Agreed. The Rockets are a very bad team without James Harden. If he can play, we need him against even the likes of Boston and Detroit.
Keep him home and allow him to rest until Feb 4th. From there we'll have 5 difficult games (vCHI, vMIL, vPOR, @PHX, @LAC) leading into the All-Star break. No need to make Harden go through the travel and stress to play against Boston and Detroit. Boston is trying to lose, and Detroit is coming back down to earth since Jennings went out. This will also be an excuse to get Canaan some playing time and we can see how healthy and productive he is.
I'd be down to rest him these two games but only if Canaan gets major run. Think we can win those if he is getting 25-30 min a game
Have him travel with the team but start off on the bench. If we don't need him, then he gets to rest, if the game is in the balance, we should play him because we need all those wins.
Let him play on just limited minutes (20-25). After next two games, I believe they get around 4 days of rest.
Detroit is struggling, no doubt about that. But Boston is NOT trying to lose. Maybe Ainge is, but not the team. They just went on a road trip where they won on B2B nights at Portland and Denver by 1 point. And they took Golden State down to the wire and only lost by 3. No way that happens if their intention is to tank. The Rockets have to treat that game tomorrow seriously. Otherwise it'll be Orlando all over again.
Bring him off the bench as the 6th man, for old times sake. Just for these two games. Play him sparingly through three and if necessary let him take over in the fourth.
Good point about Boston. I must admit I was not aware of those recent games. Harden isn't going to play 82 games this year. We know this. I mean, I'd like him to, but realistically NBA players today can't play 82 regular season games and then play at the top of their game for a title run. So we need to look at when it'd be wise to sit him. These two games presents as good an opportunity as any. Plus, I'm interested in seeing these guys without Harden and Howard. They'll know they can't start slow and just wait for James to carry them through to the finish. Who steps up? I'm not sure, but I'd like to see it. And sure, we could lose those games, and obviously losing stinks - especially in a conference this tight. But the conference will be tight all year long, and like I said earlier, we're going to have to rest Harden sometime. Might as well rest him before he gets injured due to playing too much / too hurt.
lol Personally I would pull a Pop and beat the lesser teams and rest some people against the big bad azz teams that will tire them out. Beat these next two teams and then rest Harden against a couple of them elites. Less wear and tear overall.
If he is not hurting at all, and is fit, he should play against Boston. If he is a game time decision, then he should sit out the next two games. I would rather see him play against the bigger teams, otherwise we won't be able to develop the confidence to face them.
lol The team needs to go to battle at all times. If we have to expend so much energy to get a win that it costs us two other losses then let the kids go nuts and the grown ups watch. The end game is seeding and playoffs, not one regular season game.
This simply isn't true. The Lakers of 5-6 years ago had multiple guys play 82 game. A player should play every game unless he is older or injured. When the playoffs come, guys get tons of days off.
2014 - Spurs - Duncan played 74 - Parker played 68 - Manu played 68 2013 - Heat - LeBron played 76 - Bosh played 74 - Wade played 69 2012 - Heat (66 game season) - LeBron played 62 - Bosh played 57 - Wade played 49 2011 - Mavs - Terry played 82 - Kidd played 80 - Marion played 80 - Chandler played 74 - Dirk played 73 2010 - Lakers - Kobe played 73 - Pau and Bynum played 65 So which of those guys bolded played 82 games and carried his team to a title?
Injuries can happen at anytime. They don't care how old, how good of a season you're having, or how bad your team needs you. The rockets need to do w.e they can to surround the only rocket putting up legit MVP numbers since Hakeem with a championship squad.
I like how you stopped at the 2010 Lakers, since the 2009 Lakers had Kobe, Fisher, and Ariza play 82 games, and Pau played 81.
So one out of the last six years the title winner had its superstar play 82 games? What does that say?
