Who is a complete center for now? Hibbert and Gasol? Those are hardly complete ones either. There are none right now.
TT is to slow, crowds the lane, neither Howard or Asik can step out and shoot or have a post game. Give Smith-Jones or Dmo a chance.
Tts really the only lineup we have now. Jones and DMo have been irrelevant so far and it looks like Casspi or Garcia are going to be the bench mob. The only think that would make some sense would be to start Lin and have a lineup of Lin, Bev, Harden, Parsons and Howard. If only Bev were 4 inches taller, it would be perfect.
Well they could both play and were both better than Howard and WAY better than Asik. Nevitt and Waiters wouldn't have worked either. DD
I have no problem with the TT this is all coaching and recognition by the guards.. when Dwight and Asik are in the game the offense should slow down and should be exclusively post feeds to Dwight to establish him early and maybe a PnR mixed in.. McHale should make it a point to give Dwight the ball EVERY TIME with the TT lineup. They try to play fast then the defense is slow to react with the TT. just slow down when Asik and Dwight are out there! It doesn't have to be fast.. there is plenty of game out there.
Neither player has to be complete but one of the two has to be able to hit an open jump shot. And to top it off, one of them is always forced to guard a player around the perimeter which neither is good at. I have no idea how anybody thought this would realistically work.
For starters, Howard is not an effective post player so feeding him the ball in the post is almost never a good idea. And the second thing is that even if he was a good post player, Asik's man would still be able to double immediately because you don't have to worry about Asik at all when he is more than 2 ft from the basket. Those two just aren't going to work offensively unless one of them magically develops a mid range jumper.
Can't put all the blame on them. TT cause problems on offense and our wings cause problems on defense. The whole is out of whack right now I mean if you have two elite big in the paint why aren't our wings closing out on the shooters? They'd be a top defensive team if they'd stick to their man and put pressure on them knowing you've got two shotblockers. You'd notice how hardly any laker would take the ball to the paint. On offense is where TT give problems. Teams will just pack the paint causing our penetration to struggle which is our biggest strength and their 3s are inconsistent right now. I think the biggest need right now is a coaching change, someone tough to get in everyone's ears and have a system players are willing to follow which McHale obviously doesn't. I was a McHale supporter last season and it's just sort of fallen off because he hasn't grown much as a coach either and he's starting to lose his players.
Just like the Rockets you have already Forgotten the Portland game where he was going ham on everyone in the paint. For the love of god Asik doesn't have to be down there 2ft from Dwight! he can be at the top of the Key, he can take his man further from the paint to the far 3 point line.
It doesn't matter where Asik is, the defense won't honor him, they don't have to guard Omer ANYWHERE on the floor, because he SUCKS at offense, can't catch and is generally crap on that end. Trade him or make him a backup and start DMo or TJones...and keep them on a short leash. DD
Why would his man follow him? Asik is not a threat out there. His man will just sag on Dwight and then rotate back out if he pases it to Asik.
Ok, I think I'm done with the TT starting. I was all for giving it a try. We have been down double digits to start every game. The lane is clogged and teams don't have to double team in the paint which means our shooters are not open. Everything just bogs down. Sorry Asik, but you gotta come off the bench.
The Rockets should start Casspi, and then play Howard less minutes to get Asik more court time. For example, in a close 4th quarter game where we have the lead, might as well use Asik instead of Howard.
Yeah, I think Casspi deserves a shot. Initially I was cool with the Twin Towers experiment for defensive purposes, but the Rockets are getting killed in the 1st half even against vastly inferior competition. So if we're making ourselves worse defensively, there is no excuse for continuing to run that lineup out there. And I don't wanna hear any crap about Asik's bruised ego or how moving him to the bench could lower his trade value.
There are plenty of ways that they could get Dwight Open with Deep Post position. But the Rockets don't run any plays. A simple pick from Asik would get Dwight open. Rockets have no personality in their play calling.
We're getting into slow starts, cause of our perimeter D, then when the opposing team makes the basket we set up in the half-court exposing our lack of spacing and playmaking. If we're going TT, start lin. He's the 2nd best playmaker on our team, maybe our best, and he will push it offensively. Secondly, for the love of god, guard somebody on the perimeter. Stopping 3 point shots and getting the break started is how we play. We don't do that.
Our slow starts are a combination of three things IMO 1. The twin-towers set up Its not the fact that we are playing two centers, but that we are playing two offensively limited centers with ZERO range. This leads to clogging the lane and reduces our offensive options. A 4 with any type of range would be a much better fit and we have those on the bench with Casspi, DMo and even Jones. 2. Lack of play calling Last year our free form offense was a bonus to our young and relentless team. This year, especially as teams figure out Harden, our lack of play calling leads to stagnation and confusion on offense. Occasionally we may run a PnR, but never an off-ball screen play or quick motion offense. 3. A lack of effort This one is perplexing, I don't understand the reasons behind it but it seems we are being out-hustled by every team in the early start to this season. This is particularly evident with Harden, who as leader of the team, should be setting the attitude and tone for the rest of the team. There also seems to be some disharmony between players, particularly between Parsons, Dwight, Harden and Lin which is confusing as the trio were very close last season and Dwight seemed to fit their clique perfectly.
