I think our back court rotation is OK. My main reason for suggesting this is that by inserting brooks, we are able to move Harden to backup 3 for some minutes and drastically increase our production from that spot. The backup wing position has killed us this year and is forcing us to play James and Chandler too many minutes. Brooks is a competent enough backup guard. I think Bev and Lin can cover the 2 defensively well enough for this not to be a problem (I don't think Brooks defense on a backup PG should be an issue). Brooks does several things really well in our system. He is a good passer and shoots well. I think its easier to put brooks in at backup 2, than having to trade for a backup 3 who will fit as well as brooks does.
From what I see, Lin is being used as Harden's backup. It's great that we have Lin and Harden who can both play 1 & 2, having the abilities to create and attack most of the minutes when these two guys are on the floor.
Harden just wants to handle and own the ball, so he plays like a PG. The best distributor is Lin instead of Harden or Brooks. The solution is already there.
This is arguable. I think Lin is the more willing distributor, Harden is the better ball handler and passer.
Lin and Dwight did not click initially , it takes time. Harden and Howard had the luxury of practice during off season
I don't get why everyone's so down on harden? Couple things to consider... 1. hardens still adjusting to playing against first team talent. (He was mostly a bench player before coming here.) 2. No one ever heralded him as a decent defender when he signed his contract so I don't get the surprise 3. People saw in the playoffs of OKC that he didn't have the killer instinct of "champion" and that's a major reason we were able to take him off their hands 4. He's not especially quick or athletic so of course he's gonna have trouble shooting a high fg% without selling foul calls. 5. He's ball-dominant, of course team chemistry might suffer a little. What did we think we were getting? All in all, I think he is indeed worth his contract which I believe is still a bit below max (?). Not sure on the exact numbers. But he's a nice guy and there a probably quite a few guys getting paid close to as much for probably equal or less production (at least offensively) for other teams.
I wouldn't mind seeing brooks get some minutes at pg and sliding Lin/Bev to the sg for a few minutes per game. He can be instant offense and if he's not shooting well on a night, he gets less minutes. If he comes in and sparks it up, he plays more. Back up minutes should be given based on who is playing better on a given night for this team. We don't have any established big time sixth man that you HAVE to play....besides Asik when he's motivated. But mchale seems to struggle with using his players fully. Thinking outside the box. Expanding his rotation. Between dmo, Greg smith, Casspi, brewer, brooks and Lin you have guys that can play multiple positions so you can mix and match based on the hot hand for the night or whoever 's skillset is most needed for a particular game.
Lin is Harden's backup and Bev's backup. Lin pretty much gets all the backup minutes at the 1 and 2. When Harden's out, Lin is the attacking score first SG. When Harden is in, he's spots up more and dishes the ball (often to Harden). If you notice, Lin/Bev/Harden usually take all the 96 minutes at the guard positions. Lin gets fewer minutes when he's playing badly. He gets more minutes when McHale runs the triple guard lineup of Lin/Bev/Harden. Brooks is the real "backup" guard (either PG or SG), he gets minutes if any of the other 3 guards are injured, or playing badly, or in foul trouble. He also is the garbage time PG. With all the injuries that we've had this has meant a lot of minutes this season for Brooks. With our lineup of 4 quality guards, we don't need another SG.
The backup SG is Lin. Lin is perfect because he backs up the PG and SG which is what the Rockets need. Lin has also built a nice rapport with Beverley. Not sure why you are saying Bev is the back up SG, it's Lin.
Jeremy Lin was actually a Shooting Guard growing up out of high school. Because he only grew to 6'3 he was then turned into a PG.
Terry would be the scoring threat we need from the bench. Guy can shoot light out this would be a good minor trade
Defense is a problem when he plays extensive minutes, but being imo our 2nd best isolation/ 1v1 scorer after Harden he should definitely have a role on the team. I would like to see Mchale bring him in anytime he's drawing up a play with like 6 seconds left on the clock to see how his shot looks coming in fresh. Eventually we're going to be in a close game down by 2 or 3, looking for a gamewinner situation and I think a 0 minutes played Aaron Brooks might be 1 of the 5 you want on the court in that scenario.
I agree with OP. We should find ways to use Brooks - even if it means being creative. Was Steve Kerr good defensively - I doubt it. Makes no sense to have our best 3 point shooter on the bench all game.
Not only is Lin better at the 2 on both ends, but Harden is better at the 3 on both ends, so I think our back-up 2 and 3 spots are perfectly fine for the playoffs. If you're talking about adding more depth during the regular season so we can rest Harden and Parsons more then I agree, and I think Morey would agree too based on comments he said in a recent podcast in regards to the importance of getting Francisco Garcia back.
Um...hello McFly....Jeremy Lin is about as good a back up SG as you will find. What's wrong with him?
