James Harden has a theory behind why his defensive effort has been prone to have lapses. Harden believes that playing over 40 minutes a games makes it hard to focus on both offense and defense. Here is what Harden had to say.
“Forty a night is pretty tough, especially if you want to get efficient on both ends of the floor. We got to figure it out. We have to figure out how to give guys more minutes and be more effective on the court so as a team we can get better…Playing those minutes, you’re going to have some lapses, you’re going to have some mistakes. I try not to worry about them. I try to give it my all on both ends of the floor and live with the results.”
Harden is the league leader in minutes per game at 39.7. One of the problem with reducing Harden minutes in Houston is making up his production. Through 2015-2016, when Harden is on the court he assist on 33% of baskets with 34% of plays going through Harden.
H/t: Sportsnaut