Yes, it would free up Howard and make the starting five more free-flowing and the bench would be better also because Harden would be allowed to ISO to his heart's content what with Asik, Garcia and co. in there. But...it'd be also the first time in the history of the NBA that the best player on the team came off the bench. McHale is not that experimental, or daring, a coach. Pretty much status quo is what you'll get with him. Even if this scheme was to work, it'd be much too controversial, and especially in the playoffs.
As a old school bball fan, no D no play time, and if the head coach is old school he definitely deserve a lot of time on the bench. it will help him improve his D and earn his position in the team without doubt, unlike now he just a flawed reg season O star and got exposed in playoff in front of national media. over hyped and overpaid misled this kid.
Harden did step his D up in game 3 - I mean still not great but at least pretty consistent effort compared to the first 2 games. I'm hoping this series has so far been like a very long any scary pre game warmup for James to get ready to really play.
Hmm - 95 of us want JH coming off the bench. Are there even 95 LOF's round these parts? For the record, I said no. He's our best offensive player = starter on this team.
Harden, along with Parsons and Dwight, should all come off the bench. Imagine the destruction we would wreak on Portland's bench. Plus, they would be more rested with the reduced minute. But nope, McHale is an idiot.
No. But we do need Harden or Howard on the floor at all times. Use either one of them with the second unit, instead of Parsons.
This has to be one of the dumbest threads ever started. If you really think Harden should come off of the bench, then you should just give up on watching basketball, because you don't have a clue.
When Melo comes, Harden would be an awesome spark off the bench when Melo rests. Their skill sets overlap so try and give Harden as many minutes as possible without Melo.
Ask yourself if any team in the NBA would start Lin over Harden. Would any team in the NBA make Lin their franchise player over Harden? Maybe Kobe should've came off the bench when Shaq was beasting, or Gasol was in his prime. Maybe Clyde should've came off the bench when Hakeem was dominant. Maybe Wade should come off the bench since Lebron's got the starting unit in control. Maybe Lillard should just come off the bench since LMA was in god mode the 1st two games. All these make both units effective right? If any of those sound like good ideas to you, then you really are delusional, and you certainly do not understand basketball. You start your best 5 and most of the time, finish with them as well, in order to win. Unfortunate for Lin fans, he does not make the cut for the best 5 on the team. Harden and Howard were the primary reasons for us winning 54 games. Not Lin. He doesn't get the keys to the franchise once other players were the leaders to get us here. Lin will never have the keys to this franchise, let alone any NBA franchise. He is NOT a franchise player. He's a backup at best in this league. That's why he lost his starting position to Beverly a long time ago. Suck it up and move on.
I'll be honest man harden is hard to cheer for. Probably my least likes player on this team. No D no hustle no ball movement. So yes I think he'd be a great sixth man in limited minutes similar to his OKC role. When the D tightens up in the playoffs it is pretty clear he is overpaid, overhyped, and should be relagated to a scoring punch "jamal Crawford role"
This is a ridiculous thread. Why the hell would you not start Harden? And 40+% of you guys think to bench him? Geez, are you all serious? I am a huge Lin fan but come on! Get a reality check.
Basically, This is "Bashing Harden" Part 2 ... Every troll come back from their holes to pollute the Garm. Like it or not, Harden was always there, i didn't see anyone to step up and take his role, he took 35 shots but where was Parsons(worse defense than James and fouled out), Beverley disappeared(what more can you expect, he is not a faciliator), Howard missed 2 post-ups (although fouled by LMA)... Only Lin played good and took some pressure off Harden. Who else was there to help James ... WHO?
