Evidence That Howard & Asik Should Be Able To Play Together

That's great that the grizzlies has Marc and Randolph.....no team is perfect. The grizzlies offense is beyond crap with conley,tony allen, and tayshaun. I'd much prefer lin,harden,parsons to that. Dwight is athletic as they come, he can jump out and cover stretch 4's while Asik stays down low.

We played Cato and Yao in the past, Dwight and Asik will be fine. Harden,Dwight,Parson,Lin can all score, so what if one guy can't? The grizzlies have tayshaun and tony allen who can't score and they were contenders.

I think we're 1 year away and a few vetern FA signing for cheap from contending, but we will be a force with those 2 down low.....who ever said serge ibaka and perkins were threats down low? They seem to be favorites out west, again....

 

I agree that Greg is better defensively against big PFs. I was talking about his offensive abilities. His post moves are based on strength and power. He made Tobias Harris look like a little kid but couldn't do much against Vucevic.

 

IMO, Rockets letting Asik go without getting a borderline superstar player in return will be a big mistake.

With two bigs patrolling the paint and rebounding, we have a clear and definitive advantage over almost any team in the NBA. Without the big lineup, we are just another team out of many playing small ball.

Rebounding and paint defense is incredibly valuable in the playoffs.

 

Dwight & Asik all day ~ As long as they can convince Asik that he still has a major-impact role. I'll put money on those 2 dominating down in the paint over anyone else.

 

There are about 7 or 8 teams where Dwight and Asik would work very well defensively. On offense Asik would have to work in his 15-foot jumper, which McHale will probably have him work on this summer. Anyone remember PPat? PPat had no 3-pointer until last summer when McHale told him to work on it. PPat did, and the next season he was one of the top 3 point shooters on Rockets. The NBA is all about adjusting. Asik is young, we don't know what he's capable of just yet, so don't put the guy in a box.

 

Blake griffin I believe can hit the jumper ,12-15 footer?

 

Well, Asik can play 15 minutes each night as Dwight's backup and go all out in that stretch. Then He can play 5-10 minutes together building a great defense/rebounding team down low. On offense McHale needs to be a little crafty, but it should be able to get away with it for a couple of minutes each game.

Like others have said before: don't get rid of Asik unless you get at least equal value in return. He can be really valuable to us - and as we've seen in the past, it is a lot harder to get a legit 7 footer than a shooter...

 

I hope we can find a way to make Asik happy and want to stay.

 

I firmly believe that Asik and D12 are going to thrive on the court TOGETHER. Almost to the point that its going to change the philosophy of the 4 and 5 spot. Its going to develop into a type of offense that is going to be recognized as a valid offensive set. With the correct spacing and minute distribution, there is no reason why this isnt going to work.

 

I don't like this idea.
Please, trade Asik before the season starts.

 

I think i agree with your premise, but this issue is can McHale see it that way???

In Mchales eyes, he gives his perimeter players the ability to create for themselves...The year that Parsons had was a direct result of Mchale opening the floor for him, and allowing the players on this team to attack the rim. From the guards, to the forwards, everyone had a green light.

When(if) Dwight and Omer are on the floor, the Rockets will have to employ a traditional inside outside game. This way the shooters can hoist some shots and get in a shooting rhythm. Omer can use this opportunity to fight for rebounding position and focus on trying to attain extra possessions. Similar to an Otis Thorpe! Once Omer sits, we should run the offense through the wing, and have Dwight focus on the defensive end: ie secure rebounds, and being a defensive presence.

While I love the idea, its really all about Mchale's desire to do so. Mchale likes more shooters and less congestion in the paint. That really why he waited sooo long to get Smith into the game and pair him with Asik. If Mchale keeps to his trend, expect the same(with Omer off the bench).

What Omer should do, is to practice knocking down open 15 footers. And on offense, he should look to spend much more time closer to the perimeter(setting high screens). This really could be our money play. Imagine Omer wiping out his player, allowing for the guard to have a 2 way go at the rim(Harden has 3 with his Euro step)...can either finish or lob it up to Dwight. That gives me chills...And with so much attention now focused on the paint, Parsons and Lin are gonna have to just be better set shooters.

What Dwight should do, is learn most of his moves from Mchale. Mchale was one of the greatest as a PF, bc he knew how to use the fake much more effectively than most in his generation. If Dwight can use moves that Mchale teaches him, it might be more beneficial than if Hakeem teaches. Reason #1: Hakeem had impeccable foot work. His ability to be a menace was purely with his ability to waltz against more imposing big men. I dont think that translates to Dwight.(Barkley noted this, and I completely agree with him.)

On defense, with Omer on the floor, I think Dwight will be forced to come away from the paint. But his athleticism should help him recover. The Rockets are going to do very well, but we may really never see this lineup much:

Asik - C
Howard -PF
Parsons - SF
Harden - SG
Lin - PG

1st Rotation(at the 4 min mark in the 1st):
Howard - C
DMo - PF
TJones - SF
Harden - PG
Garcia - SG

2nd Rotation(start of the 2nd):
Asik - C
DMo - PF
TJones - SF
Lin - SG
Beverly - PG

3rd Rotation (at the 8 Min Mark of the 2nd):
Dwight - C
TJones - PF
Parsons - SF
Harden - SG
Beverley - PG

4th Rotation (at the 4 min mark of the 2nd):
Asik - C
Dwight - PF
Parsons - SF
Harden - SG
Lin - PG

Repeat for 2nd Half.

 

Lot's of good points here.

Howard averaged 35 mpg with Gortat backing him up. That leaves 13 mpg for Asik at center alone.

Asik averaged 30 mpg last season (too many, as he was visibly gassed a lot). Let's say he played 7 mpg too many. We're down to 23. Subtract the 13 he gets when Howard's off the court. Now we're down to 10 mpg where you would play twin towers, 20% of the game.

 

Defensively, Asik and Howard are both very mobile defenders who can guard the pick and roll and do well even if they get drawn out of the paint. Probably an advantage on many nights.

Offensively, the concern is that the paint will be clogged with an extra help defender (coming off of either Howard or Asik). That could be a double team on Howard or a second layer defender for a penetrating guard.

However, why not bring one of them out to the perimeter on offense anyway? With all of the 3 point shooters we have, imagine a 2 on 1 on the perimeter (eg Asik + 3 point shooter vs single perimeter defender) with screens to create open looks from 3 or cuts to the rim. Both Asik and Howard both set awesome screens and both roll to the rim hard

Again, twin towers for 10 mpg. Why not?

 

I'm sold because we really like it. We want more, we want more!

 

The majority of the idiot posters on clutchfans were against greg smith starting at power forward, but completely ignored them comments they made until the rockets started playing better with smith in the starting linup. Rockets would probably be the best rebounding front court in the nba if howard started at power forward, and asik started at center.

 

Asik showed signs of hitting the mid range shot last year. Why can't he become a better defensive version of Mehmet Okur?

This can work we had offense in spades before Dwight and his 20 ppg. What we needed was defense and keeping Asik alongside a multi DPOY will provide it.