[2015-2016] James Harden the return of the defensive juggernaut

A Rockets fan didn't make the video. OP just posted it.

 

Lol, this is crazy, what if Harden played with effort on defense, like let's say close to DPOY, would it really ****ing matter?? I Mean the wonderful fanbase would b**** about something next..... But going back to DPOY Harden, this team still wouldn't have been much more than first round fodder, unless suddenly you have role players/JBB that could do ****.

Like it's pointless, harden not playing defense sometimes when he checks out is irrelevant when the rest of team can't play offense or defense, lolololol. It'd still be 1vs5. When Harden has a reason to buy in and this team is going somewhere then... Defense might matter, lol he could be MVP/DPOY and it wouldn't matter when 2nd option is Ariza and then Brewer playing like 30mpg.....

Remember how in the last game of the playoffs he was the only one doing ****?? Take him out of the game and rockets have 2 points off Dwight miraculously making FTs,that's how bad this team is. Defense obviously wins championships but right now, defense from harden is the least of this franchises worries.

 

It's pretty sad that you can't see the effect Harden's lack of effort would have on his teammates.

So you're seeing you're highest paid teammate not try on defense and you're going to give 100% effort now? You really think Harden's effort doesn't effect the play of others?

 

There needs to be more talent around him. It's hard to compete on both sides when he has to create the offense pretty much every possession. Do the Rockets do better if he gave up a little on offense and concentrate on more defense? I doubt we do better.

 

I'm saying from the FO leadership down to the players, there's just something off. And with the level of effort the team exerts with him in/out of the game it's still garbage. Sure you might get more from your team if he was interested in D all the time, but when the coach can't figure out a play, let alone a rotation it's a mess.

I also don't see how him not being interested in defense makes up for his teammates being worse than D-League, Ariza was like 20% for 3 and Brewer launched 30 3's or so before making one. This team is more broken than just defense is all I'm saying. I'd say even if MJ was playing in Harden's shoes it'd still have been first round exit, people seem to give Howard a free pass, but he sure as hell didn't look like some defensive juggernaut, I think that injury in last year's wcf really messed him up. Sure, we thought he was bad "bone on bone" last year before playoffs, but this year playoff Dwight wasn't there. Yeah he had rebounds, but man the franchise is a mess right now, and unless there's a good off-season it's going to be the same thing. They need a coach who can hold guys accountable and a true 2nd offensive option for Harden.

 

I don't disagree that he needs to step up, but this team is basically him right now and that has to be frustrating.

 

The thing is you can't make that excuse for Harden since he was SO GOOD two years ago on defense. He tried and it showed, it energized our team defense too.

Nothing changed from that season going into this season. Nothing. The same coaches, the same players.

 

He plays defense like he's 38 years old. This would be understandable for Kobe or Dirk.

Gotta love the patented defensive moves:

-One cut and your guy is wide open under the basket.

-Stop and point at your teammates during transition defense

-Stand flat footed, stare, and swipe at a guy driving by you in the half court

-The reach-around, usually in transition when he doesn't get back, but pulls out this gem in the half-court sometimes too

-Pretend to actually help, but don't pay attention to rebound when the guy misses

-Bite so badly on a fake that his guy is wide open (this happens when he actually closes out on a 3pt shooter)

-When he gets faked or juked, no second effort to recover

-The front swipe. When you're supposed to stay in front of the guy you're guarding

 

Coaching.

If an average youtuber can notice it, I'm sure the coaches notice that he watches the ball too often. Others on the team do it too. James just doesn't know how to watch the ball and keep his assignment in his peripheral view. Seems like a team philosophy to me. A coach needs to tell them; I know you want to make the steal but stop ball watching to the point where you leave sight of your assignment.

 

What about admiring your bricked 3 while your man runs down the court for an easy lay up?

 

I also like the pick two. They could make a whole video on just that.

And it's not as funny to watch, but his close out effort on 3 point shooters is garbage. It's a token effort

 

Hey.

Stfu.

 

There's bad defense and then there's James Harden level of bad defense. That latter is in a category all its own.

 

Yeah, I don't disagree on that either. I'm hoping offseason something exciting happens (new coach /players) and then with Team USA he comes in ready to perform afterwards, I mean hopefully his peers and fellow Olympic coaches give him **** when they start Olympic ball.

 

Who cares? Why would you want to even give that video any views as a Rockets fan?

 

I don't even know why peoplenty to stick up for Harden anymore. It's over. He's never going to be anything more than the worse defender in the NBA. Doesn't matter what he does. He's deserving and stuck with that label. No need to try to stick up for him. It's done, and you'll just need wasting your time.

 

Well Harden could actually play defense and change the narrative

 

The funny thing is this is actually true.

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Even though Shaq, Lebron and CP3 are not exactly known as terrible defenders, they look really bad once you put together all of their defensive lapses. And this is just from one series, imagine how long the video would be if it was for the whole season.

Lillard, Irving, Curry, DeRozan, Westbrook, etc. are all really bad to below average defenders. Anyone can easily make a 30 minutes long defensive lowlight for each of them, if it can be done for guys like Lebron or CP3. Just because nobody cares to do it, and really shouldn't because it's very petty and disingenuous to do so, doesn't mean this kind of video can only be made for Harden.

Anyways, I encourage people to check out this guy's channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjELebRh-Q70qHBseqQY1bA/videos

and type 'Lebron' in the search box. He has dedicated a lot of his time on exposing Lebron's supposedly overrated defense.

If I didn't know any better, my impression after watching all these videos would be that Lebron James is the worst defender in the league right now. Maybe I would be thinking like that if I was a Cavs fan and just wanted to find some excuse to hate on my franchise player.

 

I'm wondering if there is a stat showing how much points are lost by James Harden "defense"?

I mean if he gives us 27ppg and then gives up ie 16 points by playing "no defense" then it's a huge drop

 

there are two stats, DRPM and DBPM which doesn't even come close what you're saying.

DRPM : -0.78

DBPM : -0.4

I challenge OP and other people to find one evidence that suggests Harden is worse defender than Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving and Demar DeRozan.