James Harden: “We gotta do a better job as a team… it’s not a one-man job” in regards to defending Jalen Brunson
Right message, wrong messenger lmao
He’s the absolute right messenger…. He was getting left on an island getting torched and not once did someone say “let me get him”
Real. His coach and other players let him down just as much as he let the team down.
Facts, he’s not there for defense
This is not his fault
Klay Thompson still shakes his head at conceding the switch to Kyrie in the finals. The answer to it wasn’t “hey Steph you the MVP you supposed to take up that challenge”
but everyone has a role in the team and the team should have made an effort to stop putting him in that situation time and time again. Double Brunson, fight over screens, if nothing else, call a timeout to bring Dennis for a few mins to settle down things a little and stop their run
100%
But you know how it is bro, Harden is an easy target here and in the media
And on the court, apparently
Harden was traded for pretty much solely offense, and despite some poor shooting nights he’s doing a pretty good job controlling the tempo and getting his teammates looks.
He’s averaging 5 turnovers a game this post season to 6 assists while shooting 40 percent from the field and 32 percent from three. Please stop. Why does harden get these kind of passes? He’s been straight ass.
hes been tasked with doing EVERYTHING for the cavs while his all nba teammates disappear on both ends of the floor and escape all blame. why is mitchell not guarding brunson when hes parked in the corner every possession on offense? mobley is absolutely fucking usless in every facet of the game.
Why does harden get these kind of passes? He’s been straight ass.
??? Harden literally never gets passes lmao. If anything, Mitchell has avoided the scrutiny. Harden gets blamed almost every time his team loses, regardless of what team he’s on.
Harden has never got any passes on this sub lmao
He was third in potential assists and assist points created last round.
Big facts. I was looking at the lowlights people were dogging him for and there we times were people rejected the switch and didn’t even try to hedge
I dont think he would be getting as much strays if he was doing what he was brought there to do. His offense has always bailed out his below average defense but when he isnt giving them that offense, his defensive liabilities are magnified.
True
What’s he there for exactly, to have more TOs than FGs made?
Brother, with your flair I expected you’d have watched the game. His man would move out to be open to shoot and Harden would stay there in the middle of nowhere looking lost. Unsurprisingly, Knicks would pass the ball to whoever was “defended” by Harden and it was easy pickings.
There’s no teammate or coach that can cover “fat ass stays put instead of following the player he’s supposed to defend”
Knicks explicitly ran switches and pick n rolls to target Harden
This is not me, Mike Brown himself admitted it
Exactly. Just super mismanaged stretch. I’m definitely no Harden fan, but in this case I do feel like they hung him out to dry. I put a lot more of the blame on the coach.
Bro is 37 years old and was a bad defender even when he was 25. Anyone expecting him to stop Brunson after playing 30+ minutes is a fucking fool. It’s not on James, he was awful don’t get me wrong, but every fucking person could see what the Knicks were doing. No substitutions. No timeouts taken. No adjustments. Just “yeah, keep switching onto Brunson, that’ll work!”
“I like to hang on to my timeouts” -Kenny Atkinson
Exactly. You’re not employing 36 y.o. James Harden to defend an All Star Guard…you have him to bring up the ball and provide offensive power.
People would say the coach is crazy if he were to put Amen Thompson at PG and ask him to score 40 with 10 assists.
He took some awful shots but it also looked like he was the only one willing to take the shot.
Yeah but yesterday his offense was terrible too. 5-16 shooting and 6 turnovers. He shouldn’t have even been in the game in the 4th quarter.
Because he was completely gassed. He had the toughest assignment on both ends
Yep, which leads to the second point I made which is that he shouldn’t have been in the game in the 4th quarter.
But also, I wouldn’t say Brunson was his assignment. The Knicks and Brunson were hunting him on switches which the Cavaliers were conceding over and over for some reason until it was way too late.
The Cavs literally don’t have any other options to create a play. Schroeder was 1 for 9 off the bench. Sam Merill and Dean Wade aren’t playmakers. Optimally, Mitchell should’ve taken charge, but Harden being 5⁄16 is still their second best guy to generate some kind of offense.
Schroeder plays defense though. I mean we’ll never know what would have happened, but to me the Cavs likely win that game if he’s in for the entire 4th quarter over Harden. I can tell you as a Knicks fan, I personally was much happier seeing James Harden on the court defending those Brunson pick and rolls than I would’ve been with Schroeder.
And to your point, it felt like Mitchell barely touched the ball in the 4th quarter and OT which was inexplicable to me.
My thought was some double teams would have been smart. But I don’t know anything.
The Knicks have shooters all over the floor. Every time Brunson got doubled, there was a wide open 3 or drive for one of the other guys.
Probably the best solution would have been to simply bench Harden. He shouldn’t have been on the court in the 4th quarter at all, or at least should have been benched once the comeback was underway.
The problem with that is the Cavs offense without Harden on the floor just becomes Mitchell iso or a Mobley brick from 3.
Harden obviously did not play well but he’s also the only facilitator and the only one besides Mitchell willing to take a difficult shot . He’s almost 37 he can’t be running the offense AND guarding the best player on the court on defense
Mitchell barely touched the ball in the last 5 minutes of the game and Harden did nothing but brick shots and turn the ball over with his touches. They would have been way better off with Harden on the bench and another defender on the floor with Mitchell handling the ball in the last half of the 4th quarter.
He also wasn’t guarding the best player purposely, that wasn’t his assignment. The Knicks just kept hunting him on the pick and roll and the Cavs kept switching it for some reason even though it clearly wasn’t working.
Yeah… When it came to a minute left with a six point lead, they went to double teams that resulted in a pair of 3 pointers. At that point, you’d almost rather keep letting Brunson score 2s, because he’d need 3 2pt possessions instead of 2 3pt possessions, and might not have had enough game clock left.
You are right. In general I would say if they are going to have Harden our there they can’t leave him on an island as much as they did. But if shots are going in sometimes the defense just doesn’t have a good answer. Like Harden got doubled on the last play of regulation and so Sam Merrill got a wide open look, but it rimmed out.
That’s not how defense works in modern basketball. If they swap someone else on him, they’ll just put them through a PnR to get Harden anyway.
He’s actually the right messenger. Harden is 43 years old, he’s never been a POA defender in his prime. He could do a decent job of guarding KAT in the post, not Brunson on an island. Atkinson left his guy out to dry.
Bro had me googling Hardens age so fast. Chill out with that lmao
Look, just because the Cavs shipped off Darius for a 51year old fossil that had a history of being an Iron man, and not being a crippled in the playoffs (even though a guy in a wheel chair might’ve defended better), doesn’t mean…
fr, no need to BS
dude plays great for someone approaching 50
This reminded me of the barbershop scene from Coming to America lmao.
That’s what I was going for!
Is he really 43?
That nets series he played like 56 minutes on one hamstring accelerated his decline by like 3 years, he’s physically 39
follicularly hes 60
exactly
I think the coach set him up to fail by not taking him out imo.
Nah he’s the right messenger - it was crazy they left him alone to defend Brunson so much
It’s definitely the right messenger lol
Untruth.
My boy, the chiseled Adonis, really said he out here looking like TSA before 9⁄11 😭😭😭
I was at a coffee shop and absolutely lost my shit in public
In times of failure a player should hold themselves responsible and in times of success the team as a whole should be recognized
How is he not the right messenger
its like Rudy Gobert telling the Wolves about accountability
don’t nobody on the team want to hear from the guy getting paid $35m yet can’t catch a basic pass and got outscored by Bismack Biyombo in an elimination game
He’s largely correct but it’s funny he said this after being lit the fuck up
TBF Brunson lit the fuck up outta Dyson Daniels who is actually a good defender and not 36.
I don’t disagree that Harden stunk last night but it’s coaching malpractice to watch him get cooked over and over and think “yes more of that please”
I see you watched Get up as well. 😂
Brunson didn’t lite up Dyson Daniels they actually did a good job guarding him, especially in first few games.
One of the podcasters said it.. Cavs don’t really have anybody to guard Brunson.
Hawks were fine to live and die by Dyson because he’s going to do as well as anybody. Detroit would have just stuck Ausar on him. Who are the Cavs gonna use?
His team should have helped him. He isn’t there for defense
“He cooked me but it ain’t my fault I got cooked”
Harden an all time great but you got to live with him sitting on the bench for spells atp in his career.
Atkinson straight up leaving him out there to get flamed
I’ve been wanting to see him standing in the corner more on offense. Watching him dribble the air out of the ball for whole posessions and taking a stepback 3 as the shot clock expires is awful team offense.
I think he did that maybe 1 time yesterday? No one else can create on offense.
He rarely does that anymore, he’s still the cavs best player (or minimum second best) at creating shots. It’s just that he and Mobley were bricking everything
Yep sounds like someone didn’t watch the game. Mobley was making clutch 3s all throughout the postseason but his 2 wide open misses hurt badly yesterday.
This is why Sixers fans didn’t want to re-sign him
This is also why the Sixers aren’t playing right now
Bc they didn’t resign harden to a max?
If the cavs cant figure out how to defend brunson when they force a defensive switch to harden the series is over.
Harden is too slow to defend Brunson plus he is taking too many bad shots. Unfortunately I dont think shroeder would be better
The same thing happened to late career carmelo anthony
He could still come into games off the bench and be a huge impact player giving you fast buckets and a quick offensive jolt, usually at a good time when lots of starters are sitting and you can take advantage
But then terry stotts would leave him in the game way too long until he became a liability.. like clockwork if you kept him in the game for longer than 3-4 minutes eventually it would start to go really bad
For real. Even Hart got benched last night and he’s literally in his physical prime. Some nights you just don’t have it.
If you’re a head coach and afraid to bench a guy, you shouldn’t be a head coach.
I know logically it makes sense to bench him but if you bench him in the clutch you risk losing him and say whatever you want but you’re not winning this series without Harden.
I don’t think you need to bench him indefinitely down the stretch, but if you desperately need a few stops. Sit him and mix it up with Strus/Shroder/Tyson, then he can get back in. Not that I wish them any success defensively
I feel like I’m crazy when I watch Harden defend. He swipes at the ball constantly, gambles constantly, never just has his hand up to obstruct the shooter, just swiping aimlessly at the ball. Like… how has no one ever told him these are bad fundamentals on defense?!
Because he no look swipe blocked Derozan one time and that shit was cool as fuck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxayzDWW9Qw
this and Blake Griffin’s 180 no-look block are my 2 favorite mind’s-eye moments in NBA history
True. Bro got a lifetime pass over that
He doesn’t move his feet…doesn’t bend his knees…doesn’t turn his hips. Basic fundamentals of defensive position that you learn in elementary school.
As a result, he gets beat and then relies on his “amazing hands.” He definitely has long arms and quick hands…but that’s a last line of defense after everything else has failed.
He was never very laterally quick to bring with and that combined with getting old and the hamstring injury he rushed back from in Brooklyn have taken even more of his athleticism. He’s also carrying a heavy offensive load every night so there’s even less incentive to put in work on defense.
His entire career he has prioritized scoring at the expense of defense, it’s practically a habit now. He doesn’t know shit about defensive fundamentals cause his highlight reels let him get away with it for the last 15 years
He was really good at using his strength to guard centers for like 2 years nice a game
He used to be good enough where bad defense wasn’t the issue why they lost. His prime was also at a time when weaker defenders could still sort of be hidden within defensive schemes. Offenses have become too good at exploiting the weakest links.
this isnt a new thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yts0BjOYDys
yeah, it’s just… it’s insane we’re in over a decade of this. Like, I know some of our knicks are not good defenders, but at least there is the semblance of effort. It’s been over 15 years of no defensive effort. I don’t get it. It’s big “he can’t keep getting away this” energy.
The worst part is that the lazy swipes are good for a couple steals a game and people will always point to those numbers to say he’s a good defender. It drives me mad.
It’s like he’s pretending to play defence instead of actually defending
He knows the fundamentals, hes LAZY
He’s actually right they just left him on an island game plan wise. He knows he’s not the best defender, he’s old, and no one in the league can defend Brunson 1 on 1 like that.
You can make as many harden jokes as you want but it was just horrible gameplanning and teamwork
It’s also like, they don’t really have a lockdown defender on the team. Dean Wade covered Brunson a lot of the game. And he honestly did an average job, but he’s not the guy most people think of as defending the opposing best player.
James Harden is 36 years old, leave grandpa alone damn lol
People have an unusual hate for him for some reason
prolly all the flopping
I still remember him mounting players and getting the call for it smh
Always gets scapegoated
He may have the highest peak of any player ever when you talk about pure talent, but his brand of basketball made it all about him and he never won it all.
You saying this is the equivalent to the bully defending the victim for once LMAOO
It’s funny all the conversation is about shitting on Harden when we should be shitting on their coach and propping up Brunson
The blame is definitely disproportionate. As much as I was losing my shit watching Brunson lift this team out of the grave, it was only possible because of a series of baffling decisions made by the Cavs. How many times do you need to see Harden get cooked in iso before making a change? How long does the streak have to go before you take a time out? Why is Mitchell basically not touching the ball during their offensive possessions?
Wasn’t being talked about much but Mitchell was hobbling several times. Mitchell needs allot of explosiveness for his style so when he doesnt have it hes kind of useless
I missed it live but read after Mitchell rolled his ankle late in the 4th, which affected him in the final stretch/OT. Comeback started around 8 minutes left though, was there something that happened to him sooner too?
Agreed. It’s standard sports discourse nowadays and it’s stupid. People want to blame someone for losing instead of realizing the other team won it. Brunson and the Knicks outplayed every player on CLE on both ends of the floor starting around from 8:00 in the 4th, it was not just Harden. And I’m saying this as a Harden hater.
Fr all this has been centered on all the hate for Harden.
Where the fuck is Brunson’s flowers.
It’s been 2 or 3 seasons now of him just being Michael fucking Jordan in the clutch. He’s legit one of the scariest players on the floor in the entire league. Everyone should be piling on him with praise.
If Harden was playing well, I could agree with you more. People definitely are propping up Brunson and Cavs fans were calling for Atkinson to be fired lol
When Harden plays well, nobody is like, “Atkinson did really well just letting Harden dribble the ball for 20 seconds and then shoot or pass” but when Harden is absolutely atrocious, it’s the coaches fault and not Harden’s?
Or just keep D Wade on him and don’t switch on the absolute softest screens, and only when it’s absolutely necessary. Jalen could run in hardens general direction and they would switch for some reason
You guys don’t get to call him D Wade that name is taken.
imagine telling someone they get to meet D Wade and then it’s Dean.
cavs legend d.wade
It took me a good two times of reading that to figure out he was talking about Dean. I’m like was there a strategy in 2012 I just missed entirely?
I mean he’s the best D Wade who has ever played for the Cavs
Kenny Atkinson: “No. You.”
we’re all trying to find the guy who did this
Serious question, why did none of the Cavs players like Donovan call a timeout himself on that crazy Knicks run? I get it, most players don’t do that out of some respect for their coach but still
I feel like if LeBron was on the team he personally would of called a timeout since the coach didn’t and that’s what actual leaders do
LeBron definitely would have, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him do that several times
Because Donovan isn’t a leader. These last 2 years made it very clear that he isn’t cut to be the #1 on a contender.
Has that ever happened in a playoff game? Not counting a loose ball dive or a late game TO to stop the clock?
Kenny getting fired lmao
The Cleveland Nets bro 😭
Kenny Atkinson watching Harden get fried by Brunson possession after possession in the clutch and not calling timeout gets funnier every time I think about it. I wonder what was going through his head
He’s right. The coach should’ve called a timeout and sat Harden
Harden is right. Harden is a bad defender but he should had never been put in position to guard Brunson solo. The other Cavaliers should had avoided the switch if it resulted in Harden on Brunson for the defensive assignment. It was honestly maddening watching it happen for several consecutive plays and Atkinson/Cavaliers players refuse to call a timeout and talk about it.
fitting screen cap
Wrong place, wrong time my guy
It’s one weak link
Kenny Atkinson: Nuh uh
Just play twice the offense and half the defense. It’s bound to work for him this time.
Still trying to figure out who the one man was for the Cavs last night, because it def wasn’t Harden.
i really don’t get the criticism of harden. he was never a great defender and now he’s old and unfit. the team has to make up for his lack of defence, it’s always been like that.
I would imagine it’s just the (continued) lack of effort. Yeah, he’s been historically bad. He swears he’s trying to play for a chip, but doesn’t have chip behavior, so the criticism is always brought back.
Throw Harden on KAT like what is Kennysaurus Rex thinking bro
He actually played KAT quite well and I was surprised how well he was doing in THAT matchup….then the 4th quarter happened. It’s like the whole game plan completely changed on both sides of the ball.
“Why yall aint help?”
His team left him out to dry, actually started to feel bad at a point
He’s not wrong. It’s not like the complaints yesterday were about James Harden’s defense. We know he’s a sub-par defender.
What’s outrageous is letting him get isolated for the last 10 minutes of the game on every possession. THAT IS NOT ON HIM. All he can do is square up and defend, and he did that reasonably well by his standards.
Nah bro, shut the fuck up.
Translates to “I was absolutely fucking terrible on the defensive end last night and pretty much blew the lead all by myself but I can’t take any responsibility for anything because I’m James Harden and I’m still mentally 21 so I’m gonna act like we’re all this together”
Everyone from his teammates on the floor to his coaching staff on the bench basically left him out there to get torn to shreds.
Yeah, he’s getting torched but it really shouldn’t be his job. That need to do a better job switching.
good, double him and see how that goes
I mean Dean Wade should be the primary defender on him and not switch every chance they get. He did a great job on Cade Cunningham. Ik Cade is way different to guard than Brunson, but that wasn’t it. Like call a fucking time out, don’t watch James Harden get cooked over and over lmaooo
Definitely, it couldn’t have been any worse lmao
“I’m going to watch the other team score 20 points attacking my primary floor general. Not call a single time out. And also not attack Brunson on the other end who has 5 FOULS”
Coach of the year lmao
“Someone is supposed to be there when I allow him to go right by me”
Yeah has harden considered just locking up one of the best iso scorers in the league? Is he stupid?
just fucking defend him bro how hard is that
Has Jarrett Allen ever just thought about shooting 40% from 3. Is he retarted?
sure as hell wasn’t
I mean, true.
Its not hardens fault that he was defending brunson over and over and over. He shouldn’t have even been in the game!
How did not one person on the coaching staff say, “Hey you know our guard that we have to play heavy minutes, yea the old one in his 17th season that even in his prime never once gave a fuck about defense? Maybe we should have a plan if the other team starts targeting him.”
“It’s not a one man job, it’s a four man job. Not mine tho.”
James Harden: “This right here is a job for somebody else!”
Beauty about the playoffs is mfs get exposed the most
Flop God speaks
We need to do a better job as a team, because everyone clearly knows I’m a traffic cone.
Get this man some help. Too many bums on his team holding him back
More like you are one-man that is not fit for the job.
bro YOU got cooked
In 17 years, he has never once, ever, admitted to being an issue in any way. Ever. If he plays terrible, he’ll say he was just doing what he was told to do.
It’s ironic because Brunson immediately takes responsibility in interviews when he’s had a bad game and humbly states that he has to be better…
17 years, wow I’m getting old
CLEARLY THAT WAS THE BEARD TALKING
Donovan Mitchell as part of a guard tandem that expects everyone else to play their D for them?! Never seen that before!
Harden be like: There are too many Jalens in the NBA
He’s not wrong, if Harden is getting absolutely fried by Brunson then it is incumbent on the coach and the rest of the team to figure out how to deal with that. It’s just very funny to hear from Harden himself.
Lmfao
He’s 100% correct.
If you’re gonna cook Harden for the collapse, it was his shitty shot selection on the other end.
Dribbling a hole in the ground for 19 seconds then heaving an off-target 3 was the last thing the Cavs needed.
#FireKenny
It is wild how many people have been giving harden a pass. This off season his efficiency has been terrible, he’s turning over the ball A LOT, and he’s nowhere to be found on defense. Yet, there’s a ton of people constantly like “oh, he hasn’t been that bad” or “he’s been the best player”. He’s been straight up garbage. 20 ppg isnt super impressive when you are shooting 40 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3. Combine that with how abysmal his playmaking has been, because of his turnovers, and you have a mediocre offense AT BEST. I don’t even have to talk about his defense, because it’s always been garbage.
Probably because he’s 36 years old? How many 35+ year olds are even still in the playoffs? Let alone any with the minute and game mileage he did? Did you know in the entire 2010s. James Harden and LeBron was neck and neck in minutes played and games played?
Him being garbage in the ECF while KD is at home, Kawhi at home, LeBron at home, Steph at home is still better than him being at home.
This is a very good take
5 turnovers a game to 6 assists while shooting 40 percent from the field with league worst defense and people in here trying to make excuses for him? Please stop
Duh? Did this need to be a post? Lol
This is ridiculous! If coach wants to leave his 36 yo, notoriously poor-defending PG on an island against one of the best iso scorers in the world in the 4th and not call a TO then you go with it. I think coach knows best buddy.
Blame Mitchell, it’s his team
James harden is right. I said this doing the game and after the game Dean Wade and the coaching staff sold James harden out.
Dean Wade refused to fight over the screen he was the initial defender on Jalen brunson every time a screen was set on Dean Wade he refused to fight over it and he left James harden on the island to get cooked.
Now maybe the coaches decided to switch everything ,I don’t know if that’s the case or not but if they didn’t, I don’t know why the initial defender refused to fight over a screen.
As much as I don’t like Draymond Green he just went on a rant about guys not fighting over the screen and not taking the challenge and allowing themselves to be screened, and it really was not James harden fault as much as it was the guy allowing themselves to be screened and putting James harden in the situation to fail.
The whole world knows he’s a bad defender… this is on the coach.
James Harden is a great fall guy as always, not saying he doesn’t deserve blame but how many all star players that disappear alongside him in the playoffs get to go unnoticed lol
Nah he cooked your ass shut up
Yes…great point….
wait, James Harden?
If I was Donovan I’d be like “who the fuck is WE?”
huh?
He is correct.
Also, fire the coach.
It’s more of Atkinson’s job for Harden not to be abused.
If he gets 1 on 1’d twice, that’s enough. Call a time out.
I mean, yeah. They traded for old man ball, you’ve gotta plan how you’re gonna compensate for old man ball.
It’d be like asking Brunson to guard Wemby. It’s just not a good plan.
I mean, yeah.
No team ever has ever went on a 44-11 run without multiple failures.
But, I just think that Game 1 loss was a series decider.
Sure, if Cleveland wins tonight, the series is tied going back to Cleveland.
Players are human.
I think the Cavs players will even be fine throughout the first three quarters for the rest of the series, but that mental about Game 1 is going to haunt them.
I do hope I am wrong. I hope Cleveland wins the series.
Saying this after he cooked you lol
“We” when we lose and “I” when we win.
Enjoy the extension demands in the offseason and the team falling apart next year Cavs fans - and by no fault of your own, you GM and owners did this to you.
By the team, he means himself, yes? Take accountability bro.
He’s trying to give Brunson respect