Fourth Qtr. Line-up????

Some more defense wouldnt hurt ...

 

I'm guessing you're kidding Darth, considering any of these three guys could lead the league in blocked shots.

I think it's optimistic though to count on 40% of Yao's CBA production. If Langhi, Collier, Drew or so many others could have converted 40% of their college stats, they'd have a secure place in the Rockets rotation. Doc Rocket's (seemingly outrageously) optimistic stat prediction for Yao is more than good enough for me.

 

Well I am not really kidding ... Obviously you have some nice shootblockers out there (even though Griffins shoot blocking would suffer as a SF) ... but besides shootblocking i think you are lacking on defense ... I am not sold on Ming beeing a defensive power even though I belive he will do fine offensively ... anyway I have been many wrong times before ...

 

I hope we can get a good SF this summer. Actually, I'd be comfortable with a 4th quarter frontcourt with any combination of Yao, our three PFs, and the new SF. I'd also be comfortable with Yao or Eddie at center, another big man at PF and then a three-guard lineup. I think Yao just adds to the versatility of this team. Teams will have a tough time matching up with us. In my opinion, the most effective way for opposing teams to beat us would probably be to ISO their star player, since I don't think we have any really good one-on-one defenders other than T Mo.

 

I really think the SF you need is Artest whom would bring energy and more defense then the rest of the team combined ... you sure wont need additional offense with Stevie, Cat, Ming(?) et al. ...

 

None of us knows enough about Ming to know whether or not he'll be an effective man to man defender, but when you don't have great individual defenders it's a great boon to have good help defenders. That means shotblocking.

We all know Cato's probably maxed out on his potential. The problem seems to be in his head, but he can still block shots.

The main thing we know about both Ming and Griffin though is that they will continue to get better than they are now. Most likely they will get bigger too. Griffin definitely will. And he showed several flashes last season of being able to fly across the floor to block a shot he had no business blocking. Obviously he'd block more as a 4 or 5, but his main assets as a shotblocker are his eyes and his timing.

Assuming we retain all three of these guys, it's hard to imagine the team wouldn't lead the league in blocked shots in another year or two.

And, of course, as has been said in other threads, while Ming can't guard Shaq, Shaq can't guard Ming 18 feet out. What we lack in defense here, we make up by drawing defensive big men out of the lane.

 

Griffin will be an awesome defender. He can play man on man defense and block shots. Point guard defense is what I'm worried about, especially Bibby.