The purpose of this thread eludes me. Perhaps I am slow (been sick with something since Monday). Why is Smith even a topic for conversation when Asik is better at almost every aspect of the game? The right answer is Parsons at the four and against the beast power forwards you sub in D-Mo/Jones into the starting lineup.
Even an average PF like Carlos Boozer or Tyler Hansbrough could dominate Jones and D-Mo, which is what happened last year. No, McHale doesn't have any good options at the 4, the best we can do is compensate for it by getting better production from the 1, 2, 3, and 5.
Great video showing Asik's jump shots! Asik played great but the opponents are not so great. Greg Smith and Asik did play together but they weren't that great. Dwight is quite a bit bigger than Smith too. I do believe that Dwight and Asik should be able to play together for 15 minutes a game though. That's interesting. I've been saying Lin should help the big men Dwight and Asik and this kinda shows that it's somewhat true.
It is what they're doing. This is what I have been predicting would happen too. Dwight moves to the 4. Asik plays the 5 as the starter. (I never thought Asik would be the 4 of the twin towers.) A lot of people just can't accept that Howard is not that good at the 5. His defense is totally overrated & an offense revolving around him in the post is not going to be very good. Why can't he guard 4s? His height and weight is very close to most 4s. The only reasons he will be against moving to PF: 1. it will probably hurt his pride and be a blow to the ego to concede he is not a dominant 5. 2. it requires more effort & energy to guard outside the paint. 3. it will mean less drop-off passes to get cheap baskets in comparison to if he is the only inside big. If he decides that he doesn't want to for any of these reasons, he will do his best to make sure it doesn't work. I just hope the coaches see through that & don't let him succeed. (& I defintely think they will see it if he starts giving less than 100%). The title of this thread should be "Why can't Dwight play the 4?"
This thread http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=245292&highlight=TTNN is an extensive discussion of the drop in Harden's late season numbers due to a foot injury, and playing with Patrick Beverley. Also, if you look at Harden's numbers for March and April(21 games) you will see he shot below 40%.
I am saying that there is precedence to the Rockets playing two offensively challenged bigs with minimal success. They were able to get by and win some games. Smith is a topic because he started next to Asik in this offensively challenged lineup. I feel that he sets the bar pretty low talent-wise when comparing him to either Asik or Howard. So my thought is if you have someone in there with infinitely more offensive firepower than Smith starting next to Asik, shouldn't we see better results offensively? Since they will need to keep a body on him, whereas last year they would have really sagged off of Greg Smith and clogged the lanes more for our guards? We already know that the defense will be a ton better with Asik and Howard patrolling the paint. I say we should go hardcore on getting Asik and Howard to workout before we nix it. Have you read the Chronicle's latest article on it? They mentioned Asik and Taj Gibson playing together in Chicago.
+1. And don't forget that Dwight is a better passer than Greg. Dwight commands way more attention in the post, and frankly Asik looks equally if not more comfortable handling the ball facing the basket than being down low, where he seems to play alot of hot potato with the ball.
And this is the NBA, not high school or college. A ton of power forwards in the NBA played center in high school. A lot did it in college. Size of players increases as you go up in level. That being said, NBA starting lineups are the shortest they have been in a long time, so i can see how more power fowards are seen as centers, but Smith's skills would serve him better at PF, IMO. A lot of this is just going to have to be played out. the only thing i feel certain about is Asik is not a 4. I think most people agree with that. It doesn't matter who is at the 5 or who the other teammates are. For Howard, i think who is around him does matter though. with certain guys he could do well at the 4 and with others it's at the 5. Match ups would matter too.
Can't agree with that. He is definitely one of the best defensive players in the league and he did lead the Magic to the Finals as their best offensive player. He can but he is a little too buff. Compare him and KG, they may have similar height, KG is much leaner and he can still play some C. You have a point here.
If Dwight could shoot jumpers, he would be a lifelong PF, not a center. He matches up better against smaller than bigger opponents.
Looks like the offense didn't slow down much. Howard and Harden dominated in offense during the 3rd. Asik wasn't involved that much offensively, but he also didn't slow things down much either as the second big down low...
this, esp bolded part cf shouldnt be so against a dwight/asik lineup. it'll only be for a small chunk fo the game. we dont have any starting pfs, but we have 2 starting centers who are above average defenders, and none are old. plus its too good of a thing not to try. its not like shaq and z when they were past 30 years old. either of them can play the 4, depending on matchups. i doubt dwight and asik will complain the whole season. combined, they are capable of defending most 4s. thats more than good enough. its not perfect, but still very effective. u cant always judge everything looking at a piece of paper or fancy stats.
Well between Asik and Howard tonight, they had 20 points and 40 points! Sounds like NBA 2K14 or at least that the lineup is working so far!
