Fake a Harden "injury", sore groin or something, and give him a couple weeks off to do some soul searching, get his mind right, get into shape, go to Bangkok or whatever. That way you save face and not bench him, rally the rest of the squad and implement a new iso-less system / work on your defensive integrity. You would also be sending a message to the rest of the team saying that no one is exempt and people need to take accountability. Any other suggestions?
Do the ole Lebron from last year. Give James 2 weeks off to go back to Calabasas and eat chiptole with Khloe....come back fresh and ready to go!
yeah, because he's so tired of not working out during summer and walking on the court this season. My suggestion would be to get a coach that is not affraid to bench Harden every time he doesn't try on the court. Today, he didn't try all the time, so bring in a coach that would play harden 0 minutes when needed.
This thread should read - if I were the coach what would I do? In all honesty, McHale has a really difficult job when Harden takes plays off like he does. Like someone said in another thread - I've not known another player who could be so bipolar as Harden is. Dynamite on offense and completely wooden on defense. I mean, Steve Nash and Steve Kerr come to mind but even then... James Harden, if you are reading this... We love you as Rockets fans and we need you to play defense. Whatever is troubling you on or off the court I hope it doesn't linger for much longer because we need you badly. Dwight came to this team to team up with you. If we don't turn things around, he leaves next season. And we all know what happens to this team without Dwight...
Exactly what I had in mind. It's our version of Golden States best (small ball) lineup. Harden is Steph; KJ plays the Iguodala role; Thornton is Klay; Ariza is Barnes and Dwight > Draymond. Ty Lawson = Barbosa etc.
Trade for Markieff Morris. An actual useful big man. He apparently hates phx cause they traded his brother so bring him here. Can probably get him for cheap now because of that. Something like TJones or Motiejunas for him straight up. Dude's locked into a very cheap long term contract too.
Trade for an established post player to help balance the offense, take pressure off of Harden and compensate for Dwight only playing every other game.
Whether you like it or not, James Harden is the engine of this team. Morey built this team specially around him( And has done an outstanding job IMO). Harden's play this year has been bad, so the rest of the team falls apart. I'm not talking about his shooting either, it's little things that he did last year, he's not doing them now. Another thing is... Offenses are not going let Harden rest on defense anymore. Defenses have a better understanding of his dribble patterns. All of this centers around Harden. I've never been a lets fire McHale follower but I have to ask, the James Harden we saw last year, was it under the fire that Coach K and Thibs put in him?
Established. I like D-Mo and think he's a part of the puzzle, but I'm talking about a guy that can give you 82 games and guaranteed points & rebounds.