There is a lot less pressure bringing the ball up the court compared to the past. Really there is no reason Gordon cannot do it, he has in the past numerous times. Also the Rockets hope to be running a lot on the break which means Harden will have the ball less often in his hands anyway. I don't think the Rockets need or even want a true point guard.
Why do the Rockets need a pure point guard? I haven't seen any indication that the Rockets with Harden want a point guard that runs the offense. They have wanted a playmaker/shooter/defender at that spot that can play off of Harden. At the three, I think you will see Harden get more time there with a three guard line up, and you still have Ariza, Beasley (at times), Brewer and possibly McDaniels. I don't think that there is a really strong need. Obviously you always want to upgrade but I am okay with what they have. I agree that the Rockets need an anchor defensively at the 5 spot. Unfortunately I am not sure the Rockets will be able to get what they need. This Rockets team will be flawed; but so are a majority of teams. The Rockets strengths just need to be really strong.
I ultimately don't think whether he starts or not will matter, as he I say him playing heavy minutes down the stretch no matter what. PG-Gordon-Harden will work for small ball purposes, and a Gordon-Harden back-court would work at times as well. Lots of potential lineup combinations MDA will have at his disposal to play around with. That being said, I like the idea of Gordon being a 6th man. His scoring off the bench would be huge. Last year our bench was a huge problem - when Harden came off the court our offense was a disaster - and as a result, I think having him provide that spark will be big.
The fact that we signed Ty Lawson, were pursuing Conley, and are often rumored to be in the mix for potential PG trade acquisitions all seem to be indications that the Rockets want someone that can run the offense a bit. It seems strange that the Rockets are always pursuing another ball-handler when that would seemingly be an awkward fit next to Harden, but I guess Morey wants to bring more balance to our offense. Harden excelled being the 3rd option on offense in OKC - in Houston he could still be the first option, even with a ball-handler playing point.
I'm hoping they try it both ways in preseason. Doesn't matter much to me as long as Bev's minutes are reduced.
The Rockets settled for Lawson, that wasn't the player that the Rockets wanted; but was the best they could get. He also cost the Rockets almost nothing and the Rockets would not make the deal without Lawson waiving his player option. That speaks to how much they wanted him. Conley defends well against 1's and 2's and can create some. I don't think that the Rockets would turn down a player because he can run the point, but they don't want a point guard that has to have the ball in his hands to be productive. Harden has not played as well off the ball. He did not do especially well with Lawson. Jason Terry said it best when he said not to make Harden into something he is not. Said Harden was the best player in the league with the ball in his hands. Would the Rockets deal for a "pure" point guard? Yes, it is all a matter of valuation and what the player would contribute within the Rockets system. However I don't believe the Rockets are targeting pure point guards. If they really wanted one, they would have signed Rondo. Could the Rockets end up with Rubio? Sure, he defends well, he can penetrate and has the size to play several spots. However, it would have to be at a cost that is below what the Rockets believe he is worth on the open market.
Beverly should be far more effective defensively playing 20 minutes a night. His style of play and strengths are not made for 35 minutes a night.
i think he will start. MDA isn't starting the trio of beverley, ariza, and capela. at least 2 of them will be on the bench in favor of better offensive players. without dmo i think the lineup is: capela-nene-onuaku ryno-beasley-harrell harden-ariza-dekker gordon-brewer-KJ beverley-???-GP2
Stop.... You act as if Beverley is like Chris Paul with his handle. What can Beverley do that Gordon can't? Fight off pressure? Beverley is not an elite ball handler. As a matter of fact....Gordon has a better handle than Beverley. This notion that you must play Beverley in order to get the ball up against pressure is just flawed. A backcourt of gordon/Harden is more versatile than you think. Gordon can relieve Harden of ball handling duties better than Beverley can. Watch more film on Gordon. You're underestimating how good he really is. .
Harden will still have the ball 90% of the time when he's in the game. He's much better at creating than Gordon
LOL Remember when Jeremy Lin was here and opposing teams started pressuring him when he was bringing the ball up the court? They did it once or twice, and he turned the ball over both times, then they forced the ball completely out of his hands. This is the same thing. Having Gordon or Harden in that role is an invitation to disaster. Gordon and Harden are both labeled SGs for a reason.
I think Gordon can defend many 2's, and we should experiment with playing Harden at the 3 and 4 more often. I want to see them on the floor at the same time but frankly neither of them can defend a 1 or 4 so who would defend the best wing scorer? Tough one. I am excited to see this lineup at SOME point though: Capela Anderson Harden Gordon Beverley Harden and Capela running the pick and roll with 3 shooters all of whom capable of hitting 40%+ easily moving and hovering around.
Top players need to be on the court during games..regardless of position..here are mine... 1. James Harden 2. Anderson 3. Gordon 4. Ariza 5. Capella 6. Beasley 7. Beverley 8. Nene 9. Harrell 10. Decker 11. Corey 12. KJ DMO#..?..in limbo
A few things to keep in mind here....outside of Rubio being an obvious significant upgrade since we now have 3 outstanding shooters in Harden, Anderson, and Gordon. 1. Chris Paul is a free agent next summer. 2. There is the possibility of trading Gordon after Dec. 15th. While Morey maintains he is the perfect fit next to Harden we all know there are more perfect fits. If Gordon comes in banging down shots like I expect him to then he could turn that salary into a great trade asset base for a significant upgrade. Better not sleep on this possibility. 3. Either DMo is getting signed and traded now or we keep him and either him or Ryan Anderson becomes tradeable in a few months. They're duplicative mostly. And once again both men should look like all stars in MDA's system. So we're far from done in my opinion and by next February could look a whole lot different than we do today. We're not married to anybody on this roster except James.
Harden has a better handle than 99% of the league. Teams pressured Jeremy Lin because he sucks. I can sort of/somewhat/barely comprehend the fatigue argument. But not really. Bringing the ball up the court isn't banging down low on the post. Harden is better with the ball in his hands than Beverley. Harden's TOs are from trying to force pocket passes, not from being pressured on the dribble. Pressuring James on the dribble is an open invitation to get burnt.
Oh? http://youtu.be/n1pEjT4mQIU <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://youtu.be/embed/n1pEjT4mQIU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Need a back up facilitator for the 10 minutes that Harden is taking a breather, or to start if Harden is out for whatever reason.
It is only now I realized we signed Eric Gordon, and not Ben Gordon. I was like wtf Ben Gordon's like 33 by now Regardless I don't think Gordon should be starting, first of all he's extremely injury prone so why you want him to play 35+ mins a night? He should be given the Manu treatment, Manu also played 30 mins a night but he did it off the bench. Secondly with Anderon also in the starting line up a starting 5 of Bev/Harden/Ariza/Anderson/Capela is extremely balanced offensively and defensively, why break that by adding in Gordon when he could be used as the center of the bench offense alongside Beasley? A bench headlined by Nene, Beasley, DMo and Gordon is top notch and makes the team deep as hell. Of course once the last 5 mins come up you go to the best possible lineup which would probably be Gordon/Harden/3Za/Anderson/Nene. That's actually pretty good and can probably hang with everyone except GSW and Cavs. Well we'll see what happens either starting or off the bench I expect Gordon to split his mins between SG and PG alongside Harden or Bev.
