The media agenda regarding James Harden's "defense"

just doing the same thing you were doing

and I don't care about the outcome. That's not what im talking about here. the effort is what im looking at.

 

yes i think you missed the point. I am not arguing James is even an average defender. but the media Agenda cited in the OP is just that now when Harden posts a game like he did and all they can cite is that one play.

cherry picking. So my Curry posts mock that. You citing Curry defensive stops just adds to the mockery so in a way I should thank you.

Curry is prob at average or below average too and he has effort issues.

 

Bumping images down.

DD

 

yes, it's good defense - in the same way that it's "good defense" as letting a guy get a quick/barely contested/whatever you do don't foul 2 when you're up by 3 points late in the game.

It's a strategic choice - one that paid off for the Rockets, because this is how hte game went after that.

HTML:

Brewer Pullup Jump shot: Missed 	02:21	 
 	02:20	Lowry Rebound (Off:1 Def:3) 
Howard Foul: Shooting (6 PF) (2 FTA) (J Phillips) 	02:08	 
Howard Substitution replaced by Capela 	02:08	 
 	02:08	DeRozan Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed 
 	02:08	Team Rebound 
 	02:08 
[TOR 105-104]	DeRozan Free Throw 2 of 2 (19 PTS) 
Harden 3pt Shot: Made (37 PTS) 	01:47 
[HOU 107-105]	 
 	01:30	Lowry Driving Layup Shot: Missed Block: Capela (1 BLK) 
Harden Rebound (Off:0 Def:5) 	01:29	 
 	01:18	Patterson Foul: Shooting (2 PF) (2 FTA) (J Phillips) 
Harden Free Throw 1 of 2 (38 PTS) 	01:18 
[HOU 108-105]	 
Harden Free Throw 2 of 2 (39 PTS) 	01:18 
[HOU 109-105]	 

Maybe you didn't notice that, because you were too busy monitoring Steph's defensive effort. But the Rockets actually won on Sunday. Mostly because harden brought them back, and he slammed the door in the final minute.

 

you're quick to also assume he would have to pick up a foul to play good defense during that play.

 

Considering that the result of the play was a two-shot foul on Beverley it's not exactly far-fetched.

 

It's about minimizing risk.

 

well, Harden sure did minimize the risk then. :grin:

 

true, but it works both ways. Yolo is also factoring in risk when determining the likelihood of james harden fouling out with the time remaining on the clock.

For Harden's history or even the guard position in general, I don't think its ridiculous to think that his foul out chances were still pretty low.

However, still better to be safe because you wouldn't want to be going to overtime with that 5th foul which was still in play given it was what? 2 point game?

 

i don't think just putting a hand up would of resulted a foul

 

Come on guys asking Harden to try to play defense is exhausting, he should just stand at mid court while his nails dry and focus on offense.

DD

 

I'm with YOLO on this one.

 

JB is going to get flamed for this (not me, I am just the messenger ). Would be good to rewatch the game objectively and see if harden actually did any of those things

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spo...hp?t=a12227476d438d9cbb&cmpid=twitter-premium


"He's intelligent enough defensively to keep himself in the right positions early. One of the things he didn't do is give in defensively just to not pick up fouls. He continued to battle. We went to small lineups so he was guardinng bigger guys all night long. He was boxing out on the weak side. He continued to be physical, but he was intelligent so he didn't pick up those fouls."

 

yeah this is true when you have players who don't know how to play defense without fouling.

 

You don't, but can you imagine a scenario where he puts his hands up and a player runs into them and a foul is called? Do you know of any players in the NBA that are great at drawing fouls like that?

 

Not going to argue that one. This team isn't great on the basics. No Shane Battier's here.

 

MAN, do we need one of those.....

DD

 

So Harden has a 40 point 14 assist 1 turnover game, and look at the clip BSPN decides to put together yesterday: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14921784

Yep, no agenda here...

 

I wonder how much distance Curry runs in a game compared to Harden. Curry might not handle the ball for as long as Harden, but he runs without the ball, unlike Harden who usually just stand there when the ball is not in his hand.

I don't know the answer of this question. I know there are data somewhere.

BTW, I believe LeBron, in his first Cleveland stint, was asked to shoulder at least as much offense as Harden do. Same can be said about Iverson in his Philly days.

 

I don't want to hear anything about Harden shouldering the load, we brought in Lawson to help and Harden still wouldn't give up the rock.

DD