and fyi an all nba guard in dragic is a game changer. he doesn't need harden to make him look good unlike beverly.
Having elite one on one PG defense is probably one of the least valuable contributions a player can make. In fact, I would venture a guess that Beverley's 40% shooting is more valuable to us than his defense. Let's not mistake fit with value. Beverley is a good fit for this team and playing next to Harden. His overall value to winning, however, is not in the top 20 of all point guards.
Not saying that Beverley's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but you do realize that your post supports the notion that Bevereley did a good job against them? Look at the shooting percentages and numbers of those guards. They are below average for what they normal achieve. 35%, 40% and 27% are awesome defensive percentages.
Drajic starting with Beverly coming off the bench would be the best scenario. Golden State proved they can match our defense with a stronger offense. We need a pure shooter that can create on his own or stand in the pocket and make open mid range-long range jumpers period especially when Harden has an off night or being double teamed so he can dump the rock off to Drajic or whomever Morey gets for the role. The Rockets DO NOT have another pure shooter other than Harden to rely on night in and night out that can knock down jumpers consistently and that could bite the Rockets come playoff time. Golden State had the blue print working to a "T" a few nights ago. That's the reality. I'm excited because I think Morey gonna pull the trigger one more time before the trade deadline is over and done with. Whether it's Drajic or someone else it's gonna be a doozy. Worse case scenario we'll be STACKED come next year. Oh by the way, I'll take Capela over Dorsey TODAY!
This is actually not true. I had a post about it a week ago with the stats that I'm not digging up, but on the whole, for the past 25 years, championships were won by teams that were dominant both defensively AND offensively. There were more teams higher ranked in defensive rating, but just barely. If you are only exceptional in one area, you are probably more likely to do well if that area is defense than offense... but who cares about that outlier? Also, of note, almost all of the repeat winners, of the last 25 years, with the exception of the Spurs, generally repeated on the strength of their offenses more than their defenses. The Bulls were higher ranked offensively than defensively in 5 of the 6 rings. The Heat 2 of the 3. The Rockets 1 of the 2. The Lakers I think 3 of the 5. Meaning their offensive rating ranking was higher than their defensive rating ranking. Relative to the rest of the league they were more exceptional offensively. The even more obvious take away was that teams that were led more by amazing back courts and won did so more on the strength of offense than defense. Jordan, Wade/Lebron, adding Drexler, Kobe... meanwhile the Spurs win with defense more than offense. Tim Duncan. The Rockets were defense more than offense that first year... Hakeem. THIS Rockets team is led by Harden. This Rockets team is already ranked higher defensively (4th) than offensively (13th). This Rockets team, going back to last year even, wins when Harden plays amazing, and whether or not Dwight plays amazing OFFENSIVELY almost means nothing. See the playoffs last year. See against the Warriors a few days ago. Part of the issue is getting Dwight to really really just focus on defense, rebounding, put backs, pick and rolls and the occasional post up. The bigger issue is that our backcourt, offensively, consists of Harden and a cast of relatively average players. When their 3 point shot is on, Harden has more freedom and is on... but if Bev, Ariza, Terry, Brewer, etc. aren't hitting their 3s... yeah, this is going to be an issue. Consider the teams we will have to face will have perimeter offense tandems (and I'm including any ballhandlers that can create and hit open outside shots, even if small forwards) of Curry/Thomson, Lillard/Matthews (not amazing, but still better 1/2 punch), Rondo/Ellis (plus Parsons, Dirk), Westbrook/Durant, Irving/Lebron, Lowry/DeRozan (when healthy), Parker/Ginobili, CP3/Crawford/Reddick Harden by himself elevates the Rockets backcourt above some of those, but we've seen the Harden as the truly only guy you'd give the ball to in the last 2-4 minutes of the game issue crop up time and again. Why does it seem like they are running so much issue in crunch time? Because who the hell else is there to handle the ball? This post is way too long, but the short story is that Dragic is a CLEARLY much better PG than PBev. If you have to give up Pat to get Dragic, that's a move you make.
Bingo! You nailed it. I'd swap Drajic for Beverly all day long. Would prefer to have both but if push came to shove I'd do it in a heart beat.
Not surprising that Dragic thinks every team in the NBA is a good organization. That's pretty much how he views TV manufacturing companies.
haha, damn dynex. Fun fact, you do realize tho, that only a few companies actually produce the actual panels that are in the final products? The names on the final products are just companies repacking the same panels. LG is actually producing panels for all your more known companies: Samsung, LGE, Philips, Vizo, Panasonic, Toshiba, Hitachi ...
Don't think so. They have a lot of room to grow internally, and still a lot of assets to get a disgruntled star when one becomes available. They'll be able to creep into the postseason eventually even if they stay put, but they wont be a legit contender with this team. Goran doesn't have better options than phoenix from competitive standpoint, every other option will result in a lot worse than "14".
