Georgetown Basketball: 3 reasons why Dante Harris should play more

Dante Harris is a very active defender

Despite only accumulating 4 total steals this season, Dante Harris has demonstrated that he is a high-level defender, who is often a step ahead of his opponents. For example, if Dante Harris knows that one of his opponents is left-handed, and wants to try and quickly cross over and get to his strong hand, he will sit on that hand, and force his opponent to try a different approach.

Additionally, Dante Harris always makes sure that his hands are always active when he is defending his opponents, so if they wind up throwing lackadaisical passes, he will have a pretty good chance of getting deflections (and possibly a couple of steals).

I also like the fact that the Washington, DC native understands what action is occurring around him (such as double screens and down screens) because it allows him to step over to the side where the action is happening, and throw off the timing of his opponents’ passes, by causing them to hold the ball longer than they should.

As an off-ball defender, Dante Harris stays engaged and alert, so that he can seize every opportunity to possibly take a charge, grab an easy steal, or slow down dribble penetration to the best of his ability (without over-helping). Dante Harris’ off- ball defensive anticipation skills were on display on Sunday, when he managed to come up with a few steals, because of his ability to read the eyes of the ball-handler and make a play on the ball at the perfect time.

With Jalen Harris, however, playing reliable on-ball and off-ball defense just isn’t something that he can do right now. The 6’2″ guard has trouble bending his knees all the way and using his quickness to force his opponents to complete multiple dribble combinations if they truly want to walk away from possessions with points. Jalen Harris also tends to stare too much at his opponents while standing flat-footed, and wait for them to make a move before he begins to “try” and defend them adequately.

It is almost as if he refuses to make them uncomfortable, and unsure about what they want to do next (which is what the great on-ball defenders are able to do). In other words, Jalen Harris doesn’t let his opponents know that he is present and prepared to make their lives as difficult as possible when they possess the ball (which allows his opponents to dictate what happens next instead of him).

Jalen Harris’ off-ball defense needs even more work, as he struggles to comprehend when he can’t help off his man (Exhibit A: against Villanova when he was defending Collin Gillespie). During Villanova’s comeback against the Hoyas, there were too many times when Jalen Harris would forget that he was guarding a lethal three-point shooter, and leave to go and help out a teammate (which didn’t end well for him or the Hoyas).

I believe that because Dante Harris provides more on the defensive end of the floor, and has already shown that he is a promising offensive player, he will give the Hoyas the best chance to win moving forward (between him and Jalen Harris).

Will Jalen Harris still start when he is ready to play again? Maybe, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dante Harris ends up playing the most minutes out of the two, as he is certainly a player that appears to be poised to handle extended playing time.