How (Not) To Defend James Harden

[@bballbreakdown]

If you like this video, you will LOVE a video I did on my 3 Favorite Actions NBA teams run. It's totally FREE just by clicking here: bit.ly/3FavActions

[@kobeb4979]

We 'love' all of your videos coach🙄

[@bballbreakdown]

🏀 🙏

[@OjoRojo40]

Do you want to know how to defend Harden? Like this bitch streamable.com/i6cgp

[@erikjon8432]

all this changes when CP3 comes back..he can push it up the court

[@jjerrodaustin]

Coach i wished you waited a little longer because Corey Brewer was a great example as well of how he defended James Harden.

[@KingDayDayDay00]

Pippen got the whole league changing their strategies on guarding harden. Someone hire this dude as a defensive coach

[@greatest599]

Loro sono umano they were changing their defense way before pippin said that, the bucks were playing “pippen’s defense” like a week before that segment you saw with him and Tracy

[@shahiraslam]

it’s not like it works

[@quantumrelativity3849]

Shahir Aslam the bucks slowed him down using it tho. Don’t just look at the stats and see that he dropped 40 cuz he wasn’t in rhythm for the whole game

[@citylights3452]

Lakers will def take him

[@shahiraslam]

QuantumDan he dropped 42 on good shooting. We lost cuz capella went 4-16. Put CP3 and Eric Gordon on the floor and run that same strategy see if it works lmfao

[@kevinavila9489]

Scottie's voice alone could foul harden

[@bballbreakdown]

It's smoooooth

[@certifiedfinest5065]

BBALLBREAKDOWN naw it’s whack

[@sbastianbuds2152]

Kevin Avila god damn

[@insanitymixes1741]

Kevin Avila lol

[@VASTSports]

LMAO

[@disguy]

damn. 9:01, Tucker hits Green in the face with a right hook

[@EcUVn]

Yeah! Why did that happen?

[@Star-pl1xs]

@@EcUVn blind spot lmao

[@RINGSx5]

He knew what he was doing.

[@lifewasgiventous1614]

Haha what was that about?

[@disguy]

@@lifewasgiventous1614 haha I doubt it was intentional. Tucker probably didn't even realize Green was that close. Heat of the moment after Harden's shot. Looks worse since it was in slo-mo

[@aidanjh9810]

How to defend harden: Step 1: Have no arms

[@psssssyduck]

3. use a keyboard to bash him on KZbin

[@jero6328]

@dachicagoan 5. Realize you dont have legs either so you cant bash him with the keyboard at all

[@YoungBaller-sj6wd]

Nikola Jokic 6. Realize he meant bash him by typing on KZbin and not hitting him with the key board

[@tohnic441]

@@YoungBaller-sj6wd 7. Somehow some way Harden still gets fouled

[@unknownknowns11years]

Lmaoooo

[@ChristianSwayne]

You should do a video on how Corey Brewer defended Harden yesterday

[@abet317l.3]

Whaaaat?

[@bballbreakdown]

Dude was insane - and not in a great way

[@coolmeransom]

ChristianSwayne harden still dropped 37 on his head

[@randellwatkins9263]

Harden dropped 37 on 46 percent Corey didn't guard anything the Sixers beat the rockets leave it at that

[@asherandrew6563]

ChristianSwayne Corey didn’t do anything besides flail his body on harden. Harden was extremely efficient for a person who got trapped Everytime he came down the court

[@leosun5000]

Kobe assist😂 Good one coach

[@Wabbajaxe]

The Kobe assist has been used before, but I haven't heard it lately so it was a pleasant surprise.

[@chris_2208]

Kobe assist - assist that comes from offensive rebound lol

[@Jirl_25]

If they counted as assists Kobe would have the NBA record for Most Assists 🤣🤣

[@Kennysmelle]

I had to pause the video for that one hahah

[@shaft9000]

...and he won doing it, unlike Mr Hard-Head here :)

[@jamais412]

Best way to defend Harden has to be bothering him when he dosent have the ball in his hands. The guy is slow and dosent like to run to get open, instead he likes to push off. You get in his head that way and you want him to spend alot of energy. Harden is big on energy conservation; he dosent like to use his energy when it's not necessary there are players like Westbrook who just go 100 percent the whole game but Harden likes to pick and choose when to give his full effort. So you use that to your advantage and everything you can to make him run. That can even mean attacking him when your on offense, just make him move as much as possible. After you do all that shit whenever he does have the ball he will be gassed and he tends to make poor decisions once he's gassed. Yeah his teamates were terrible and he needs his main guys back but he's not unstoppable like people would like to have you believe.

[@DarthAbhi]

Like Corey Brewer today 🤣😊😂

[@kenechi9083]

Jamais hardens not slow

[@ahmedsalar9016]

If he was really unstoppable, he would be averaging 50 right now cause of his outrageous usage and the anounts of shots

[@fedelercari]

Corey Brewer and Marcus Smart know that for sure haha, Harden is a pussy, if you mess with him he is out of the game.

[@Darvin-Hams-burner-account]

It amazes me how NBA players refuse to play him full court

[@alejandrotoruno4636]

5:48 He rlly said, “Kobe Assist”

[@Chandasouk]

Wow. I like the voice over of Pippen and McGrady's discussion over the footage of the league employing what he's talking about.

[@aronma2765]

Last time I was this early, melo was wanted by a team

[@bballbreakdown]

hey, Chicago took him!

[@theconnaisseur]

BBALLBREAKDOWN exactly coach last time he was that early was just recently

[@malikjames9035]

BBALLBREAKDOWN and released him

[@joshuabryant9845]

@@bballbreakdown they said they didn't plan on keeping him lol

[@andreialexandruparfeni7129]

4:56 Nutmeg.

[@pljlbb]

This so beautiful!!! Love the SP and video comparison!!!!!

[@bballbreakdown]

Thx so much!!

[@therealbs2000]

The current conversation is limited and here's why. Teams don't utilize the basics that everyone knew in the 80s and 90s. That is, a great scorer is not just defended against ON DEFENSE. 1. You defend a great scorer WHEN YOUR TEAM HAS THE BALL. 2. You defend a great scorer BY USING THE RULES TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. (apologies for the all caps. this issue does irritate me so. lol) So with that here are just a few old school methods to stop a great scorer like harden...which no one ever even discusses anymore. Here is how you shave the beard. #1 a great point guard and team offensive concept to kill pace. Theory: control pace, limit touches. Limit touches, limit beard. #2 make harden play defense. you may think people have mentioned this but no one has truly mentioned this let alone done it. in today's switch heavy era a perimeter attack against harden is probably useless...but where are my stone cold assassins on the block? where is 90s era steve smith? Andrew toney? Kobe and tmac in the post? Even pippen. The point is...harden has six fouls just like everyone else. Take harden into areas where he needs to burn up fouls. No scorer has ever been so dominant as to score points on the bench. And on defense... #3a when you bring him into the paint, actually foul him. look...when he is going downhill at the big, he will draw the foul. you know how everyone is complaining that harden throws his body into defenders? Its already over at that point. You will recognize the team that neutralizes harden by these words: harden and the rockets will be saying that defenders esp. bigs are throwing their bodies at harden. we know harden is not pulling up for a mid range. punish his ventures into the paint. #3b to that point, the magic number is 18. You have three bigs...they arent doing much anyway in todays game. To me, three bigs means 18 times james harden gets hip checked into oblivion. Case in point: 4:03 is a play where harden should have been obliterated by the big but was not. someone dig up the ghost of bill laimbeer please. Those are just three basic ways teams in the past combated top scorers but clearly no one does any more. How might this look in a real game? On offense, if harden is not on the guy with the ball and putting himself in foul trouble, you are not running your scheme properly. Six fouls on james harden before half time should be the goal. On defense, see if james harden is willing to take the MJ/iverson level crunch 18+ times a game...for more than a week. No more questions about whether harden got fouled. No more bigs at 2:57 onward letting harden dictate the contact. Make the conversation into "how long can harden take this punishment" and you have already won half the battle. And finally this is why harden for all his gaudy stats doesn't have access to the goat convo among scorers. He has never been tested like above...he is running a glorified rucker tournament where he initiates all the contact, fakes the foul, and picks up easy points. If teams did any or all of the above, harden may still rise above. But he also may not. The point is that no one has ever asked those real questions about whether he is willing to pay a real price to get what he's getting on the court.

[@saidhuss]

It would be hard to draw 6 fouls on this guy but 3-5 really limits his game especially on the defensive end, meaning free buckets for the opposition. Also, the point about punishing his drives to the rim is a very good mention and something that seriously needs to be at least attempted because I'm sure after a couple of games like that he won't want to venture into the paint so nonchalantly

[@therealbs2000]

@@saidhuss exactly. The goal is 6 fouls...you wont foul him out every game. The point is he stops getting a free pass on d. The other thing that no one gets into is the psych warfare that used to exist but is phased out in todays buddy buddy league. A guy like harden also would have been tested and intimidated. Theres just so many ways the game has been watered down to produce a more casual fan friendly experience that some of these video game numbers have to be put in the proper context.

[@commenting4909]

I think the difficulty for the 18 foul method is the way flagrants are called nowadays. Pretty fine line to try be aggressively fouling yet not get a flagrant-1. I don’t disagree with your tactic, seems sound, but the refs can easily reduce your 18 fouls to like 8-10 with some ridiculous flagrant calls. And some of these bigs are on the bench for a reason, they can be schemed against rather easily (check some of the advanced 5 man stats, some of the nett ratings for certain combo of players are egregious).

[@therealbs2000]

@@commenting4909 my assumption is what you're saying is part of why this line of strategy has been phased out. so under normal circumstances the penalty for doing these things so far outweighs the benefits that it's not even a question that 18 fouls is suboptimal. however, the fact that this is now even a conversation is evidence that harden has been exploiting the rules to such an extent that bringing back some of these old school tactics might now be reasonable. this is really a two-part question...one is from the POV of potential playoff opponents who are at this moment scheming on ways to stop harden but are keeping some of their playoff-worthy ideas in the back pocket. the other is from the POV of the league and all teams collectively. in the case of the former, i don't suppose the playoff teams are much incentivized to do these things in the regular season unless they are trying to send a psychological message or they are mid-playoff teams jockeying for seeding. (see philly a few days ago.) as for the latter, i think if somehow teams just began to incorporate these playoff-style tactics in the regular season, there would be immediate effects within the season--for example, d'antoni would definitely start to complain. harden would add undue mileage and wear and tear on his body. scoring and efficiency would DEFINITELY be impacted. all of these are things the NBA (as well as the players' union) might not be too keen on, especially noting that CP3, who holds a lot of sway behind the scenes, would take note. i don't think long term any of the superstars really want to go back to old school ball because those ballers literally bled to get the NBA to where it is now, where the stars are pretty damn cushy. as for your point about scheming against obsolete big men, you're right in the abstract, as before. but the way i see it, james harden's play is in real time recalculating the relative value of those 6 fouls a piece, as well as the physical nature of those fouls. my point is that a tactic can be suboptimal in the short term and the specific but in the long term and aggregate be a winning play. case in point, in the short term, an individual team might lose a game because of the "suboptimal" use of big men going after harden, but the long-term effect it has on possibly altering harden's playing style could stand to have massive consequences by season's end. TLDR i am fairly certain none of these tactics will be used, at least in the regular season, but that does not mean they would not be effective.

[@emmanuelenyinwa1443]

I'm sure you are one of those guys who think "MJ is GOAT and 90s era 'punishing basketball' would intimidate today's'dofy' NBA player". Well, allow me to LAUGH. First if all, even though this video COMPLETELY missed the elephant in the room--the absence of one Clint Capella--when Harden drives, HE, not the defense--decides when there will be contact. He is not Jordan, blinly jumping into big men, turning his back and flipping up a shot and turning to the ref. Harden's drives have three options that are built into the decision. The first is to stop at the free throw line and see what the big does. If he comes up, the alley oop goes to Capella with a diving guard on him. Good luck with that matchup. If the big stays down, then Harden has a nice lefty floater that is like a knuckleball, but goes in.If the wing player dives in at the line, the ball goes to the wing where shooters like Eric Bledsoe and Getald Green and P J Tucker will keep shooting that three until it drives you nuts. Again, you are watching Austin Rivers as Chris Paul, so it looks bad now. Your more idiotic idea was posting up James Harden to get him in foul trouble. Ahem. You ever heard of a guy named P J Tucker? You know, bald head, loud suits, bling bling. Yeah, him. He will switch to your "Steve Smith and Andrew Toneys". Ever wonder why teams don't post up Steph Curry to achieve the same goal? Because that strategy has feet of Klay, Thompson, that is. He is like the backcourt policeman, shoing away the Westbrooks and Hardens and Irving's and Walls and Paul's from Steph. It's called MODERN basketball. Get with the program.

[@ayayatn4731]

How to defend Harden? First you need to screen the ref.

[@seaslug7421]

Best advice.

[@omgstoptakingnames]

lmao haha

[@kyleellis8665]

I laughed at that

[@josephmatthews7698]

Lol "Kobe assist" lololol I love that for offensive rebound and put back.

[@therambler3713]

James Harden is probably watching this right now taking notes

[@LeBaby-t3m]

Doesn't really matter..the refs got his back

[@AirundEr]

5:47 "as Nene cleans up on Hardens Kobe assists" xD you are killing me Coach

[@thekeytothecolors]

Another great analysis. Scottie’s way of defending Harden is impeccable

[@jamesr169]

That opening was phenomenal!! Gotta love Scottie Pippen, the most underrated player ever!

[@PeaceSieghart]

how to defend harden try to not get noticed by refs

[@wuzi7049]

try watching the games. even the refs have been trying to stop harden this season. and even they still can't really stop harden.

[@taylorbowens6095]

Wouldn't work you have to pay them more than harden is

[@wuzi7049]

@PackersBucksBadgers1 more than 20 is definitely unusual for harden this season. he had 5 against the 76rs and was averaging 8 at one point, which is far from 20. even early in the Knicks game he wasn't getting calls other players were, until he challenged a ref by taking a clear foul to see if she would call it. after that is when he started getting calls that game, but even then he hasn't been getting many fouls. last night against the Raptors the majority of harden's freethrows were from him taking the team fouls free throws not fouls he got.

[@DarkKnightofHeaven]

Harden likes the ball in his hands and making decisions to conserve energy, its also why he loves drawing fouls. its easy, low energy points. Harden hates when things are difficult though. Playing hard man full court on him and making him work to get the ball every time and run is something he hates doing and its when his good shooting(not elite) becomes quite poor as he gets exhausted (look at his abysmal flops in the post season since become an all-around starter). Flail a little every time he pushes off to get personal fouls on him and force him to sit a little. Even though he gets rest, he's off the court and when he gets back on he might get frustrated and do something stupid or reckless. In the end, you get either a tired Harden, or a frustrated Harden.

[@russell9411]

Yea harden is not a difficult type player. He great against no adversity

[@NguyenHung-om7ry]

U should make a video about how 76ers defend him. There are multiple possessions where they lured him to the corner and then double-teamed him

[@6sols988]

Nguyễn Hùng he dropped 37 in 3 quarters so I mean

[@heygeorgie3392]

@@6sols988 bout to say that

[@heygeorgie3392]

They didnt they stoped the Rockets not harden am i right🤷

[@6sols988]

Pedro Garza pretty much u gotta b honest with the way harden playin ain’t no real stoppin it

[@heygeorgie3392]

@@6sols988 yeah

[@Nomorehats]

Scotties defensive breakdown applies PERFECTLY to how TOR shut down MIL and Giannis. Force them into tough layups all night long

[@Korijenkins1414]

Its not easy to defend him, but it can be done. I guess I could point to the game last night, but to be fair he still dropped 37 points, and it was really the fault of his teammates doing nothing that they lost. That and very questionable officiating.

[@cg6171]

3:28 Harden TRAVELIN

[@TommyTomTompkins]

It hurts how many steps he took Edit: The nigga under me is right it ain't a travel.

[@alejandroromero6464]

Gather..1...2 Don't you guys watch it twice before commenting?

[@TommyTomTompkins]

@@alejandroromero6464 u right.

[@life-live-]

@@alejandroromero6464 gather one two three... are you even watching, he walked from the 3p line to the rim after one dribble he did at the TOP of the screen, which was above the 3p line

[@life-live-]

@@alejandroromero6464 he clearly steps with his right foot above the 3p line AFTER his dribble then proceeds to take three more steps So even including the gather step it is still a travel...

[@loco46m]

I thought Philly did an excellent job at sticking to these methods, finding a guy in Brewer who can be a pest defensively, having an elite defender waiting in the lane in Joel Embiid, and slowing the game down on the offensive end, which would limit the possession time for the rockets and really throw them off their rhythm.

[@niharsomayajula893]

he had 27 in the first half ans 37 in 3 quarters while being efficient

[@loco46m]

Nihar Somayajula I agree, but his team did not do well and they were blown out. In the playoffs, this works.

[@loreen129]

@@niharsomayajula893 This isn't 1v1 ball. Even if he had great stats his team didn't. The whole 76ers team did their best to defend Rockets ball. OP is just giving them props for their game plan.

[@Wabbajaxe]

Just got home and was blessed with this video. Thanks Coach Nick!

[@bballbreakdown]

haha, THANKS! 🏀 🙏

[@陳柏安-q5k]

3:30 omg harden traverl so hard...where is the judges

[@rikupv]

And I don't get how the double step back isn't a travel. Sure I'm not a ref but that's clearly 4 steps he's taking right?

[@ericgomez2990]

陳柏安 gather 1 2 not a travel just looks like it cause of how slow harden was running

[@rbdzn_]

i was dying laughing at that tmac and pip segment. when pip said he'll guard him at the parking lot lol. funny u used that clip coach

[@ethangordon5607]

This video does a great job of breaking down the variety of defenses Harden has faced over this stretch. He's getting trapped a lot and teams are doing everything they can to keep him out of the play. Brooklyn played some zone against him, as did the Lakers. Philadelphia ran Joel Embiid over to trap Harden on a number of plays. Actually, a lot of the time Harden makes the correct read on a lot of these plays where he's trapped or doubled, and the Rockets get a good look, but his teammates have been missing shots or not attacking the defense as aggressively as they should. However, these sort of defensive gimmicks are much harder to implement when Paul and Capela play, and when the Rocket's wings make their open shots. Not to mention these defenses are hardly "stopping" Harden, since (as you correctly noted in this video) he's still putting up huge scoring numbers on very good efficiency.

[@disguy]

8:16 how coach can continue to call this double step back legal is crazy. He even pushes off with the forearm/elbow to create even more space.

[@bballbreakdown]

If he keeps his off arm in, then it's not an offensive foul

[@jamais412]

I don't think that's a travel. But even if that particular play is a travel alot of haters like to act as if he does that same move every single time which is not true. Sometimes he travels (as does every NBA player) but most of the time he does not but you guys lile to exaggerate it and make it out to seem like he travels EVERY SINGLE time.

[@jamais412]

@Liberals Destroyed KZbin I can't tell whether or not it's a travel because I need a front view of it. But as for the arm, I'm pretty sure you have to extend your arm for it to be an offensive foul man.

[@AZIARGROUS]

Watch it at 0.25x. You can clearly see that he goes 4 steps from the moment he picks it up. It's just almost impossible for a referee to call it real life though

[@Ryan-yu5kt]

@Liberals Destroyed KZbin You contradicted yourself and proved yourself wrong. First you say he "literally took 4 steps after he picked his dribble", then you say he "steps back then gathers". Those are 2 different things. Taking 4 steps after gathering is illegal. stepping back, gathering, then taking your 2 steps after the gather is LEGAL, which is what Harden did. He dribbled, took 2 steps back while his dribble is still active, gathered, then took 2 steps. Do you realise its possible to do a stepback and keep your dribble alive? Hes basically doing a Hesitation move after those first 2 steps (while dribble is still alive) but instead of dribbling again, he gathers and uses the final 2 steps.

[@jamesconnolly401]

Hey coach how about an extra tactic to wear him out when he plays defence? If you make him chase shooters and fight through screens etc you will gas him out, that could be huge over a playoff series

[@wreck.create.MAK0]

lol when pippin slaps the ball out- "he's not gonna beat me"- u can see the heart of a 6 time champion - defender right there. he was the best d player in the nba for 10 years- better than mutombo and payton - rodman, hakeem, etc. mulitple time winners- but he never got the award. great injustice- he could and should have been a 5 time winner. him guarding the other teams best players is what free mj to do what he did on the other end. plus he put up 20 and 7 and 7 each nite. my favourite player- along with mj of course- watching them together was a perfect union on both ends of the court.

[@phothewin6019]

Love what Scottie said.

[@SmoothLion78]

Man Coach you look and remind me of my High School Basketball coach very knowledgeable & insightful love your channel.

[@bballbreakdown]

Thanks! Your HS coach must be a handsome man! 😅🏀

[@pipohemm8726]

So to sum things up, you cant stop him but you can make him work for his points. 1. Force him to his right every time 2. Different looks, use zone, traps and double teams from time to time 3. Always have a fresh defender on the field who presses him full court and denies him when he is offball 4. Use the guy harden guards as a roller in the pnr to force a switch on the lead ball handler, move him around screens to make harden work on defense or set hard screens on harden to tire him out. 5. Pray 6. Pay the refs

[@Sizdothyx]

One of the things that work with teams with great singular players is ... force the ball into his hands. Why? Because even at their best, a player plateaus/contributes to, as Scottie said, force the team to play the ball in his hands. Let them do all the work, push them in, keep cutting in and forcing the action. This does two things (three). 1. It makes the offense predictable 2. It makes the other players' rhythm go out of whack 2.5 With the other player's rhythms going out of whack it instinctually makes the coach go back to point 1. Doubt me on this? Watch the 2004 NBA Finals, the 1986 Celtics vs Bulls or any Wilt team that isn't the Lakers. You might not be convinced, but there is an argument to support my point in these games.

[@capitalsf335]

Harden would be unstoppable if he didn’t have high school quality players

[@bosco2814]

If they go zone like that, I don't think it will useful after chris paul back. and they are even without Capela right now.

[@lilstomachache4220]

It won't work trust me lol 76ers we're healthy we have to give them credit for that. But what about when we're 100%? Throw the whole video away lol

[@ephemeralbeauty4008]

@@lilstomachache4220 76ers still gonna tap that ass 😭💯

[@mduar1000]

Bosco Cheung I totally agree .cp3 is a maestro at breaking down every defense lol. Plus him being a righty with harden being a lefty makes Houston insanely hard to guard. Houston’s success will depend on how cp3 comes back.

[@ssk58607]

@@lilstomachache4220 76ers didn't have Jimmy either so

[@mduar1000]

@Lebron West 'Biological son of Delonte West' he didnt get swept by the warriors. The warriors beat lebron sk bad that they made him go to LA

[@takshun2249]

Corey brewer did actually really good at defending harden on the game yesterday. Did a good job by getting into his head as well

[@ajax7697]

Honestly if thats the case then all Harden needs is someone like Cousins. If people are swarming him on the perimeter and offensive rebounds constantly go to the Rockets, then Cousins would have a field day on that team with lots of play calls and rebounds

[@orepecalj305]

Break down the 76-sixers tough defense on Hardeb pls

[@wrldonwill]

0:09 lmao! Your content is always A+!

[@bballbreakdown]

😂🏀👍

[@kcho1200]

Just love Scottie Pippen !!!

[@cuttino]

You have to consider in most of those video cuts Rockets were without CP3, Gordon, House... and Morey may bring another wing like Bazemore to play as starting SF. If opponents are going to defend Harden like that, D'Antoni will have to put another player (apart from Paul) capable of putting the ball on the floor and making good decisions at SF. There is a big difference between those and Green/Clark/Nunnally/Rivers/Ennis making plays and decisions. Give credit to Harden anyway, he's responding to ANYTHING they put in front of him with good passing plus 40-50 points. Unbelievable. BTW, Philadelphia defended him very well yesterday using some of those tricks. They even doubled him sending a guy from the weakside (opposite corner) in the 2nd half. Harden's teammates couldn't hit a shot. Now: what should D'Antoni do to help Harden and his team?? C'mon, help us to beat the team with 5 all-stars..... :P That's unfair

[@djAmored]

@BBALLBREAKDOWN you should do a special on Scottie Pippen's defense. That would be great, lol.

[@DonnyDonnMendoza]

Was there anything to look at with the 76ers “limiting” Harden to 37 points and a blowout loss? Brewer & Embiid in particular looked like they managed to get him slightly offside.

[@hakeemolajuwonBESTROCKET]

how you gonna expect someone to stop harden............. when even the rules cant

[@gueropalma750]

Lmao

[@slumpgod8162]

N

[@54545flipperdipper]

hakeem olajuwon BEST ROCKET best rocket is YAO MING BITCH

[@DeRM0907]

@@54545flipperdipper Nah sorry, the Dream will always be the Dream imo

[@abhirgokhale6780]

Kawhi leonard: hold my be- Wait I got giant apple pie hands I'll hold my own beer and defend Harden myself

[@j-lon3564]

The thing about Harden is that he is the most protected player in NBA history. What I mean by this is that he can do whatever he wants and get away with it. There have been guys like LeBron and KD that constantly get away with travels, and guys that get calls they shouldn’t get, but Harden does both. You can’t guard Harden on the three point line because he does his double step back and gets away with the travel every time. You guard him on the paint and he either hits you with his patented 15 step eurostep or he gets a trip to the ft line. The only way to guard Harden is to not let him touch the ball at all, which is pretty hard since he is essentially the Rockets’ PG.

[@vince2778]

Best way to defend Harden is to involve him in a lot of your offensive sets, either you get good shots cause he's playing lazy defense that day or he spends too much energy on defense and he's unable to get good shots when he has the ball. This works pretty well when teams really try to go at a player like Curry for example

[@kennethbanzali7265]

Notification gang

[@str4ngr701]

my favorite action is coach nick's little head bobs on every overstressed syllable

[@HiChrisss]

Bledsoe did exactly what scottie was talking about, he's the best exemple of how u should guard harden

[@kyriethegoat8007]

1:23 "i don't care if he beats me going to the basket i don't care if he throws lob passes, he's not going to that with his left hand *pokes the ball away* " that was fucking badass

[@myleslida2715]

playing good team defense like that is so satisfying

[@joejett5084]

I love your videos. Espn or fox needs to give you a call

[@bballbreakdown]

Thanks so much! My phone is ready

[@lexluger1095]

Take the “Shaq Approach”: “I wouldn’t. I’d just go home.”

[@kevinliew3692]

u could slow him down but he will still drop 30+ easily, and when capela & cp3 are back, there's no stopping the rockets anymore.even for warriors (they already did it last year, but cp3 injured on the last minute) only a better offense can effectively def the rockets with full powers

[@IAmtheJuice]

hey coach, can you take a look at 8:10? when slowing it all the way down it is more clear to see but is that hop off the left foot landing again with the left foot then stepping back legal?

[@davidvillela7476]

Philly made him work yesterday, I liked their game plan

[@Desh282]

If only this video waited 1 more day We would of had highlights from Philly :)

[@skyMcWeeds]

PIP is a defensive genius

[@canadianslang]

This strategy would be a lot less effective if CP3 (and Capela for that matter) wasn't injured. CP3 is a great shooter and playmaker so there would have to be more attention on him. Interesting to see if they can play the same defense on Harden when CP3 is back

[@alvingacura2742]

Good point by Pippen its more tiring driving to the basket than to shoot a three..

[@romiarkan450]

1. Guard him to his left so he's forced to play with his off hand. 2. Give him that space to drive, but have a teammate step into the edge of the paint to intercept his drive, that way he'd be forced to shoot a bad floater or pass. 3. Stick to him off the ball. Don't let other players driving in suck you into the paint.

[@HeathBilbrey]

Love your stuff coach. Silencing Harden critics is a 24/7 jobs, and they are still crying. Can you do one on all of the legit fouls that don't get called? Especially in the playoff? Haters believe all Harden fouls are phantom and the refs favor him. All superstars get some of those calls, but if they called all the legit fouls on Harden, the game would be 4 hours long. Keep up the great work coach!

[@kingsavageyc3844]

Nobody can stop him 🥶🤯

[@rubenvalce]

The slick kobe assist though coach nick😂😂

[@mikeypark2917]

These plans especially the zone and double team will not work if Clint and cp3 are healthy. Clint would get wide open layups and dunks in a zone defense. Teams cannot zone or double Harden if cp3 is playing either cus he is just too good a playmaker and decent scorer. Cp3 would get too easy looks and/or make the right pass. Harden has been pretty great at adapting to the defense, and really as long as the Rockets don’t lose too much, this is al just great practice and training for Harden. Its better he figures it now then try to in the playoffs.

[@kakkamulkero]

Trapping zone defense (like 2-1-2), and when shot clock hits 10 you double him. It doesnt matter if someone else scores, just dont let harden get hot

[@real.j1]

Scottie whyyy I'm a rockets fan

[@mashrurrahim5288]

is the dude with pippin tracy mcgrady? cause it looks like him but a dad bod version

[@stantonh1452]

The fact that everybody is making videos about how to stop this man is proof that he is unstoppable.

[@shaft9000]

lol he will be stopped. it's not like this bullsh*it play style results in any rings. .... this is d'antioni-ball we're talking about.

[@EndOfTheDemocrats]

@@shaft9000 harden woul be champions if the refs didnt rig game 6 and game 7 in the westrn confernce finals

[@lebronjames5287]

@@EndOfTheDemocrats they didn't rig shit, they just lost cause Chris Paul wasn't playing

[@jasonmiller7133]

@@lebronjames5287 Review game 7. It is on record that bad calls took 17 points off the board for the Rockets. They lost by 9.

[@russell9411]

Cuz he flops. U gotta guard him a different way cuz its either he ref bait or he does his 20 dribble step back.

[@ariefputraart]

Almost right. The best way to defend Harden is to deny the ref's sight of harden. Put your hand in front of ref's face and contest them when they are about to blow the whistle.

[@timothycheng1634]

Making Harden drive is a good option as Capela not there to catch lob and ref not rewarding freethrows. Team are gambling right now. Once Capela and Paul returns, have another ballhandler to relieve pressure from Harden and lob catcher, and refs keeps favouring harden’s move, that strategy may not work

[@LilBiggums2K]

did nené make that shot at 6:06?

[@qqw743]

8:16 TRAVEL 8:40 PUSHING OFF. I got an idea how to stop him. Make him play legally.

[@thewesternreport2654]

For GOD so loved the world that he gave his only son (JESUS christ) that whosoever believes in him and repents of their sins, should not perish(in hell) but have eternal life (in heaven).

[@HeathBilbrey]

"Mommy... the refs aren't calling the game the way I want them too again!"

[@Marco-kl8nf]

"jAmeS stILL ScoREd 37 pOiNTs" *people really misses the point*

[@seannborba8416]

Damn this feels like a movie trailer with the music and s scotties deep baratone voice explaining how to stop the evil villain James "the beard" Harden.

[@muk9625]

Harden officially hates BBALLBREAKDOWN

[@eatdeez2947]

No none can guard James Harden. Greatest offensive player to ever play the game

[@MagCynic]

I would apply many of these techniques to guarding Steph, too. I'd rather have Steph drive to the lane for two than allow him to get shot after shot after shot from beyond the arc. A Steph Curry three does more to amp the crowd and team up than a Steph Curry layup. EDIT: I'd also want to see much more anger on defense. I see defenders play as if they're just sad to be there. There's no fire or intensity on the defense anymore.

[@DOUBLETAPM4A1]

I think fatigue will most likely be what beats the beard, all that ISO ball is exhausting I'm sure it's gonna take a toll come the playoffs

[@renceileto1776]

You know that NBA's too good when they consider 4:24 as a layup.

[@MrDunosan]

someone? are you talking about the refa?

[@Jirl_25]

The Rockets need Rivers or Green to run the point, at least sometimes to offset the opposing team defensive strategy. Keep Harden relax and work on a few catch-and-shoot off 5 screens like the Warriors LOL

[@aaliyahjackson2414]

The refs need to start calling a travel on this man

[@ChrysanthemumenVirtigo]

I wish the 76ers game would've been mentioned in this game too.

[@alex9046]

Can we stop a second and appreciate Pippen's voice?

[@bespushkule3136]

The best way to attack him is to attack his defense. He saves so much energy by that switching defense.

[@doctorvladandhisbluejaysd2802]

Rise my brothers! Oh yeah yeah

[@ruready619it]

I actually want to see how all these work in March with a full healthy team right now as the only star it’s working Ls are piling up

[@ivanmata66]

This man too nasty with it. Moving aside and not getting memed on seems like the best strategy to guard him.

[@kingsavageyc3844]

Everybody really plotting against this man tryna stop him they even got Scottie being the defensive coach for every team

[@HiHi-no8nr]

3:28 is travel? Or adventure?

[@emmanuelenyinwa1443]

Everytime you watch a video like this, you appreciate once again how incredibly difficult offensive basketball is in the NBA today and you find LAUGHABLE the suggestion that Jordan, with his very limited skill set, and legendary impatience, would dominate the NBA offensively"because there is no more hand checking". In Jordan's day, not only could you not zone AT ALL, but Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram could not just float off the ball like that and wait to help without being called for illegal defense. I'll leave out the self evident fact there are no 6-0 Mark Prices and Scott Skills and Rick Carlisles and Mookie Blaylocks and Jeff Bagleys and Greg Anthonys and Mugsy Bogues and Spud Webs out there.

[@showofforce9620]

when i click the link it lands me on a page that asks for my name and email. what is done with this info? is it sold to a third-party? If so you need to be very clear about that

[@Tom_Skelton]

Players just can't play one on one defense like they did in the 90s. The game is more athletic in some areas. But you need to have strong legs and quick feet to do what Scottie did. Players in the NBA now can jump a little higher than Pip maybe but can't guard half as well as him.

[@TheTimLara]

That which does not kill The Beard just makes him stronger. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;