James Harden admits his defense is ‘pretty bad’

While Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden is among the elite at his position from an offensive standpoint, on the defensive side of the ball there’s a lot left to be desired.

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Not only does James Harden stink defensively, he doesn’t give much effort. That’s something that would infuriate most coaches and fans, though the veteran says he plans to improve his play this season and fully admits that his defense is ‘pretty bad’.

While it’s nice that James Harden finally took some accountability for his defensive inability, describing it as ‘pretty bad’ still may not be accurate as it’s among the worst in the league. For what it’s worth, the Houston Rockets have previously stated they wanted Harden to work on his defense and teammate Dwight Howard says the former Arizona State product is in line for one of the best years of his career.

That’s not hard to believe given the amount of offense the Houston Rockets lost in the offseason though James Harden will need to become more of a two-way player if he’s really wanting to take the next step. Hopefully his defense is far improved from what we saw on display during the FIBA World Cup.

That ‘defense’ could have been described as ‘non-existent’.

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