The Rockets offense AND defense are both mediocre.

Good point. We need more two way players. Not offensive and defensive specialists. This ain't football. We can't change players after every change of possession.

 

That's a huge problem with the team. Too many specialists and not enough multi-dimensional players.

Look at our top RAPM players from last year:

http://stats-for-the-nba.appspot.com/ratings/2013.html

Harden: negative on defense
Howard: negative on offense
Asik: negative on offense

 

in math, 1+1 = 2. in bball, it won't work in this way, especially when starting two defensive type of centers together. they are overlapped in that tiny area, underneath the rim. they clog the restricted area not only on defense end but also on offense end. it forces rox to shoot long balls. if McHale insists to start TT, I would suggest to have one on each end all the time. at least we can have a lot fast breaks (might need to hire a NFL qb).

with our current starting lineup, harden is only one who can create something but he can't due to our centers occupying all space underneath the rim. the only thing left for him is to shoot long jumps.

starting bev is a huge mistake. I have had this view since the day i knew bev was inserted into the starting lineup. i am not here to bash bev. bev is what he is. he is a solid player and should have a place in nba but he is a backup pg at most due to his strength (energy guy and ball pressure defense). as i said before in other threads, defense has more than just ball pressure defense. to put him in the superior defense category is the worst thing I've ever seen.

lin, in the other end, is a good pg and can be a starter for sure. at best he might be a little bit better than good but that's it. no way he can be a superstar. he will make mistakes. that is the reason he is not a superstar. with his capability, if he didn't make mistakes, he would be a superstar.

 

Paul George is a monster on both ends of the court.

 

McHale is always saying players are having trouble with simple plays in practice and when the offense was bad he states they did not execute it. So what that means is we could be good, but it's not showing. This is a sign of mainly A) bad coaching and or B) not having the right personnel. Point B is definitely not the case, we have solid players at all positions. Just look at last year, we looked a lot better with less 'talent'. I assume bad coaching has a lot to do with it, though the team being new and young is also painfully obvious.

 

What player doesn't make mistakes?? Harden lol!

 

basically I agree with most of your points. but dont underestimate Lin's ability to learn. look at his defense and those penetration-poke and observe-retreat move. basically he lift his game to another level in both ends in just one summer. if he keep healthy we can expect a lot more from him.

 

In my other thread, I mentioned Harden and Howard were two flawed players. There is a reason Harden played off the bench in OKC, and Howard is playing on his 3rd team.

Harden and Howard as a core, won't bring a championship to Houston.

Still you will see playoff for Rox every year for the next 5 years, but you will be heart-broken every year during the playoff.

 

That's ridiculous, the only way he will be a bad signing is if he gets injured a lot.

 

+1

Nice post! I'm pretty sure that if Lin is allowed to play PG full time for a team he would be learning from his mistakes. He has no lack of intelligence and humility afterall.

 

You obviously haven't looked at pt differential or our standing in the league, 5th and 7th respectively. We have work to do, but we got the good type of problems.

 

Harden and Howard have talent around them. It's coaching. Clear and simple.

 

This teams true potential won't show until Asik is traded. Got to see day DM gets for him.

 

We are a good Top 8 offense but the D is inconsistent.

We had some good games and won despite slow starts.