I think there is a legit concern with not having a player on the floor that can take care of the ball. One of the concerns I have about bringing in Pringles is that he only seems to be addressing one of our 3 main problems last year: shooting. But our other two problems were defense and turnovers. adding a true starting caliber point guard will reduce turnovers and improve our defense against opposing point guards. It's not about taking the ball out of Harden's hands all of the time. It's about lightening his load and making the game easier for him so he doesn't turn the ball over. Pairing him with a good ball handler gives our backcourt versatility when Harden is on the floor, and steadiness for the 2nd unit. Not having one of those kinds of players on the roster is a real problem.
I really think we should keep him playing under 30 minutes... this dude has been fragile the whole time he was in NO.
No, its really not. You guys are over looking a very simple concept and causing people to make a huge jump to conclusion about what you can do with the starting lineups. The fun little game people play is to call Harden a PG because he initiates the offense. That's all well and good, I mean, obviously he is not a PG, he is a SG who initiates the offense, but whatever. It becomes a problem when people think you can just eliminate the PG position all together from the rotation. That is a big no no. The "PG" has duties beyond initiating the offense, such as bringing the ball up the court, defending smaller / quicker opposing guards, and using speed / quickness to break off defenders on inbound plays. When you start talking about eliminating PGs, because you have are labeling Harden a PG, just because he sets up the offense, you open the door to all kinds of problems you have never seen before and just don't understand. The reason you have never seen them is because we ran very few possessions last year with no true PG on the floor.
If you want Harden to have the ball in his hands most of the time, then you cant complain about him having to "carry the load". And if he has to still do everything on offense, then we may see last seasons effort on defense from him. And if he wants everyone to see he is a top 5 player he needs to play better defense and play better off the ball offensively.
James Harden can, and has demonstrated countless times, that he can break a press. The reason NBA teams only press under dire circumstances, is because most NBA players can break a press 1 on 1, and if they double the ball handler against a good offense, it's a free lay up every time. Hell, even in highschool basketball, the strategy for breaking a man press is pass the ball in, and clear out. The idea that an NBA shooting guard, who is at least top 2 in the entire world, can't dribble against a man on man press consistently, is quite frankly, stupid. This is the NBA. Teams don't press because when 2 good basketball teams play each other (all NBA teams are good) the team that presses will either be scrambling in the 4v5 when harden makes the blow by, or 3v4 when harden passes out of a double team. The only real objection to harden playing PG, is who is going to guard the other teams PG. that's a very real question that needs answering, if we are too beat the best.
Good luck with now having Harden burdened with even more of a load offensively. It's a disaster waiting to happen.
Asking Harden to repeatedly break the press just to simply bring the ball down the court, then have him run the offense which most likely involves him beating his defender is a lot of work.
You have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to basketball. Your point will never be made.
LOL. Yall are talking about beating a press???? The stupidity here is truly astounding. First of all starter is a title and it doesn't matter. MPG is what matters. Gordon is one of our 5 best players, so his minutes won't be limited by fit with Harden (where he is a PERFECT fit). His minutes will likely be limited by monitoring his health. And YES you are a fool if you look at what positions players are listed at as opposed to what players can do. Players have certain roles and skills they can perform on offense and have different roles and skills on defense.
Do you guys really see the Cavs ever not starting a natural PG next to Lebron? He handles the ball as much as Harden does. Even if you could run the offense that way, you still need a guy to chase starting PGs like Curry or CP3, and that's Beverley . And on top of that, who is going to initiate the offense with the 2nd unit? Bev? That's not his strength , but Gordon could handle that I don't even think this is a debate within the Rockets org
Point has already been made, you just seem too stupid or too stubborn to understand. There are fundamental basics to basketball. One of them is a G who can handle the ball. Harden is an amazing penetrator who can create off the dribble in offensive sets. He cannot mimic other point guard functions like maintaining his dribble through sets / presses like a Nash / CP3 or even other SGs like Kobe and Jordan. A guard who can fill that role is essential to lineup building alongside a Harden centric group. This isn't rocket science.
No one is like Nash or CP3... And Harden is BETTER at handling the ball and creating for teammates than both Kobe and Jordan. Having a secondary playmaker is better than not having one.. obviously. But there is absolutely no available playmaker that is superior to James Harden. On offense he absolutely will be the creator. And it's actually a benefit if he's guarding a different position on defense, because he can get more rebounds and initiate the break or offense more quickly.
This is likely the case. I also think a lot of people underestimate how effective Eric Gordon can be simply because he hasn't really been in the picture of the NBA for a while, and most end up forgetting how young he still is and how effective he is on the court. His TS% has historically been fairly good, as has his eFG%, both of which are above league average. He is a career 38% shooter from 3, and that will likely go up if he plays next to Harden. He has the ability to create his own shot and off the bench he would provide a solid scoring spark. Of course, all of this assumes he doesn't get hurt, especially in the playoffs. But at this point having good defenses is no longer the key to winning the championship. Luck and getting hot from 3 for a series is pretty much the key to beating the powerhouses in this league, and Rockets luckily picked up two good 3 point shooters.
Bro that is not even the issue. The issue is beverly and ariza cannot dribble. Harden has nobody to bail him out when he gets doubled. Gordon can dribble. Like when parsons was here. It relieves pressure when you have a secondary ball handler to fight off double teams.
with anderson and harden in the starting lineup, gordon should come off the bench, and play with those 2 in spurts. plus remember harden's not a pg. we have no choice but to run the offense thorugh him but it will be with high to's and not enough asts to covermake up for them. he' snot gonna be lik enash getting 12apg. and remember, this team never had a real system. thats gonna be tough fo rharden to adapt to, opposed to his usual drive or dribble and kick out
