I want to clarify the very common misconception that we need a shooting power forward. I don't understand the logic behind why most people think we need a stretch 4. We already shoot enough 3's, we need a POST PLAYER who can command an occasional double team to collapse the defense and open up plays for our perimeter players. We currently have no one who we can call a post play for (DMO doesn't count because he is not a realistic option unless he gets stronger). Josh Smith would provide uch needed defensive relief but would still jack up those corner three's we've all seen one too many time. He is a knucklehead on offense in my opinion ONLY because he does not know his limits. HE is a career 28% three point shooter. NO THANKS! He jacked up 200 3's this year. Plus he is on a personal mission to prove he is a max player and I can see him trying to do too much. We need someone with an inside presence and defense... We need a player like dwight more than a player like Love In my opinion. Sure Love's game translates into insane stats, but they have never translated into wins for the twolves. Plus with David Kahn gone, maybe their relationship with Love can be repaired. -Asik with the rebound, passes up the court to Harden, Howard sets a solid pick for Harden, Howard rolls to the rim, harden with the tough alley-oop and a 2 handed dunk by howard!... thats what we have to look forward to. so all you posters out there on CF quit crying about howards personality, your are not evaluating him to be your friend... he has game and thats what should be MOST important!
Yeah. Well, ideally we'd get a 4 like Garnett or Rasheed Wallace that can both post up and hit the 3. But being as that is unlikely, we'd be better off with a stretch 4. I don't know how you expect Harden and Lin to be effective driving the lane with it crowded with bigs because we've got two post up guys and a few opposing bigs guarding them.
If we actually had a big man that can consistently stay on the floor to catch penetration passes and dunk it in strong, we wouldn't even be considering a stretch 4. Think about it... Smith is constantly in and out either because of fouls or his brain decided to check out. Asik has stone hands (bumbling tons of passes) and forgets that he is 7 foot a lot and that he can DUNK the ball. Someone like Howard will catch and dunk the ball. That will cause the D to tighten up and open up for perimeter shooting. If the long bombs hit, then we crack open that D really easily and go back to penetration and transition. Ideally we will have a dominate postman and an elbow 4 who can search as both a pick and pop from midrange opposite to the C at pivot. This will give us a ton more PnR options. Problem is that good passing elbow forwards are not very common and are usually pretty pricey.
Sure we need a post player, but we can really only have one in our offense. That's the problem. With Asik on the floor, he can ONLY play at or near the rim (other than PnR). Adding another primary post option turns Harden, Parsons, and Lin into nothing but jump shooters. Look at what happened when they tried to play Greg Smith and Asik together....the offense staled. Even a team like Memphis doesn't play with ZBo and Gasol in the low post at the same time. Gasol usually comes out to the high post and directs traffic, ala Brad Miller. But this still clogs up the lane somewhat, thus all those terrible long 2s they take. Either we trade Asik for a center that is good on defense and has a solid post game, or we add a power forward that can play a little post but can also step out and hit shots (ie, a "stretch" 4).
We have guys who can step out and take an outside shot. They are just bad at it though... Both DMo and TJones can make the outside shot. They are just not good at it.
-LOVE with the rebound, passes up the court to Harden, Howard sets a solid pick for Harden, Howard rolls to the rim, harden with the tough alley-oop............ defense collapses on Howard, Howard throws it to the top to Love spotting up at the 3-point line........SPLASH!!!
u do need a stretch 4. did u c tim duncan, aldridge, kevin garnett and other good mid range shooters did to the rockets this season? they all shot well cuz no1 in the rockets bothered to defend them. a stretch 4 gives u the chance to punish teams for packing the paint. josh smith is a terrible shooter. as for memphis grizzlies they play a slow pace becuz of their post up players they can't play uptempo basketball good.
... Lets also not forget that a guy like Howard would shore up the Front court defense wise.. It would be pretty hard to score on Asik and Howard defending the paint. That would be serious Defense!!
T Jones is a power foward!!! that is who we need, but he cannot get better if he is not on the floor playing, learning, and making mistakes. None of these young PF's that we have can get better if we just keep rotating them. Have a 4 you want to move into the starting role permanently.
I somewhat agree and made a thread about this a while back. Emphasis on interior presence (mostly on defense/rebounding, not necessarily post) should come before a stretch 4, though these two are not mutually exclusive. Kevin Garnett, for example, would satisfy both well. Getting Ryan Anderson on the other hand, would be a bad team composition decision imo, even though I recognize him as a high efficiency team player and excellent asset.
We wouldn't need a stretch 4 if we had good D. We want a stretch 4 to compensate for our current crappy D. If we do get Howard, we won't need a stretch 4, just an elbow 4.
And the two top scoring teams are Miami and OKC, how much post play do they have? Fact is, there is more than one way to get inside-outside action, and today's game is more perimeter orientated. Besides, Tim Duncan's and Marc Gasol's don't exactly grow on trees. The reason so many teams are going small is because it's easier to find a talented tweener than a talented legitimate big man.
Actually, we okc and HOU were the 2 top scoring teams this year... Having durant and lebron isolates those teams as examples for needing a post threat. With Howard in, he would command double teams and take away from the double and triple teams on harden on the wing...I would love to dsee the rockets sign howard outright, out him at the 4 and have asik and howard dare anyone to come into the lane... and for the people who say that having those 2 would clog up the lane for out perimeter penetration, with hardens court vision and above average passing skills, more often than not, it can end up in dump offs in the lane for a dunk. sign howard and jj reddick and let delfino go (i love delfino but would prefer reddick)
Ideally, I'd like to see a defensive minded 4 who could rebound and finish above the rim. I'd start him. Coming off the bench I'd want a TRUE stretch 4, with length that could CONSISTENTLY drain the three. It'd be nice for the stretch 4 to have an average/mediocre back to the basket game as well. One can deram...
in our offense, having a player being able to stretch the floor at the 4 is huge. it's no coincidence that delfino/parsons was often our most effective lineup at the forwards for stretches. and it's prob not a coincidence our spacing improved when we moved smith out of the lineup in the post season and started garcia/parsons.
If your offense is predicated on floor spacing, you need a stretch 4 so defense doesn't pack the middle for Harden and Lin. Love passes well, can rebound with the best of them and shoot the 3 with high percentage, Smith doesn't have the same range. Love fits the current roster to a T. So do Aldridge and Bosh. KG fits the bill too but he isn't a long term solution. With DH, you can't have Asik on the court with him for any extended period of time, and you still have a weak spot at the 4.
