Tra Holder likes to watch the Houston Rockets because of James Harden. Last season, however, his father told the Arizona State senior guard to pay attention to one of Harden’s teammates instead:
Patrick Beverley.
Beverley, a 6-1 guard, is a defensive menace, a 2016-17 All-NBA defender. He irritates. He smothers. He gets into people. Holder started paying attention. Then he watched Avery Bradley, another All-NBA defender.
“It’s not like they’re super tall or super long, they just have the fight and the will to be better defenders,” said Holder, ASU's returning scoring leader from last season.