Can we talk about James Harden's defense for a minute?

Yep the days of him being the worst defender on the floor are over.

 

People love to speak on things they have little to no knowledge of.

Harden’s defense happens to be one of those popular subjects.

 

legend has it he will win DPOY and MVP

 

as Tucker said, when he is engaged he can be an excellent defender. Post defence for his size and position is excellent. High steals is because he does gamble frequently.

Often though there are defensive lapses where his defensive engagement is not there. I understand this is a result of energy conservation as he carries an abnormally high load on the offensive end but lets not try and pretend Harden out there 'out hustling' people on defense, its semi-engaged at best and lackadaisical quite often.

I'm hoping with full strength team entering playoffs he can up his defensive energy and also rely on team mates more on the offensive end to balance out the load. In gaming winning situations on the defensive end we've seen what fully engaged defensive mode Harden looks like and its look damn good, wish it could come out more often but don't blame him for saving energy in regular season games.

 

The combination of Capela’s ability to effectively guard perimeter players as a center and Harden’s ability to effectively guard big men as a guard is the secret to the rockets successful switch everything defense.

 

Harden is in striking distance of overtaking Paul George to lead the league in steals/game.

 

I'm sorry, but he's not excellent. He's improved, but still way too many plays where he's just too lazy to defend. Did you see that battle he passed to the Wolves player where he was back with another guy and gave up, half-assing it? That's one example, but there's plenty in the last few games where he just doesn't rotate over, is too late or just accepts defeat. The worst thing about it is that he's that good on offense, but his attitude reflecting this belief is not good. The worst thing though: yelling at his teammates, even for his OWN MISTAKES!

 

Nobody thinks BMW’s are the worst car out there lol, like they do with Hardens defense.

It’s more like the Miata crowd.

 

I don’t get this

 

Very good instincts, still just a decent defender. He gets blown by a lot and the second the pick and roll comes he switches... doesn’t even try to fight over it.

Having said that he’s much better, and is great in the post. If he can turn it up in the playoffs with the offensive load he carries we’ll be good

 

He's still a terrible one on one perimeter and transition defender. He executes the switch well and defends in the post really well. He's a league leader in steals and deflections.

We used to hide him on the worst perimeter player. Now we've started hiding him on the outright worst player on the floor almost regardless of size. He's been defending a lot of 4's and sometimes even 5's. The knock on effect of that is when his man sets a pick, Harden executes the switch well and now he's one on one with a perimeter player. Here he's not good, but the fact that it's practically an iso at this point helps him as those are easier to defend. Putting him in the right spots has been an excellent strategy. Who you get matched up against makes a big difference, even if you haven't changed much. This is why Durant looks good on defense in GS. Who you're defending, where you're defending them and who's defending with you matters a lot.

We have to be weary. Most teams can get away with having 1 poor defender on the floor, and we have bled from the a-hole when Anderson or Melo or Faried have been on the floor. It's a clear indication that James is the 1 poor defender our defense can tolerate on the floor, and that as long as he's here and we're doing all these gymnastics to make him effective there, we should never seek starters who can't play defense. That's why I can't fathom how people can want Faried to start or thinking about adding future FA's that can't play defense. To avoid disaster, every starter other than Harden has to be able to play defense.

A player is not just their defense though and never has that been more true than with Harden. His elite playmaking and rebounding combined with his historic scoring make him an overall MVP-level plus on the floor. If Harden was playing average defense with the rest of his game intact, we would be winning 60+ games even with injuries. I don't think people quite understand how incredible he is offensively, even as he averages an efficient 36ppg. It's more than that. Offensively, he's a tier above prime Kobe (because of efficiency), Lebron (because of volume) and MJ (because of assists). To say he plays average defense imo ignores what that would look like in terms of impact. Even with injuries, we would win 60 this season if we had a player who is arguably the best offensive player of all time and plays average defense.

To me I am certain he has always had and will always have an attention problem. Off the ball (on both ends), his mind drifts and he can't help it. We've dealt with it well. He dumps in some more effort when the playoffs roll around. I've often wondered if that's why his offense doesn't take a step up when the playoffs come. He doesn't owe us more than that though. He's giving us $60m+ worth of value at $35m imo. The guy is such an incredible player, a generational talent with a higher impact on the floor than anyone else in the NBA. I can easily live with the defense he's playing, and the team can easily help him on that end since he's carrying so much on the other end.

 

1st team all defense would raise eyebrows league wide.

 

I start to think you are Morey, I used to think i watch games too analyticaly and then i read your posts and see that theres someone who just goes another gear with it Mathloom nickname and arrival date fit too

 

The ones who still say he doesn't play defense are the same ones who think Harden isn't the MVP.

 

Thanks! If I'm Morey where are my paychecks?

 

what paychecks? Tilman is saving your money

 

Remember at the beginning of the season when switching was killing us because Capela couldn't stay in front of his man on the perimeter? My, has he improved!

 

Harden is good to great defensively in the post or when he turns it on, however, occasionally he tends to ball watch, loses his man, doesn’t rotate on open shooter, and not box out on rebounds is when he is absolutely atrocious. I get it with the offensive load but he needs to find a balance or better yet excel on both ends in the playoffs.