Morey: "McHale will experiment with Asik at C and Dwight at PF"

Response

I agree with you. Dwight doesn't have enough moves or shooting ability to be an effective PF.

 

Agree 100%, as evidenced with my sarcasm. He does all the dirty work down low and is an absolute brute on the boards.

Even comparing to Dwight, how is Asik soft? Butterfingers and missing layups does not equate to "softness".

Agreed, well stated.

 

Good stuff, post more man.

 

Asik is not white. He is not American. He is Turkish.

Asik, like other foreign players, has high bball IQ. White players have high motor.

 

Reading that grantland article made me think Howard/Asik could really work. I think it would be more of a regular season curveball lineup than something we go to in crunch time/the playoffs, but I look forward to seeing it in action.

 

It's easy to start arguing about posts, but I too don't see a problem with McHale's comments.

Also if it doesn't work McHale will stop doing it. Big deal. It might work though...

 

I guess that just depends on your definitions, I suppose I should have simply said "Euro" but either way it's just a stupid steriotype. While he was at it he should have called him a "gym rat" and said that he's "gritty"

 

dmorey 17 points 21 hours ago
We will need them to contribute. Donatas or Terrence Jones likely starting at PF.

 

I can imagine Asik shooting a thousand jumpers a day now.

 

So Dwight would be the new Tim Duncan?

 

Precisely. A redefined Tim Duncan with hops and lesser fundamentals.

 

And Asik would be the new Nazr, Rasho, Oberto, Splitter etc?

Dwight'd better start working on his bank shots then!

 

So... David Robinson?

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The Rockets think they can play Howard and Asik together. Former Rocket Eddie Johnson says no way that works. <a href="http://t.co/FnE2CfnqaT">http://t.co/FnE2CfnqaT</a></p>&mdash; HoopsHype (@hoopshype) <a href="https://twitter.com/hoopshype/statuses/370328393167798274">August 21, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

So Eddie thinks HOU is trying Asik-Howard because analytics is a fad?

He started the piece talking about how analytics is the latest NBA fad and then makes no mention of it in relation to Howard-Asik.

 

tim duncan's bank shot has been less and less effective these past two seasons. the key here as is with the spurs is ball movement. "we are at our best when we move the ball." -pop- "the ball got sticky." mchale..which is a clever way to say the same thing without calling out how the ball got sticky in the first place. Both asik and dwight can move without the ball, so the tandem should work.

 

I thought the same thing. He made no connection between the Howard-Asik thing with the so-called analytics fad. I guess he just assumed that the Howard-Asik experiment had been born out of analytics. And he assumed that his readers assumed the same thing he assumed.

I don't know if the Howard-Asik thing will work. But bad logic is bad.

 

yeah, what a lazy article. He sites no evidence other than simply stating the duo "won't work" and Asik sitting on the bench will lead to locker room drama (no evidence). He is just the all-knowing swammy with zero evidentiary support.

I think he underrates Asik seveverly as his flippant remark indicates about 'trading him for a PF who can knock down the 3" (terrific, new contribution to the argument). McHale and Morey will give it a shot and let 2 superior players out-muscle, out-rebound, and intimidate the opponents. Who are these juggernaut teams that will simply mow over a defensive tandem of Asik & Howard? No one is saying they should play the entire game together, give them 10-15 minutes a game shared time (start of quarters, end of 4th?; just 2-3 minutes a quarter) and be done with it.

Nay-sayers are hitting panic buttons left and right like there will be some catastrophic melt-down with both guys on the floor. I see it different: an Asik-Howard tandom will DOMINATE defensively and on the boards, and Asik is already adept at getting the quick outlet pass to a running Lin-Harden-Parsons--whomever- for the easy transition bucket. This will become routine at least a few times a quarter negating any offesensive 'liability' these guys have if all 5 players have to get back, set up, and execute an offense--thats not how McHale rolls anyways.

We are a fast break transition team, don't need our center(s) posting up every play. In the event Howard posts up, Asik can take out the high defender with a pick & roll or, god forbid, howard can pass it out to another superstar in james harden, international star Jeremy Lin, or near-All Star--your-just-saying-that-cause-he's-hot-Chandler Parsons, or one of the million 3 pt specialists on the team. yeah, the Rockets are totally F'ed!!!
Sheesh.

 

It's interesting to note that Stan Vun Gundy did experiment with Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat line-up in a very limited time but Howard played C and Gortat played PF.

Here is an interesting article analyzing the offensive efficiency of Howard and Gortat.

Can Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat Coexist on Offense?
It basically concludes that while defensively ORL was better, the offense suffered a bit because Gortat didn't have reliable 15-18ft jumpshot. The offense got better with Tony Battie to replace Gortat as PF.

So spacing is definitely a concern. Who between Asik and Howard can make this 15-18ft jumpshot consistently to play PF? Or it wouldn't matter much because Houston doesn't like midrange jumpshots anyway so the ball will swing back outside for the shooters to make threes?

It's definitely a worthwhile "Twin Towers" experiment against teams like Memphis, OKC, etc.

 

I for one believe Asik can hit that 15-18 foot jumper. Remember that game against the Magic when both Parsons and Harden were out and Lin and Asik needed to carry the offense? Asik hit both his midrange jumper and one of them was just a foot shy of the 3 point line. Plus his form when shooting those jumpers isn't bad.