Auger: What do pigs flying, time traveling, and stopping James Harden all have
in common? Spoiler alert: they are all impossible.
Documents NBA Defense How to stop James Harden This folder is Empty
There is no stopping Harden, and it is insanely tough to slow him down at all.
His exceptional crossover, deadly stepback, and ability to get to the free-throw
line are three of the many reasons he is this year’s MVP.
However, here is my best shot at how to slow him down at all.
As I watched Game 1, I consistently watched Harden lull Wolves defenders to
sleep, only to pounce on them with a killer stepback and drill a three. For the
Wolves to slow down Harden, they must anticipate Harden’s first step even when
he is seemingly just dribbling. Harden is definitely not the fastest guy on the
floor, but he may be the quickest and craftiest, so studying, anticipating, and
staying in front of Harden is essential to slowing him down. Another way to slow
him down is to simply not foul him. Almost nine of his 30 points per game this
season came on free-throws alone. He has a gift for getting the refs to blow
their whistles by drawing in defenders, creating contact, and getting easy
points from the line. If the Wolves can limit the amount of fouls they commit on
Harden, he will have to find other ways to impact the game, which he definitely
can do, but it will be just a little bit harder. I would rather have James
Harden beat the Wolves from outside than let him get by the first defender and
give him three options: pass for a three, get an easy bucket at the rim or get
fouled and shoot two.
Ratke: You hire Liam Neeson and you kidnap him.
I’m joking!
Kind of.
Taken 5: Finding Jimmy Harden
This might sound senseless considering he scored 44 points, but I was actually
totally fine with how the Wolves defended him in Game 1. He attempted nine free
throws, which is actually one less than his season average.
These threes that he made don’t make any sense and they make me feel like a
failure as a person.
Writing a story on how to stop James Harden and I’ve decided to stop writing
that. pic.twitter.com/DDfqjR9hqy
Harden is going to get his, even if you do play great defense. That’s why he’ll
probably be the MVP this season. There weren’t many defensive breakdowns from
the Wolves against Houston that made my head hurt. They did a pretty good job,
actually.
You just hope that the Harden who shot 41.3 percent from the field and 27.8 from
the 3-point line in the 2017 playoffs appears sooner rather than later.
Andrews: If I had the answer for this I would be a very rich man, but I’ll take
a stab. I went back and watched all of Harden’s misses from Game 1, and there
are a couple common denominators, none of which will blow your mind, but all of
which are important. It’s essential for defenders to keep Harden in front of
them–an absolutely brutal assignment in the pick and roll. Yes, he’s a good
shooter so playing tight makes sense, but be careful–trying to recover if he
gets by you in the paint is almost impossible. You’re not blocking him from
behind, and he’s so good at selling contact that even if you catch up and alter
his shot he’s probably headed to the line. That leads into point two: don’t
foul. Harden is an amazing finisher, but he always expects contact. Don’t give
him the satisfaction. The final piece is cutting off his kick-outs. Harden
deflates defenses like a nail to a car tire, and when every member of the
opposing team is trying to swat him, he can find his teammates for quality
looks. It’s almost better to trust the help defense and pick up the open man
than to try to stop Harden from a bad angle. Guarding Harden comes with a lot of
bad choices, but I’d rather you make him hit every shot than bail him out with
fouls or let him rack up assists. Of course, this is very easy for me to say. I
don’t have to play against him.
Andrews: Seth just complained to me the other day about people making a team’s
best player their X-factor, but I have to go with Towns! He really needs to have
a big outing in Game 2. When Towns is firing on all cylinders, he opens up the
Wolves’ offense so much. Towns cannot let Capela bully him out of the
paint–Capela is a good defender, but Towns has to relish that challenge and try
to beat him. The Rockets have a solid defense, but a player like Towns is their
kryptonite. Houston likes to switch, and Towns has the ability to absolutely
destroy smaller players. Look how he sucks the whole defense into the paint
here.
More of this, Karl! So dominant against smaller players in the post.
pic.twitter.com/o8D9l0Q3ZE
Towns ends up finishing the possession himself, but with every Rockets player
nervously edging towards him as he backs down Joe Johnson, he could have easily
hit either Tyus Jones or Jamal Crawford for an open three as well. This clip
should make Houston very nervous, and the Wolves should be salivating at the
thought of what a dominant Towns can do for them.
Auger: Usually I would never use a team’s first or second-best players as an
X-Factor, as they are expected to come out and impact the game in a huge way.
However, the playoffs are a different story, as I am comparing the last game to
the next game. And because of that, my X-Factor for Game 2 is Towns. The Wolves’
All-Star had only eight points, 12 rebounds, and a pair of assists in 40 minutes
of playing time. Not ideal. Strangely enough, it seemed like more so in this
game than others, smaller guards were switching on KAT. At different times, I
saw Gordon, Ariza, Paul, and Green all bodying up Towns, which would usually
mean feeding the big man and watching him feast. That didn’t exactly happen, as
it seemed more often than not, Towns would fade into a corner and let his
teammates go to work. Even more strange, for his career, Towns has dominated the
Rockets. Against Houston, KAT has averaged 25.5 points per game (third-highest
against any team), and 15.3 rebounds per game (second-highest against any team).
Also, on the regular season, the Rockets allowed the third-most points in the
paint, an area where Towns should be living during this series. Hopefully
Sunday’s game was just an outlier, and if Towns can find the right balance of
outside shooting, and post-ups, we should be in for a treat.
Ratke: I’m with Julian and Seth here. Towns is Minnesota’s most-talented
offensive player, even if he didn’t show it in Game 1.
I’d be willing to bet a lot of fake money that Towns will have more than eight
points in Wednesday night’s game. My guess is we’re looking at a 25-point,
10-rebound performance which tends to be the norm for a player who had just two
games this season in which he didn’t hit double digits in the scoring
department.
Towns’ offense will be crucial, but so will his defense. You live with Harden
putting up 44 points on some tough shots, but you simply can’t let Capela have
20 points and 10 rebounds at the end of the first half.
There’s a good chance if Towns has a game we’re used to seeing from him, this
series will be tied up heading into Saturday’s Game 3 at Target Center.
Tipoff on Wednesday night is set for 8:30 p.m. CT on Fox Sports North, TNT and
Buz’n 102.9.
Player: Jimmy Butler
Player: Jamal Crawford
Player: Gorgui Dieng
Player: Taj Gibson
Player: Derrick Rose
Player: Karl-Anthony Towns
Player: Andrew Wiggins
Media Content:
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Media Keywords: NBA, Sports, Minnesota Timberwolves, Jimmy Butler, Jamal
Crawford, Gorgui Dieng, Taj Gibson, Derrick Rose, Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew
Wiggins, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves
Media Thumbnail:
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Taxonomy: 2018 Playoffs
Story Link:
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