Not in a romantic or even bromantic sense of that word, but in terms of how the coaching staff want to use them in the rotation. My theory is that the coaches want to put these two two in the rotation-- or more generally, make sure that there is shooting 4 on the floor when Lin is on the court, and especially when Lin and Harden are both on the court. Specifically: 1. I recall that in a recent interview, when McHale was asked about the starting PG decision, he mentioned that one factor that they'll consider is who the starting PF is. 2. Patrick Beverley was asked about the Asik+Howard combo potentially clogging up the lane, he replied, among other things, that it's not as big a problem for him as it is for Harden and Lin, who drive to the basket more frequently. 3. The Rockets functioned awkwardly with the Asik-Howard combo in the Mavs game, when Lin was the starter and the "Twin Tower" formation spent every one of their minutes with Lin and Harden (the start of the 1st and 3rd quarters). See here: http://nbagraphs.tumblr.com/image/64752650508 A part of this is Asik being the most rusty and this combo being tried out for the first time and that Nowitzki is a more difficult matchup defensively. But it also make sense that having the two non-shooters tend to have more of a negative impact when you put them next to two guys whose primary weapon is driving at the rim. 4. In both of the Spurs and the Grizzlies games, the Rockets started Beverley. More important, in both of these games, Lin and Casspi entered the game simultaneously in the 1st quarter and in the 3rd quarter of the Spurs game (they didn't run the regulars out for the 2nd half of the Memphis game so not much to be read into there). Spurs Game: http://nbagraphs.tumblr.com/image/65026774791 Grizzlies Game: http://nbagraphs.tumblr.com/image/65112990456 They each spent the vast majority of their minutes with each other on the court (again, excluding 2nd half in Memphis, extended garbage time when Lin did not play). On the other hand, the Howard+Asik frontline spent every one of their minutes playing next to Beverley as far as I can tell (mostly Beverley+Harden but also Beverley+Lin after Harden got hurt in Memphis). The Howard+Asik lineup worked better in these two games and the team also did well with the bench combo of Lin+Casspi. Again, other factors are at play but it seems that Howard+Asik are a good match with Beverley, both in terms of having a ball-pressure defender and also not having two dribble-penetration guards being impeded by the non-shooters. Meanwhile, the 1 center+4 shooters lineup work well when the team is trying to maximize the effectiveness of dribble penetration.
The real story behind this is that IT WAS PRESEASON. But, I'll add that Harden doesn't have trouble penetrating with Parsons, Asik and Howard on the court together.,,so far. Notice I didn't mention Beverley, Lin or Casspi in my response, but stuck to talking about the four best Rockets players.
I didn't know about McHale actually saying it depends on the starting PF. Yeah I think they're going with Bev/Asik or Lin/Casspi.
It's pretty obvious to me that Bev is on the court with the twin towers so James can handle and dish to everybody. Bev doesn't want to handle and initiate, he prefers to facilitate and spot up. So, everything OP is saying rings true to me. If you got Bev with the twin towers...that is most like the starting lineup. Then you bring in Lin and Casspi and spell James and one of the bigs.
But if both Howard and Asik start with Bev, won't they sit down at the same time? That means our frontline is going to be .... Casspi and D-Mo/Smith. That's a huge dropoff in our interior defense. It didn't hurt us in the Memphis game because that Grizzlies team was already shooting ice cold. But in the regular season, you will need Howard or Asik manning the middle at ALL times.
Why do you think that means they'll sit at the same time? They didn't in the Spurs game. I don't know about the Memphis game since I didn't watch.
Not really. Why do you have to sit them both at the same time? I dont't recall McHale and Parish handcuffed together (or Ralph and that other guy). One can come out at the 4-10 minute mark. Then they sub for each other a few mintutes into the second.
Also, Beverley's aggressive defensive style might be more suited to have two big rim protectors behind him.
I have thought since the end of last season Lin would be great off the bench. But it makes even more sense now. And I think you would sit Howard first and then when Asik leaves you have Howard finish out the half and 4th quarter. Unless he has foul trouble or it is a blowout. Man this season will be epic.
If you think about it, essentially we have a high amount of offensive pressure being pushed the entire game. With Beverly on you can keep a high defense for the majority of the game, while with Lin they can play D a little differently but still decent. This team is looking dangerous, even though it's preseason and they might be experimenting. There is a lot for other teams to deal with.
very good theory, and makes a lot of sense. their styles fit. if greg smith is a better defense, having lin, casspi, and smith on the court could be very effective, since smith is a much better pnr finisher then asik. lin the moneymaker made fields and novak a lot of money. casspi is gonna get paid.
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