Should James Harden Start?

[DerekJames]

The movement to put James Harden in the starting lineup at SG is in full force....the latest to chime in is blogNBAsketball. They make some interesting cases in this recent post, but I still believe in Thabo. He's such a glue guy and the D is priceless.....
http://blognbasketball.com/?p=3066

-Derek

[wiff]

I'm guessing the starters look something like this next season.

C Kendrick Perkins: They traded Jeff Green and Nenad two starters for the guy. He got the job pretty much on lock.

PF Serge Ibaka: Jeff Green moving opened up the starting role for Serge.

SF Durant: nuff' said

PG Westbrook: total stud.

That leaves Thabo or James. Thabo is solid and there is still very much a role for him on the Thinder. But look at that starting 4.

Obviously both Durant and Westbrook can get theirs. But when Jeff Green and Nenad were starting they needed someone to play "D".....somewhere. Now that the front line brings solid "D" They can play Harden. Plus Harden is no slouch on "D" either.

Harden should start the Thunder can find another spark off the bench for cheap.

[Clangus]

I'm guessing the starters look something like this next season.

C Kendrick Perkins: They traded Jeff Green and Nenad two starters for the guy. He got the job pretty much on lock.

PF Serge Ibaka: Jeff Green moving opened up the starting role for Serge.

SF Durant: nuff' said

PG Westbrook: total stud.

That leaves Thabo or James. Thabo is solid and there is still very much a role for him on the Thinder. But look at that starting 4.

Obviously both Durant and Westbrook can get theirs. But when Jeff Green and Nenad were starting they needed someone to play "D".....somewhere. Now that the front line brings solid "D" They can play Harden. Plus Harden is no slouch on "D" either.

Harden should start the Thunder can find another spark off the bench for cheap.

Nate Rob?

[BIG EDDIE]

Agree with wiff, Harden should start and Thabo should back-up.

Clangus: We can find someone better than Nate any day. He can stay with the Thunder only as a mascot

[Sinant]

Most people here wanted Harden to start last year.

If he doesn't start this year...

[slick_watts]

Strictly speaking, James Harden doesn't need to start. Starting James Harden is just the simplest, least obstructive solution to this problem:

http://basketballvalue.com/amofunit.php ... 14-847-253

The starting lineup scored just under 90 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs last season, almost twenty points less than the Thunder's overall ORTG for the playoffs. I don't care how good the defense is, and it was good with that unit, you're going to be hard pressed to be on the high side with offense that terrible.

Meanwhile, of the 14 lineups featuring James Harden that played more than 10 minutes in the playoffs, only five of them performed worse offensively than the Thunder's average, and the top seven in minutes were nearly 120 points per 100 possessions.

The bottom line is that if the Thunder are going to start Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka, they just can't put Thabo in there also. It worked to some degree in the regular season - even though the offense was much worse it wasn't nearly as bad as in the playoffs. But once the postseason rolled around, teams just locked into Westbrook and Durant.

[dream_catcher_9]

starters
PG: Westbrook
SG: Harden
SF: Durant
PF: Ibaka
C: Perkins

bench
PG: Maynor
SG: Jackson
SF: Sefolosha/Cook
PF: Collison
C: Mohammed/Aldrich

pretty simple and straight forward IMO. That team with the right attitude and chemistry could be dynamite.

[HeartSouloma]

Yes it would balances our offense and defense.

[Krodis]

In order for Harden NOT to start and for the offense to not be terrible, Collison would have to start. (EDIT: Or, I suppose, alternatively, Daequan Cook)

An offensive lineup with Thabo, Ibaka, and Perkins in it is just not going to get it done.

Starting Harden is the easiest and most obvious solution.

[Devilanche]

In order for Harden NOT to start and for the offense to not be terrible, Collison would have to start. (EDIT: Or, I suppose, alternatively, Daequan Cook)

An offensive lineup with Thabo, Ibaka, and Perkins in it is just not going to get it done.

Starting Harden is the easiest and most obvious solution.

Given the expected minutes we can see from Harden/Collison/Cook, it would make most sense to start Harden simply cause i think Cook will play at most 10-15 minutes while collison minutes pretty much depends on Perkins/Ibaka foul count.

[bbms]

Sure. We don't have pick and roll and outside shooting at this line up, he's also not a worse defender than Thabo if we're not talking about guarding Rose, Wade or Kobe, and I really think we don't need Thabo's stopping as long as we have Perkins and Ibaka protecting us inside. James Harden is a three-way player. Cook and Sefolosha are one dimensional ones. Harden also allows Westbrook to play his awesome off the ball game, and will get Durant better looks since there's a better spacing.

I expect Westbrook's stat line to decrease, especially his apg record if Harden starts and gets a good USG rate, but I think this would make Thunder a much more difficult team to defend.

[PMONSTER]

Should James Harden start...... Yeah!!!!!!



For the Bulls

[HeartSouloma]

Should James Harden start...... Yeah!!!!!!



For the Bulls

Keep dreaming kid.

Any ways I'm more willing to let Cook start than Sef.