It depends on what you mean by 3rd guy. Are you purely talking about scoring or overall impact. If you meant just scoring its either Lin or Parsons. If you meant overall, its prob beverly due to his defense. Bev prob the 4th or 5th option on offense regardless whos on the floor with him. Parsons so far has 3rd most shot attempts but Lins so far the 3rd leading scorer and is the #1 option when playing with the 2nd unit.
Should be Parsons. But the 3rd best guy that can create his own offense for himself and others is Lin. Bev is our hard nosed point guard. We aren't counting on him to score a bunch of points.
But but, the eye test! Honestly idk how Bev could be the 3rd guy RIGHT NOW. He's only played significant minutes in one game and even then we were in control the whole game.
This thread will inevitably turn into another Lin thread. He is the only one beside H&H that can create his own shot consistently. Parsons and Casspi both lack of go to move and are not good dribbler, they more fit for catch/cut style. I can see Parsons is trying to do some dribble and drive but his whole body is not quick enough and he is just too tall to keep the ball from deflected by defenders. Casspi is better in this category, quicker and more fluid on his moves, good decision maker and good shot selection, but is not fast enough to beat defender off dribble face up, nor have the skills/strength to post up other team's 4s. in some match up he is very good but good enough to say he is the #3 of the team? I dont think so.
Just going by ppg _ Lin... But I wouldn't be so quick to call Howard a 2nd scoring option at this point. I think the Rockets have a #1 option in Harden and a few #3 options. But I guess it depends on what is meant by scoring options.
I don't know how much can be taken from what Morey said last month during one of the radio interviews: But obviously, the lineup, PG controversy and number of shots allocated suggest otherwise :grin:
Parsons has aspired to be the 3rd man: "I don’t think there’s a better trio than us in the NBA. I want to make sure that I'm that third piece that can help us be that contending team," Parsons said. "I worked on a lot of ball-handling especially now with him and Omer [Asik], there’s a lot of pick-and-rolls, which is huge on offense. "I want to be able to handle the ball at 6’9”, 6’10”, get the defensive rebound, be able to push the fast break and I’m going to get a lot of open shots playing with those two guys. They’re going to get double-teamed all the time, so I’m definitely working on my jump shot and being more of a consistent three-point shooter." http://thesportspost.com/blogs/view/the-time-is-now-for-chandler-parsons
I'd rank them in order of importance... Harden Howard Cisco Lin Casspi Bev Asik Parsons Smith Dmo/Jones and the rest
Asik. His game (paint presence) has been more consistent and better than the other guys. Lin is right there if he continues his play. A great thing is how many potential 4th best players we have. Even if Lin falls off a little, he could be the 4th best player on a championship team... same with Parsons (if he un-slumps) and Cisco. Beverley's defensive talent with all the great PGs of today puts him right there too.
Lin is the third so far this year, although I think it can be Parsons and even Casspi on some games. It could be others but when people think of stars they think of offense for the most part. I think Lin is it most of the time but people don't want to say or acknowledge it because they get sick of the LOF's.
Lin has definitely been the most consistent out of the candidates and quietly having a very good season. Every night he turns in a solid performance and that was the one thing everyone was complaining about last season, his consistency. Sure, he has had some games of high turnovers but he isn't the only one turning the ball over frequently. It has been a team problem. But, I think the third guy is going to be all of the guys together. We all know what we are going to get from Howard and Harden on a nightly basis, so if one of those other guys in Parsons, Lin, Pat, Casspi or Cisco step up on a particular night then we will be really good.
NBA is a bussiness after all, from the perspective of running this organization, Parsons is the 3rd guy you dont wanna lose. Besides I believe he has the potential to get on another level. Asik is the 3rd best player, but because of Howard, Lin is probabably the 3rd most effective player right now, hes inarguably the 2nd best play maker and the 2nd best penetrator, and he has clearly improved on his D and 3pt shooting over the summer. But because of his price tag, some redundancy with Harden, he would be the 4th man behind Parsons. I dont know how much cash he could bring in for Les though. I love Bev's attitude/intensity and all, but his defense is simly overated because of the drama between LOFs and LOHs. He's not that hard to replace, so are Cisco and Cassipi. I could be wrong about the latter though, hopefully he could keep surprising everyone.
This team is so dangerous because after option 1 and 2 of Harden and Howard, we have multiple guys that can catch fire or play at a very high level behind them. We already seen it this season; first game was Cisco turning in 19 against the Bobcats, second game was Lin versus the Mavs, Parsons against the Jazz, Omri against the Clippers and Lin/Bev against the Blazers. Omer has been ultra solid defensively the whole season. He should get a lot more recognition. Not many teams have this luxury and the Rockets are very fortunate.
