Morey's mentioned that Asik's been hitting the wall: http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/rocketscast-live-ask-gm And that was Dec 19th. In addition with other teams going small-ball and McHale going small, or just because of matchups, might as well let Asik rest. Not only is this the first time that Asik's been playing this many minutes, but he's been in Thibs' slow-paced style; now they're running back on every possession. Frankly I'm surprised that Asik hasn't been ground down earlier. Also I'm perfectly fine with them playing Asik for less minutes if that means that the guy comes out of January without an injury; ditto for bringing Patterson off the bench. If that means that Patterson is giving quality minutes and not aggravating his foot injury, then it's perfect that he's playing around 20~30 min.
http://www.draftexpress.com/article...p-on-My-Shoulder-for-Not-Getting-Drafted-4059 JT: What's your experience been like playing for Kevin McHale, one of the most fundamentally sound post players ever? Do you get the chance to work with him on your skills at all? GS: Yeah, I do sometimes. He gives us a lot of pointers on how to use our feet and angles and everything about when the defender is guarding you, how to use up and unders. He's one of the greatest big men of all time. You cannot knock that; he's a great player, he knows how to score. I was watching one game where I think he scored like 48 against Detroit and I seen all the moves he put, and it's crazy, but then he comes in and he tells you you have the footwork and the angles, but you've got to use it to your advantage. And about putting a shoulder to the defender's chest and making him back down to get the bucket. It's great playing for him. He helps a lot. From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz2HdoGvZBO http://www.draftexpress.com If anyone can help Asik with post moves, it's McHale. Also pregame I've seen Asik and DMo practicing post-moves and post-move defense against each other over and over again, so that's a great sign, because DMo needs help on D and Omer needs help on O... Wait. ... that's kinda hilarious. :grin:
Honestly this would be my dream come true. Wish #1: Asik develops an offensive post game (good not great) and Dmo gains 20lbs, becomes a descent defender and polished those smooth offensive weapons. personally I'd rather see this and stick with what we have then trade for anyone. Wish #2: if I can't have wish #1 then trade out for Love or LA
Yes, I remember them saying earlier in the year that they needed to monitor Asik and Lin's minutes. I'm assuming the Jeremy situation was due to his recovering knee slowly rounding into form. I'm not sure about the Asik situation unless he's having trouble keeping up his production and building up stamina from a reserve in slow paced Chicago to being a starter in a uptempo offense here.
Just 4.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in his last 3 games in 23 minutes per. Doesn't concern me much, but what does slightly trouble me is his free throw shooting, which has tanked back to more of what you would expect... at one point over a 5 game span, he had missed 12 of 13 free throw attempts. That's Hack-A-Sik type stuff. He may be getting a little fatigued, but his time has been down some too due to matchups.
Matchups, sure, but Asik's defense is sorely needed now and come playoff time, knock on wood. We've shown that we can put up the points with Asik rebounding and outletting. He's been off a bit, missed a lot of passes, but I would love to develop Asik now and not have a bunch of run n gun players without defense in the paint and giving up a rebound advantage. I would love to see Asik more than 23 minutes a game. Maybe 30 especially in the 4th quarter to lock things down. As for his free throws, sigh.. Some say he's regressing to the mean, but I don't think that's the case. I think he's just fazed that he's making mistakes and getting benched. Bottom line, we need Omer probably more than anyone save Harden.
Feigen talked about some flu that's going around and caused Parsons to miss practice one day. I think Jason Friedman has it as well. Wonder of Asik is under the weather again (he was playing through some illness earlier in the season, too, I believe).
What I don't understand is how Smith did not get 20 minutes in the last games when it was clear Asik was in a rut?
I agree, I think Smith moves pretty good and can matchup with a lot of low post players. I would like to see him get more minutes when Asik is out of the game.
This. Minutes Played 2010-2011 989 2011-2012 971 2012-2013 1067 What do you know! He has to get used to it. I'm not worried.
Asik was killing the Hornets down low on offence & defence, especially in the 3rd quarter...then he was benched in the 4th, for some reason or another.
He hasn't been in games late as of recently because the team has had to come from behind the past 4 or 5 games, making them be the aggressive team late in games instead of being in a defensive holding pattern. When they have made runs in the 3rd and 4th quarters of those games, often the small ball lineups have been the reason for it. Other than that Asik's game has been less than desirable the past couple weeks but it hasn't really hurt the team. Could be a combination of fatigue, and relapse from the offseason work he put in with the development of his game. Old habits die hard, and it takes a few offseasons of hard work to completely overhaul elements of an individuals game such as free throws, shooting stroke, hand softening drills, etc. He's going to need a few more offseasons working with CD & Co. to stabilize the elements of his game that he needs to fix. What he can give you now is a defensive anchor and rebounding, but he cant do it all on his own. Its a team effort first and foremost.
This isn't the first time this has happened this year. I think it's simply way more minutes than he's ever played and every now and then it catches up to him. The instincts, intelligence, and willingness to improve are all there. He'll be just fine.
Asik is a big and 7 feet tall that never played starter minutes like this. I hope the Rockets just cough up some money and help look into some scans and use good training prevention before a serious injury is underway. This guy is a legit full 7 feet and not some 6'9" drama queen that is on the decline. Do not involve this rare gem for any of that BS.
That decision really has me scratching my head. When small ball offense doesn't work, they really needs to put Asik back in. They score like 4 freaking points for half the 4th quarter. Unbelievable. They have some horrible logic in there, but anyway. http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8825002/dwight-howard-rebounding-specialists-post-empty-numbers-nba I think playing small and guys who are allergic to rebounds doesn't really help the team's total rebound anyway. Team needs Kevin Love.
