EGO can be a starter and still play all the minutes that harden is off the court. Let's say Harden plays 36mpg and EGO plays 32 mpg (just pulling out random numbers). That only leave 12 minutes that harden doesn't play. If EGO plays all 12 minutes, then he still plays 20 minutes with Harden. This also leaves about 28 minutes to split between point guards to play along side either Harden or Ego. With Beverley back, he can easily play 25 mins and leave Ennis and Brown to pick up 3 garbage minutes. This doesn't even take into account the possibility of playing big and putting Ariza/KJ at SG next to Harden.
This is a pretty weird argument, have you taken a look at Eric Gordon? He's built like a tank, his body is closer to Kyle Lowry than Stephen Curry. He doesn't have a fragile body he's just had a string of freak accidents and setbacks regarding his recovery. This means that you can't really prevent his injuries because you don't know when it'll happen, he can play 5 mins on the court and suddenly breaks his finger or tears his shoulder or something. I don't know if you noticed, but Eric Gordon IS our 2nd star, Ryan Anderson can't carry an offense because he gets taken out easily by small ball PFs and he had never been regarded as a star so I don't know why you want Eric Gordon to be the 3rd wheel. Treating Gordon exclusively as a super 6th man is just a waste of money given that Gordon makes 15M a year AND he is vastly better than Beverly. GSW can afford to have Iggy as the 6th man because they have KD at SF, the Rockets aren't exactly overflowing with talent they need Gordon to play 30 mins a game every night. Regarding the issue on who Gordon will guard, it's actually James Harden who guards the pgs not Eric Gordon, because Gordon is a better defender than Harden and in the league you have a lot of extremely athletic SGs who need somebody who is quick laterally to keep up with them. Guys like Brandon Knight, Wes Matthews, Oladipo, Derozan etc. these guys aren't pure shooters but they are athletic and quick to move off the ball, if you have somebody slow and/or have bad D like Harden they will be able to drop 20 pts easily via cuts to the basket. OTH Pgs spend most of their time distributing the ball so putting a good defender on a pg is useless because that pg will just make plays and pass the ball, like what Harden does when opponents D him up and then he finds Capela for the dunk. Of course there will be exceptions like when the Rockets face OKC but that's when you put Ariza on the WB and then have Harden switch to either SG or SF, depending on who's the weaker scorer.
I highly doubt Brown is still on this team after Bev comes back which is why I think they decided to waive Progioni instead of wasting his time.
i wouldn't put it past d'antoni and the coaching staff maintaining the current rotation once beverly is back. beverly will get ennis minutes and part of brewer's on a 3-guard line-up of kj-bev-gordon/harden. gordon starts, leaves at the 5minute mark (in comes beverly). beverly starts the 2nd qtr with gordon. those who say starting is not important to these players is dead wrong, it matters to them and you couldn't disrespect gordon as a second-best player on the team to come of the bench as a mere stop gap to when harden sits. they take it personally especially if the other player knows he is a more complete player than the other.
being prone to freak injuries makes you injury prone. its not like it happened twice. its been every single year for him since his rookie year. in the shortened lockout year he only played 9 games! no question eg is a better player than ryan. im not saying play him 20mpg. his mpg should be in thie high 20s at least, prefer low 30s. but ryan is 20m per for years. he needs around 35mpg. bev is really a backup pg but we need him defense. his mpg should be same as eg. harden is a capable defender too. if we get more wins with him guarding the fastest players on the court then good. overall i dont really care who starts or who defneds who or w/e, just go with what works best.
Playing him 30 mins is whats happening now lol. I think Harden, Bev and EG will be our 3 guard rotation and everyone will get 30 mins. Its great because you can combine any 2 of these 3 and they have synergy
Ryno will be shooting in the high 30% low 40% from deep for the duration of this contract . Anything else is gravy. When he's hitting, you guys have seen how quickly we put up points. EG is definitely better but Ryno is THE prototypical stretch 4. Both worth their contracts.
I sure hope THIS is the case and can agree I do think his last knee issue on his OTHER knee around 2 seasons ago was "compensation" related. Its wasnt wear & tear so much, though NOW can be the point where over-use can reaggravate things (in a Pat Bev 10-15 games missed way maybe, not half a season).
As much as I love Eric Gordon starting with Harden, we can't have Beverly running the 2nd unit. That 2nd unit needs Eric Gordon. His ability to score, create his own shots and others, is a big factor for the 2nd unit. The Warriors have Shaun Livingston and Iguodala coming off the bench, two players who can score and create for others effectively makes the Warriors so dangerous. The Rockets had always have a big drop off when Harden sits. Having Eric Gordon on the floor while Harden sits should keep the Rockets afloat. Even if he comes off the bench, the Rockets will still have Gordon and Harden sharing the floor together and closing out games together. The Rockets still needs another wing player who can shoot, score, and create. Patrick Beverly is an defensive player with a decent spot up jump shot. The Rockets will need Beverly to start so he can pressure other team's starting PG early. Beverly's defense is too valuable to have him come off the bench and guard opposing team's backup PGs. Patrick Beverly also thrives when he plays with Harden because he needs someone to get him open shots. So Beverly is going to start and play the off-guard position and focus all his energy defensively. That gives Gordon a chance to come in keep the offense afloat. When Houston signed both Anderson and Gordon, I was excited about both but I was more excited about Eric Gordon. I was surprised that Houston was able to signed him because I thought other teams would be eager to get him. Because of his bad luck of injuries, a lot of GMs and people started to overlook him. But I know what Eric Gordon is capable of. He may be injury prone, but when he's healthy, he is a special offensive player. His offensive skills is perfect for instant offense off the bench. The Rockets tried looking for an instant offensive player off the bench for the last few years and were really unsuccessful. With Eric Gordon, the Rockets got themselves a great shooter, who can create his own shot off the dribble, and can create for his teammates at a high level. Eric Gordon is a dangerous shooter when left wide open. The Rockets will continue to rely on Eric Gordon to lead the 2nd unit when Beverly comes back. Adding Gordon is huge for this team. Not only is he the perfect instant offense off the bench, but he gives Harden another player to handle the ball and create. Those two will share the floor a lot this season and will close out almost all games together. If he can continue his play and stay healthy, he will be a special player. He was a top 10 draft pick for a reason. He was the reason why Clippers was able to acquire CP3. Before all his injuries, he was starting to come into his own and playing at an All Star level. Though he is slowed a bit after all the injuries, the scoring ability that made him an all star caliber player and a top 10 draft pick is still there. He is still the lethal scorer that can score in bunches quickly. Even though he will come off the bench for Houston, he is the best scorer Harden has ever played with since coming to Houston.
Harden can't do it all. He NEEDS Gordon out there too to relieve pressure. This idea Gordon should be a spark off the bench is misguided. This is a completely different team now. One that doesn't defend so don't change what's working IMO.
