I could care less who starts. What I care most about is minutes. There is 144 minutes at the 1, 2, and 3. (I am thinking we see alot of harden at the 3 this season) This is how I would like the minutes to look all season for averages. Harden 36 minutes Beverly 20 minutes Lawson 30 minutes Ariza 30 minutes Brewer 15 minutes Left over minutes Terry, Thorton, KJ, Dekker
I thought the reason we traded for Ty was so harden wouldn't have to handle the ball on every possession. Ty allows harden to play off the ball and get a shot within the rhythm of the offense. If bev starts, it defeats the purpose of trading for Ty all together.
Godd***it, just stop. EDIT: In any case, Lawson will be the starter. Harden's and Lawson's minutes will likely be staggered so that Lawson plays a lot with the second unit, which would have no real playmaker otherwise. But even if you give Harden "just" 10-12 minutes of court time where the entire defense isn't jumping on him because they have to respect the other playmaker, then we're in business. IF the team isn't "gellin' like Magellan" at a certain point (see also: Asik and Howard on court together), then there might be a change. But there might be an adjustment period and we'll have to wait it out if so.
Even if Bev does start, I feel like Ty will still end up playing more minutes in the game and possibly finish as well. Let's just be happy that we have two PG's with very different skill sets that can be used for different game scenarios.
I hope we can keep Harden's minutes closer to 32 minutes a game during the regular season. We need to keep him fresh since he will probably playing close to 40 minutes during the playoffs.
He won't get backup minutes and just get spot minutes? Who else is going to play back up PG, Terry? I don't even like Bev a whole bunch but with Ty here, he can exert more energy than he could before on the defensive end.
Nobody does it, but I would start Beverley and have him go all-out from the tip harassing the opposing starter, then bring in Lawson fairly early. I would then start the 2nd half with Lawson and have him attack on offense. We would often struggle to score in the 3rd last year. Lawson can alleviate that.
pffft I'm a verified insider and I DEFINITELY have an extremely good take on this but I got to wait till this thread warms up. It's spectacular though so stay tuned.
Hey, PT. Simply put IMHO is who finishes? I want Ws and I want to beat Pop, Doc, Steph and LBJ all the way to MY Parade! Just sayin'...
I find it odd people pushing the premise that Lawson was brought here to play alongside Harden. I never got that impression. I got the impression that Lawson was here to "lighten the load on Harden". There were very few instances, last year, where Harden wasn't fully capable of handling the creating of offense at an elite level. It was never Harden that needed help, it was the bench unit that needed help, which eventually fell onto Harden's shoulders because they would always lose leads when he was on the bench, which he would have to re-create when he was back in the game. Lawson needs to be there to expand leads, when Harden is on the bench, not to take the ball out of his hands, when he is on the court. The bottom line here is that last year's starting lineup was operating at near optimal level. We had an elite offensive and defense when Beverley / Harden / Ariza / Howard were on the floor. It really doesn't make sense to change what is already working optimally. Any minor incremental increase in offense that Lawson may provide, is going to be offset by the loss in defensive pressure, and the loss of the chemistry that has been built over the past year. There is no real upside there, just downside, in my opinion. I really just don't buy the argument that this is going to make Harden work harder on defense, or that Lawson is going to make opposing PGs play more defense. I'd guess that on 70% of the possessions, Lawson will be doing exactly what Beverley would be doing, which is just playing off of Harden, waiting for an open shot. That is not a good use of your resources. I'd start with 12-6 min 1st / 3rd Qtr: Harden / Beverley 6-0 min 1st / 3rd Qtr: Harden / Lawson 12-6 min 2nd / 4th Qtr: Lawson / Beverley For the final 6 minutes in each half, I'd use unconventional lineups to exploit matchups and/or playing whomever is hot. And hopefully, the lead is so big in the 4th, all our starters can sit and rest.
Averaging a career high in TO's doesn't exactly mean you're capable of creating offense at an elite level most of the time. Lawson was brought here to help the team of course but specifically Harden since he is the one who handled so much of the work last year. So yes it is Harden that needed the help. Not to mention hes specially acknowledged several times that they need help in the backcourt, specifically playmaking area. Harden shouldn't have to be the one to set up plays and sets and be the one to finish them as well all the time. Lawson is a huge threat offensively. There's no way opposing guards guard him and Beverley the same. It's going to be a work in progress but they will find that balance bw Lawson/Harden.
Harden himself asked for help and was clearly burned out by the end of the playoffs. We had a very high turnover team last season because too much responsibility was placed on Harden. There will be an adjustment period, but ultimately the ceiling for this team with Lawson and Harden starting and finishing is much higher than the same starting lineup from last year. And when you say elite offense and defense, compared to what exactly? Other team's starters or overall rating?
Ty needs to start at the end of the day you want your best players playing. If this was the finals who would be playing?. Lawson also has underatted D when it comes to steals and picking lanes which for some reason some people don't count that as defense. I see the issues such as *the second unit has trouble scoring* or lawson and harden have to much scoring talent together to be used properly but I think lawson and harden together at once is what you need. I'm sure it will take some time to get adjusted sharing the ball but Lawson's offensive presence with his ability to hit jump shots and drive the ball is just something you want out there from the get go and not to mention he's not a selfish player.
Exactly, if he starts, Bev is probably 1st off the bench anyway. Then start of the second quarter you bring Ty back with the bench players. It's a good problem to have.
