Asik is extremely valuable, no doubt about that. 1. Starting caliber center 2. Game changer - can single-handedly anchor a team's defense 3. Elite rebounder 4. Good passer for big man 5. Excellent character, works hard and improves, follows the coach, great teammate No reason to ship him that easy just because he's sulking. If the Rockets organization had the patience to keep and give Royce White a try, as big a headache as he is, there is no reason the Rockets will not do the same with Omer if he is just "unhappy". The Rockets will definitely look at how a team with both those big men play out whether they're on the court together or in tag team mode. Random thoughts on having both big men: 1. Rockets defense = NO FLY ZONE. Both big guys will either swat those who attack the rim or deter them and keep them out of the paint. You have 2 guys that can SINGLE-HANDEDLY ANCHOR a team's defense, interesting how they can impact the game if they're both on the floor. 3. REBOUNDING dominance. Having these two elite rebounders will enable us to dominate possession. Elite rebounding also means abundant fast break opportunities, perfect for this running team. 4. ELITE OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING. With a team of shooters, you know a lot of shots will still be misses (as great as shooteres are, most of them still miss more than they make and shoot at a high 40's %). It would be great to have 2 big guys who can clean the glass, get easy put backs or give the team 2nd chances. 5. Only few teams have giants that can match up to them at the same time. Meaning if both are on the floor, one will most likely be guarded by a smaller guy. 6. Asik moves his feet well and and can come out to the perimeter to guard outside shots, this will also enable him to play defense against some of the more mobile power forwards. 7. Asik is a great passer, I'm betting he'll be able to make a bunch assists to Dwight in traffic or to the open guys in the perimeter. 8. Asik is Dwight insurance. EXPENSIVE ASSET is always covered by EXPENSIVE INSURANCE. Easily justifiable. 9. The need for shooters is overrated. I have heard many times that DEFENSE and REBOUNDING wins championships. We now have elite pieces for both D and Rebounds, let's try it out. 10. If big and bulky guys like Gasol and Randolph can fit together in the front court, why not Dwight and Omer. 11. I'm more interested in seeing the Rockets DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE than to see a high powered offense. This sounds simplistically idiotic but, AN OPPONENT CAN'T BEAT YOU IF THEY CAN'T SCORE. And a team that has Omer and Dwight as anchors, with Chandler, Beverly, etc. defending the perimeter is definitely not very easy to score on. 12. Come to think of it. It is already a form of BIG 3 right there. Harden - Howard - Asik = alternative style Big 3. Asik may not be flashy or score impressively but there is no doubt that HIS PRODUCTION IS ELITE. 13. On defense we already know what we're going to get if we play both guys at the same time. The offense part may need us to be more creative, but we'll figure it out. The Rockets owe it to themselves to try a team that has both Dwight and Asik first. No need to ship Asik right now, possibly ever.
Because people have their own agendas. McHale's already been quoted as saying he's going to try and make it work. Morey's backed this idea up in interviews. I like your idea of the triangle with Howard, Lin and Harden, and Parsons spotting up in the weak side corner. Btw, I wouldn't equate Parson's ability to give a million shot fakes with the ability to create his own shot... But he's getting better, definitely has potential.
The problem with a Twin Towers set-up is that Asik and Dwight are both offensively inept. Ralph Sampson had some BBIQ, and let's not even mention Hakeem here. Pau and Odom worked because, again, both were savvy big men who were capable passers and they also had a jumper that had to be honoured. Trying to make Asik and Dwight work will require such an exhaustive amount of effort for negligible value gain. If this is being done to appease Asik it will come at a lot of expenses, least of which being a frustrated team after Asik and Dwight take turns to stuff-up their sets. Asik and Dwight are exclusively suited to play the 5.
I'm become a fan of his for life and I wish him luck wherever he may end up. But damn it, find a way to keep him!
I think Howard should be able to guard 4's much better then Asik actually. If they were in at the same time Asik is at the 5 and Howard 4.
it really sounds to me like we're going to wait for an allstar level PF to become available before the deadline for this to happen. We will likely play asik in a more limited role where he will, of course, excel, and teams will want him and their stars will increasingly want out. It's all part of morey's plan
I think Asik has twice the trade value of Ilyasova. I would wait for an All-Star caliber PF or a similar upgrade to become available before trading Asik.
i hope asik stays the remainder of his contract and then if he can find a better situation for himself professionally, let him go in FA 2015. i really don't believe he's complaining as portrayed by the media. i can see him asking what's up and where he stands but he seems too much of a team player/professional to me... i can't believe that he could come out and request a trade in public -that sort of behavior seems totally unlike the asik i have come to appreciate this season. if anything, it may be that he feels unstable and unsure of his future. is he going to be traded, is a starter, is he a backup. i bet if the FO came out and laid out the next 20 years and his role in a rocket's team vying for the championship he will be onboard and happy!
We've got to try this Asik + Howard experiment, if it really don't work, then we should trade him. I really believe Asik is invaluable to the Rockets for his rebounding and his great inside scoring percentage. The more mis-matches we have against teams, the better we are. I mean having Howard + Asik lineup, or Howard + rest of the guy, or Asik + rest of the guy. When Howard gets into foul trouble, or getting hacked (FT purposes), this is where Asik can come in. In a long season, Asik will help tremendously because I don't expect Dwight to play 82 games. With TJones racking it up, we maybe set for this season at PF/C unless Asik sits out which will be a black eye for him.
Asik doesn't want to leave. It was a lie made up by ESPN. I think that having Howard AND Asik is an amazing luxury that puts us at a greater advantage compared to other teams than the upgrade from our current PFs to any PF except maybe the top 2 or top 3 PF in the game would. Asik must stay. We need him. He is a huge reason for our record last year.
Think of the current Rockets as a version of the 2004 Detroit Pistons championship team WITH better firepower. Howard & Asik = B Wallace & Rasheed defensive anchors Parsons = Tayshaun perimeter defender Beverly = Billups or Lindsay on-the-ball/perimeter defender Although this team may not be as "lock down" as that Pistons team, this team is much more capable of scoring than that team as well. We have a nice balance of points sources: 1. Outiside shooting (team shooters led by James) 2. Inside/low post (D12 of course) 3. Fastbreaks (young legs in abundance) 4. Offensive putbacks (elite rebounders) 5. freethrows (Harden, etc.) 6. pick n roll plays, etc. Remember, that Pistons team struggled to score points but they were able to get the points when it mattered. There wasn't any real scoring power on that team. It was by sheer will and defensive dominance that they were able to take it all the way.
