[SB Nation] Impossible, demoralizing task of guarding James Harden, explained by players, coaches

media conspiracy

 

Nice read.

I hope he proves the doubters wrong each and every season.

Man definitely knows his legendary talent isn't forever with the godlike work and toil he puts in the entire year.

 

When the players gave him the mvp over Steph the year he won told me all I need to about how much the other guys in the league respect him. As for the coaches all you have to do is go back and look at what pop has had to say about him over the years.

 

Ya know....


Before D’antoni got here it used to irritate me how much harden would hold the ball. I thought he needed to give it up more and move off ball better.

McFail always used to talk about the ball getting sticky whereas D’Antoni has embraced it and empowered iso ball. A lot of that has to do with personnel, but D’Antoni gets credit for not being afraid to buck conventional wisdom and go with what works.

 

James Harden was always a great offensive player. McFail held him back. I remember the number of times Harden had to physically fight of his man at the top off the arc to get the ball from people who didn't know how to pass. It wears you down

Mike OTOH just came in and played to Harden's strengths.

 

Guarding Harden in the playoffs is probably easier than the regular season. When you can lock down and focus an entire week to studying a single team/player, you should be able to defend them better. Plus the calls change in the playoffs. I don't recall many times Harden has really elevated his play in the playoffs.

Smart teams can do it. That's why SA had success. You just have to stay on the ground, keep your arms UP not out, and play smart team defense. You force him right every single time. You can't double him too often unless your rotations are perfect. I'd just let him get his and try and keep everyone else from hitting open 3s.

So much easier said than done, of course.

 

see 2015 WCF games 1, 2, and 4

27 pts 10 rebounds 8 assists 3 steals 1 block per game on 59/55/90 shooting, reasonable 3.3 TOs per

harden shoots more FTs in the playoffs so the calls argument is off. NBA wisdom actually says you need to figure out a way to get to the line in the playoffs because it's much harder to score from the field.

also san antonio had green/kawhi/anderson/simmons/gasol/dedmon to put on or help on harden, nobody else has that

 

Get out

 

I.D.I.O.T.

 

Harden is a dynamic scorer. Especially in the regular season, but in the playoff's when the pressure is on, Harden tends to tense up. Thus the reason why his turnovers go up. He had that problem with McHale and now with MDA. The addition of Chris Paul should help out tremendously. But yeah it is extremely hard guarding Harden. I know I wouldn't want that responsibility. hahahaha

 

i also know how i would defend beard, but can't share since we have other fans here.

 

Thats what separates a good coach from a bad coach. Knowing your players and playing to their strengths.

 

Of course. But it’s more than that.

This much iso ball was generally frowned upon. Now it’s a legit offensive system.

 

The talk here in MN is that they will alternate Wiggins and Butler to defend him so they don't use up Butler completely on having to defend Harden. Thibodeau is an elite defensive mind but the problem is this Twolves team hasn't really bought into that but it will be interesting to see if with the responsibility of the playoffs they start playing Thibodeau type D. For those older Clutchfans might remember that Andrew Wiggins' dad is former Rocket Mitchell Wiggins who was on the great 1986 Rockets team. He was an elite defender and was often called upon to match up against the likes of Magic Johnson and Isiah Thompson. Andrew Wiggins doesn't seem to have his dad's tenanciousness.