[ClutchFans] Podcast: What in the world is wrong with the Houston Rockets?

Ok. So let's entertain that.

Who are you going to get to anchor our defense, Dada? Who? And how are you going to acquire them?

 

apparently we are getting Horford didnt' you hear? lol

 

We're not contending either way, Dwight is only getting worse, it's time to blood Capela.

 

Harden and Howard cant go out like this man

I refuse to believe this will continue all season.

Im still holding out man, They are too good to let this happen

 

I think you should get use to it. Neither one of them seems to really give a damn.

 

pathetic

 

Yes and no he is the 3rd best behind JH and DMO but he's still not very good at finishing anything other than lob dunks down low. He's talky not good at finishing when he has the ball down low and has to go back up with it. Just the eye test, he misses way to many gimmies were he gets and offensive rebound right under the hoop and goes back up only to be have it rim out? Like really u can't dunk that? And if u can't keep the rebound high and just lay it back in like Tim Duncan.

I get that he gets beat up down low but he is also still the strongest big man in the game besides maybe one or two guys. There's no reason he can't finish through the likes of a robin lopez or kostas koufas last night or whoever Denver trots out there at center it's just unacceptable.

 

In spite of all those "not good" moments down low, he's still more efficient down there that anybody else firing away.

 

You don't need an ANCHOR, you just need the team to play defense well, and commit to a system.

It would be GREAT to have an anchor, but you can get by with a team oriented approach.

And Dwight is anchoring a defense giving up 107+ PPG the only kind of anchor he has been is the one dragging the ship to the bottom.

DD

 

actually a good defense needs an anchor. that's the point of having pieces that fit.

 

GS has Bogut, Ezeli, Draymond.
LAC has DeAndre....and Smoove.
SA has Timmy.....and Boban.
OKC has Serge....and Adams.
MEM has Marc.
CLE has Mozgov, TT.
CHI has Pau, Noah, and Taj.
IND has Mahinmi.
MIA has Whiteside...and Bosh.
TOR has Jonas.
CHA has CZeller.

DAL has crap.



But we don't need a defensive anchor.


That's foolish Dada. Totally foolish.

No team will win a championship today without a defensive anchor at the 5. The game has changed. You have to have a defensive anchor at the 5. And more than that, you need 2 defensive anchors at the 5 that can give you plus defense for 48 minutes.

It's plum ignorant and foolish to believe we don't need a defensive anchor. Just insanely r****ded. You watch enough basketball that you should know this. I can't believe you're this stubborn.


Dwight may have slipped. He's definitely not Shaq on the offensive end. But 7 months ago he was leading us through the playoffs and his defense and rebounding combined with Smoove backing him up gave us 48 minutes of paint war that opposing players had to deal with. And that is the main reason why we made it to the WC Finals. Dwight is as important to this team's success on the defensive end and on the glass as James is important to our sucess on the offensive end. This team is and has been built to force turnovers, bad shots, challenge at the rim, gobble up the boards and then run downhill with James in transition. Without Dwight (or some other player that can be an elite rim protector and board gobbler) we aren't going anywhere.

It's totally stupid to think we're better off just to sell Dwight off WITHOUT HAVING A REPLACEMENT IN PLACE THAT CAN DO HIS JOB!!!! Not unless you want to go to the lottery.

 

Its totally possible to play great defense without a monster shot blocking 5. The 2012 - 14 Heat did it. The current GSW play exceptional defense without one.

The 2015/16 Houston Rockets though.... I don't think they have the personel & discipline (which partially comes from coaching) to play great or even decent defense without a monster defensive anchor to cover mistakes. Hell... the current Dwight Howard and Clint Capela can't cover up all the mistakes being made. That just speaks to the level of mistakes being made.

-Poor rotations
-Poor perimeter defenders allowing blow bys
-Poor shading by the bigs on P&R help
-Poor helping the helper & "playing on a string" as McHale would say
-Not getting back on defense
-Turnovers on offense leading to fast breaks (one of the biggest issues)

A monster shot blocking 5 can only do so much. I don't care about an anchor as much as I care about all the systemic issues that lead to the Rockets not being able to play NBA level defense.... especially with the shot blocking 5's they have on their roster who are supposed to be "the anchor".

Its bad either way. My opinion is that if you are going to keep alot of the same chess pieces (even Harden, D-Mo, etc.) you probably need a different defensive minded coach or you need JBB to completely alter the Rockets style of play on offense that leads to less turnovers, long rebounds, etc. in a more controlled offense. But you need to spend a hell of alot more time practicing their defensive basics.... i mean Junior High level BBall basics on defense.

The Rockets are just plain bad. Defensive anchor or not.

 

2012 Miami Heat had Chris Bosh anchoring the defense. He's a monster.

The Warriors have paint/defensive anchors in spades with Bogut, Ezeli, and Draymond.

I can't believe the ignorance on display here.

 

I thought you "ignored" me.... If you want to address me... address me like a man and not a F-ing coward.

And you go on rants all the time about name calling when it comes to you, but you have the nerve to turn right back around and do it yourself.

I swear to God you are the most insufferable son of a b**** I've ever come across in my life virtually or real. Go F yourself.

 

Bogut is averaging 1.9 bpg (3.4 per 36) and Ezeli is averaging 1.3 bpg (2.4 per 36). I don't know what they would need to average to qualify as monster shot blocking, but that's pretty good. Bogut is top 10.

Plus Draymond gets 1.5 bpg.

 

any updates on the trade front?

 

Blocks are an indicator. But even blocks don't tell the whole story. GSW is able to have a defensive anchor on the floor all 48 minutes and not only that they can go small with Draymond and still have a defensive anchor. Draymond can flat out shut down most 5's in the league and he's quick enough and active enough to give perimeter penetrators all they want at the rim.

Golden State has defensive anchors in spades.



Our team desparately needs a second defensive anchor. We're short one defensive anchor even with Dwight. And Dada wants to take Howard away and not have a defensive anchor? That's nuts.

 

Dwight is being traded to Atlanta and/or Miami.

 

Yeah I agree but by anchor, I didn't mean it had to be a shot blocking 5. Even with Green at the 5 which is their best lineup essentially, he's able to be the anchor because he's a great defensive player who understands the concepts the warriors run. Bosh was a pretty good anchor for those Heat teams. Having Lebron next to him at the 4 was a nice luxury as well.

You pretty much summed it up with the Rockets. They are so lost on the defensive side as a unit. None of them are on the same page and it shows night it and night out.

 

I think you are DD are just arguing semantics.

I don't think DD, or anyone, doesn't recognize you need GOOD/GREAT defensive players to play solid defense.

But I suspect he, and many others, don't think the idea of a center-anchored defense, where that guy "shuts down the paint", etc. is what constitutes an "anchor" anymore.

I mean in your list, for example, you left of Kawhi. You note Cody Zeller as a defensive "anchor".

You also note that no team can win without a defensive anchor at the 5, which is clearly not true. The Heat didn't have it. The Warriors didn't have it - even if you consider Bogut an anchor, and I'd consider that ok, he didn't even play barely at all in the Finals. And if you say ok, but Draymond was their anchor at the 5, like Lebron was a defensive anchor at the 4 in Miami, etc... well that speaks to the current NBA and Dwight's role in it as well that doesn't seem to be great for Dwight. The Spurs don't really have it - they've got a TON of really really good defensive players and Kawhi. The Hawks were great last year without it, etc.

All that said... CLEARLY, Dwight's strength remains, and perhaps is increasingly more his only strength, his defense and rebounding. That's the Rockets flaw. It is counter-intuitive then to trade that one guy on the team doing that and expect to get better...

EXCEPT!!! Even with that as Dwight's strength, they still SUCK SUCK SUCK SUCK SUCK at defense. REALLY REALLY bad. They have to make a move. If Dwight even remotely has the type of trade value left to bring back a Horford, or Whiteside (I don't believe he does, but just following the rumors), when he's on the wrong side of 30, going to be asking for more money than he's worth, and by this point CLEARLY lacks the leadership qualities, not to mention the other on court qualities to be that star #2, then you HAVE to move him.

And the good part? Regardless of what your eye test says (as I disagree with you here), the Rockets have a center that could take his place, who has also shown the ability to be a defensive "anchor". A lot of room to go there, but this Rockets squad isn't winning a ring... this is about the future. Clint's taken a huge jump this year, he's 21, he'll continue to get way better.

If Dwight can net you an Al Horford, who is a SOLID fundamental player offensively AND defensively, your whole team can definitely get better by virtue of fixing a whole at PF, by allowing your young growing defensive anchor to fill Dwight's spot, etc.

But what's even more, even if you can't get back an Al Horford, it is now obvious that if all Dwight gets you in return is a potential lottery pick or something, then you have to do that as well. This team sucks. Dwight isn't returning next year - UNLESS he opts in, or the Rockets overpay, both of which are BAD outcomes for the Rockets.

Dwight needs to be moved. Not because he doesn't add value, and great defensive presence. But because this team sucks, he's a FA, he wants too much money, a long-term deal, doesn't fit anymore offensively, has a leadership style which doesn't seem conducive to winning on the court, and can bring back value.

/the end.