Howard is the clear starter. But when he slow down the offense, turn over the ball, can't get late critical rebound (he struggle with contested rebounding), or really struggle defending PnR, Asik should play more than what he has been getting with Howard starting. I think Asik will show how valuable he is in the playoff.
I think Asik plays better than Howard and the team plays better with Asik starting because we aren't force feeding the ball into the post. If he's not being bullied off the block or shooting running hook shots, he's in position to get rebounds and putbacks. I think Dwight would lead the league in rebunding if he didn't insist on being the first option on offesnse. That typically kills us. Especially against the clippers and OKC. McHale should spin it and say those teams have weak perimeter defense and we want to exploit that. Heaven forbid we tell Dwight he's not a legit low post threat against big/atheletic 5's. Hell I think Asikon another team would shut him down. Anyone with strength and leteral footwork is going to stop Howard cold. He has two post moves. Jump hook and reverse pivot/running jump hook. Howard is a better player than Asik no doubt, but Asik plays better to his strengths. Given the same number of minutes no doubt he would put up better stats. (FG%, Rebounds, Blocks, FT%). Dwight would score more based on the number of shot attempts he would demand.
The thing is that Dwight is just not a big enough improvement to justify the price. He costs twice as much as Asik but is certainly NOT twice the player. He's maybe about 1.2x-1.4x the player.
These are pretty much my thoughts concerning Dwight and Asik. Asik knows his limitations and plays to his strengths better than Dwight which at times makes him more effective than Dwight. I've been saying for a while that Dwight needs to humble himself and pattern his game after Asik. The main things Dwight is much better than Asik in is finishing at the rim and alley oops. That's pretty much it.
I actually think Portland is one of the few teams that the Twin Tower thing could work against. Playoffs is all about matchups and making adjustments throughout the series. I wouldn't be opposed to trying the twin towers against Portland, even in game 1 for anywhere from 10-20 minutes. If we did that, I would have Dwight guard Aldridge and Asik on Lopez.
You got it right except for the matchups. Aldridge can shoot over Dwight. Dwight isn't long enough. He has to crowd Aldridge and then Aldridge can drive past him. Asik is longer and quicker on his feet. That's why Asik can bother his jump shot but still recover if Aldridge drives and bother him at the rim. Matchups should be Asik out on the floor on LaMarcus and Dwight hanging out down low and whipping up on Lopez.
Y'all are crazy, you want to start him when he plays well, you want to trade him for peanuts when he's out. Glad Morey knows value.
Here's some shooting percentages for your consideration. (I am including Asik's 2013 numbers because of sheer lack of sample size for 2014.): Jump shots outside of low block Jones (2014) -44/149 -> 29.5% Donuts (2014) -24/83 -> 28.9% Omer (2013) - 7/20 -> 35% Omer (2014) - 2/9 -> 22% Dwight (2014) 5/24 -> 28% All shots outside low blocks (this would include hooks, etc.) Jones (2014) - 64/190 -> 33.7% DMo (2014) - 41/124 -> 33.1% Asik (2013) - 13/40 -> 32.5% Asik (2014) - 2/10 -> 20% Dwight (2014) - 33/97 -> 34% In the paint shots Jones (2014) - 276/436 - 63.3% DMo (2014) - 81/136 - 59.6% Asik (2013) - 320/583 - 54.9% Asik (2014) - 82/145 - 56.6% Dwight (2014) - 424/645 - 65.7% In the low blocks shots Jones (2014) -> 260/399 - 65.1% DMo (2014) -> 63/106 - 59.4% Asik (2014) -> 82/142 - 57.7% Asik (2013) -> 316/569 - 55.5% Dwight (2014) -> 404/605 - 66.8% Percentage of shots taken outside of 3 feet Jones (2014) -> 50% DMo (2014) -> 71.1% Asik (2014) -> 20.4% Dwight (2014) -> 42.7% FT shooting Jones (2014) -> 59.1% (54.7% since Dec. 1, 2013) DMo (2014) -> 59.3% Asik (2014) -> 59.3% Dwight (2014) -> 54.8% Facts: 1. None of these guys can shoot outside of the paint efficiently. They all suck shooting jump shots. We want them to take zero to the bare minimum shots out there. Any jump shot that they take from anywhere on the court (even DMo and TJones at the 3-point line) is WORSE POSSESSION EFFICIENCY than Dwight or Jones (the two worst free throw shooters on the team) getting fouled and taking 2 free throws. There is no reason for any of these guys to be taking shots outside the paint area......period. And there is no reason for any of these guys besides DMo to take any shots outside of the low block. So the idea that any of these guys spreads the floor around Dwight and helps give Dwight offensive space to operate in is absolutely false. 2. Dwight is going to get his minutes and his touches when healthy. We have to accept that as a given. (So, the challenge becomes how do we best displace his abysmal FT shooting chewing up possessions by having the most efficient offensive options around him?) 3. Dwight and TJones are the two worst free-throw shooters on the team. 4. The worst possible offensive combination alongside Dwight is a free-throw shooter that's as bad or worse than him that cannot shoot the ball efficiently outside of the low block but manages to take the highest percentage of shots outside of the low blocks of any of the other bigs. (Yes, this is DMo and Jones.) 5. Because DMo takes over 70% of his shots outside the low blocks and because Jones takes half of his shots outside the low blocks and shoots an abysmal 30% on them and because Asik takes 79.6% of his shots in the low blocks and eschews taking the jump shots outside the low blocks and because Asik is the better free throw shooter...Asik is actually the most efficient offensive player per possession of the 3 bigs not named Howard. CONCLUSION: 1. If we need to match up with other teams defensively because they are bigger than us and are torching us in the paint, we should go with Asik and Dwight because Asik is both the best defender on bigs besides Dwight and because Asik is the most efficient offensive big man of him, Jones, and DMo. 2. If we are going to spread the floor and create space for Dwight (or Asik) and Harden to operate offensively, the best option is to go small with other real shooters on the floor that can actually hit the 3-ball at the best clip. And DMo and Jones are the worst 3-point shooters on the team. So if we want to spread the floor around Dwight (or Asik)....we should have anybody on this roster but DMo and Jones out there. Sorry guys. I know we all like to look at Jones and DMo and dream about them. Jones is so athletic and he's got such a good handle for a power forward. We can get caught up in that. We can get caught up in DMo's size and his offensive post arsenal. I see them play. I keep wishing and dreaming myself. If either of these guys could knock down jump shots...they would be a huge plus for this team. But they can't. That's the fact. Jones and DMo are the worst jump shooters on this team.....the worst. They're even worse shooting jumpers than Dwight and Asik. Along with that they are the 2nd and 3rd worst FT shooters on the team as well. That's just the plain truth of the matter. We won't win a championship unless we minimize their usage.
It's funny because even with asik starting he can't even match Howard's points per game. But asik is good.
Don't want Asik to do that. I don't even want Asik taking half the shots Jones takes (all those ones outside of the low blocks). It would be best for this team if Jones didn't take them either.
I encourage you guys to actually go back and watch the first few games on LP. Alot of the same things that happened will happen again. I went back, and just a few points to note- -Its not Omer... Its Dwight we need to worry about- Dwight is one of those centers that has been put in almost a free safety type of role as a space eating paint protector, but putting him in with Asik just really cramped his movement and space defensively. Dwight really stunk with Omer on the court, but once he had Terrence on the court with him it allowed him to go back to his comforts on defense which made him the multiple defensive player of the year. -Pushing the Pace Early- The Rockets only have 3 guys who can run the floor offensively to push the pace early in games which is something they really rely on to get easy points early in games. We know the Rockets need to push the ball to score. -Dwight's post ups- Asik did not go out far enough to keep the other big away from helping in the post. Terrence... despite not being a good shot yet, at the very least, goes out to the 3 point line to give space. Omer had a tendency to make a move towards the basket to put himself in position for an offensive rebound which led to him also bringing over his man to essentially give a late double team on Dwight. Having a PF that can hit the three is great, but having a PF that can get the hell out of the way in the paint is an absolute necessity for Dwight. Dwight has alot of trouble finishing in the post when he has a late double team for whatever reason, and the Rockets need to have Dwight's post ups to give some diversity to their offense regardless of what his efficiency rate is. -Attacking Guards- Despite what folks on here think about Omer playing here or there, TEAMS DONT GUARD HIM OUTSIDE THE PAINT, and for whatever reason, Omer and Dwight dont get out of the way. The guards being able to attack the paint is key to our offense, and if you go back and watch those games again, their were just bodies all over the paint from both teams disallowing Lin & Harden to get to the rim. So again.... being able to shoot 40% from three is great luxury, but getting the hell out of the way is a necessity in this offense. I think in this argument, people are focused WAAAYY too much on Omer's abilities and trying to pigeon hole him into some type of role that you know is outside his normal role. However, the whole point of this debate that is getting lost is what is good for the Rockets best players (Harden & Howard) and what is good for their team philosophy that has them on pace to win 54+ games? Again... where are your priorities.... What is good for this team, Howard, and Harden, or what is good for Omer???? If you think about it that way, the answer should be very clear as to how much the Rockets should tinker with the TT experiment.
What Asik has that Jones doesn't have is the ability to see over all the paint congestion and reverse the ball quicker to the opposite corner because he's a 7-footer standing up at the top of the key area. Asik is a far superior passer to Jones. I just don't see the point you're attempting to make here on that at all. Just running a little analysis myself shows that when Jones came in for Asik Dwight's shot attempts did not go up. But Dwight's free throw attempts per game went down. If you wonder who lost possessions and shots to Jones when Jones was put in the starting lineup here's the facts of the matter: Lin, Parsons, Garcia, and Casspi all lost possessions with Lin losing roughly 3 possessions per game. Jones usage came from those guys, not from Asik and not from Dwight except for those free throws. Not only has Lin lost roughly 3 possessions per game of usage but his efficiency on those possessions has gone down significantly. Just more evidence that points to the fact that Jones doesn't create extra space for this offense or for Dwight and Harden. Both Dwight and Harden are using the same amount of possessions they were when Asik was in there. Here's another factoid for you to consider: Since Jones has became the starting power forward this team is shooting an average of 30 free throws a game. In the first 8 games of the season we were shooting an average of 40 free throws a game. That's 4 to 5 possessions right there alone where we either turned it over or threw up a jumper instead of getting to the free throw line. That is a very significant number.
Honestly you dont see it cause you dont want to, and thats a fact. I went back and watched the 1st quarters of the first 7 games, and these are things that a coach would notice when watching game tape. Sorry if that's not what the data shows, but its the truth that is there for the world (or league pass subscribers) to view. Basketball is all about space, and in the first few games of the year when the Rockets played the TT, Asik's & his man were all over the paint making life difficult for Dwight to finish around the rim, and drivers. On defense I give more blame to Dwight who really suffered to stay on his man defensively and not go all free-safety in the paint. Still.... Dwight has been a perenial defensive player of the year, and the Rockets have been a top 10 defense with him and Beverley starting so you really can't blame them for choosing Dwight over Omer despite what Dwight does on the offensive end. You are going to continue to disagree with me and others here because you continue to focus on Terrence Jones and Omer Asik and completely lose sight of what is best for Dwight and Harden... our two best players. Jones creates space by movement, and simply getting the heck out of the way in the paint. Could it be better with better shooting..... duh. Omer in the Rockets offense alongside Dwight didn't even try to clear out of the way, and every time a driver would go towards the basket, or Dwight would make a move towards the basket, Omer would bring himself and his man in the paint causing space issues for finishing around the bucket. Also we are completely losing sight of what makes the Rockets offense so potent in the first place... RUNNING. Having 3 guys that can run as opposed to 4 makes a huge difference. Slowing down the pace = changing the Rockets offense entirely... not something you want to do in April. -I dont see what the loss of possessions has anything to do with this argument, and seems like an argument WAAAYYY too easy for you to modulate so I'm going to decline even touching on it. Nothing I said hinted about Jones taking possessions away from anyone. LOL. Another "Factoid" with zero relevance. The TT averaged what... 12 minutes a game in the first 8 games? The TT experiment provides one thing, and one thing only.... Game tape. You are comparing 96 minutes of game-play to what... 1800 minutes at least? Any statistical conclusions should be thrown out the window because of a piss poor sample size.
REPPED!!!! This is entire thread is just ludicrous.... As one announcer put it, Asik is a great backup... T_Man
Asik would start for quite a few teams. He's also underpaid, at least in cap terms, which is why he's half the price of Howard. Dwight isn't overpaid, Asik is underpaid for what he can do. The league was nuts not to trade for him when they had the chance.
DH has too much ego to be put on the bench. When you start Asik, DH's gonna want out of this team. The only way this works is if they both start. That didn't end well though. If DH had a Mid range, then he could play the 4 which might probably work.
Asik would get more ppg if we force fed him the ball like we do with Dwight. That would be a horrid strategy though.
OP probably wanted to trade Asik for a bag of nuts when he wasn't playing earlier this year. Stop with the garbage knee-jerk reactions. Dwight is a significantly better player than Asik overall, and that's final. Asik might be a SLIGHTLY better rebounder than Dwight, but his lack of on-the-ball skills along with his poor finishing pretty much negate that.
