Rockets defense was better with Motiejunas as backup C than Asik...

Asik was also able to step in and shoulder the load at the 5 when Dwight went down without a significant drop-off. I'm nowhere near confident DMo could do the same, which is where I think it becomes sort of a big deal. I think we were pretty close to OK w/ TJ and DMo splitting the backup 5 minutes early in the season, but we would've been in a world of trouble if Dwight hadn't stayed healthy throughout that stretch, IMO.

 

"Not healthy" does not necessarily mean "without" the guy.

What if Howard missed 20 games in the middle of the season and we missed the playoffs by a couple of games because we did not have a good backup?

Or what if Howard was injured (or suspended) for a key game in the middle of a playoffs series and a good backup might be able to help us survive.

Last season and playoffs, we were crying about not having a good bench. Now we lost two key bench players and we are saying that we are just as good (or some even say we will be better)?

 

Indeed. Too bad we rarely had that Asik last season haha.

 

Stats don't lie. People using them incorrectly draw wrong conclusions. With Asik as center, Rockets gave up 103 points per 48 minutes. With DMO, 105. DMO has not played many minutes at center. The most popular lineup with DMo at center got hammered defensively...causing other lineups to get 15 minutes or less in the entire season.

 

Lol if you think we have a Chance to win it all this

Also stupid thread

 

Or both James Harden and Dwight can go out for 4 months.


But all that is getting wayyyy ahead of things. There are all kinds of scenarios we can come up with, where we'll miss Asik, Lin, Parsons, and even Garcia. They'll cross that bridge when they come to it, if at all. There is no point in some fans dooming the team from the beginning because Asik isn't here. Plus, there's still time to make moves. We could get a better back up in a month or 4 months. Who knows, but we also dont know if Dwight will go down or if Dorsey and Dmo will play better than expected...gotta let it play out and see what we have.

 

So the average went up since the LOF's left...

COOL!!!

T_Man

 

And Robin Lopez had the 7th best offensive rating in the NBA, better than Chris Paul and Kevin Durant

 

This just reaffirms my disdain for Mchale as a coach.

I don't need stats to see that Dmo should have been playing more last season. There were times where he would have been a better option than Tjones as well.

I don't think Dmo is as gifted of a defender as Asik. Asik has the strength and has good feet for his size and he positions himself well.

But Dmo is very active defensive (and offensively for that matter). Really, Dmo isn't strong enough to consistently shut down big post players, and that leads to some of the fouls he gets.

Some fans and Mchale seem to penalize Dmo for all his mistakes, when there were players that made their fair share as well.

Dmo just needs to keep getting stronger and to get consistent playing time to gain confidence.

 

Bwhahaha bmd no no and no.

 

Anyone with eyesight knows Asik is a far better defender than DMo. It's not even debatable.

 

That's why no one is debating against it.

Posters reading this thread be like:

 

You will always have numbers that fit a given theory...but rarely is it fact!

Asik is light years ahead as a defensive player than Donatas. DMO does try on defense(decent team defender)...I also like how he is a key cog in initiating the hockey assist(ball never sticks with him)...However it really is a mistake to think that DMo is on the same level as Asik when evaluating their defensive impacts for the Rockets.

I am gonna include a link that shows Asik's impact on shots attempted with him on and off the court:http://www.thebirdwrites.com/2014/8/6/5942073/omer-asik-defensive-impact

And please see the impact Asik had individually against Aldridge throughout the course of the series. Love to see stats in regards to Omer on and off LMA.

 

I agree that Asik should have been traded right after Howard was signed. Any argument about his lack of production last year only further shows how the Rockets screwed up by keeping him around the whole year.

 

To be fair, some LOF's are pretty good stat geeks, better than many posters here.

 

I am not dooming the team because Asik isn't here. I am not even suggesting that we should have kept Asik. And I certainly am aware that the final roster is not finished yet.

I am just pointing out that our depth is depleted, and it is wrong to say that DMo is as good a defender as Asik when they both played limited minutes. We all know that depth is very important if a team is to contend. You don't want to run your star players to the ground because there's a big drop off when they sit.