FYI it's entirely possiBle for someone not starting to have 3rd most minutes in a team Not starting <> bench minutes
Just because some people mention it doesn't matter who starts but who finishes doesn't make it necessarily true. It's actually does matter as far as putting your team and players in the best situations to succeed
The best way to ensure there is elite playmaking throughout 48 minutes per game is to start Bev. I can get down with Lawson starting and just trying to run the opposing team out of the gym, but I think the other way better manages minutes and is better long term.
Saw a twitter or instagram post by the Rockets showing a practice shot and Jones, Harden and Ariza (current starters) had black jerseys and so did Lawson. So McHale still has him starting.
Shandon is the starter, because he has Utah/Sloan/Stockton pedigree. Cuttino needs to come off the bench circq 2000 we have a logjam at PF. Eddie needs to start with MoT getting major minutes and Sorry Kenny is lost in the shuffle then Rudy starts KT circa 2001
It seems ludicrous to me. Why on earth would you even hire an actual facilitating point guard if not to take a load off of Harden? James didn't ask for a guard to shore up the second unit while saying, "Nah, don't worry, I can still handle everything by myself with the starters." He asked for HELP. He NEEDS help. Choices: 1) Start Lawson and make teams have to think first instead of just doubling and tripling Harden immediately, which they now know works well to shut down our offense. 2) Put Lawson in second unit. Nothing changes about the starting unit, and James is further neutralized as teams have become more aware how to play him. The second unit then bears the brunt of picking up for the starters somehow. To me, I see it as a football game for the Rockets. Starters are the strong offense you want to have. Bench is the strong defense you want to keep the other team at bay until the starters are back. Put Beverley there. If the Venn diagram of offense and defense intersects more it should be because both circles grew, not because you changed their positions.
Beverley is offensively garbage and his defense is vastly over-rated. Starting Bev will have no long term benefit for the Rockets. Lawson should and will be the starter. Lawson's offense will relieve Harden from doing everything every possession so Harden can focus on his D. At least that was the notion that allowed Harden to get away with not much effort on D since he was exhausted doing everything offensively. Improved Harden defense should compensate for Bev's extra D and offensively Lawson and Bev are on different spectrums.
Agreed on all points. Bev can really help and do some great things when he is doing his thing giving all out effort. But skill wise he's very limited. If he can knock down some threes, and play with his patented hustle he'll help that second unit out a lot.
Ultimately, who starts is not the issue. It's who gets what minutes alongside Harden. Both cases can be made that either PG is good next to Harden. Ty: Takes the load of Harden (increasing his efficiency and less TOs) and helps improve Harden's defense at the same time. Bev: Better catch and shoot player than Ty which is good next to Harden and also has better defense to go with Harden's average defense. I think to take advantage of both scenarios, Ty and Bev should be playing with Harden 50% of the time. (that can change depending on match up). So, if Harden plays 36 mpg for example, Ty plays 18 minutes with Harden, and so does Bev. For the other 12 minutes that Harden is off the court Ty can play all those minutes, keeping elite playmaking for 48 mins a game. Minutes for the 3 players look like this. Harden - 36mins Ty - 30mins Bev - 18mins This doesn't even take into account going small and playing Ty and bev next to each other in certain situations. This allows Ty to run the bench while giving the Harden/Ty combo the ability to run the other team into the ground. In the same time all of Bev's minutes are potentially against the starting PG which is great for defensive intensity against the elite PGs of the west.
One more thing. Does anyone know Thornton's game that well? I wonder if he is a solid playmaker/scorer, or is he more of the black hole scoring type? If he is a bit of a playmaker, he can play next to Bev ok if we were to give more minutes to Bev with Harden off the floor.
Ty is actually a pretty decent catch and shoot player, he just hasn't played with someone who could facilitate at all since Iggy went to GS. Bev moves off the ball much better whereas Ty is reliant on someone else getting him the shots when he does. Bev is really just a 6'0 off guard.
not super super familiar with his game, but he seems to be a more confident offensive player than ariza, and i don't say that lightly, because i LOVE ariza. brewer is all about hustle and driving to the basket, going up for quick fouls, spotting up in the corner. thornton doesn't hesitate to take a shot. now obviously this can be a bad thing. but after watching so many games last year where it was like "ok harden do your thing, or dump it off to d-mo, pray that josh smith makes a three" it's nice to see thornton take shots, and he always seems to know where the ball is, which is a GREAT skill to have, because it shows he's looking to facilitate offense, essentially, he *can* be a playmaker. i saw a nice pick-and-roll with thornton in the game against dallas(?) i think. harden set a pick for thornton which was brilliant on about three levels. and i thought, "wow, if harden can utilize thornton AND lawson in this way, that's a dangerous offense."
