Harden became one of my favorite players at Arizona State after I watched him carve up a box-and-one with ease, using his passing ability and excellent footwork in the middle of the floor to exploit the gimmick defense.
Despite his lack of athletic prowess or excessive length, Harden has become an elite scorer using his offensive smarts, tons of guile, and a combination of power and finesse rarely knitted together by one player.
To put it simply, Harden is the evolutionary Manu Ginobili, playing without the shackles of Greg Popovich's minute restrictions and possessing a thicker, more durable build.
Last season, Harden's defensive problems weren't nearly as much of a problem as they are this year. There are a couple reasons for that. First of all, Houston's propensity for running the fastbreak allowed him to take more chances with less of a downside. On the surface that sounds like a cop out, but if you factor in the fact that Harden was the only Rocket who consistently created his own offense last year, keeping him out of foul trouble was paramount to their success.
Also, Harden's backcourt mate from last season, Jeremy Lin, was a considerably worse defender than The Beard in 2012-13. This was partially because Lin was guarding point guards, and point guard is certainly the deepest position in the league right now. With Lin guarding opposing point guards and Chandler Parsons guarding the best opposing wing, Harden was usually given the easiest assignment (which hasn't really changed, although Harden was matched up with Paul George when Houston played in the Indiana Pacers a few weeks back).
For those of you who are big proprietors in advanced statistics (I personally am not, especially when it comes to defense), Harden held a slight edge on Lin in Defensive Win Shares, as Harden's 3.0 was good for second on the team while Lin's 2.5 was good for third.
According to 82 games.com, during the 2012-13 season, opposing point guards averaged 21.2 points, 9.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game against Houston. When it comes to PER differential by position, Houston's most successful position was the 2, where it had a +7.6 differential. On the other hand, the point guard position posted a PER differential of -2.1. In plain English, Harden's position was most successful last season while the team's point guards were outperformed by the competition.
The point I'm trying to make is that on last year's run-and-gun, one-off, heavily flawed squad, Harden's defensive inabilities weren't a serious cause for concern. In my opinion, Houston's three biggest holes last season were these (in order):
1. Lack of post production
2. Inability to stop opposing point guards
3. Lack of production/consistency from the power forward position
This season, with the arrival of Dwight Howard, the emergence of Terrence Jones, and the improvement of both Patrick Beverley and Jeremy Lin (especially Lin's defensive improvement), Harden's lack of defensive intensity is holding the team back.
Anyone who has watched this team for the past year and a half knows that Harden is its leader. He's the Rockets' top scorer, their best clutch performer (although he did more in the clutch last season; I'm banking on that evening out in the final three and a half months), and their most consistent offensive option.
Basically, this team is going to go as far as Harden takes it, and ,right now, he's taking it to a first-round playoff exit.
On the advanced statistic side, the numbers are relatively similar to last year, but as I said before, those numbers are highly contextual. Defense is best determined by observation, and even as one of Harden's biggest proprietors, it's clear he needs to rethink his defensive approach. Some of the blame has to go on coach Kevin McHale, who hasn't made consistent defensive intensity a priority, and some of the blame can be thrown on Harden's gimpy ankle, which has certainly affected his first step out of his defense stance.
But as the leader of a playoff-bound team with championship aspirations, Harden needs to take it upon himself to improve both his individual defense and the team's defense. As a leader, he'll need to set an example for the rest of the squad, and, right now, he's not doing that.
Houston is currently 25th in the NBA in Opponent Points Per Game, giving up 102.5 per night. Last season, the Rockets also gave up 102.5 points per game. Bad sign. In the 2012-13 season, Houston was more of a fast-break team, which generated more possessions for opponents, thus creating more chances for opponents to score. More importantly, the Rockets didn't have Dwight Howard last year, and Howard's presence alone has skyrocketed the team's defensive potential. What does Houston have to show for it? A defense that gives up more points per possession than last year. Another bad sign.
If the Rockets want to become the contender that their biggest fans know they can be, they need to focus on improving their half-court, transition, individual and team defense (yeah, that's all the defenses there are; they do nothing well on that end of the court).
How can they improve their defense? It starts with treating every defensive possession with the same kind of intensity. Everyone needs to be held accountable for his mistakes, and McHale needs to start getting on guys for improper and poorly timed rotations. I'm of the belief that if Harden starts focusing more on defense, and starts holding his teammates accountable for their mishaps, that the team will dramatically improve.
In the NBA, sometimes it doesn't matter how well you can defend. These are the greatest players in the world, and when guys like Harden, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Kevin Love get hot, they're unstoppable. However, not every team has a dominant scorer, and even if they do, those stars don't always have the hot hand (but isn't it a thing of beauty when they do?).
Defense comes down to grit, focus, communication and fundamentals. Right now, Houston needs Harden to reinforce those ideas in the minds of his teammates, leading both by example and by instruction.
If Houston's defensive woes continue, expect the boys in red to fall in the first round of the playoffs.
If Houston can improve its defense, no one out West will want to run into it come playoff time. Personally, I have faith in Harden and his leadership, but the time for visible, tangible and statistical defensive improvement is now.
Four of Houston's next five opponents are Eastern Conference foes, including Friday night's showdown with the New York Knicks at the Toyota Center. The Knicks are coming off a feel-good win in San Antonio last night, but Houston's fresh legs should be a major advantage.
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