ... "We get so much credit for our offense but when we want to lock-in and play defense, we’re a very good defensive team as well." I think that pretty much sums up Harden's mentality. While most of the other players try to bring it defensively every single night ... Harden seems to only want to once in a while. The mentality is all wrong. I hope he learns that he needs to play D every single night, not just when 'he wants' to bring it. Tonight was a good start. Played fairly well defensively. But the mentality needs to change.
I don't think anybody wants him to play lock down D. Just wan;t him to be more engaged on that end. Wade manages to play great D while putting up points? LeBron as well. If Harden were to commit more energy on the defensive end his teammates would definitely pick up the offensive slack & we would be a better team overall. And like Pop said you are nothing in the NBA without defense.
TheShooter is in the NBA? I thought his post was pretty accurate. Does Harden need to amp up his defense? No doubt. Is he some sort of liability to play like some posters with agendas try to suggest? Get out.
Contrary to most I haven't been worried about Harden's defense. When games are in crunch time he clamps down. I fully expect to to see that from him on a consistent basis in the playoffs.
You seem to be making alot of negative comments about Harden lately, or maybe thats just my perception i dont know.
Get him another star or 2 on the team and his defense will improve dramatically due of having someone to consistently share duties on both ends of the floor. He has the entire offensive load, so common sense says he can't be a full time 2 way player right now. Educate and understand that intracacy and maybe we'll get less repetitive complaints. Judge Hardens' D once we get a bonifide star(s)
he's a p*ss poor defender because he wants to use all of his energy on offense ball hogging and doesnt want to pick up any fouls. He's the epitome of selfish, me first, hero ball.
what Bev, Lin and harden did in the 4Q against the Griz was awesome, all 3 just shut down 3 players on the Griz The "Energy excuse" is 1 of the dumbest arguments i've ever heard in basketball The reason Harden plays "Bad" defense is basically coaches wanting to keep him out of foul trouble
How is that a dumb argument? The guy was gassed and has been playing heavy heavy minutes last few games.
Last 10 Games 8 37.8 .354 5.6 6.3 1.1 1.5 2.1 23.6 April 5 games 5 38.4 .379 6.2 6.4 1.4 1.4 2.2 26.2 so Harden playing his avg. min means he gassed I can understand people using his foot injury as a reason his offense and defense is poor the past few games But to use the reason Harden's defense was bad all year was because Harden was Conserving Energy on the defensive side is just dumb Do people understand that Harden is an athlete and that he trained to be in basketball shape After Harden got mad-2blocks, 1steal , and gave up 0 points in 12 min. in the 4Q(Lin gave up 2 points in the 4Q) If yesterday is any indication, Harden has the tools to be a complete Superstar(aka 25 year old Kobe)
There's no way it's not part of the plan though. You'd think McHale would destroy them for it if they weren't working within the system, with how often they do this. They move in to help with another man a lot.
