Harden should come off the bench

[KungFuJoe]

Houston should start Lin and Beverely. It won't be a drop off on the defensive side because Harden is like a pylon out there. Ellis had what...6 points last night against Bev/Lin? He had 37 earlier in the year with Harden on him. Lin shows that he can produce at a high level without Harden (21/8 on 53% or something like that) and Bev provides energy and hustle and the timely 3 here and there. Bev/Lin starts off setting the tone of moving the ball and playing good D on the outside and inside (with Howard).

Then Harden off the bench where he can utilize his offensive prowess against the 2nd unit and his lack of defense won't be so glaring. Probably why his lack of defense wasn't known to everyone when he was in OKC...he came off the bench and started off against the 2nd unit.

Serious thread btw...though I know it will never happen because he's the "superstar" of the team. But I have no doubt this team would play better with him coming off the bench.

[imdaman99]

good one. They averaged how many pts with Harden running the show last year?

[Mr Exlax]

Houston should start Lin and Beverely. It won't be a drop off on the defensive side because Harden is like a pylon out there. Ellis had what...6 points last night against Bev/Lin? He had 37 earlier in the year with Harden on him. Lin shows that he can produce at a high level without Harden (21/8 on 53% or something like that) and Bev provides energy and hustle and the timely 3 here and there. Bev/Lin starts off setting the tone of moving the ball and playing good D on the outside and inside (with Howard).

Then Harden off the bench where he can utilize his offensive prowess against the 2nd unit and his lack of defense won't be so glaring. Probably why his lack of defense wasn't known to everyone when he was in OKC...he came off the bench and started off against the 2nd unit.

Serious thread btw...though I know it will never happen because he's the "superstar" of the team. But I have no doubt this team would play better with him coming off the bench.

The thing about Lin is that I don't think he's really on any team's radar anymore. Once they actually start gameplanning for him again I expect his production to drop off damn near completely. Just like before. I don't think him and Harden can play effectively together until we get a new coach in here that will make Harden play ball the right way.

[Mr Exlax]

good one. They averaged how many pts with Harden running the show last year?

It's funny that the first person to comment is a Knick fan. I smell the butthurt coming off your post. If you had watched us last season, you'd see that Lin was basically handicapped so asking about his averages last year is idiotic. Why not look at his numbers for the current season when Harden is out or he's actually getting FGAs?

[imdaman99]

It's funny that the first person to comment is a Knick fan. I smell the butthurt coming off your post. If you had watched us last season, you'd see that Lin was basically handicapped so asking about his averages last year is idiotic. Why not look at his numbers for the current season when Harden is out or he's actually getting FGAs?

Where did I put Lin down in my post? Just because I think he's an average PG because he never plays in the playoffs, has nothing to do with the fact Harden is a better player and needs to develop his chemistry with Dwight. So you don't put him on the bench just to appease a bunch of asians on the internet.

BOOHOO Harden is holding Lin down... get over it and accept your role as the backup PG sparkplug.

[Milbuck]

No, he should stay on it all game every game until he quickly fades into irrelevance. Fat ****.

[Mr Exlax]

Where did I put Lin down in my post? Just because I think he's an average PG because he never plays in the playoffs, has nothing to do with the fact Harden is a better player and needs to develop his chemistry with Dwight. So you don't put him on the bench just to appease a bunch of asians on the internet.

BOOHOO Harden is holding Lin down... get over it and accept your role as the backup PG sparkplug.

While I don't agree with Harden coming off the bench, I will not ignore the fact that we look better across the board when he's out the game. Our offense looks to flow a lot better. Our defense is still blah and turnovers are still blah. I don't think we need to do anything until we get a different coach in there that will bench Harden for freezing out the rest of his teammates in stretches of the game. I feel one day that Harden and Lin will play together just fine. For what it's worth, Lin compliments Dwight a whole lot better than Harden does and I would have slapped in your whore mouth if you would have told me that at the start of the season.

[FKAri]

He's basically like Melo. A ball stopping scorer. He likes to reserve all 24 seconds of the shot clock for himself to get a good shot. He's not a "I'll go right to my move and take the shot if it's there or pass it out" kinda scorer.

EDIT - Im not saying hes selfish tho. Just that he likes to take his time setting up his shot.

[redhonda76]

No. You are not paying 13+ mill/yr for a player to be a bench player. If it's either Lin or Harden to start, it will be Harden. It's the coach's job to make both ball-dominate guard to work, if not Lin will be coming off the bench.

[Clyde]

this thread topic is utter face palm.

[Sharmer]

Houston should start Lin and Beverely. It won't be a drop off on the defensive side because Harden is like a pylon out there. Ellis had what...6 points last night against Bev/Lin? He had 37 earlier in the year with Harden on him. Lin shows that he can produce at a high level without Harden (21/8 on 53% or something like that) and Bev provides energy and hustle and the timely 3 here and there. Bev/Lin starts off setting the tone of moving the ball and playing good D on the outside and inside (with Howard).

Then Harden off the bench where he can utilize his offensive prowess against the 2nd unit and his lack of defense won't be so glaring. Probably why his lack of defense wasn't known to everyone when he was in OKC...he came off the bench and started off against the 2nd unit.

Serious thread btw...though I know it will never happen because he's the "superstar" of the team. But I have no doubt this team would play better with him coming off the bench.

no chance of that happening.

[Black and White]

Trade him and Asik for Afflalo, Big Baby and Vucevic

[YouGotServed]

Another excellent point made by a Jeremy Lin stan.

What's next? Jeremy Lin deserves to be in the all star game?

[ABfor3]

He's basically like Melo. A ball stopping scorer. He likes to reserve all 24 seconds of the shot clock for himself to get a good shot. He's not a "I'll go right to my move and take the shot if it's there or pass it out" kinda scorer.

EDIT - Im not saying hes selfish tho. Just that he likes to take his time setting up his shot.

Harden is nothing like Melo, Melo scores 62 points with 0 assists, Harden would score 46 points and dish out 9 assists..Harden plays too much ISO tho he needs to get the ball moving, it will make the rockets offense much more balanced and he will have an easier time scoring

[Sharmer]

Trade him and Asik for Afflalo, Big Baby and Vucevic

baby is a bigger chucker than Harden.