James Harden on Teams Targeting Him in Rockets Defense: 'The S--t Won't Work'

James Harden has a message for anyone who wants to target him in the Houston Rockets' defensive system: go right ahead.

"We switch so much that they've got to target somebody," Harden told ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "I play so many minutes that they feel like they can just exploit me. I mean, it hasn't worked ... Come try it, and the s--t won't work."

Harden's comments come less than a month after Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo said his team was "just trying to find whoever James Harden was guarding" as their offensive strategy in the fourth quarter of this year's All-Star Game. It also comes as the Rockets buck conventional wisdom by playing without a traditional center, a strategy that has, to this point, yielded excellent results on both ends of the floor.

The Rockets are 7-3 since trading center Clint Capela at the deadline as part of a four-team deal that brought back Robert Covington. Houston ranks ninth in defensive efficiency since the deadline, much improved compared to their season-long stats.

While no one would call Harden a lockdown defender, he's long been better than his reputation. He's a solid on-ball defender in isolation, particularly against bigger players who assume they can bully him down low. He's smart about using his frame and bulk to stay low and has several years' worth of numbers that suggest he's at least above-average in that department. 

Off-ball defense, the genesis of most Harden clips that make the rounds on social media, is where he can struggle at times. 

"I'm a competitor. I'm a beast," Harden said. "Whatever teams' schemes are, we switch everything, and they've got to find a way to attack us. It's not going to be perfect. Some guys are going to score on me. That's a part of the game, but more times than not, we're going to get a stop and they'll shy away from it."