At this point. . . . I am not worried about our backcourt PG: Harden - Beverly - Lou - Bobby Brown SG: Beverly - EGO - Lou I am really not overly concerned about the center spot C: Capela , NeNe, Harrell (In a pinch Chinanu) Looking at the Forward Spot . . . It is good but still probably the most concerned SF: Ariza - Dekker? PF: Anderson - Dekker - Harrel ? Ariza and Anderson are more likely to have off nights together than other positions Ariza can play decent defense. . . if Anderson is not hitting the 3 . .. he might as well be in the locker room (Ok that was harsh) Honestly our best defender against opposing PFs .. . maybe HARDEN!?!?!??! Something I am keeping an eye on Rocket River
I agree. Ariza, Dekker, Anderson are rail thin and can be blown away by the wind. It was even worse when we had that 100lb Brewer. Definitely the thinnest position. We should go get Big Baby Davis, Anthony Bennett and bring back Chuck Hayes. That would make us a bit fatter. And for the C position Joshua SMith.
Well, good thing nobody plays Harden as a small forward, there would be threads about him being out of shape, from how thin everything looks.
In the first 5 games since the trade, we are averaging over 20 mpg playing a 3-guard lineup. Pretty much every minute Ariza rests, MDA goes with 3-guards.
We really dont have anyone to turn to when Ryan and Ariza are off on offense at PF. Could use a PF to grab rebounds, clean up when Ryan sucks. Someone like that Green dude on the Grizz
Thats Trez if he can develop a 35% three point shot and ability to pump fake it and drive a bit. MDA doesn't play him because of the lack of that. He doesn't want to disrupt the 4 out spacing potential. Only 1 guy allowed on the court that can't shoot threes and that guy is always the center. Otherwise ... yes agree with this thread. That's why Gordon Hayward would be such a strong get.
I have a problem with you including Bobby Brown in our amazing guard lineup. We def need another player to improve the Forward position. Don't worry, Morey has money to spend!!!! Just waiting on Cavs / Warriors to take the good ones off the market.
Harden does well with big guy bangers. Harden is strong and hard to move. He can get blown by if a quick guard is on him but I actually think hes an above average defender if he guards big bullyball guys
On paper we need one, but EG has essentially moved to play sf when there are 2 other guards on the floor. He's a decent enough defender, but the size can be a mismatch against the Lebron's and Greek Freaks of the league. With that said, EG at the 3 means our offense is pretty potent for that time. If you got another 3 he would take away from EG's minutes, and that's a no no..
I agree and mentioned in the Game thread that the SF position needs to be upgraded badly. Morey got rid of two wing players and didn't replace them with anyone but another guard. I like Lou but we need more depth at the wing position and at PF, especially when Anderson is playing so poorly.
I was at the game last night and saw Harden standing next to Z-Bo during a free throw attempt. Z-Bo is only a little taller than Harden and not wider at all. It was sort of eye opening. Match-ups depending, he can absolutely play minutes in the front court while Pat, Lou, and Eric eat up the back court minutes. That being said, I would like to sign Casspi as well just for the playoffs - if either Sam or Ryan get injured, we are truly screwed.
We should have kept Dekker in the starting lineup after he went off on Mienpjis for 30 pts. That was a long term experiment. If he could off like that for 15 a night that would've been great cuz in his career Ariza has always been most effective off the bench.
I don't think there's anyone out there to sign who would crack the rotation in a non-emergency situation. Like HP wrote, Rockets have gone 3G since trading Brewer. Harden/Eric Gordon are playing SF when Ariza is out or playing PF. Also, Dekker is playing the vast majority of his minutes at the PF spot. RR, you have to just accept that the Rockets are non-traditional in their lineups and purposely doing it. They're choosing to forgo a typical PF and replace him with a 3pt shooting athletic SF sized player. Only Ryno can play the PF spot because of his shooting, but it's not like he's a better defender/rebounder at the PF than Dekker or Ariza. So again, it's not that they're thin, it's their strategy, and you ride or die with it. They actually have enough "typical" PFs on the roster (Montrezl, Clint, and Nene who played PF many times before). In garbage time, they have gone 2 bigs before.
