Consider the following: 1. James Harden is arguably the most recent starting PF for the Rockets. In the series vs. OKC, after the team decided to bench Greg Smith, they started Asik, Parsons, Lin, Beverley and Harden, with Harden often guarding OKC's PF, Serge Ibaka. He continued to match up with Ibaka at times after Lin got injured and the Rockets went with Garcia in Lin's place in the starting 5. 2. James Harden is roughly the same size as some PFs. At the draft combine, Harden weighed 222 lb and was measured to have standing reach of 8'7.5''. Louis Amundson, for example, weighed 221 lbs and had a standing reach of 8'7.5''. 3. The move will give more minutes to Lin and Beverley, two of the better players on the team, over the likes of DMo, Jones, Smith, Casspi, etc.-- who have so far not shown themselves to be as reliable as Lin and Beverley. 4. This will improve the defense on the perimeter, with Lin, a solid defender, replacing Harden, a ****ty defender, and Beverley, an excellent defender, spending more time checking the most athletic PGs. 5. This will create a nightmare for the opposing D, having to decide either to match HOU by going small themselves or get stuck with a PF having to check one of Harden, Parsons, Lin or Beverley. 6. The team doesn't need just 3 point shooting at the 4, it needs a skilled guy who can shoot, drive and pass. This is why the team was at its best with Delfino playing a small-ball PF, even though its other PFs (Morris and Patterson, also DMo) had 3 point range also. James Harden shares many of Delfino's features-- a muscular and skilled wing, who can do a little of everything-- except Harden is much more talented. 6. Defense for the Rockets could be an issue, much like what happened with Delfino playing a small-ball (for example, the play where Delfino was trying to rebound against Emeka Okafor that led to this: Spoiler ), but you can switch a hopefully heavier Parsons on the opposing PF sometimes or sub in one of the bigs as needed. As it happened with the small-ball lineup both in the playoffs and with Delfino in the regular season, against many different opposing lineups, small-balling caused more problems for the opponent than it did for the Rockets.
I said that some time ago: harden can defend Ibaka - he can defend other PFs too. And on offense we don't need standard big PF
Although it won't happen because Harden playing at PF is just limiting his talents and wasting energy on D
Essentially the same thing as saying a small backcourt (1 1/2 point guards) and 2 wings with the big man in the middle. Harden is essentially going to guard the easiest non-center matchup with the other defenders being deployed on the opponent's more offensively-skilled players. And yes, that does mean Harden flip-flopping between the SF and PF defensive assignment a lot of the time. I suspect we will play this way a lot. And it is the total contrast (or variance) from a huge twin tower lineup. I expect to see this type of lineup and our twin tower lineup for the majority of the minutes.
but to contribute to this thread... Harden's beer belly could help his rebounding abilities by creating space with this opponent.
So what will we do when Harden is getting pushed around in the paint by real offensive threats unlike Ibaka. The Gasol's, Randolph's, Aldridge's, and Love's of the world? I think he can play guys like Ibaka well, but other players with more polished post moves and much heftier size wise will create problems from game to game.
The all small ball roster: PG - Beverley SG - Lin SF - Garcia PF - Harden C - Parsons Just try to keep up with us...
Wow, so you think he'll foul out in 79 games this season? Crazy. He might be lazy on D sometimes but I don't think he'll be that stupid.
Too slow to play PF. Really though, Parsons would be a much better PF starter with James playing the 4 in certain situations. I don't think Harden would match up well with King James, for instance.
Or you could run out there an all PG lineup of- 1: Beverley (floor general, premier wing defender) 2: Brooks (really a scoring guard anyways) 3: Lin (underrated defender, can facilitate, and attack the basket) 4: Canaan (great floor spacing 3 point shooter) 5: Harden (Best player at setting picks for Lin anyways. Great big booty for creating space in the paint for collecting rebounds) Was going to put Lin as the starting PF, but needed to put someone in that could spread the floor more effectively. I think this is the team we use to start games if we want to win it all this year.
