Starter is just a title. Staggering minutes is essentially playing him with the second unit most of the time, which is what many LOF are actually hoping will happen. So no, having him in a 6th man role isn't a problem. That doesn't mean he's not a starter, it just means you're playing him away from Harden for significant parts of the game. Interesting that you would think that's what people are saying when they talk about staggering minutes...
Lin would be awesome going against the 2nd team. It's just like when Carmelo came back to the Knicks. The poster doesn't lie, force Lin left and ask him to finish at the rim. He's in trouble and we all known it. He's better from 20 ft than at 26 or layup. He just can't finish in traffic. But he could give Harden a break off the ball and then bring in Douglas to play D, while resting Beverly. I really would like to see T Jones play some minutes at the PF for either Morris or 2Pat. We;ve seen the up/down rollercoaster from these 2. Enough already
What Harden REALLY need right now is rest. I am dead serious. I think the last thing to think about is how he can co-exists with Lin. 40+ min is no joke and if Harden gets injured then your superstar is as good as dead for the rest of the season. At the rate he is playing, it is really a matter of time before he injures himself since he is constantly driving to the rim.
It's amazing to me that all you guys do is talk about Lin when harden has shot less than 25 percent from the field over the last 5 or 6 games....he's been awful...he took 20 shots today and made 5..... That's not good at all....over the last 3 harden is 15 of 60..not including today.. 25%,..13 turnovers and had 4 today. Last 4 games he's averaging over 4... Lin is 13 of 32 ..... 41% not great and Lin didn't play well today but harden is playing worse than Lin....Lin has had 10 turnovers in the last 3 games....Lin is not playing well but over the last2 weeks Lin and parsons have been the best players on the team.... So my question is....why not talk aout how bad harden has been
10% body fat for harden lol. I am personal trainer at 9% and 215lbs. he is no where close to that. he is chubby
No he can't but he can do it different...and he has his whole life...he needs the all, he needs a pick and he will lead....just lets see what happens
I agree that Lin as the 6th man might be a solution. What I don't get is what does Beverley do that is better than Douglas? We were in a good stretch before we signed Beverley and the guard rotation of Harden-Lin_Douglas was doing fine.
Beverly provides great defense, good playmaking and a burst of energy that this Rocket team desperately needs.
Sounded good until Kevin Love. Then everything he wrote becomes suspect. Kevin Love the most overrated player in the NBA. Great rebounder, decent three point shooter, and nothing else. Eaten up on defense.
good read. harden is athletic, but i think they are talking comparatively to other elite level players. harden clearly is athletic, but on an elite level he isn't strictly athletically dominant.
There is clearly a double standard at play here, as I've pointed out before. Another poster, roxxxy, has stated that "lin can't shoot." It turns out lin is shooting 43% from the field, whereas harden is at 44%. Lin is at 28% from 3's, harden at 33%. Harden's fg% has dropped over the course of the season, whereas lin's has increased. Despite essentially identical fg%'s, harden shoots the ball 21X a game (factoring in ft's), whereas lin is closer to 12. What's happened is that mchale's decision to allow harden to dominate the offense has backfired. Harden is increasingly tired and ineffective; whereas every other player doesn't have the confidence to step up and contribute, since the coaching staff channels the offense exclusively through harden. There is also an enormous disdain for all things lin among perhaps half of the regular posters here. The point is, yes, harden should be facing harsh criticism for his poor and declining shooting, but there is such animosity towards lin and his fans, many rockets fans who post here would rather see the rockets fail rather than see lin make a major contribution to a winning streak.
I'm surprised this issue isn't discussed more often. Personally, I don't take an interest in player's private lives. However, harden's name has come up with surprising frequency both this season and last, as a free spender in the vice industry, and could very well be an addict. I was not terribly enthused with the acquisition of harden at the start of this season due to rumors that he had partied excessively during the finals, esp. in miami, hurting okc's chances of winning the title. At the time, I thought those rumors were baseless; but he is obviously knee-deep in the sex/vice industry game. To what extent this hampers his ability to focus fully on his profession is unclear (was last year's playoffs an aberration?), but it seems clear to me that it can't help.
Even if Harden is in a shooting slump, the chances of Harden making a shot while on a shooting slump is higher than most other players on the team anyway. I much rather have a shooting slump James Harden take a contested long 3 pointer with the shot clock winding down than Patrick Patterson shooting a wide open 15 footer or Asik trying to go 1 on 1 in the post...
