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

Replace Bogut, Ezeli, and Green on the defensive end only (while still having Draymond on the offensive end) with 3 defensive nothings like Zaza, Al Jefferson, and Meyers Leonard....and the Warriors aren't winning a championship.

Replace Tim Duncan's defense with Pachulia, Jefferson, or Brook Lopez and the Spurs aren't winning a championship.

Replace Chris Bosh's defense with Leonard Myers while keeping Bosh's offense and the Heat ain't winning anything. The Heat played Bosh at the 5 and James at the 4 in their championship years. If that isn't elite rim protection/paint defense/rebounding....then pray tell what is it????

I mentioned Cody Zeller because currently there is a new phenomenon taking place in Charlotte. All of a sudden they've discovered the importance of having a defensive anchor. Jefferson isn't a defense anchor and has never been. Jefferson has always been a below average to flat-out terrible defender. Cody Zeller is a young, athletic big man who plays defense. He's a young defensive anchor. He makes the right plays, the right defensive reads, and he contends and contests at the rim, forcing missed shots and igniting Charlotte's transition offense. Cody Zeller is breaking out right now. He'll be the talk of the league in a few months. Charlotte would be foolish to go away from him in the middle.

Kawhi is an exceptional defender. And I would call Kawhi a perimeter defensive anchor because his defensive work starts on the perimeter and continues from perimeter to rim. But that's different from an anchor in the middle. Take Duncan away from Kawhi and the Spurs defense and replace Duncan with a poor defender like Jefferson/BLopez/etc. and the Spurs become a very average to below average defensive team. Even with Kawhi still playing great on the perimeter.

Great defenses have a defensive anchor at the 5. Today's championship teams have a defensive anchor at the 5.


And one other point about Golden State: They moved away from Bogut in the Finals and made it work for them. But remember.....Cleveland was missing Love and Irving....2 very, very good offensive players with Love being a great rebounder as well. I'm telling you right now. If the Cavs and Warriors meet again in the Finals with Love and Kyrie healthy...the Warriors aren't going to be able to go away from Bogut/Ezeli and win small with Draymond at the 5. I'm telling you it won't work if the Cavs are healthy with their big 3, and TT/Mozgov. Warriors will have to battle it out with their bigs or they will get chewed up by the Cavs. Mark this post and come back to it and remember what I said if the Warriors get to the Finals against the Cavs.

And remember this also, the Warriors are going to have to get past the Spurs to get to the Finals. The Spurs are BIG too!! If the Spurs are healthy you're going to see this BIG vs. SMALL battle play out with them and the Warriors in the WC playoffs/Final. And most likely the Warriors are going to have to keep Bogut/Ezeli in there for a substantial amount of minutes and pick and choose when to play Draymond at the 5 in their small-ball linup when they catch an opportunity with a favorable matchup. But that won't be anytime they want to use it. Warriors are going to be much more limited in their use of their small-ball lineup if they face the Spurs and Cavs and those teams are healthy.

Whichever team wins the championship this season will have two very good defensive anchors at the 5.

 

All true... but you don't have to write as much.

What you are saying ... which any competent sports fan, and NBA fan, knows, is that you have to have both GREAT defense and offense to win a championship.

In some sports you could have an all time great on one side of the ball and just be above average on the other side and have a chance. This rarely happens in basketball.

Yes, you need great defense to win in the NBA.

... duh ...

That doesn't change the current situation with Dwight.

 

Dwight is no longer a defensive ANCHOR - Capela is better, he and DMo can hold it down most nights because hardly anyone has a back to the basket dominant center.

Dwight's best days are behind him in the mirror and the car is pulling away fast.

DD

 

That is total bull. Capela is by no means better than Dwight defensively right now. It's not even close.

Yes, best days behind him. But still significantly better defensively than anyone else we have or could acquire by trading him.

 

How can people even say that Capella is better than Dwight in defence? Mindblowing.

 

Because Capela plays hard all the time and can catch the ball on offense - and is so much cheaper.

There are NO MORE DOMINANT centers you don't need an anchor in the middle to win any more.

Look at GS, sure Bogut is there, and was BENCHED in the finals.......

DD

 

Keep on praying and pretending. :grin:

 

You said that Capella is a better center in defence than Dwight right now.
Your respond in this post takes it back?
What has cheap has to do with defence?
What has catch ball on offence has to do with defence?
What has Bogut has to do with Capella's defence?

 

You have no inside sources, nothing you have ever said has come true, stop pretending like you know anything at all.

You have been trying to run TJones out of town for 2+ years - I don't disagree with those takes for the most part but your agenda is clear as day.

And before you respond - yes, I want Dwight out of here.

DD

 

Morey and the coaching stuff should stop this music chair PG nonsense and make Harden the full time point guard. He is your best player and if he needs ball in his hand all the time to be happy and effective, so be it. Find a starting caliber shooting guard who can defend well. Find an all-around back up PG (not starting caliber PG) for Harden. And go from there.

 

Yes, I believe as a team the Rockets are better with Capela and DMo starting than any other combination with Howard.

Dear GOD, that is a disaster - he is doing that now and his PUTRID assist to turnover ratio is about even, Harden is NOT a pg..he is Jeremy Lin like as a passer.

DD

 

LOL.

I've now got 4 sources with connections to the Rockets along with other teams/players in the league.

You still upset that I told you Lowry was better than Brooks five years ago I see.

 

Sure and I am Daryl Morey.

DD

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/IdoAmir">@IdoAmir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TripOnBball">@TripOnBball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/thesuitedmonk88">@thesuitedmonk88</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/dmorey">@dmorey</a> I think he was joking <a href="http://t.co/YyWzocPlnK">pic.twitter.com/YyWzocPlnK</a></p>&mdash; Jason L (@jas83j) <a href="https://twitter.com/jas83j/status/449105528786927617">March 27, 2014</a></blockquote>
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You might have the same mommy. both of you cheeky. :grin:

 

If Dwight stays home on trying to go for every damn block he's much much better currently. He can guard more players one one one down low, he covers more ground when he helps, and he's only one of the greatest rebounders of all time. He's not nearly as big as the Shaq's, Hakeem, Robinson's, etc. but like Rodman he has an exceptional ability to gobble up everything around the rim... Again... if he's not chasing silly blocks he should be staying home on.

Capela is good though... or promising... but he's got a ways to go before he can provide the defense that Dwight is CAPABLE of providing when he's right.

 

Capela also plays every night and on back to backs.

Ship Dwight to Atlanta.

DD

 

Mchale vs. Bickerstaff:

 

What _holic doesn't get is that while you may not get a defender as good as Dwight back in the trade (debatable), you will definitely improve the team for this season and the long run purely due to Dwight's decline and his humungous contract. He is eating up significant cap space while producing at a mediocre level so far.

Both the rumored trades - Dwight for WHiteside, Deng and Winslow and Dwight for Horford and pieces make the Rockets a better team this season and going forward IMO

GSW were able to create that dynasty because they had players on reasonable contracts producing to a level that matches their contracts. Same with Spurs. And this allows these teams to go 10 deep with solid players.

Rockets have $22M tied up to a guy producing no better than what Asik gave us his rookie year. A double double with solid D and atrocious O

 

Is Capela RIGHT NOW a better center in defence than Dwight Howard?
NO.
He is not. He makes so many mistakes.
All the other the contracts, the age etc don't have to do with the defence.
Evaluating if it's a good idea to trade or keep it's another story from downplaying the defensive contribution.

He's chasing blocks not because of him being an idiot (like for example Whiteside or Henson) but because he knows there is no help defence.
I agree with all your post though.

First of all the Atlanta trade didn't make sense when I first read it, doesn't make any sense now and cyber said it's bull****.


BTW I don't knwo what you guys are saying but I rewatched the Denver game and I noticed that DMO made a LOT of mistakes on defence. Possibly more than Capella.

 

My thoughts on Dwight (and potential trades)

I do think that currently with this team in the stage they are in, and given Dwight's contract situation (and risk with next long term deal) it makes TOTAL sense to trade Dwight.

That being said... this situation needs to be handled ultimately professional, and the organization owes it to Dwight to keep him and stand behind Dwight if he truly wants to stay long term.

Dwight went out of his way to CHOOSE Houston, and has really really embraced the city, the community (his outreach is far beyond what I've seen other stars do here in the past), and WANTS to rep the city. He bought a house that apparently he wants to live in moving forward.

The human side of this, and the business side is huge. If the Rockets handle this incorrectly, IMO it will be a very negative way to go about business. However if they are actively working with him and Fegan with positive communication, and Dwight is open to moving to a better winning situation, then you do it. Atlanta makes some sense. Orlando makes some sense... Sacramento or Brooklyn..... I think you are walking a fine line if you go to Dwight & Fegan and tell them you are looking at deals to send him away under those circumstances.

So yes.... DD, and others are right. Kevin Pelton's article is right. I think it makes perfect sense to move Dwight and NOT resign him to a max deal. However there is a whole other side of the business of basketball that should be handled professionally. Dwight deserves better than to be put in that situation. He's been very good to the Rockets and the city of Houston.