# Why is Devin Harris a starter?



## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

One of the big stories from preseason was how Devin Harris had "beaten" Jason Terry out for the starting job in Dallas.

I didn't understand it then and I don't understand it now.

Jason Terry is clearly a better player, and I know he ends up playing slightly more minutes, but they are essentially splitting time.

Again, why?

Terry's a better scorer, a better passer, and is just more experienced.

It's not even like the Mavs play better when Harris is on the floor, check out the +/-

Terry: +8.3
Harris: -12.5

To me this is just the epitome of why Don Nelson is a terrible coach. He always tries to be too cute with his lineups. In the past it's been with all the stupid point forward stuff, this year I guess he wants to innovate the new "put all your best players on the bench" technique. Come on Don, give Terry 35 minutes a game, he's obviously your best point guard.























Yes, Jason Terry is on my fantasy team.


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## Hibachi! (Sep 18, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Mike luvs KG</b>!
> 
> Yes, Jason Terry is on my fantasy team.


:rofl:


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## Pan Mengtu (Jun 18, 2004)

Terry is a good player. I don't know what he's thinking, honestly. I guess because Harris was playing so well in preseason.


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## reHEATed (Jun 29, 2003)

some teams like having a big scoring option off the bench, and Jason Terry is terrific at that role, and could could back up both the one and some two. He provides that perfect sixth man role.


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## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>wadeshaqeddie</b>!
> some teams like having a big scoring option off the bench, and Jason Terry is terrific at that role, and could could back up both the one and some two. He provides that perfect sixth man role.


The weird thing is, Stackhouse is the 6th man


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

:whoknows:


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## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

I guess they feel that they know what they are going to get from terry and maybe they want terry to help the 2nd unit 

or maybe he is hurt


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## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>madman</b>!
> I guess they feel that they know what they are going to get from terry and maybe they want terry to help the 2nd unit
> 
> or maybe he is hurt


He's not hurt


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Theo!</b>!
> 
> 
> The weird thing is, Stackhouse is the 6th man


Exactly, if you need a spark off the bench that's what Stackhouse and Marquis Daniels (when Finley is healthy) are for. I mean, Harris would probably work well off the bench with those guys.


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## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

I honestly don't know why, Dev must be showing something special as Nelli rarely starts rooks.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Well for one they are looking to fill that hole that Steve Nash left, an uptempo point guard who can push the ball up the court and make some great passes. In that aspect, Harris much superior to Terry. In terms of defense, both are above average defenders, but Harris is a more aggressive man on man defender.


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## Hibachi! (Sep 18, 2003)

Because if they can develop a young point guard while not losing that much productivity... No reason why you shouldn't...


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## Redbled (Sep 3, 2004)

I don't see it lasting much longer. Nellie said recently Harris has hit the rookie wall, didn't have anything good to say about the guy. Like Dallas needs another 6th man, team has some amazing depth it seems each year.


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## DHarris34Phan (Oct 28, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>S-Star</b>!
> Because if they can develop a young point guard while not losing that much productivity... No reason why you shouldn't...


Exactly, it's not as though Devin even plays more that Jason Terry during a whole game, they just want their #1 pick to get used to playing with Dirk and other guys he will play with in the future as the true starter.


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## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>S-Star</b>!
> Because if they can develop a young point guard while not losing that much productivity... No reason why you shouldn't...


Bingo


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## mellow-dramatik (Nov 16, 2004)

harris's stats today 3 points, 3 assists 16 mins compared to terry's 37 mins, 14 points n 4 assists...............i think terry will be starting soon.................but harris did have that mean jam in the top ten plays of the week


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## jibikao (Nov 14, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>Ming Bling</b>!
> Well for one they are looking to fill that hole that Steve Nash left, an uptempo point guard who can push the ball up the court and make some great passes. In that aspect, Harris much superior to Terry. In terms of defense, both are above average defenders, but Harris is a more aggressive man on man defender.


Bingo. Exactly what I think too. 

Terry is a TERRIBLE passer. My god, he dribbles so much and he doesn't really know what to do. Terry should not be a point guard. 

Last night is a bad game for Harris so I can't really tell if he is a good PG or not. But people say Harris has the potential to be a Nash-like guard. 

Mavs definitely needs somebody who can handle the ball well and reduce turnovers. Some of the turnovers are just so funny. When Nash was there, Mavs has one of the lowest turnover and yet still maintain the highest scoring team. That's why Nelson thinks Nash is the best point guard he has ever coached. 

Anyway, I agree that you would rather train this rookie now then later. 

Jimmy


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## Scinos (Jun 10, 2003)

There's a few other situations like this, in Seattle with Luke Ridnour/Antonio Daniels and in Milwaukee with Maurice Williams/Mike James. So it's not just something from crazy Nellie.

I think the young guys like Harris, Ridnour and Williams are more pure PG's than their backups. So you can create a tempo, improve ball movement and get the ball in the hands of your star players. Players like Terry, Daniels and James tend to overdribble the ball and look for their own shot more, which they can do better with the second unit. So it makes sense to me to start the more pure PG.

Plus, there's the old saying 'it's not who starts the game, but who finishes it', and at the moment Terry is playing more minutes than Harris.


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Scinos</b>!
> 
> I think the young guys like Harris, Ridnour and Williams are more pure PG's than their backups. So you can create a tempo, improve ball movement and get the ball in the hands of your star players.


That seems like the obvious answer to why Harris starts, but look at the +/-. The Mavs are a significantly worse team when he is in the game. So you can talk about facilitating ball movement and how Terry is more of a shooting guard and all that stuff, but the fact remains the Mavs are a considerably better team when Terry is in the game and Harris is not.

At least Terry is slowly getting more and more time.


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## spongyfungy (Oct 22, 2003)

Why does Terry dribble so much? You're not on the Mountain Dew Code Red And1 mixtape tour.

Devin Harris plays much better defense. Anything the Mavs need is defense. Offense will come elsewhere

Ranks #7 in the NBA in Steals(26.0) Ranks #12 in the NBA in Steals Per Turnover(1.04)
Ranks #7 in the NBA in Steals Per 48 Minutes(3.29) 


Okafor and Harris named Rookies of the Month


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## Scinos (Jun 10, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Mike luvs KG</b>!
> That seems like the obvious answer to why Harris starts, but look at the +/-. The Mavs are a significantly worse team when he is in the game. So you can talk about facilitating ball movement and how Terry is more of a shooting guard and all that stuff, but the fact remains the Mavs are a considerably better team when Terry is in the game and Harris is not.
> 
> At least Terry is slowly getting more and more time.


Hmm...my only guess is that Terry's +/- numbers are inflated, due to the Mavs strong second unit. If he comes into the game and the Mavs go on a run against another teams bench players, then he'll have a high +/- figure. While Harris' will be lowered by the Mavs doing well when he's off-court.

I'm not really a big fan of +/- numbers anyway. If you look at the Pistons +/-, Elden Campbell has a higer value than Ben Wallace. But, obviously Ben is the better player and more important to the Pistons.

:whoknows:


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