start dwight and tjones. after about 4-5 minutes, take out jones and put in asik. in another 4-5 minutes, take out howard and bring in jones. keep fresh legs on aldridge throughout the first quarter, and then in the 2nd quarter dmo and powell can spell dwight and asik
Asik doesn't bite on Aldridge's pumps as much as Dwight does so he's likely to not get in foul trouble as easily as Dwight. He's also like 7'1 it's giving Aldridge fits when he goes against him. If we can just keep Aldridge shooting 20fters and out of the paint, then I like our odds a lot more.
Mix it up. Do a lot of different things. Constant adjustments. That's what the playoffs are all about.
Nice to see people are noticing. Asik is probably the only 'bully' defender we've got. Howard's got the athleticism and the shot blocking ability, but he can't back down a dude like the big O can. So glad we didn't trade him in December.
So a 12 second clip that had Aldridge miss one shot is enough evidence that we should play the Twin Tower lineup? Actually....yes I wouldn't be opposed to that for anywhere from 10-20 minutes a game depending on how it is going. And with that lineup, I would feel comfortable with either Asik or Dwight guarding him, or even mixing it up betwen possessions. Having both of them is one of the reasons I feel about as confident as can be about our chances against the Blazers.
I would think that the coaches would want to have this in their back pocket to use in situations, but I wouldn't count on seeing it primarily because of the lack of court time & success those two have had together since the start of the season. However, I can almost guarantee you in practice today and tomorrow its something they are probably trying to get a keen eye on, and running them through sets together just in case. But the bulk of the load is probably going to come with Jones taking a stab at guarding him at first, and then moving Howard on LMA with Jones trying to block out Lopez. There are different ways to play LMA and the Blazers, and I expect McHale to try pretty much every variation at some point.... just dont get too excited about getting extensive run of the TT.
No way Asik starts in place of Jones for chem purposes atleast. i'm assuming coaches will be watching Jones performance and will react accordingly. I say we see asik in the second half more though. But i'm damn certain no TT start.
Like the saying goes, plenty of ways to skin a cat. TJ is a very capable offensive player and should try and get LA in early foul trouble. A foul in the first 3 mins of the game can have a huge effect on his ability to defend and possibly, first half minutes if he picks up another one during the first.
Now if we could just get Linsanity back for the playoffs the Rockets will be sitting pretty this off season.
T Jones gets ripped apart by Aldridge, he's just way too short to guard him. I don't think the Rockets really have a choice, they have to put Asik or Dwight on him (even D Mo would guard him better than Jones).
The problem is, Asik will slow Aldridge down a little bit, but he will slow our offense down a lot IMO. We need to find a balance. Physically there is no one better to guard LMA than Terrence Jones. He's quicker and can challenge jumpers while active and annoying to Aldridge on the opposite end. I know he's stunk it up in this matchup, but I can't shake the feeling that it's a matter of small sample size more than anything else. Doesn't hurt that he had plenty of time to watch tons of tape, get some extra coaching and listen to the media bash him about it. I predict he'll play much better defense going forward, but Aldridge won't get any better.
Why not put DWIGHT on LMA and Asik on Lopez. Lopez isn't much of a threat offensively and Asik can box him out and keep him away from rebounds. Dwight is supposedly the best big man in the game and LMA is the Blazers best big man by far. There's a reason why we got Dwight and it sure as hell isn't to stop players like Lopez. It's time for Dwight to show his worth and shut down LMA.
