Plays himself into a bench role because we need him more on the 2nd unit than the 1st. There really is no argument as to who the better playmaking PG is, it's really a matter of fit and maximizing talent and production.
I don't think Bev is good enough to be a regular starter in this league. Last yeasr, Harden's domination of the basketball hides Bev's lack of PG skills, but this year's team is different. With Howard clog the inside, Harden will not have as much freedom/room to drive inside, he'll have to "involve" his teammates more, and give up the ball more often. Bev will be forced to "manage" the offense, which I don't think he can at a regular basis. I believe Lin will start, but McHale may try a few games with Bev as a starter. But he will find out that Bev is just not the starter material.
You can always sacrifice some PT contiguity for ego/PR and swap the early subs minutes with the game start minutes. The important thing are having the right combinations of players on the court at all times. Game Start Lin Harden Parsons Howard Asik Early Subs Lin Parsons Casspi D-Mo Howard Late Subs Beverley Harden Casspi Jones Asik
Another note is that this will probably work a bit better to sync D-Mo's minutes with Harden: Game Start Lin Harden Parsons D-Mo Howard Early Subs Lin Parsons Casspi Howard Asik Late Subs Beverley Harden Casspi Jones Asik But since we are trying to maximize ego/PR over what's best for the team, I reckon we can start Asik too without sacrificing that much team production.
I think you are going to be OK going either way. Here's the way I look at it- -Whoever starts at the PF/PG position with the starting lineup is going to look less dynamic and will have to be good at 3 things- 1. Team defense 2. Passing 3. Outside Shooting -Whoever comes off the bench is likely to look much more dynamic offensively and will need to play much more uptempo. All 4 players (Lin/Bev/D-Mo/Jones) have the ability to be both, but some will be better suited than others for certain roles. The big unknown here is how Asik fits in the big man rotation. If Asik is starting than I'm almost certain that one of the two bigs (Jones/D-Mo) will be out of the rotation, and McHale will rotate 3 bigs. If Asik is coming off the bench you need to start someone next to Howard that fits him the best. I would say D-Mo is the better passer, and potentially the better outside shooter. he moves well on both ends, and doesn't seem to need the ball in his hands to be effective. Jones isn't bad at these thing (except for shooting), but the one thing that I like better about D-Mo is his passing ability to feel the post & move the ball side-to-side. As for the PG rotation, I believe coming off the bench gives Lin more freedom to be the #1 option offensively attacking the basket. Asik & him seemed to develop really good chemistry last year that could carry the second unit in a pick and roll heavy offense. Beverley might be better in a complementary defensive, spacing PG role playing with Harden/Howard.
Right now Casspi is the best offensive power forward next to either Dwight or Asik and it's not really even close. I'm not saying he's gonna start. But I am surprised that we have such a pile of posts about all these other brick layers with nary a mention of Casspi. There is basically one rotation spot up for grabs right now with a second rotation spot being available as long as Garcia is out. Those 2 spots are going to be filled by 2 of DMo, TJones, GSmith, and Casspi. You can basically count out Greg Smith as long as both big men are healthy. And you almost have to count Casspi in the rotation because he has greater ability to efficiently spread the floor than either of DMo/TJones. That leaves basically DMo and TJones tustling for the final rotation spot, at least until Garcia returns. It doesn't really matter who starts so much as who is in the rotation. McHale and the coaching staff will figure out which mix has the best chemistry. The more important question is who gets in the rotation.
To all those arguing that Lin should come off the bench: why not just stagger Lin and Harden's minutes like we were this last season? That seemed pretty effective, and it would still allow Lin to start.
Casspi is a great rebounder for his size, has deadly 3-point range, and can drive into the paint. He runs the floor well and has great court vision for passing. True, he might struggle to defend bigger post-up PF, but on the offensive end he can run circles around them in the open court and wreak havok with his passing and scoring skills.
Lin & DMo but damn, Lin is gonna be under a damn microscope. One little mistake or bad game and he's in for a hell of a ride.
Bwhahahahahhaha Harden and/or Howard will not be coming off the BENCH. They are the Superstars that are paid the mega bucks. But hey thanks for the laugh.
Response You could also be right. At this point, I don't think Mac knows 100% what he's going to do. If you look at Dwight, Lin is a better fit, but with Harden, Bev might be a better fit. One thing I am pretty sure is that I don't think Rockets is going to pay $8 Mill per year cap for a 6th man. This arrangement is not sustainable for more than 1 year.
I think the key to if Lin or Bev starts, is how well Harden and Howard run their pnr. Lin set up Howard very well in the first game for easy buckets. I didn't see much of that between Howard and Harden in this game, so what ended up was Howard post ups and Harden ISOs. I'd like to see Lin start just to run pnr with Howard, unless Harden proves to do better.I would hate to see a starting line up that only knows Harden ISOs and Howard post ups. It's funny sometimes when I hear people talking about it's better for the team, so it is ok to have Lin coming off the bench, then just plain laugh at others for the idea having Harden or Howard off the bench. If you think about it, they have similar merits, especially when we know for Howard's case, we have a great presence of Asik. Why not using Howard as a "spark"? This is just an example, not saying we should actually start Asik and bench Howard, but the logic is the same to Lin and Beverley. If McHale plans to give Lin 30+ min anyways, he can still start Lin and just stagger mins with Harden. Let Lin run with the 2nd units when Harden goes for a breather. The same result can still be achieved and we have 2 guys in the starting line up running pnr with Howard.
Jones just got toasted by a 4 posting him up. He can't stop that. DMo for sure can't stop it. That means they are in the same company as Casspi. If we need someone to stop an opponent 4 from posting up effectively, then its time to play the twin towers. If we need somebody to spread the floor and shoot the three, I'll take Casspi over both DMo and Jones.
From hindsight, I guess you could see this experiment coming. After the Hornets game, Mchale said that the starters played great and the bench played badly. It seems the most obvious way to improve the bench play is the Lin/Beverly change because of play style. But, in the regular season, the starters will play a lot more minutes. So, the only time where only the bench play will be in blow-outs. I don't see Lin coming off the bench unless things go really bad. I'm still gonna stick with my earlier prediction of Lin and DMo as the starters, although TJones is looking really good.
That is not 100% true. And besides there isnt a lot of post up, back to the basket 4's these days. Maybe what 3-5 PF that actually plays with their back to the basket.
Doesn't really matter. I think Lin deserves to start but it's not about "deserving" it's about "team". As long as Lin gets 30 min/game I think he, and we fans, should have no reason to complain. Bottom line Beverley works well alongside Harden. Sure, there's no ball movement, and the offense is all one on one, but who cares so long as we rack up the points? We have enough talent in a starting lineup of Howard, Harden, Parsons, Jones, and Bev to have these five guys just take turns taking their man one on one. Who needs passing and ball movement when you've got superstars? Whomever starts at PF will probably get 4 or 5 shots per game while the backup PF may get upwards of 15 shots per game. Last game TJones took 4 shots in 28 minutes meanwhile DMo took 16 shots in 20 minutes. Telling. I actually thought our second unit outplayed the first unit in the second half. Lin not only playmakes but creates synergy whenever he's on the court. DMo and Casspi played inspired basketball because of it. Meanwhile...Brooks isn't good, Brewer was on the court for 20 minutes and you wouldn't have known it. Can't wait til Asik gets back.
That's kind of crucial, isn't it? Bev really doesn't make Howard better; and nor does TJones. Their passes to Dwight are simple entry passes into the post. However if the focus of your offense is on Harden, not Dwight, and one on one basketball, than Bev and TJones in the starting lineup is okay.
