Evidence That Howard & Asik Should Be Able To Play Together

Asik/Howard rosters would only be on the court if Harden wasn't, and maybe not even Jeremy, there's going to be about 12-15 mins of no Harden and probably about 6-8 mins of neither a game.

I could see a 5 man group of Dwight, Asik, Garcia, Beverly, Casspi or Parsons spending a few mins a game on the court together.

 

It doesn't matter that the paint is clogged and that we miss shots because of it. 90% of the time we will get the rebound with Asik and Dwight playing at the same damn time.

 

asik is too good a player to get only 10-15mpg. and dwight and asik on the floor at the same time is too good a combo to not try.

everyone's so obsessed with the stretch 4/spacing/paint clogging issues. definitely are gonna be problems but you have to at least play them together for a few games, its too good to pass up.

defense wont be a problem, since dwight can guard any pfs and asik can guard most pfs.

 

Very interesting discussion. Good to see one where we are not b****ing about Only Fans or Only Haters.

My thoughts on the possibility of Howard and Asik playing together - for this to be successful, it pretty much boils down to one factor - can Asik consistently hit a 15 - 20 footer jumpshot when he is left open?

Recall back the days when Yao and Scola (2 primarily low post players) were playing together. Scola was no 3 point shooter, but he was still very reliable with the 20 footer. When Yao gets doubled-teamed, it was usually Scola that capitalises on it. Most of the time, he didn't even have to jump, just move his hands.

(don't forget Zboy's favourite whipping boy, Juwan Howard, whose sole purpose on the team was also to hit that 15 - 21 footer.)

If Asik develops a jump shot of that range and of reasonable consistency, then yes, it is possible that this experiment might work out, and he can be kept on as a player playing starter minutes on this roster. He can also be sold on that if he develops such a jump shot, his value would rocket up (no pun intended) after his contract with the team expires.

The training for this off-season is going to be so important.

 

another thing, what's the big deal about howard or asik covering lamarcus out from 16 ft. Both asik and howard can do it effectively. I've seen crazier things, like a 7'6 center outside the 3 point line trying to guard pick and roll.

 

People are generally stuck in a singular way of thinking. Nobody will believe it works until they see it. There are multiple examples of not having 4 3 point shooters on the court and it working, but bringing them up is pointless.

 

My name is cheke64 and I agree with the OP-pee.

 

What a great problem to have...

It's understandable that Omer would be upset about losing his starting position; who wouldn't be? I think the positives of keeping him definitely outweigh the negatives and winning will ease that pain. There will be plenty of minutes to go around.

McHale can point to Olajuwon/Sampson, Parish/McHale, Walton/McHale, and Yao/Cato as examples of successful big man pairings. There is no question that it can work under the right circumstance and if managed properly.

 

Until Dwight Howard has proven that he can play a fully healthy season, trading Asik might be the most regrettable thing.

 

I don't see it working too well on DEFENSE. The small-ball/stretch 4 approach is very playable for lots of teams in the league now. I just don't see Asik and Dwight covering perimeter players that well.

Lamar Odom used to work over Luis Scola. (Odom couldnt hang with Luis either). But the advantage mostly went with Odom. Scola's lateral movement isnt good, but at least he has experience and instincts facing other 4s. Will Asik or Dwight have any instincts?

The Rockets know better than anyone that you can take a stiff like Kendrick Perkins out of the game by small ball attack. I don't want to call Asik a stiff, he's actually very good for his SIZE moving his feet on help defense. But even for 10 minutes together, can Asik or Dwight guard face-up players?

Not too worried with that combo on offense. If the big men are willing passers and can pass out of double teams, the other big man can roll hard to the rim for dunks or get some foul calls. The "true shooting" or "effective FG %" will still come out about the same as a stretch 4's, but hopefully they don't give up too much more than they produce.

 

This is a very good thread. Our 4's are inexperienced,and it's too much to expect them to give us starter minutes. We have no other choice,but to try them together.
I am somewhat cautiously optimistic,that Omer will improve on his mid-range shot which will be critical for Dwight and him to succeed together.

 

So much depends on what progress Dmo and Jones have/will make. If one of these guys can at least be a dependable roll player, that would help a great deal.

As for Dwight/Asik on the floor at the same time, I think Dwight would be the better 4.

If it end up that Dwight is around 32 MPG, that leaves 16 MPG for Asik at the 5. If they can play 8-12MPG together, that bumps Asik's total minutes to 24-28. Obviously opponent matchups are key here.

As things are, Parsons is our best 4. But thats by default until Jones, Dmo, or Dwight can show they play the position with some authority.

Could Lin/Harden/Garcia/Parsons/Dwight be our best starting 5 ? Maybe.

Bench =

Beverly
Williams
Casspi
Jones/Dmo
Asik

 

Crash excellent, excellent thread. I like that fact that you didnt bring the stat machine into the equation. The writer was on point with the examples he used to back up his stances as well as yours.

 

Those two can hit that mid range jumper. Asik and Howard,,,ummmm I dont think so. But they are two examples as well.

 

When was this applied to all these guys? I think this might just be the "Duncan" rule. I've never heard it applied to Garnett or Nowitzki. Those guys were straight up face up from the get go. They might have been able to go low post some, but they were always much more natural fits at PF than C. Very odd reference.

 

Reason being, he didnt have a low post threat, so he allowed his back court as well as Parson do their thing. Now that we have Howard and a complete training camp. ( You do remember they didnt have a training camp together when we acquired Harden). We will see a totally different team.

 

Asik will not be traded unless it's for a stud.