the only way you get away without having a 4 that can shoot is if the 4 is CRAZY rebounder & can get blocks like thompson. & him and the 5 can just get any rebound in the paint they want when they're on the floor smith jones couldn't rebound like that. even with that said blatt gets one of them out for spacing at times.
In March, DMo shot 3 3s per game and made 40%+ of them. DMo is an offensive beast, and I think we will see a next level offense at the beginning of next year with him manning the 4. What we don't know is if DMo can rebound.
I'd rather let D-Mo develop some more. The real concern is the PG position. Llull is an option. Dealing for Collison could be a possiblity, depending on who the Kings take at 6. Landing an all-star caliber PG seems highly unlikely.
My view on desireable PF traits (as noted in my thread in Dish discussing the Klay/Love trade that never happened) is in order 1. Versatile defender. Can defend inside. Excellent on PnR defense for a big 2. Rebounding 3. Offensive capabilities. Out to the 3 point line not necessary. But ability to hit 12-15 footers at decent clip, and to put the ball on the ground when necessary. This is my view because it's become such a guard league offensively. Need to defend those switches. Need to limit the other teams offensive boards of 3 of shots which tend to lead to easy buckets more efficiently. That said, I don't think the order is super important. If your 4 man is above average in each category but an exceptional scorer and slightly worse at rebounding, that's ok. Just need to compensate elsewhere on the team. it is exceedingly rare for a championship team to be led or even have as guy #2 be a clear offense first PF. Dirk is the best most recent example. Before that were looking at really no teams... DMo fits the bill... Except he's not really exceptional in any category And really just an average rebounder.
I don't see how trying to win and creating a perfect team is mutually exclusive. Regardless, a stretch 4 would be good to put next to Dwight because it doesn't clog up the pain for a Harden drive or a Dwight post-up. Also, we have Brewer who likes to cut and Prig who likes to run PnRs. Clogging is a no-no. A team like Memphis can have two great post players in Gasol and Randolph, but that's because they're among the best. The offense usually runs through them, or Conley goes PnR with one of the two. Having a dominant post player who ISN'T Dwight would just ruin spacing.
the pf/c rotation is perfect. dmo can only get better and is looking like opponents will have to respect his outside shot. underrated on defense, does a lot of rotating. if we keep smith then we got two semi stretch 4s. dwight and dmo starting, smith and capella backing up, thats a top 5 pf/c rotation. rockets need to work on the perimeter game. shouldnt make a marginal trade for a better pf. only if its someone like lma or love. otherwise get harden some help in the perimeter.
I thought this thread was a necro-bump from the Yao days. I haven't worried about a stretch 4 in quite a long time now.
I'd still nab Ryan Anderson if we could. This team plays way better when Smith was hitting his threes. Having that with a player like Ryan Anderson, without all the bad nights, would be a good weapon to have.
I more than disagree. Dmo is actually ridiculously good when considering he could be paired up with Howard for a significant amount of time. He plays solid defense, has a really efficient post up and can shoot the three above average for his position. Pairing this up Howard who plays only around the rim can be a deadly combo. Dmo is the real deal.
that modern stretch 4 thing is one of the stupiest basketball thing ever, none of all time great pf were stretch 4,pf should score and take rebounds not shooting 3s
Dirk Nowitzki disagrees. There are great PF's of all types, but obviously the great stretch 4's are MUCH more rare than the Tim Duncan/Charles Barkley/Karl Malone/Kevin Garnett/Kevin McHale/Dennis Rodman/Shawn Kemp/Elvin Hayes types of great PF's
Adding Ty Lawson and getting D-Mo and Beverley back from injury would put a much better team on the floor than we had in the WCF. That team could compete with Golden State. I still think Ryan Anderson would be a great fit, too.
DMo is a stretch 4 who is developing quickly. I think the only way we get a better stretch 4 is if we ship DMo out . . .
And that's mostly because the stretch 4 as we know it today wasn't really prevalent until about 10, 15 years ago. Someone in this thread said it best before, either your PF has to be able to keep the defense honest by stretching the defense away from the paint, or has to be a good enough offensive rebounder that it doesn't matter if Harden/Brewer/Prig etc. misses the shot- because he'll get it.
Another useless term by new people. Whether its spencer hawes, brian anderson or someone like that. In case people missed it, teams dont double howard because he's dominant in the post, they double him because he turns the ball over when double alot. The rockets in this present carnation are in a much bigger hole with the guard than they are with jones and donuts.
True story.. Remember when Prigs was making plays and Terry was knocking down shots we were pretty much unstoppable. Imagine if we could have a guard that could do that on a regular basis we'd be in great shape. Bev isn't the answer. I'd love to have Lawson as our PG with Bev backing him up. If we can keep Terry for the vet min as a fill in for Harden in spot minutes and keep him fresh for the playoffs I'd be stoked. He played way too many minutes this year due to injuries and lack of depth at guard. I'd rather keep Smith than Jones to backup Dmo.
