(or 9 if we consider Dwight whenever he is back?) Yes, we always have to play hard against the top teams of the NBA Yes, this is how you let young guys earn more experience Yes, this is the way to build chemistry for the playoffs But..... is it really the right time of the season to concentrate the playing time only on 8 guys? 25 games left? With Harden averaging 36 min? Share your thoughts, but if I were the coach of a NBA team, I would be reducing playing time of starters to 30min (please read HARDEN here). 1) Reduce playing time now. Let key players rest a bit for a final sprint! 2) Start the 8/9 player rotation when we have 13, 10 games left on the season and let them build chemistry. Dwight injury might have come in handy - otherwise the coaching staff would still be forcing him to play 30+ every night, never healing completely for the Playoffs.
Bev and Dwight will screw over this beautiful rotation. I'd much prefer it if Dwight came off the bench and Bev played garbage time... Clippers beat us for 2 years and now a change HAD to be made and look at how awesome we beat those floppers.
If Dwight is not fully healthy come April, he should not start! Let this group develop chemistry and depending on the match-up, have Dwight come in at the 6 minute mark or play 6 minutes and then bring TJ. When Beverley is back, Prigioni is not going to get minutes.
If he doesn't get minutes .... McHale is a total moron. I love PatBev's tenacity and hustle .... but if he's not hitting 3's , he's a negative offensively. If Prigs isn't hitting 3's he'll pass them up and create an open shot for someone else. That's something PatBev cant do. Hell , you could argue that they looked better offensively last night than in any other game this season with those two 37 year old point guards running the show. That was the first game in weeks that I can remember where the offense went thru a 4-5 minute stretch where they couldn't put the ball in the hole. They often have those stretches with Harden on the court too ....
OMG! Is ClutchFans for real? We've been winning all season after being called a fringe playoff team in the offseason (some so-called experts even saying we were a lottery team after losing Parsons, Asik and Lin) and even after wins CF posters are complaining about something lately. This has gotten beyond ridiculous! Has ClutchFans gotten spoiled? Have our fans forgotten what we went through the past 5 or so years? We're winning...we're winning without a full roster throughout most of the season...and yet, we're one of the best 4 or 5 teams in the friggin league, but everyone seems to be a GM or coaching expert trying to squeeze out 1 more win than professionals that have gotten us this far can. It's comical. Just stop. I'm not trying to target just the OP. I've just seen so many posts and threads like this lately that it makes me think Houston fans are some of the most pessimistic and critical fans in the world. Just stop. Enjoy the season for what it is.
I don't really have a problem with what OP is trying to say (at least how I perceived it) but the level of negativity in the GARM sometimes makes me think it's visited by a bunch of brats. Everyone stop with the "We are just a first round exit team" **** already. This team as constructed is capable of winning a championship if the stars aligned just right. We have as good a shot as any other team in the league. You don't have to have a perfect team winning 70 games in the regular season to have a chance.
Dwights obviously been out awhile... Those saying he should come off the bench have completly forgotten how good he is! Even if he's not 100% he can still protect the rim. TJones/JSmoove can do that with the 2nd team. If Dwights not well enough to start, he's not well enough to play.
Spot on...but don't make the mistake of reading the game threads like I did. Its disgusting. I've heard McHale say he prefers an 8 or even 7 man rotation for the playoffs....but we are so strong this year on the bench, it will be difficult to carry that out. PG : Bev, Terry, and Prige SG: Harden, Brew SF: Ariza, Brew Frontcourt: Howard, Smith, TJones and Dmo In special situations Dorsey can really help out...reference the recent Portland game where he checked LMA better than anyone. I look for McHale to get KJ into a few games to assess what he brings...because on rep he could be a guy for special situation in the playoffs. The team goal is to get home court for the playoffs and go deep into them. To secure home court its going to take continued heavy minutes from Harden...but I'm sure that is the way he prefers it.
Well said. There's a new 30 pg thread on "trade ____ now!" or "why dont we start ___?!" every day. Love this forum and observing the thought process of others, but way too many 0 to 100 drastic threads.
More than likely it's a 9 man rotation when Dwight and Bev return. Odd man out is Terry, who'll most likely just receive spot minutes when in need of shooting. Nor do I expect to see DMo on the court in crunch time. Bev/Prig Harden/Brewer Ariza/Brewer Dmo/Smith/TJones Dwight/Dmo/Smith
I am not sure...if you are serious or not, or whether you even watched the game lol. Dwight screw up the rotation? Without Dwight in the paint, LAC was having a dunk exhibition. DJordan had one of his best games... And why we barely won? How about Blake Griffin is out with injury... I do not get anyone who thinks we are better without Dwight...like, are they just box score watching? Freaking lay up drills against most opponents...
The only difference between last night's game and the game 2 weeks ago (roster-wise) was that we had Jones in the lineup last night. I damn sure don't want to see "Blake was out" as the excuse for us winning last night, because, ICYMI, he didn't play when they beat us 2 weeks ago in LA.
You stop. I want to enjoy not only the regular season, but also the playoffs. That´s not the point of the thread. The thread is about TIMING of things. As you said, we are one of the best teams. YES, FINALLY! WHICH IS EXACTLY the point: we are allowed to reduce some playing time of key players. OF COURSE, in a gradually way so we don´t drop from the 3rd to 8th seed. Until the all-star break, it didn´t make any sense of benching anyone. But now that we are on a good position and team already seem to be tired, IT MIGHT! The BENCH kept us in the game last night, in case you didn´t see it! Did Brewer bring you any excitement last night? Smith? Does it need to be a starter to give you joy of watching? We got talent man. What I am trying to say is just apply the correct playing time curve! 8-man IS A PLAYOFFS rotation, not regular season from my perspective. Problem is: team is young and want to play. Harden wants the MVP. I want him winning the MVP. Thats healthy. But shouldn´t the coaching staff be saying: "hold your horses, guys!" ? Harden twisted his ankle again and the message is still out there. Just see it.