Houston Chronicle: Rockets' Asik finding his place alongside Howard

Houston signed dwight and suck at the 4. If you can't figure out asik is redundant and therefore, the first and most valuable player for trade, you've either got your head up your rear, or are in sheer denial of the obvious.

 

ASIK WILL BE FINE!...HE'LL ACCEPT HIS ROLE!..

 

The Spurs and the Grizzlies games showed that on the defensive end it will be virtually impossible to defeat us and we will get teams to resort to play a more jumpshot oriented game plan but I think on offense it has a lot of work to do.

It was good to see that Howard gave Asik a couple of very good dimes for Asiks 4 points and infact he could have had way more had he finished better so that was a positive. They need to get the spacing right and it will look better.

 

Trading Asik for a marginal increase in offensive production when our offense is one of the top offenses in the NBA is just not smart. Defense wins championships and our defense for the 18 minutes Asik wasn't on the floor last year was pathetic and cringe inducing.

If you can get a star quality PG or star PF, ok yeah, pull the trigger on the deal. The likelihood of that happening is not great, but we can dream. Ryan Anderson's name is popular to bring up, but I'm not sure what you gain with him shooting say 38% from 3 is a big enough improvement offensively over what you can potentially get from a guy like Casspi who may shoot 36% to make it worth giving up the much needed defense that Asik injects into the lineup. It isn't like Anderson is going to be much of an upgrade defensively. Guys like Randolph, LMA, and Griffin's eyes will light up when they see Anderson is on them just the same as if Parsons or Casspi were out there.

We're just going to have to trust Morey to make what he feels is the best decision for the team. At the moment, he says Asik's defense is more valuable than a guy who can shoot a couple percentage points higher from 3 than Casspi combined with sacrificing that elite defense. After watching the Spurs and Grizzlies games, I'm starting to see what he means. Giving up Asik for guys that don't play defense doesn't move the needle if the Rockets want to be champions. Offense is not the problem here, defense is. This team showed in preseason that it didn't really matter who was at PF. They had tremendous offensive output with D-Mo, Jones, Casspi, and Asik in the lineup with Howard at the 4. Parsons, Lin, Harden, Howard, and Beverley will score enough points most nights.

 

The only thing that's obvious here is you haven't been watching the last 6 preseason games, where Asik and DH together basically destroyed any front court they come in contact with.

There's no need to trade Asik, if somehow we encounter a team that can counteract the twin towers (doubt it), we have guys like Covington, Parsons, Casspi, Tjones and DMo who can play the 4 in a more traditional sense. Keeping Asik gives us both the Twin Towers option, the 48 mins of elite paint protection option and the Dwight Howard insurance option. You can't say that with guys like Ryan Anderson, he'll just be a marginal upgrade to the PFs we have.

 

In the playoffs both big guys will get into foul trouble easy. Rockets must keep Asik or teams will flop Howard out of many games by halftime.

 

I agree with everything you said except this.

I like PB & JL as our starting points. PB's defense will negate elite points & keep them from getting into the flow of their game. JL will be able run our offense otherwise. We play the Clippers twice in the 1st 10 games of the season. That'll test my theory. I'm really looking forward to watching PB pi$$ off that whiney b!tch!:grin:

As for the star PF goes; I'd only trade Asik for Love, LMA or Durant. They could then play back up 5 if needed.

 

Morey like "You listen to me Asset"

 

Having either him or Dwight on the floor the whole game is going to be huge.
Think about how good the Bulls were on defense when Asik was there.
That is going to be us.

I'm not as concerned about them playing at the same time, except insofar as it keeps Asik from getting too frustrated w/ reduced minutes.

Asik is a huge part of the team.

I'm curious how far we can go this season with Asik and Howard, 48 minutes of elite rim protection.

Our D feuls our break. Its not just our D that suffers when we have no Asik or Howard, but our fast break offense as well.

 

I wouldn't be surprised is Asik doesn't get traded this season as Morey might not get anything better than 48 minutes of elite rim protection.

 

Let the Asik Howard combo play out itself. I don't listen to BBS users who want to see Asik traded, it is the seem ones who wanted Scoal traded or out. Look at what that has brought forth, no PF. Asik Howard will work out in the end and I for one can't wait to see it work.

 

Good article on Omer. The third quarter against the Spurs and the first quarter against Memphis was championship level defense against quality teams.

Best a Rockets team has looked in many years. The Asik/Howard question is answered, at least on the short run. Let the season begin!!

 

Typical "We're TOTALLY not trying to trade him! (Stop offering us Jeff Green!)" article. He'll be gone by February, they're just trying to keep his trade value high until they can can get the 4 they want. It'll be sad to see him go, but it's inevitable, really.

 

damage control

 

Actually Howard is playing the 4 and Omer the 5 spot....

But the thing is they can switch...

Man some of you guys only know the 4 as an outside shooter... So some of you know nothing about having a high post and low post player..

Man how times have changed...

T_Man

 

If Asik and Howard can start together and play well, there should be no further discussion of trading him. We will be stacked at every position.

 

Two 5's can work as long as they don't overlap when one of them is in possession of the ball. A 4 with an extended range is a great luxury due to all the mismatches, but not a requirement. Sometimes though, two short ranged towers can be good enough on offense though. The suffocation on defense is already know.

 

Yes, it will have nothing whatsoever to do with how the team is playing. Defense is overrated.

 

Yup...during our 1st championship Otis Thorpe was our 4 while Hakeem was our 5. That was a bruising front court but everyone now wants the stretch 4. I really want to ride this season out w/ Asik and Howard on the roster but I just dont see it happening

 

It would not surprise me one bit if Asik and Howard becomes the Half and Half. I'm betting every GM is salivating with what we have. Asik is a true center and Howard is a hybrid center which is why I think this will work fantastically. If ego sets aside, I see them torching a lot of teams. When I saw Duncan go for a shot recently and two big hands go up, it was an unbelievable sight. I don't think Timmy is sleeping good.