You make a fair point, but in the context of quite a few plays he does not perform as well defensively as his basketball intelligence would suggest (either losing his man or gambling on a low percentage steal). I'm not having a go at Harden's development. I'm actually in awe of his progress and think he is a lock for most improved player but this thread asked for an area he can improve upon and due to his stellar offense, his defense is comparatively weaker
Many of the areas Harden needs to improve on (defense/turnovers/shot selection) are all fairly easily fixed. The one area I think you will see real improvement in is his 3 point shot. He is a naturally gifted shooter and could see him regularly at or over .40% from there.. Which will make him even more dangerous because he can get that shot whenever he wants it.
Harden doesn't seem like the vocal guy, or the post up guy. He just needs to improve his defense, and he'll be best SG next year.
That is fair... I just don't think it is that he doesn't care like some players.. I expect him to become a good to very good defender... Right now he is not there.
1. effort on defense. 2. learn how to play off the ball better the way rip hamilton and reggie miller do. 3. be a more willing passer when driving to the basket.
I think he a very willing passer when he drives for the bucket. A better question might be, why should he pass out of the drive more than he does already? He usually scores, and frequently gets the and 1.
he still takes on too many multiple defenders while he has multiple wide open teammates waiting to shoot the 3. ive seen parsons wave his arms in disgust several times because he was wide open for a 3 while harden bowls over 2-3 defenders. He has gotten better lately and i hope it was just him readjusting to his team.
yeah, if he can start playing defense, become a leader and pass more and be a playmaker, watch out NBA! we will have a bright future
He playmakes really well.. I have no issue with his decision making on the offensive end, he has the second highest non-PG assist per game (behind lebron) with 5.6
Defense and leadership will come with time. He really needs is to improve his game. He doesn't need post-up moves just yet because he's young enough to score by blowing past people. But he does need to learn to score more from the wings and baseline - as at times that is all that the Defense will give him.
Maybe OP should just sit back and appreciate how good Harden is already instead of claiming that he's not a legitimate #1 option, complaining about how he doesn't draw charges, comparing him to Steve Francis (LOL), or speculating that we'd be a better team with Kevin Martin. It's seriously reminiscent of Laker fans who nitpick every aspect of LeBron's game because they're threatened by the fact that he's better than Kobe. It's getting old. Anyway, he needs to make more of a commitment to playing fundamentally sound defense. The whole team does with the exception of Asik. Otherwise, Harden is aces.
This is the difference between camera angle and 1st person POV. What we see is not what Harden sees. What we perceive to be a good passing lane may not be such for Harden. While we can scan the court with a birds eye view, Harden on his drives has defenders in front of him and behind him. From all reports, Harden is both a willing passer and a capable passer. If he's not passing to an open man, it's likely either because he believes he still has the better shot, or he can't see or pass to the other player.
Pass a little more in transition instead of taking on 3 guys by himself. Dunk a little more. Defend a lot more.
Decrease turnovers, become a bit more vocal as a leader, and defense. That's about it. Harden is 6'5 and relatively slow, he's usually being guarded by the opposition's best wing defender, I don't think adding a post-game would be that important.
