[Huffington Post] James Harden's Glaring Defensive Problem Is Way Worse Than You Thought

I see no lies told.

 

I give my dog a treat after every meal. If she comes to me after her next meal, and I dont want to give her a treat, can I blame her? He hasnt had a real coach in 4 YEARS. he hasn't been in a situation with accountability in 4 YEARS. I'm not thrilled about what he is on offense, but FOUR YEARS of ZERO accountability, of the "head coach" not knowing what planet he is on sometimes, of a GM that only cares about a coach he can controls... think about it. What else do you expect from a mentally weak (albeit super talented physically) guy who has an addiction to strippers?

 

What's a "real coach" going to do? Up until this year harden has achieved a lot of success being the player he is until this obvious regression. You think someone is just going to come and in and change him all of sudden from how long hes been a pro bball player? That's definitely not happening. Theres no way in these last few years that no one has attempted to hold him accountable. He just likely doesnt care and at the end of the day will do things his way. McHale held in accountable and look what happened. Harden gets him fired.

 

To win a championship, Harden can NOT be your best player. He is best as a 2nd/3rd option on a championship team in my opinion. I've been saying this back in 2012 that Harden is a flawed player. The way he plays the game is flawed, he is playing like an AND1 street ball style of play which really hurts the team when he has an off game and probably the laziest player without the ball as he stands on top of the 3pt arc(to rest). I think a hard-nosed coach is much needed for Harden(Sloan, Tibs, Pops, Pat Riley type coaches) that would get into his face and hold him accountable.

 

Its easy to cherry-pick like the author did in just 3 games to push a narrative

The following article though shows really that its not just James but rather an overall team lack of effort and lets face it, thats really all about the coaching.

This author actually took the time to figure out what was wrong instead of cherry-picking in order to jump on the "bash-James-Harden" bandwagon

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25432836/i-stupidly-watched-every-rockets-defensive-transition-possession

 

Here's a solution; can we call a time out on every defense play and get Harden out of the game?

 

Rockets should try putting Harden at the PF spot. Harden's upper body strength is strong enough to hold down some PF's in the league and this way Harden doesn't have to move his feet as much since the man doesn't like to move/run.

 

Are you watching the games? He makes multiple defensive mistakes every game and over the season he's been one of the worst defensive guards in the league. His offensive prowess has been impressive but defensively he's only able to focus for a fraction of the game. His play is a huge problem because that puts two positions (SG and PF) where we routinely get dominated, not to mention that our "stoppers" (Beverley/Ariza) have been substandard defensively this year. The only two bonafide defenders on our team are Howard and Capela. You just can't plug that many holes with a trade or two, and the most glaring defensive weakness is Harden.

 

not much of a smart move here. add this and then you just speed up the process of his body breaking down even more than the rate its going now. Even then he won't be stopping the pf's in the league

 

It is him first and foremost. What make it worse is he's the leader of this team. But this isn't anything new. Always been like this. I blame McHale. Ok, maybe it's not McHale, but McHale sure didn't try to change the behavior.

 

They can still give it a game or 2 to test it out. What better option is there now? It's not like Houston is winning games consistently. Harden is getting killed guarding SG's and SF's anyways.

 

they aren't winning but i wouldn't say that's something to do if your actually trying to keep harden in the long run. At this point the better option is likely some kind of trade. Who's going out and coming in is anyone's guess. Were at midseason so the team is pretty much who they are at this point. But who knows they may roll the dice and still keep hope that these players will somehow figure it out by the end of the season. If there's no firm identity by now, its hard to keep holding out for this team.

 

I love how everyone thinks Thibs can change Harden or if we trade for player x,y or z.. It will change Harden...

The only person that can change Harden is Harden and right now I don't see him changing any time soon...

Why should he change.. He still makes millions from the Rockets and Adidas.. He still starts... He still plays no matter what... He still gets invited to the All-Star game.. He still gets invited to Team USA..

So why the HELL should he change???

Harden is the modern day Adrian Dantley... and he's not going to change anytime soon...

So you can either accept him the way that he is, stop watching the games or continue to b*tch about the situation...

T_Man

 

I've seen better defense played at the NBA All-Star game.

 

"Of course, all of the onus does not fall on Harden: Dwight Howard has predictably been a colossal disappointment"

I stopped reading after that

 

good one.

 

Are you saying Rockets should ship him out? Because If Harden plays for the Spurs, Pops would get in his face to yell/bench him and maybe even trade Harden away if he plays the way hes for Houston.

 

Harden would be a great 6th man.... Leader not so much.

 

There is a difference between "can't play defense" and "won't play defense". Embarrassing that JJ Redick is referenced as being a more serviceable defender. There isn't a single tangible reason that he should be better than Harden on defense.

Harden is a joke.

The full schedule of Rockets games is available online, complete with TV listings. You ought to try and watch some of the games this year. It'll help with your assessment.

 

if you have spent any time watching this seson there's no cherry-picking necessary - harden routinely plays sloppy and lazy defense intermingled with the occasional strong effort or passing lane pay-off.

sure, the whole team has been worse at D but as the lone megastar on this team there is a level of responsibility to give your all. harden laughably fails at this far too often. if the team is to improve to last years level it starts and stops with him. if he isn't holding himself accountable than why should anyone else?