This sounds crazy but James Harden should be the 6th man...

Let's see how we do first vs. DAL, our nemesis

 

hahahaha. This is a great argument. After 6-5 the magic kicks in. Can't wait to see fancy graphics you have on this.

 

HUH?!??

 

no, you just can't replace a bulk scorer that is 6'10" as easily as you can replace a bulk scorer that is 6'4". It's harder to find.

 

who is more difficult to replace:

Harden vs Nowtizki
Ellis or Durant

 

Why does it feel like OP is trying to start something

 

In the entire league there is one other player averaging at least 23 pts, 5.5 ast and 4.9 rebounds...his name is Lebron James.

On the other hand there are 8 other players averaging 21pts, 6 reb and 2.9 ast/game.

So, I'd have to say that Harden would be much harder to replace than Dirk.

 

Look at reality not at numbers.

A very common situation is Lin brings the ball up to the front court, dribbles until Parsons swings around, he then passes and the runs to the corner. He just held the ball for a decent amount of time (6-7 seconds?) but his role is not to make a play or to get an assist, it's simply to bring the ball up the court and pass to the next person which of course negatively affects those stats you are referring to.

Harden doesn't have to do this dribble / wait / pass routine therefore those 'dead' seconds holding the ball don't affect his possession per minute stats.

 

this is a good idea if you hate the rockets and want them to fail

 

Yet the popular consensus is that Harden dominates the ball. He's the sticky one, right? How many complaints about Harden dominating the ball?

The fact is that Lin has more touches (front court and total ) and possession time per minute played than Harden. Unless you believe that the coaching staff is telling him specifically to not make plays then he has plenty of opportunities. This whole assumption that Lin is nothing more than a spot up shooter with the Rockets is totally false.

 

And according to you, losing a prime Dwyane Wade is no biggie, while losing Rudy Gay is a big deal, becuase Wade is 6-5 and Gay is 6-8.

 

YES.

McHale is obviously trying to win the game here and the best way to do it is to run Harden to the ground with 40+ mins and sabotage the future chances of this team ever winning the championship by causing injuries to the key players.

 

Thank god for aelliott for neutralizing these stupid threads

 

Wade is not just a "bulk scorer" though. I don't think he qualifies.

 

Did you read his post?

 

Neither is Harden, of course, to the extent the term has any meaning. I guess it's what he's trying to deem a low efficiency - high PPG scorer. Harden isn't one of those, that's why the Rockets acquired him in the first place.

The OKC Thunder sure looked great last year after they swapped out bulk scorers Harden and Westbrook for Kevin Martin - another replaceable bulk scorer.

Forget all that sh-t though - Let me boil the stupidity of this argument down into it's defining elements for you.

James Harden = Von Wafer

Therefore J-LIN 4 EVA

cool beans guys.

 

...LOF?

 

I, for one, love these stupid threads. The fools come like moths to a flame

 

Watching the games it is obvious that Harden is the designated playmaker the majority of the time and Lin occasionally is put in charge (E.g The 2 games without Sampson). It is also obvious that Harden runs more ISO plays than Lin that's why people complain about the ball getting sticky with Harden, even his teammates hint at this.

" The fact is that Lin has more touches (front court and total ) and possession time per minute played than Harden "

Yes I just explained this is because he is carrying the ball up court... doesn't this make sense? These seconds that he dribbles up court, waits and passes contribute to his total possession time.

Also no Lin has less front court touches than Harden according to your own stats.

 

Of course, Harden is not a bulk scorer either and is essential to the team success. What he is implying is when Harden plays like a "bulk scorer" and doesn't contribute on D or share the ball, he is not helping the team.

For the record, Westbrook is not a "bulk scorer" either, so it doesn't do wonders for your argument.