Who has to go beyond expectations/ ceilings to win it a championship

win? credit harden /howard

lose? let's blame Jeremy Lin! bench him! trade him!

 

People keep talking about Lin increasing his 3 point consistency...but scoring wasn't our problem last year. Howard has to bring it and be the defensive player he can be. On the possessions where we post Dwight, Lin's current average should do fine.

 

If Asik could hit a midrange jump shot consistently, a la Scola, then it would solve the PF problem. No need to trade him for LMA or anyone. We have our Twin Towers set.

I wouldn't hold my breath for it. But it's not totally impossible. He has good form. All he needs is the touch.

 

It would be huge.

Right now I see Asik and Howard being paired together when we need to completely shut down teams defensively. With those two in there, we can be a killer defensive team, but the flip side of it is it will slow down our run n gun style and force us into awkward half court sets unless Asik as you point out can hit that 15-17ft jumper.

That definitely would be exceeding expectations.

 

It's not about "scoring" as much as efficiency. You always want to become more efficient on offense. ALWAYS. PPP is far more important than scoring 110 ppg.

 

Lin has to be more consistent, and Parsons has to have a better season than he did last year, imo. Not saying Parsons has to score more, but everything in his game has to be a step up from last season.

We know what Howard and Harden can do.

 

That's basically how it goes, and frankly it's r****ded. Rockets Win? It's Harden/Howards team. Rockets Lose? It's Lin's team. The poll results imply that if the Rockets fix PG then the team will be championship caliber, despite bigger problems like lack of defense, the 4 position, etc. The ball probably won't even be in Lin's hands most of the time, and people will still find a way to blame him.

 

I don't know if it would really slow down our run n gun style because Asik is a GREAT outlet passer and DH12 is a great break runner, at least in the past when healthy. I could see Asik rebounding, passing to Lin or Harden and then the ball being fed to DH12 for a sweet dunk....on a consistent basis!

As to most people picking Lin, I can see how him playing good is very important, but he is NOT the key to us being able to win a championship. Howard is the most important and Harden is secondly. If Harden and Lin just played like they did last year and didn't improve (although I think they both will), but Howard returned to Orlando form, we would at least be in the western conference finals just with that. So Howard's performance level is going to be the most determining as to how far we go in the playoffs. For Harden alone to guarantee that, he would have to put up 30+ points and 7-8 rebounds & assists per gm....and that's asking way too much from him even though he is a superstar.

The four spot is probably the second most important because so far we have no idea what we will get from that position by not knowing who will start there. We all assume TJones, but McHale could start the twin towers or even DMo. We just don't know without a training camp and some preseason games to see what is working and what McHale's thinking is. So stabilizing the PF position is the next biggest key to me behind Howard getting back to Orlando form and dominance.

Our bench will be a strength for us this year I think if we stand with the team we have now. If our bench is Asik (if not starting beside DH12), Bev, Garcia, DMo (TJones if not starting already), and whoever playing the few minutes that Harden doesn't play at the SG position, I think that is a strong defensive team and has enough scoring to maintain against any other bench in the league. Our starters should beat most others in the league, and those that are equal too or some consider better than our starters, our bench should be better.

McHale will be a wildcard since he has to figure out how to use all the talent he now has properly. He didn't do that well during the regular season to me, but he surprised and performed above expectation in the playoffs IMHO. Hopefully he has learned from the playoffs and can make better decisions about rotations and playing time this entire season. If he does that, we are STR8!

 

Plain and simple....using the SPURS as the model...

Parker - Lin
Ginobili - Harden
Duncan - Howard

To me, it about LIN upping his game to produce as a 3rd option. If he can do that, then the Rockets can go far.

 

We haven't won anything yet to know if this is even true. Attitudes like this are definitely not helping your cause.

 

Lin hitting 40% from the 3 point line is definitely a key for us being a contender.

Your superstars can not carry the team on their backs, not against stacked teams. Lebron couldn't carry Cleveland. Even Wade Lebron got great help from their teammates. Dirk can not carry Dallas. These guys need help. So do Harden & Howard. Lin has to be able to step up his game in someway. And I will repeat this - the number one thing he can do to help this team next season is knock down the 3 point shot.

 

If this is a shot at our 93-94 championship then you can go **** yourself.

 

Don't even give this any attention. That's one of the "safest" claims possible. It takes no spine whatsoever to back it up.

 

It's probably a fan from another team trolling.

 

It happened last season if you were paying attention, and it'll probably happen again.

 

I respectfully disagree. Your superstars DO carry your team. Your role players support your superstars and are NOT the reason you are contenders. Role players can change their value from game to game, series to series depending on match ups. Superstars have to perform game in and game out and in every series for you to be a CONTENDER!

JLin hitting 40% will definitely help us to be contenders, but if DH12 and Harden are NOT performing like superstars, his 40% won't make us contenders, which is why DH12 and Harden are the most important. If JLin is only shooting 36%, we could still be contenders with DH12 and Harden beasting and Parsons and/or other role players stepping up.

 

Yes, if your stars flop you aren't going to win. That's not my point. The point is they can't do it alone. Howard & Harden can score 60 points together, but you still need 45 to come from other players - and come EFFICIENTLY.


It takes more than 2 guys. The roleplayers have to step up and are key on every championship team. We know what Howard and Harden are capable of, we know what to expect from them, and we know what they will likely produce. We also know that the 4 is going to be weak, it's not going to be a surprise there with massive production. That's the weakest link.

What we don't know is what Jeremy Lin is going to produce.

 

CLEVERLEY DISGUISED LIN THREAD