This is and has been the only way the rockets were going to find success. Harden is not a superstar, he's a role player that the league manufactured into a star when he became the face of the rockets franchise. There was always more promise and potential between the two than anything real. Basically been a pipe dream since it all started, now some of you are finally realizing it. It's not even Dwight Howard that you should worry about. If anything you want to keep him and build around him. Harden and your front offices consistent mistakes each and every offseason are your real problems. Brace yourself for the Durant chase this summer, it ain't happening. But that won't stop Morey from building a life size model of Durant holding the Larry O Brien out of Legos.
And what does it say about Dwight's value on defense if the overall team defense is absolute trash? Keeping Asik wouldn't have solved the problem either other than being more cost effective. What Morey needs to do is go ALL IN on his Moreyball philosophy. Starting a C and PF that doesn't shoot threes is unacceptable. Harden and the Rockets will thrive with a stretch 4 and 5 in the starting lineup.
This team plays a lineup of Howard , Ariza & PatBev quite often ..... How the hell is that unit so poor defensively ?! You got me ..... That's exactly what I was saying .... Asik was more cost effective. Not "Better" just more cost effective allowing you to spend several million dollars in cap space to upgrade at other spots giving you roughly the same production. Sadly that ship has sailed ..... Morey needs to find the next Asik to replace Dwert with and then use that $$$ saved elsewhere. I'm not going to say the 4 & 5 have to shoot threes or even one of them has to .... They just have to be able to do something besides dunk or pick and roll , keeping the defenses honest so they cant collapse the lane. If they could plug in two bigs that can shoot a 15 footer reliably .... the offense becomes much more difficult to defend. That's the problem with the Rockets bigs , outside of DMo who cant stay on the court , none of Dwert , Jones or Capela can shoot reliably outside the restricted area. You just cant have players with such dramatic limitations on the offensive end and expect to succeed at this level. I'm not going to go into detail on who I think fits .... Any number of names to throw around. Its just my opinion that Dwert doesn't fit and you need a more multi-faceted option to run this style of offense.
Nah. Asik is busy killing the Pelicans' offense with his total lack of spacing and is too slow to be a major asset on defense against teams that actually move the ball well and have spacing.
This team needs a good coach and few tweaks here and there with role players that fit. Look at the team dominating the league, the Warriors were an average team with Mark Jackson they bring in a new coach with almost the same players and it's like a whole different team. Their players bought in to the system there that's why they are damn good. We did not have a system here with Mchale or or with his assistant Bickerstaff. Once this team brought in Harden and Howard, they should have realized now is the time to bring in a proven coach especially after what happened in the Portland series.
Just because Harden has good stats, doesn't mean he's a Batman/leader. IMO, a true Batman shouldn't be based only on stats, it should be much more than that. One that values defense as much as offense. One that possesses strong leadership skills. One that has great locker room presence. One that others can rely on night in and night out. One that brings people together. One that is a great communicator. One that mediates. Most importantly, one that values winning and is willing to make sacrifices for the betterment of the TEAM. I know it's asking a lot. But, that's what I expect from a Batman. Unfortunately, I don't see anyone in that locker room turning into a Batman anytime soon. I see two Robins at best.
the batman and robin meme in basketball is just a petty jab for corny people and its not at all useful for describing players
Might not be the most useful way to describe players, but most people get the point, and that's all that matters.
Blow it up? Come on. The real issue IMO is the lack of D-Mo and the regression offensively of Brewer and Ariza, along with Ariza losing a step on D and Brewer trying to do too much. You can get away with having a 2 guard be unable to defend, we have seen it a ton. No big. It happens. But Terrence Jones has to go. He is one of the most inept post defenders I have ever seen, and whoever told him he can dribble the ball like Lamar Odom deserves to get castrated by a teething baby.
I still believe in Morey. Before this season, most everyone was hailing him as a top 5 GM. Even if you didn't like him, you still had to respect how he built this team from the broken bodies of T-Mac and Yao to give us a chance with Harden and Howard. Honestly, his philosophy is a good one on offense but his weakness is not getting the proper players to fulfill his philosophy. I mean, apart from Harden, no other player fit Morey's philosophy. Brewer can't shoot, Ariza can't hit layups, Thornton is too streaky to be constantly relied on, Bev is not a point guard at all, Lawson can't shoot well and has lost confidence, none of our big men are capable 3 point shooters or free throw shooter, to boot. I know a lot of people wanted continuity from last season to this one, based on the success we had, but I think that is where Morey made his biggest mistake. When last season ended, I think most intelligent fans knew that as great as the 2015 team was, it was pretty flawed and had players that did not fit the system. Just look at our offseason moves we made to keep the continuity of this team. I knew Bev wasn't a point guard since the 2014 season and I knew Brewer wasn't the shooter we needed to back up Ariza and Harden, yet we prioritized signing them to fair to slight overpay contracts. Even thought I didn't want to believe it, taking on Ty Lawson was a huge risk. From the Lin experience, Morey should have known that putting another ball dominate player next to Harden can be self-toxic. No one could predict that Lawson would struggle this bad but not having a strong coaching structure in place set this up to be this way. I just thought Morey should have been more aggressive with players that could fit his system a whole lot better. I'm not going to name players we should have gone for instead but there are plenty of players that we attainable and could have helped our team much more than half the players on this team today. I still believe in Harden. For all his weakness, James Harden is still a top 5-10 player in the NBA. You simply do no let go of these players unless they are totally toxic or you are getting a younger stud player in return, none of which is going to happen. Bottom line is that he is a 26 year old star with no major injury concerns. Sure, his attitude needs major change but you have to keep belief that he will mature and take the games seriously. I want to believe in Howard. I really do but every passing game proves that he is no longer the dominant force he once was 3 or 4 years ago. We all know about his struggles on offense but his defense has taken a big step back the past couple of weeks. I don't know if he is being lazy or if he is just tired of covering everyone's continued mistakes but I don't think the Howard in Houston experiment is going to be lasting any longer. We would be plain stupid to offer anything close to a max deal for Howard. Honestly, if Howard doesn't accept around 18M/year, we should let him go especially if that contract will go into his mid-30's. Anything more than that is begging for trouble. Players I still believe in but have concerns: Ariza: I love Ariza. He does everything that is asked of him, without question. But his defense has slipped this season. He was never a world class defender but I was more than comfortable putting him on any of the supreme players in the league. He was extremely solid, exactly what we needed on this team. But this season, he has gambled more and it losing his man at staggering rates. On offense, I just wish he could do a little more than shoot the 3 pointer at an league average rate. He brings the shooting but anything past that is not going to be pretty. Beverley: He is not a point guard, never has been. I remember in the 2014 season, I griped about how Beverley didn't have the skills a point guard should have. Elementary fundamental point guard skills, he lacks. His defense is overrated but still good. But his shooting and effort has saved him. I believe he can be the point guard off the bench for this team. His contract is fair for a bench point guard. Now need to find a starter. DMo: Love DMo for his effort and unselfishness. I'm very concerned for his back but if he can recover, I still think he can be our starting PF. Wish he rebounded better, though. But if we can keep him for cheap (nothing more than 12M/year), we do it. Anything more and we should let him go. Capela: You have to keep Capela. 21 years old, still learning the game. He has to take the next step soon though. His defensive awareness needs to improve but I don't mind keeping a young big like him. McDaniels: Love the upside. He is a player you keep and develop unless you can get a great player that can help you now. Harrel: Same as KJ. Don't understand why we don't play him more, especially in games where we clearly don't have the right attitude and energy. Everyone else: The other players I haven't mentioned are either lost causes or go under "who cares?". I still hope Lawson can figure himself out because I do think that he can really help this team but its becoming clear that it will probably not happen. Jones has good potential but he hasn't grown in 3 years. Tired of his inconsistency. I like Brewer's energy but his lack of shooting and recklessness on breaks has hurt us so much this season already. Thornton is too streaky. Really enjoyed JET's leadership but his defense is really bad. Solution: We need to find a real coach and find players that fit our system to fill out the roster behind James Harden. Like it or not, James Harden is going to be the cornerstone of this team until 2018, and probably longer. We need to find pieces and a structure that helps his strengths and hides his weakness.
And most people understand the point is stupid. Dumbing down basketball into rhetoric is pointless. All its does is rile up idiots.
Overall great post. To the bolded, it seems there's a lot of misconception about what type of players would fit in. Morey targets guys that can do a bit of everything on both sides of the floor as it's not about players fitting into just the offensive system. Guys like Ariza and Brewer can shoot the 3 ball at a mathematically decent rate (33% 3 pt = 50%)*, while being able to slash, guard/play multiple positions, and have length and athleticism. Harden can play/guard the 1/2, KJ McDaniel's potential is the 2/3 spot, and DMo should potentially be able to play the 4/5. You make some good points but it seems you've slightly missed the big picture of both ends of the floor. I know people will laugh but the Warriors are the type of team Morey would have based off what I've seen. The biggest difference is that Morey didn't have the ability to have lottery picks high enough to draft like GSW (Curry, Thompson, and Barnes). Coaching is important as well with the Warriors but they were still pretty good with Mark Jackson's coaching staff and I just don't buy the notion that Morey thinks coaching isn't important. I believe that incorrect notion has somehow become gospel on here. * Basketball isn't as simple as 33% 3 pt = 50% 2 pt but the efficiency of taking smart 3 pointers is pretty well documented.
