Not sure if there is more context to the statement, not a big fan of Harden anyway. He has a nice offensive game but he can't play the other half of the game that is basketball - you know the defence part!
Defensive Juggernaut - James Harden
www.youtube.com/embed/wVYJULACcao
Rondo plays this exact same style defense and most guys on here think he's one of the great defenders of all time. It's lazy for Harden just like it is lazy for Rondo.
It turns out that most coaches in the nba would agree with "most guys on here" since Rondo's made 4 all-defense teams and Harden doesn't get a single vote from a single coach most years. I think Rondo's defense last year when he was coming back from a knee injury was probably a fairly close match to the way his critics described his defense when he was 1st team all-defense.
Rondo made all defensive team mainly bc of his rebounding and steals numbers.
When you want some one to stick to another player like glue, Rondo like Harden is only mediocre . The focus is scattered (prob thinking about steals and rebounds)
The older Rondo gets i'm afraid it's going to get worse . He needs to stop worrying about rebound/steals and just stay in front of his man. If you let that pg get by you or take adv of you on the PNR, you are making it harder on everyone to play defense.
You have yet to prove that you can adequately describe any kind of defense beyond "staying in front of your man" in the many, many, many threads about Rondo's D. That shoots a massive hole in your credibility (and I agree with you that Rondo's defense is/was overrated)