http://cdn16.castfire.com/audio/303...=http://m.espn.go.com/general/cast?id=2864045 Lots of Rockets talk on the podcast today. Specifically us vs the clippers. Simmons was trashing Hardens defense pretty bad. Lowe acknowledged the embarrassing effort sometimes, but defended his effort recently. Interesting tidbit Lowe brought up was a convo he had with Sampson about giving up on the twin towers kind of quickly and how Sampson told him he wouldn't be surprised if we saw it sparingly down the road against certain teams and that's exactly what happened the other day. I bet if we see Memphis or the clips we see it again in the playoffs. Other than that it's never bad to listen to Lowe talk about the NBA, he knows his stuff. One other thing I didn't get was at one point they were discussing the 3-5 spots on the MVP ballot and Simmons said being a one way player(love and harden) immediately disqualifies you in his book, then went on to say Dirk and Curry should be in the conversation. It's starting to become hit or miss with his takes, just doesn't seem to be keeping up with league as much as he used to.
I completely agree. I've always loved Simmons, and I still read most of his stuff and listen to most of he podcasts, but he is spread too thin it seems, and does not follow the Association as much as he used to (though he talks with as much confidence -- which is not helping anything). Grantland is one of my favorite websites on the intertubes, but Simmons is just not the same anymore. Still not terrible -- but he doesn't hold a candle to Zach Lowe.
Summary of other parts about the rockets. Really liked Beverly and what he brings to the Rockets. Asik's not happy and looks like he's being forced to play at gunpoint (their words not mine). But is playing hard despite being unhappy. The Jeremy Lin experiment is not working at all. Really likes Melo to Houston in the summer.
About Simmons and the talks of Harden's defense: Like many national media types, Simmons tend to watch each team fairly sparingly (except the Celtics and the Clippers, his "home town" teams). Simmons tends to form an opinion about a player based on his earliest impression of him and doesn't change it for a long time. Here, Simmons still remembers Harden's very poor defensive effort in the first HOU-LAC game at Staples and he hasn't watched enough of HOU games since then to notice Harden's improved effort where as we home fans who watch close to every Harden game notice these things. Some of the NBA focused national guys like Zach Lowe do watch a ton of footage of every team (even the games like PHI vs. MIL). But Lowe is a more specialized reporter-- not only does he focus exclusively on the NBA, he is focused on his niche as the guy who breaks down games and provides X's and O's analysis (as oppose to "breaking transaction news and rumors" guys like Stein and Woj). Simmons, on the other hand, is a general sports commentator who has more areas to cover.
Why? It isn't like Rockets are getting good defense and rebounding from the 4 anyway. Granted, Morey would have to fit him with a shock collar every time he took a mid range shot.
I disagree. Current minutes and shot attempts: Harden: 38 minutes, 16 shot attempts Parsons: 38 minutes, 13 shot attempts Lin: 30 minutes, 10 shot attempts Melo: 39 minutes, 22 shot attempts Hypothetical minutes and shot attempts after trade: Harden: 34 minutes, 14 shot attempts Parsons: 34 minutes, 11 shot attempts Melo: 34 minutes, 14 shot attempts Less turnovers, less minutes played for everyone, more efficient scoring all around.
Who has ever held a candle to Lowe since he moved to Grantland? I mightily enjoy Simmons articles because he has one of the sharpest wits and tongues around. He is perfect for a two minute soundbite on ESPN. In depth analysis and insight? Lowe every time.
Simmons is emotional. Emotion clouds judgement. Overall, I still respect him as a basketball mind, but I take things he has to say with a grain of salt. Zach Lowe on the other hand is not only a great writer with insightful observations, but he always comes off as very cool, calm, and collected. Lowe's word is almost gospel to me, I absolutely love his work.
Some notable points: 1. They discussed how Butler could be helpful to OKC because Sefolosha is out and Jeremy Lamb has been slumping. I had no idea that Lamb has been slumping, not having followed OKC closely. This is the kind of stuff that makes a listening to and reading Zach Lowe informative to me. 2. They think Melo is leaving NYK at the end of the season. Simmons raised the possibility of Melo to HOU and Lowe spoke about speculations of Melo to Miami (with Bosh maybe leaving). There may be an interesting musical chairs situation going on come July. 3. Lowe noted that Jeremy Lin had been struggling for a couple of weeks coming off the bench. I don't think it's a bench thing. He wasn't this bad early in the season whether starting or coming off the bench. Might be something physically wrong (like the back injury reported today) since the break.
Is this one of Simmons' random made up scenario like Kevin Love to the Celtics? Or are they actually hearing things? I've been a proponent of Melo to Houston for a while now, even back when he was pouting in Denver. I just never thought it was realistic.
The problem with Melo is not so much about shot attempts but about ball movement. If you think Harden is sticky, think Melo.
Other than a strong preference for the city of Chicago the Rockets are a much better team. Rose has not proven that he's able to make it back from injury. Howard is superior to Noah Gibson and Boozer would both have to be moved. An injury prone Rose and a core of Mirotic/Butler/Noah is not as good as Harden/Howard/Parsons/Jones/Dmo/Bev. The pick they got from Charlotte is decent but is not going to get them a lotto stud and it's top 10 protected.
So what? Melo has a TS% of .560 this season despite playing with the likes of Raymond Felton, JR Smith, Bargnani of the world. On a team with better floor spacing, better P&R teammate(Chandler isn't what he used to be), less double teams, so what if he shoots the ball a lot? He's a very effcient scorer. The knock on Melo has always been that he "doesn't make his teammates better." The Rockets don't care if he he can't make Harden, Parsons, Howard better. On a team with stars, not making your teammates better is not a liability.
Not defending Melo because he is the premier ball stopper in the NBA but who does he have to pass it to exactly? Chandler whose effectiveness is only within 6 feet? The "supreme chucker" J.R Smith? No knees Amare? Felton.. LOL? The only one on the Knicks who is worth passing to is Hardaway. If Melo become the catch and shoot and a post up guy on this team, then this team would be dangerous. He is elite, if not the best, star player at catch and shoot situations and he is arguably the best post up wing scorer in the NBA. Posting up is the one thing Melo is better than Durant is, scoring wise. Just look at how he preformed at the 2012 FIBA Olympics and even the recent All Star game when he was the catch and shoot guy playing off drive and kick passes? Simply dangerous. With Melo, the offense of the Rockets would have an elite talent, everywhere on the floor and at every aspect of offense. Harden (perimeter/driving in the lane), Howard (paint/offensive rebounds), and Melo (catch and shoot/Mid-range/post).
My sense, which is the equal to non-sense, is Melo is going nowhere. However, the very idea of Melo conforming into a Thibs' coached squad is as entertaining as it gets.