Lawson just isn't a good fit with our team's makeup. A big portion of our rotation is weak offensive players, many of which can't create their own shot. Because of that, we really need a player that can both generate offense for themselves and for others. Lawson just isn't that kind of player. He can penetrate and setup teammates as we saw in Denver but he's almost always looking to make a pass rather than to score. That would be fine if we had better scoring options around him but unfortunately we don't . He can have a good scoring game now and then but he can't be the 2nd guy that can consistently generate offense on a nightly basis. On some teams that isn't an issue but it is for us. In the playoffs I fully expect teams to do what we've seen in prior years. Pack the paint and double Harden early to try and get the ball out of his hands. In those situations, Lawson can get the ball to other players but he's probably not going to be a big scorer and we'll end up with Ariza, Beverley, Brewer, Jones, Thornton and Capela shooting most of the shots. That's not a recipe for success.
another player who can be a ball handler that could create for others as well as themselves was definitely needed, which obviously was supposed to be Lawson whom JH wanted to be here. The "fit" hasn't shown to be what it could be so do you put that more on the system? Or the players themselves or coaching?
I don't think it's just a matter of needing a sidekick. Well, unless that sidekick is a star. Look at our rotation and think about what is the strength of each player, offense or defense. Ariza, Beverley, Capela and Howard are all better on the defensive side of the ball. Now how good are those guys on the defensive side of the ball? Capela is still incredibly raw and has great potential but right now he's not an above average defender. He's average at best. Ariza and Bev have both fallen off on the defensive end for whatever reason. Neither seems to be able to stay in front of their man as they did in past seasons. Ariza has been at a disadvantage defensively because he's been forced to play so much at PF due to injuries but even when he's played SF he hasn't been the same player. Neither of those guys are bad defenders but this season they are closer to average than above average. Dwight is still an above average defender but he's not the elite defender that he once was. Harden, Thorton, Lawson,Brewer (I guess) and Jones are all stronger on the offensive side of the ball. Harden is elite offensively and Thorton is above average. Brewer is below average offensively. Jones is probably slightly below average to average at his position. Offensively, Lawson is average for a PG. I'm not sure which side of the ball is Josh Smith's best. Probably defensive. I'd say that he's average to slightly above average on defense and he's below average on offense. You may disagree on some of my assessments, but we have too many players who are average to below average on both sides of the ball. We just don't have enough guys that do anything really well. If you look at the good teams, you'll see that they have at least 3 guys that can score, 3 or so that can pass and they have a few good defenders. With us, we're missing some of those skills so for a single player to fix our issues then that player will have to be a good defender, good passer and good scorer. The chances of finding a player to fill all of those gaps isn't good. I think that the more likely scenario is that we flip some of our rotational guys and bring in 2 to 3 new players who can help fill those gaps. If you get a guy who's primarily a defender, then he better be a really good defender or he also needs to do something else in addition to playing defense. To a lesser extend, Josh Smith (when he's playing well) helps to fill these multiple roles. The problem with Josh is that you just don't know what you will get from game to game.
I don't know if you've seen my last couple of posts but I think that we have too many rotational players who are average to below average on both sides of the ball. Because of that we end up missing some of the elements usually found with good teams. Most good teams have 2 to 3 scorers, 2 or 3 guys that can pass the ball (usually at least one is a big) and a couple of good defenders. Lawson can certainly penetrate and pass the ball but he's generally looking for assists. He's not a guy that can carry a scoring load day in and day out. For him to be the missing piece here, he would have to be a goto scorer, a playmaker (he is) and a good defender. I can't blame Lawson since there's not too many players who can do all of those things well. Based on our current roster, I'd say it's a bad fit. Now, if you replace some of our rotational players with guys that excel in some of those areas then Lawson as a playmaker who sometimes scores might work. I just see too many holes to think that one guy is going to make them a contender. I really think that we need a big man who can pass the ball more than we need a true playmaking PG. Teams nowdays are trying to takeaway the paint and 3pt line in order to make opponents shoot midrange shots. The way the good teams beat that type of defense is by making multiple passes. Our problem is once our ballhandler makes their initial pass we really don't have anyone to make the next pass. That's where the Draymond Greens and the Blake Griffin's of the league kill you.
I have and you've made a lot of good points but what I'm getting at here is pretty much where were these problems last year? These strengths and deficiencies in all the players you have mentioned aren't particularly new. If anything I guess you could say there's been a significant amount of regression from different angles. That's why I was curious to see what you would put this on. And to reiterate I still look at the defense being the #1 issue on this team over offensively.
Yes the defense has been far worse than the offense. @JerryEngelmann: Defending worse than even the Lakers units is [Ariza, Beverley, Harden, Howard, Jones] Probably can be blamed on Harden and Jones
Yes, its used to measure individual players all the time, not much more needs to be said. gtfo with this argument and the aelliot argument that we shouldn't use stats that are "estimates." You are turning into anti advanced stat DD here. And yes i do think it's significant. 4% is pretty significant when you're thinking about a guy at the top. He goes from arguably the best player in the NBA last year (I think he was as good as LeBron and Curry, larsv8 says as good as Jordan I wouldn't go that far) to...top 20ish this year? Real plus minus has him at 18th, between Bosh and Rubio. Comparing him to those guys last year would have been a joke but with his defense and offense worse we have to wondering what is happening with him. His net rating is +5, less than Dwight Howard (who I think is queitly putting together a solid year) We can argue about if it's significant or not but we can agree he's not as good as last year at least I think his box score stats are still very good but when you consider that he's keeping it efficiency by making more 2s while shooting fewer layups and worse on 3s I wonder if he can sustain it
This. While a lot of posters are making valid arguments on the quality and nature of Hardens & the Rockets offensive performance, they are also missing the real issue concerning and that is simply defense and effort. Hardens turnovers, scoring, isoing etc may or may not be as egregious or as efficient as some of you are contending, the Rockets offense may or not be as optimal or as bad either, but the Harden & the Rockets defense and effort is undeniably terrible. Last year the WCF reaching 56 win Rockets team had an offensive rating of 104.2 good for 12th in the NBA. This year, the barely 500% Rockets, one of the most disappointing team of the year has an offensive rating of 104.2 good for 7th in the NBA. Last year defensive rating? 100.5 good for 6th in the NBA. This years? 106. good for 24th in the league. Obviously offense isn't the issue. To paraphrase what some short, bald, pale, funny, & opinionated white guy recently said on an nba broadcast, "Defense is about pride, effort and competing. It starts with the individual giving effort, getting in a defensive stance and not giving in, simply put its about competing.
I'm not sure if there's a more crystalline moment in this thread than DD typing "EFFORT!" in response to some of the substantive data based throwdowns. The all caps and punctuation really kill. I would say "Never change bro" but as we all know, the likelihood of any evolution or introspection here is powerballesque in its scale so as to render it eleventy billion on the superfluous spectrum.
The irony. Defended Mchale as a great coach...when that is pretty much all he said game in and out, and then acts condescending when a poster on a basketball forum says it. By all means, continue your hypocrisy, at least we can skip over your posts when you do it with the subtlety of a baboon.
Yeah and they're actually sixth in offense adjusted for schedule. Pretty crazy considering everything. All the people complaining about the system and too many 3s aren't really right. They are playing small more, I wonder if that is also a reason the defense is worse. I think we're debating offense because there's nothing to debate on defense. Everyone agrees it's terrible
Thats probably true, especially since the publicly available advance defensive stats also isn't as helpful in evaluating individual defensive performance compared to offensive performance. Its just that when I see Harden standing straight up on defense, giving minimal effort, not rotating, not being aware and at times simply not trying on defense... it seems almost irrelevant what he is doing offensively.
I'll put 20 dollars in the tip jar if you can find a single post where I said Kevin McHale was a great coach. Go for it.
Any objective person can't blame Harden for the Rockets struggles. The coaching is absolutely inept. Our highest paid player (Dwight) is earning about half that salary because of his missed games and his usual ineffective, inefficient offensive game and deteriorating defensive game.
We do play better without him. Harden needs smart players around him and this team will take off. Try and sign Horford and Kd and let dwight walk.
More needs to earn his keep. Lawson needs to go and we need a reliable shooter/scorer who isn't a turnstile on D (Rudy Gay ideally)
Yes, i feel he's the main problem for this rockets team. Also, i feel like howard is on his last leg. Just imagine what we can get with that 20m...
