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Has McHale been playing Harden way too much this season?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by zawa, Mar 27, 2013.

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zawa Member

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We all know that Harden is an irreplaceable centerpiece for our team and a huge part of our team's success this season is due to him, however I am beginning to see that Harden too is not a superhuman and is also affected by fatigue. Coach McHale has played Harden the most in this season and he plays almost 39 minutes a game, the problem is that McHale at times strains Harden too much and barely rests him during games including one where the team is down or up by 10 points.

I'm not another fan whose bashing McHale's rotational system but I believe this team has been relying on Harden too much, it would be terrifying if Harden happens to injure himself due to this absurd increase in playing time and I made this post in concern of the health and future of James Harden and the future Houston Rockets team.

#1 zawa, Mar 27, 2013

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We don't have backup SG

#2 AvgJoe, Mar 27, 2013
hotballa Contributing Member

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All i know is when harden was hurt he was still putting in 42 minutez. The truth is mchale cant coach a ymca team and needs hardens iso skills to win games. He punishes hardens body because wihout harden on the floor we have no chance because mchake has no idea what the hell he is doing. Mchale doesnt give a damn about the rox, just his next contract.

#3 hotballa, Mar 27, 2013

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hotballa Contributing Member

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AvgJoe said: ↑

We don't have backup SG
Click to expand...

??? Parsons/anderson/lin/brooks can all be rotated into 2 spot.

#4 hotballa, Mar 27, 2013

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"That's just the way it is. .... They're young, they'll be okay."

McHale considers juggling Rockets' rotation

With the playoffs in sight, Rockets coach Kevin McHale thought it might be time to cut back on playing time. James Harden and Chandler Parsons, in particular, had played long minutes that McHale said before Sunday's game with the Spurs might have to be trimmed.

Two hours later, he had another goal: win the game. Harden played 40 minutes, Parsons 45.

Neither complained, though if they did, it would be about coming out.

"We love playing basketball," Parsons said. "It's my favorite thing to do. The more minutes the better, if you ask me. Of course I'm going to be tired. I'm going to be sore. But I wish I could play 48 minutes."

But McHale said the dramatic increase in playing time for his key players is a concern as the Rockets head into the final 12 games of the regular season.

Harden's 38.4 minutes per game are the sixth most in the NBA and an increase of seven minutes per game from last season, when he came off the bench for Oklahoma City. Parsons is 23rd, averaging 36.3 minutes, an increase of nearly eight minutes per game.

Omer Asik has had the largest increase, averaging 30.1 minutes, more than double his average in the past. Jeremy Lin's increase in playing time has been modest, just five minutes per game. But he has played 70 games, more than double last season's total.

"That's just the way it is," McHale said. "Is it ideal? You would like to have steppingstones.

"We were going to have a bunch of guys that were going to bypass three or four steps in the process. A guy like O … bypassed the 18-, 24-minute marks. James went from a third-option guy to a first-option guy. We have a lot of guys doing that."

With a team in which every rotation player other than Carlos Delfino has taken on a larger role or workload than they've ever had, the concern is that they, especially Harden and Parsons, soon could be running on empty.

"You fight with getting them out sometimes and trying to get them enough rest," McHale said. "Part of me does say on that given night, 'Well, they're young. They'll be OK.'

"It doesn't sound like a lot, but when you play five or six extra minutes and multiply that by 80 games, that's a lot. That's like playing an extra 12 to 14 games in a season. Does it make a huge difference any one given night? Probably not, but in totality, I think it does."

Harden dials it up

Harden shows no decline in the fourth quarter, scoring more points per minute late in games than he does overall while shooting a slightly lower percentage and drawing slightly more fouls. He said he feels no different than he did late in previous seasons other than "more confident."

"I just try to do the right things to take care of my body and continue to work hard," Harden said. "I can't really worry about being tired right now. That's not my focus. My focus is trying to get better every single day and win basketball games. I'm 23 years old."

McHale has shortened practices and shootarounds. Some of that is because he wanted to focus on areas deemed priorities while saving time and energy for individual workouts. But he also has wanted to get players off the court between games.

Yet for all that has been made of the pitfalls of the Rockets having the youngest, least-experienced team in the NBA, the advantage could be that they can play heavy minutes and have had few injury issues.

"It's an advantage of us being young," Parsons said. "We got fresh legs. That's what we do. We play basketball. The high minutes can wear on you. I think the younger we are, the more it doesn't faze us."

With Delfino, the primary backup for Parsons and Harden, getting much of his playing time at power forward, the playing time for Parsons and Harden has increased, especially lately, with McHale trimming his rotation by one with Francisco Garcia and James Anderson not playing other than to finish routs in recent games.

Easing the workload

The emergence of Patrick Beverley and Greg Smith can help limit the workload for Lin and Asik. If Thomas Robinson can hold down the backup power forward minutes and either he or Donatas Motiejunas can finish games there, Delfino might be able to take on more time at his natural position behind Parsons and Harden.

But for now, McHale has to fight the urge to keep them in the game - and their preference to stay in.

"He knows," Parsons said. "I would never tell him to get lost, but my facial expression might. He knows I want to play a lot and I want to be in there as much as possible. But he makes the decisions."
Click to expand...

#5 J.R., Mar 27, 2013
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McHale playing Harden so much tonight was my biggest problem with his rotations. Harden was really off. What did they get Brooks, Anderson, etc. for if they will never play them? If Brooks or Anderson come in and stink it up then sit them back down but Harden playing sooo much I'm afraid will hurt Rox down the stretch and possibly in playoffs.

#6 roxallways, Mar 27, 2013
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props for not calling mchale, mcfail

#7 daspydamayn, Mar 27, 2013

davek Member

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Mcfail definitely rely on Harden wayyyyyyyy too much....he was struggling yet we still played the iso game....
He also played too many minutes getting over used....I agree we should put Anderson or someone else to take some of Harden minutes for rest.

#8 davek, Mar 27, 2013
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AvgJoe said: ↑

We don't have backup PG
Click to expand...

Fixed

#9 syntax error, Mar 27, 2013
pippendagimp Member

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AvgJoe said: ↑

We don't have backup SG
Click to expand...

james anderson deserves playing time, and would have been useful particularly in tonight's game

#10 pippendagimp, Mar 27, 2013
darksoul35 Member

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hotballa said: ↑

All i know is when harden was hurt he was still putting in 42 minutez. The truth is mchale cant coach a ymca team and needs hardens iso skills to win games. He punishes hardens body because wihout harden on the floor we have no chance because mchake has no idea what the hell he is doing. Mchale doesnt give a damn about the rox, just his next contract.
Click to expand...

You nailed it homie. If it wasnt for Harden then Mcfuc*boy wouldve been fired by the allstar break. Harden has been feeding coaches family all year. He is not getting rest.

#11 darksoul35, Mar 27, 2013

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We need a reason to grab the 14th pick, don't we? What's better than Harden getting injured and we failed miserably before the playoff?

#12 LAC, Mar 27, 2013
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No, Not enough, should have let him play every minutes.

--- McFail

zawa said: ↑

We all know that Harden is an irreplaceable centerpiece for our team and a huge part of our team's success this season is due to him, however I am beginning to see that Harden too is not a superhuman and is also affected by fatigue. Coach McHale has played Harden the most in this season and he plays almost 39 minutes a game, the problem is that McHale at times strains Harden too much and barely rests him during games including one where the team is down or up by 10 points.

I'm not another fan whose bashing McHale's rotational system but I believe this team has been relying on Harden too much, it would be terrifying if Harden happens to injure himself due to this absurd increase in playing time and I made this post in concern of the health and future of James Harden and the future Houston Rockets team.
Click to expand...

#13 gorockets2009, Mar 27, 2013

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hotballa said: ↑

All i know is when harden was hurt he was still putting in 42 minutez. The truth is mchale cant coach a ymca team and needs hardens iso skills to win games. He punishes hardens body because wihout harden on the floor we have no chance because mchake has no idea what the hell he is doing. Mchale doesnt give a damn about the rox, just his next contract.
Click to expand...

This is what I have been saying for a long time now. McHale doesnt care about Rockets future. This suppose to be a rebuilding year.

- Playing Harden through minor injuries and 42+ min in an almost meaningless game will shorten his career.
- He knows we have roster full of PF's, yet before the trade, he played so much Delfino at PF while TJones and DMo got no real minutes. Delfino is never on Rockets long term future. He was a GM before and should know the importance of developing rookies and what's best for the future of this organization. If it wasnt for Morey forcing his hand by trading BOTH starting and backup PF's, DMo would still be watching from sideline.
- All he cares about is his win total on his resume and less about the longevity of Harden's career. We are almost locked for playoffs, yet he played Harden for the whole second half and vs Wolves after he came back from ankle injury.

If you care about the long term future of our team, how do you feel, and how would Les and Morey feel when Harden grabbed his ankle in second half???

#14 kuku, Mar 27, 2013
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If Harden got injured before the playoff, McHale would be the person to blame. And he should lose his job for that.

#15 loox, Mar 27, 2013
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loox said: ↑

If Harden got injured before the playoff, McHale would be the person to blame. And he should lose his job for that.
Click to expand...

McHale would respond "He's just playing basketball! It's not as if he's working a double shift laying cement! And he's only 23! If he can't play all 48 minutes, he's in the wrong profession. If James has to re-charge his battery and can't play 48 minutes, he's in the wrong profession."

lulz

#16 J.R., Mar 27, 2013
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"The more minutes you play the superstar, the more win you get."

#17 YoungGods, Mar 27, 2013
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Rockets just suck at resting their stars. They did T-Mac and Francis the same way. That's why they end up missing full seasons in the future.

#18 Z-Ro&Trae, Mar 27, 2013

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nah, he should be able to play 50 minutes a game. superstars don't get exhausted. I never substitute in my 2k13. =/ virtual harden never dies,

#19 conquistador#11, Mar 27, 2013
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YES. Even if Harden is really tough and is injury free, he is still playing too much. His play the last few weeks has really not been as aggressive as it was earlier in the year. I'm sure that's to be expected a bit, but still Mchale can help harden by not playing him so many minutes. When Harden's shot is off he is much less effective than he was earlier in the year ( even if he was having a bad shooting night ) Our priority the rest of the season should be to get Parsons, Omer, and James as much rest as possible. I would even like to see them sit a game or two. If Harden can get rid of some of his minor nicks and nagging injuries then we'll be better off in the playoffs. A rested and ready to run rockets team will be a tough opponent in the playoffs.

#20 snowconeman22, Mar 27, 2013

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