I have been thinking for the past couple years that they need start Harden at PG. You may think this is a stupid idea but he is our best ball handler/distrubitor. He is our best point puard. Start Marcus Thornton for better shooting. He had a lot of wide open looks when he started. More size in the starting line up. Make Lawson the backup. That way James and Ty are never on the court at the same time. Ty can play his game. James can play his. Matchup nightmare starting two 6'5 guards for other teams. More space on the floor. I am also tempted to say to start Ariza at 4 and Brewer at 3. We could switch and run like mother****ers. Always have Dwight, Capela or Harrell for rim protection at 5. Got try something else. This **** is not working.
Yeah, what do you think JET has been our starting PG?? Harden plays the point shooting guard for us. Even when Bev returns it will be the same thing.
I'm down to try harden at PG. But you cannot start harden+thornton+brewer+ariza, none of them are shooting more than 40% at the moment. how can you have a starting lineup with 4 player shooting less than 40% fg
I guess half of these people haven't watched the Rockets play if they think starting rockets at pg is something new. Does he need to be listed on tv next to PG or something
Unless Ty Lawson starts playing a lot better, it is clear that the type of PG that is best next to James is a Pat Beverly type. While it's fun and all to say "James, adjust your game bro!"... ... it should also be noted that if you look at the greatest SGs of the last 2-3 decades, they all also succeeded with that type of player at PG next to them. Kobe = Derek Fisher Wade = Mario Chalmers MJ = BJ Armstrong, Steve Kerr, etc. Perhaps in retrospect this should have been more obvious?? The real problem is PBev is not amazing at that role - love his tenacity, but he's not going down as a better player than Derek Fisher, for example. And he's hurt A LOT these days. Also consider that Pops is a heck of a coach, and he's been keeping Manu on the bench his whole career. I get that Manu and Parker play a lot of minutes together, but having one come off the bench and one start means something, clearly. All of which is to say, the Rockets do need an ACTUAL PG to start next to James, but it needs to be one that can play solid defense, hit open threes, and be counted on to always get back on defense when a teammate is shooting to prevent leakouts, to run a break, and to know and set-up the plays. It's in vogue to say just let James do that and start Harden, Brewer, Ariza. But c'mon. Brewer isn't doing those little things. Who's going to have that PG mentality of "controlling" the team and getting back on defense, etc? The Rockets need: 1. Healthy PBev. This is getting ridiculous now. 2. Ty Lawson, off the bench, aggressive with big minutes
More size, but less speed. At the guard spots, what do you think is usually more valuable? Harden already is PG by default, anyway. He needs a defensive guard, who can shoot, next to him. The problem is, Pat can barely shoot. Jet is barely defensive, and Ty is really neither. He needs a Klay Thompson, basically.
the huge problem with those great SG's compared to Harden. They all held their own defensively night in and night out. This is one of the main reasons its so hard to find a pg at "fits" next to him but at the same time be a player who can play the actual PG position.
How about Harden play some defense and more off the ball so the Rockets don't have to find that mysterious special PG to fit next to him?
This is true, but remember that Wade and MJ both had guys next to them at the small forward spot that could create their own offense and were HOFers (James, Pippen). James does not have that.
Does Bill Worrell approve of this? The slowly walking down the court. If you don't then he's not interested in playing basketball.
"Morey, Get me another playmaker." "James, are you sure?" "Yes, I definitely want a playmaker" "James, meet Ty. Ty meet James." "Thanks Daryl. Now Ty just stay out of my way as I dribble for 18 seconds and then dribble off my foot. " "Ty Lawson is not fitting with the team. He needs to be benched."
The Ultimate Guard next to James would be Eric Bledsoe. They would be interchangeable at the point and two guard. Bledsoe is a way better defender if i could give up Lawson and D-Mo or TJones I would do that deal. To be Honest I would trade Bledsoe for Harden Straight up. That's just me.
Precisely... Meanwhile Harden and his circle of enablers use being the main ball handler as an excuse for not playing defense and for his ill-advised passes and high turnover games.... That is, after all, why we went after Ty Lawson - which I knew would be exposed as BS from the get-go... There was no way Harden was going to genuinely adjust and add another wrinkle to his game by learning to be productive and engaged off the ball... The child likes to have his cake and eat it too, if he doesn't play defense and has high turnovers it's, "well, I handle the ball so much on offense"... if he's not engaged in the game, it's, "give me the ball more"...
Yep, Harden is the for all intents and purposes the PG. We need a good consistent 3 and D guy next to him.
