Evidence That Howard & Asik Should Be Able To Play Together

Maybe but Griffin and Jordan are far better athletes than Asik.
Asik is no slouch but he is a stiff in some situations. You see Howard and Asik on paper and you think they are formidable but in real situations it's another story.

McHale isn't very good with complex game plans and is still lacking experience. Don't get me wrong. He has been ok so far but for Howard and Asik playing together you at least need an Adelman, a Thibs or a guy that has
coached 10+ years and actually has been successful.

 

2 / Asik will be better than what an Omer / Blake front court would be.

I am sorry. You were the one getting 'wet' over an experiment that is just for couple minutes.
FWIW Asik and Howard are probably going to face Clippers' backups anyway.

 

Neither can shoot and Blake can really pass unlike Asik and Howard.

 

I'm with you 100% Crash!

 

Dwight at PF, with Asik at C should only be used when required.

And that's even if Dwight likes the idea.....( Lets not upset our superstar)

IMO leave Dwight at center and work one of the younger guys at PF. Asik will not be with us by next year, so why experiment with a player who is only going to be here for a short time.

I think t jones could really work out for us.

But if Dwight is cool with PF and it works then .... That would just be crazy

 

Ok cool, thanks for the info

I know Asik/Howard seems awesome, but it just sounds like a complicated situation because they are both true centers.

 

You guys are delusional...somebody has to be able to score with their back to the basket. Dwight is worse than Griffin in this department.

 

I'd imagine Dwight would have no problem guarding a stretch 4, with Asik handling the paint.

With Dwight's defense, athletic ability and quickness he could probably guard the average small forward with no problem. A stretch or quick PF wouldn't be a problem i'd think, especially with Asik still protecting the paint.

 

Not sure about a small forward, but he could probably make it very difficult for a power forward, maybe not shut them down, but it wouldn't be one sided unless it was a small ball lineup. However, if we can neutralize that threat by working it inside, then that would work.

To do that, however, we can't play Harden, because we'd have to run the offense through Howard and Asik.

Something like Howard-Asik-Casspi-Garcia-Bev would do the trick IMO, and allow us to play them both without having the other team go all run n gun small ball.

 

And back to cold hard facts. Asik played with Smith about 140 minutes last season. There is not enough data in that sample to draw any sort of hint of the future.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MY4SOarlAy3KcaOjoqnwPVMbeh7nofwiC_IGHVS6f7E?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bYghNwOjLdQ/Ug-nDWOnqbI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/4Fq17rbMzmI/s400/Houston%2520Rockets%2520top%2520five%2520man%2520units%2520data.jpg" height="269" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107238459161314210079/August172013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKbEmfaqrealSA&feat"></a></td></tr></table>
In addition Asik had 1 assist per 36 minutes and Howard had 1.4 assists per 36 minutes last season. When the ball goes to either of them it is pretty much terminal. It rarely will be passed, and a turnover or shot will likely be the outcome.

There is nothing in Howards game to suggest that he will shoot the ball outside of 6 feet or so.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QqZupCVmyLmqudLaHH8WAlMbeh7nofwiC_IGHVS6f7E?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W803cUIck54/Ug-nDXLejOI/AAAAAAAAAKA/xyk4F1ALEqE/s400/Dwight%2520shotchart.png" height="376" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107238459161314210079/August172013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKbEmfaqrealSA&feat=embedwebsite"></a></td></tr></table>
Asik has more hope of developing some range, but most of the shots he took last season were totally uncontested. In fact he took only 29 shots outside of 8 feet all last season. Just slightly more than 1 every 3 games.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/vxdkg-Bq62lhOZtlbppTYFMbeh7nofwiC_IGHVS6f7E?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zymdU-wVxJo/Ug-m1tHZi_I/AAAAAAAAAJw/MCef4_rHJRA/s400/Asik%2520shotchart.png" height="376" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107238459161314210079/August172013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKbEmfaqrealSA&feat=embedwebsite"></a></td></tr></table>
Howard and Asik will certainly be used together next season. It will just be very situational.

 

Don't the Rockets hate midrange shots? Wouldn't they prefer their opponents to take midrange shots? Why should Houston worry about stretch 4s that take midrange shots? Wouldn't that be playing right into their hands?

 

Defeat the opponents mind first. Start them together for the first few minutes for intimidation. Other than that, I think there's more value in having one of the two on the floor at all times.

 

Without further upgrading our PF, the only chance for Rockets to win it all this year is for Dwight and Asik coexist on the court.

DMo, TJones, and G Smith aren't much better than Dwight or Asik offensively, but defensively speaking, Dwight or Asik is in their stratosphere in comparison. The choice is simple. Play the twin tower! Harden is our best offensive player by a wide margin and to make it work:

- When Harden is on the field, BOTH Asik and Dwight should set series of picks. This will open up instead of clogging up lanes for Harden to drive and for efficient PnR's.

- Play the twin tower when Harden is off the court.

- The ONLY time to set Dwight (or Asik) for post plays is when Harden is off the court.

Twin tower can work if they don't marginalize Harden's game. That is the key! Whether they score or not, it's really secondary.

 

Title said evidence, I thought evidence means prof , and I thought prof means a vid.
Nice analyse nevertheless.

 

A few observations. My first post,] here, so don't expect too much.

Having both Howard and Asik on the floor should in most cases improve the defense. I think both players, but especially Howard, have the footwork and lateral quickness to effectively play the majority of PF's in the NBA.

In the NBA, exploiting match-ups is an important weapon. So teams will try small ball to draw one of them out of the post. The flipside is that you'll also have a match-up problem on the other side of the floor. Can Asik exploit smaller, weaker players on the low block, both as a scoring option and as a offensive rebounding threat? I think he can.

Good offensive schemes can help make such a lineup effective. The fact that neither are great passers (have low assist rates) is not that relevant. As long as they can pass out of the block, especially in double teams, and their teammates space properly and swing the ball around fast enough, that should be sufficient.

Match-ups will also dictate how much time they'll see on the floor together. I am sure against some opponents it can be a bad lineup, and against others a very effective one. Bottom line is that having two quality, starter-type big men gives a lot of flexibility to the team.

I am very interested in seeing them together.

 

Greg Smith and Asik is poor evidence that Dwight and Asik can play together, because that front court was used in the playoffs in game 1 against OKC and we were blown out by 29. With 4 3pt shooters on the floor, we put up a much better fight against OKC every single game. Obviously the results of the regular season are very different, but the results of the playoffs are more significant than the results of the regular season, because in the playoffs defenses are generally better and more intense which makes it harder to score.

DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin is also poor evidence because both guys played horribly in the playoffs. There aren't many average defensive teams in the playoffs, and everyone's more prepared and putting in 100% effort, so sneaky back-door cuts and tricks of that nature won't work in the playoffs as well as they do in regular season--this is also why Denver weren't as good in the playoffs and Splitter got shut down.