[ClutchFans] Morey: Rockets lack third-best player on a championship team

Rockets lack first-best player on a championship team

 

Exactly, which is why Morey's making up the lack of quality through quantity. None of KG/Pierce/Allen were first-best players on a championship team, but combine them and they are.

If the Rockets have Hakeem in his prime instead of Dwight Howard, I'm quite certain this thread would not even exist.

 

TJones is the third best player on this team. #KneeJerk

 

Everyone loves Parsons, but he ain't this team's 3rd star.

 

Parsons and Jones are great #4 and #5 guys. Young cheap productive but still haven't reached their peaks.

Need to somehow move Lin and Asik for that #3 guy.

 

I'd say Terrence is the most probable "3rd star" in the works. His game ain't the prettiest, but he finds a way to get it done, almost every night. And he's got a rare skillset for PF's his height... the handles of a point guard!

 

honestly, theres nothing wrong with the third star changing every game...howard and harden will get their touches and after that, its by commission/matchups, it could be parsons, lin, jones, hell it could be even be casspi if hes having a good night

 

22 days until the trade deadline, tick, tick, tick, tick.

 

You don't NEED a third star if you have a deep enough team.

I maintain that we simply don't have enough guys on the team who are consistently 'rotation quality' in the NBA.
We're missing a quality starting PG.
We don't have any kind of bench rotation of note. Lin is good enough to be a '6th man'. But we don't have a backup FC or a backup wing who can play meaningful minutes.

I think if we managed to get that backup big man, and a backup 2/3 guy, then we'd be moving into that 'quite good' team level.
But even with the roster we've got, we're still a good chance at getting home court for the first round of the playoffs.

 

Look at Indiana. They essentially have four all-stars. George and hibbert and lance are all playing like it, and not sure what David Weston's stats are like this season, but he definitely has all-star play in him. Solid players like George hill and Scola and a wildcard in granger, that's what a contender looks like.

We need more!

 

*west.

 

A different coach could make this roster finals worthy.

 

You don't need a third star if your first two stars are good enough. If they aren't, then no amount of rotation quality players will matter.

 

Random Win-Shares update to give some idea as to how value is broken up team by team amongst the best.

* Keep in mind that it's a cumulative total, so minutes/games matters (but not for the WS/48). Players with a star have missed a significant portion of games

Indiana (46-15)
1. George: 9.1 WS (.199 WS/48)
2. West 6.7 WS (.173 WS/48)
3. Stephenson: 6.6 WS (.151 WS/48)
4. G.Hill: 6.5 WS (.179 WS/48)
5. Hibbert: 5.4 WS (.141 WS/48)

Oklahoma City (46-15)
1. Durant: 14.9 WS (.312 WS/48)
2. Ibaka: 7.1 WS (.174 WS/48)
3. J.Lamb: 3.3 WS (.120 WS/48)
4. Jackson: 3.3 WS (.091 WS/48)
5. *Westbrook: 3.2 WS (.158 WS/48)

Miami (43-15)
1. James: 12.2 WS (.281 WS/48)
2. Bosh: 6.4 WS (.171 WS/48)
3. *Wade: 4.7 WS (.161 WS/48)
4. Andersen: 4.1 WS (.200 WS/48)
5. Chalmers: 3.7 WS (.118 WS/48)

San Antonio (44-16)
1. Duncan: 5.3 WS (.155 WS/48)
2. Leonard: 4.6 WS (.169 WS/48)
3. Parker: 4.5 WS (.144 WS/48)
4. Bellineli: 4.3 WS (.138 WS/48)
5. Ginobili: 4.0 WS (.170 WS/48)

Houston (42-19)
1. Harden: 8.5 WS (.200 WS/48)
2. Howard: 7.6 WS (.174 WS/48)
3. Parsons: 6.1 WS (.142 WS/48)
4. T.Jones: 5.2 WS (.159 WS/48)
5. *Beverley: 3.2 WS (.112 WS/48)

LA Clippers (42-20)
1. Griffin: 9.5 WS (.204 WS/48)
2. D.Jordan: 8.7 WS (.186 WS/48)
3. *Paul: 8.4 WS (.269 WS/48)
4. Crawford: 4.8 WS (.125 WS/48)
5. Collison: 4.3 WS (.140 WS/48)

Portland (42-19)
1. Lillard: 7.9 WS (.171 WS/48)
2. R.Lopez: 6.8 WS (.175 WS/48)
3. Aldridge: 6.5 WS (.151 WS/48)
4. Matthews: 6.4 WS (.147 WS/48)
5. Batum: 5.8 WS (.128 WS/48)

- OKC has basically been Durant and friends.
- MIA and LAC have been heavily dependent on a few players.
- IND and POR are almost entirely dependent on their starting lineups.
- SAS has been completely scattered in terms of value.

Call me crazy, but we have the most natural value distribution, though having a LeBron/KD type at the top would obviously be ideal.

 

compared to those 6 teams, we have the most lackluster bench..

 

Care to back up that bold and unsupported statement with actual facts?

 

Ours is easily better than Portland's, and on the same level as a few others from that group.

 

It's true we need another star. I'm not trying to down parsons but I don't expect him to be a star but he is good don't get me wrong he's got all star potential even but not superstar qualities. I think we need to upgrade at the SG position such as Melo. Although I wouldn't mind upgrading the pf for the superstar. Thing is about the PF we got a center and they share similar traits. Think it's better to have versatility. Such as heat superstar SG SF and c. The SG position for a superstar could also be PG considering wade does pass a lot more and is usally giving the nice passes

 

We don't need a 3rd Superstar to win a championship, history will back that up. It's all about chemistry and players playing their roles. Parson is playing his part pretty darn good. He is the glue guy of this team.
Jones and Dmo are holding down that 4 spot. Both players have progressed greatly pimpn.

 

When 3 star teams are present, the success rate of 2 star teams is fairly low. Wilt and Arizin's success rate against the Celtic juggernaut? It didn't matter that Wilt outplayed Russell every time they played.

Then comes the 80's, the Lakers, Celtics, Sixers and Pistons. then those teams all dropped off and the 2 star Bulls emerged, we won 2, then the Bulls got their 3rd star again and raped the league for 2 years, by the 3rd, they were really only 2 stars, and not as good. Then again 3 stars disappeared until the 08 Celtics, who won, then the injuries suffered to KG limited them, had gotten older, and by '10 they were both pretty much 2.5 stars. Then comes Miami, loses once, and wins the last 2, that's why the general feeling is "if Wade is healthy, Miami win".

The gist of history is if you have 2 and they have 3, you might win, but more than likely you will lose. 3 star teams have been present in the nba for about 25 years, and have won over 20 titles in that period. What makes it worse is that the best of them is in that 3....