Everyone shyts on Harden for playing struggle D....

feelosofer

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Russell isn't as good of a defender as the media makes him out to be but he's not as bad a defender as the Coli make him out to be either. I just think he needs to clean up his footwork and stop trying to swipe at the ball like a novice playing NBA2K and pressing the X/Square button trying to bat away the ball because better scorers ala Curry will either take a shot or step out/in and make an easier shot.
 

Kaypain

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And Curry on some occasions.

But nobody talks about this


:youngsabo:


He is a better defender than Curry, they say. So who's laughing now for not playing D?

:sas2:

Whoever made this video is a fukking dumbass
 

Saiyajin

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I've been following him since he had a few hundred followers and he's never had anything positive to say about westbrook
I bet the cac has nothing but good things to say about green eyed curry tho :sas2:
 

duckbutta

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His defense against Tony Parker in 2014 is probably the most atrocious pick and roll defense I have ever seen in the nba...
 

ade

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Nah, he's given studs credit for what he does which is instant pressure, high motor, transition offense, and his overall talent but Russ is a flawed player.

Russ is an AWFUL finisher at the rim due to his horrid footwork. People talk crap about Lebron but go look at how difficult Russ makes shots due to how often he'll jump off the wrong feet, unbalance his body, and how out of control he is. He has crazy dunks but Russ is still a poor defender.

Russ has good vision and he's a talented passer but his situational awareness is poor, especially when in motion. He throws a lot of passes that will make it to the target but will be low, out of control, or force the recipient to adjust making their shot harder.

The problem is that when Russ slows down, you see his passing talent and vision especially with how much easier he can get good looks for Ibaka and Adams but Russ is a "lose the war but win the battle" type at times.

Defensively, it's boggled my mind that people confuse Russ's motor and athletic ability with defensive ability. Russ is a constant gambler, plays with his hands way too much, lacks defensive discipline in high pressure situations, and is a constant ball-watcher.

I agree his footwork and balance isn't the best, but I noticed that his handle is actually below average

Rarely if ever do you see Russ break his man down off the dribble...a couple times klay or curry played him to his left and he was damn near turning it over. He mostly just relies on his absurd athleticism and quickness, and it's almost a positive in the sense that he isn't pounding the ball trying to break down his man. But when the game bogs down being able to break your man down and create becomes uber important and those are the times that he's at his worst(brook) cause he's being too aggressive trying to blow by his man or draw cheap contact instead of being surreal and creative cause of certain fundamentals that he lacks

If dude improves his fundamentals he can become twice the player he is...if he doesn't he"ll fall off a cliff once his athleticism slips.
 

ryderldb

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Whoever made this video is a fukking dumbass
Why? It highlights that Russ is lazy defender especially in transition. Dude was doing light jogs back on defense after someone missed a shot.
 
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