We've seen it now for over a year. It's the 4th Quarter & Kevin McHale decides to go with a small lineup. We take out Camby or Dalembert or Asik to cause matchup problems. One problem: Just about every time we try it, we LOSE. Size still matters in the NBA. When games get tight, defense & rebounding are a HUGE factor. Instead of dictating to other teams matchups. We let a team put midgets on the floor & try to match them. How bout dropping Asik down low & backing 6'8 guys down for easy layups. Even more dumfounding... What team has their 2nd best player on the bench in the 4th Quarter?!?! Yes, Asik is our 2nd best player. Isn't this obvious? I can't believe this is the same Kevin McHale who played on one of the biggest & most intimidating frontlines in NBA history. Parrish, McHale & Bird were skilled but their size caused issues. Parrish wasn't in games late because of his shooting or offense. Look at Memphis. They are a darkhorse because of their size. If anything, go big in the 4th. Play Harden at the point, Parsons & Delfino at the wings & Greg Smith & Asik down low. Have Harden play pick 'n roll with Asik. If Smith's man leaves him, he'll catch & finish. Parsons & Delfino are the 2 most consistent outside shooters & you have 5 guys on the floor who can rebound. Irregardless, if you continue to sit Asik in the 4th, you don't deserve to be coaching in the NBA.
I am pretty sure Kevin McHale understands the effect of good big man play. But we don't have a Parish McHale frontline. Or a Gasol Randolph frontline. You play the hand you are dealt.
You could have fooled me. He loved playing Scola and Pat at the 4/5 last season. He comes back and plays Patterson at the 5 for extended mins in the fourth. SMH.
Camby and Dalembert were taken out because of what they could not do on defense. Too old, or too slow, or just poor court awareness.
We have size just fine. It's just not utilized much. Perhaps Morey has been whispering smallball in McHale's ears, but regardless of that, WTF is up with the Delfino-Harden-Uglas-Lin lineup last game with Delfino playing the PF and Harden the SF? I mean, seriously WTF is up with that? Somebody test McHale for drugs or send McHale to Royce White's specialist.
Apparently, you weren't watching the games. Dalembert was top 4 in plus-minus on the Rockets last year & Camby was all over the place blocking shots, knocking balls loose, causing havoc on defense.
IIRC, the numbers had the lineups with the Pat & Scola pairing as the Rockets best defensive units. Adelman was fond of it too.
Last year, in clutch situations as defined by 82games.com, which is 5 minutes or less in the 4th, with score within 5 points. Team offense and defensive efficiency with our 3 bigs. Patterson: offense 119, defense 94 (+45 points net) Dalembert: offense 83, defense 85 (-2 points net) Camby: offense 91, defense 110 (-11 points net) Size matters for sure. But talent also matters. As for this year, I won't make any conclusions until we have better sample size. You say we failed in the Dallas game. I say we succeeded in the Lakers game.
The Rockets were one of the worst if not the worst at PnR defense. Much of it was because of Dalembert and Camby not being in the right place. Either because they're clueless or just too slow in Camby's case. Dalembert has a 24+ PER with the Bucks but anyone who's watching agrees he's hot garbage for them. He's been a token starter until their most recent game where collected a DNP - coach's decision.
Good numbers from last year. I didn't know that. Great point! But how bout if I put it this way... the goal is to eventually win in the playoffs, right? What team is Asik sitting down in the final few minutes in the playoffs? He's sitting against Duncan? Marc Gasol? Deandre Jordan? Perkins or Ibaka? Howard?
"You mean to tell me that the NBA success is determined on how tall your players are". "I am a former Navy Seal and I just crossed the line, what are you gonna do" ?
