It'll be awkward when Dwight returns and the team begins to struggle. It's unbelievable what they're doing right now.
i dont see dwight playing 36 mins unless its a close game and he HAVE to play that much. dwight is gonna probably play close to 30-31 mins. and d-mo may play 26-28 mins. black is probably gonna play around 6-8 mins. he might play more if dwight and d-mo gets into foul trouble (which is quite often)
Harden and Motiejunas have been the Rockets two best offensive players this season, and hope once Howard comes back he really takes one for the team and focuses on rebounding, defense and the pick and roll. If he can make the compromise the Rockets a 60+ win team based on that. Another point it's crazy in the beginning of the season roster depth was a huge concern but if u look at our roster fully healthy I think we just need another piece and we will be ready come playoff time. I have faith in you Morey.
Dwight isn't a "negative," per se, but no way we see this kind of offense with him back in the lineup.
Someone needs to tell Dwight that he can be Bill Russell and not Hakeem. The problem is not that Dwight is a bad post up player...it's that his post ups slow down the offense and also slow down Harden. This is the same problem I think we saw with Lin and Parsons...Harden needs the freedom to do whatever the hell he likes, it's probably why OKC kept him on the bench. The more people he has to get touches the more he probably gets out of his rhythm. The unfortunate thing is that Dwight can score 20+ points a night off of garbage buckets and finishes from great passes. When Dwight was one of the top plaers in the NBA, it was when no one cared how bad he was in the post. Think about how average he is in the post now...now think about Dwight YEARS ago with virtually no post game. He put up great 20 and 14 numbers. There is also the fact that every time you post Dwight up...you take him OFF the offensive glass, and he's a elite rebounder...and if he gets the board he's getting two points with it. Posting Dwight up as many times as we do simply is not his game. Now, he can be a solid post up player. When Harden is out of the game this is the time to run post ups...but I hope that Dwight when Harden is in the game takes the complete backseat to Harden. Harden will get Dwight his points on easy buckets, when you post up Dwight I think these things happen. This all falls under chemistry though and I think Dwight and Harden have proven they have gotten better together. (remember that game where he had oop after oop?) it's just some games it's like...it feels like there is this concerted effort to prove to the other team that Dwight is Hakeem/Yao in the post and he's not.
Howard is by no means a negative on this team, it's kind of like the situation in OKC. They are clearly better when Westbrook plays, but they would be even better if Westbrook played a different way. Same here, Dwight should only be used on lobs, handoffs, and the occasional quick post up when he gets really good low post position. The play very rarely works out well if Dwight gets the ball 10 ft out and has to make a series of moves. Simply dropping the ball into Howard isn't good offense unless he has a really big matchup advantage. Hopefully Howard's ego realizes this.
37% of Howards post opportunities end in turnovers - that's a big number. He shoots 57.5% from the floor .... meaning he misses 42% of the time (likely more because FG% is inflated by put backs and other gimmies). I'm not sure what percentage of those post opportunities end in Howard being fouled but its a good chunk and he shoots FT's at a piss poor 46.2% which is 11.1% below his career average. There's a whole lot of bad that happens when Howard gets the ball in the post. JayGoogle's analysis is spot on , Howard needs to play more Bill Russell and less Hakeem ... If I were the captain of this ship , I'd be running pick & rolls with Harden and one of Howard / DMo with the other (or Jones) patrolling the baseline getting lobs for easy buckets & crashing the offensive boards .... every damn time down the court unless Harden is on the bench .... then I'd run it again with KPap or Canaan as the facilitators. When Howard & Harden were doing that early in the season , there was nothing teams could do but watch the ball go in the hole or foul & Jones was cleaning up the garbage .... Howard has to give up those post touches .... he's not a traditional post player you throw the ball to and let him go to work. He's a garbage man .... but an exceptional one , its on McHale to get him to buy in. His legacy will be measured by championships .... not stats.
Dwight had high hopes for this season, he worked hard in the off-year to get better yet he hasn't really shown that he's made any improvements over last year. This is a tough pill for him to swallow because it shows that he has aged but hasn't adapted his game to getting older like most legends do. Dwight's problem has nothing to do with his knee but his reliance on sheer athleticism to get him through the match. This is a psychological issue for Dwight. He's getting older but his game isn't keeping up with the years he's putting on. I hope Hakeem can at least change his attitude because that may be enough to make him effective but I don't see Dwight becoming a dominant center in the NBA, ever again.
LMFBO LMFBO. Now that team is winning ole Dwight is being sold down the river lol. Patience young grasshopper.
Jason Terry needs to be kept in the rotation. He has to be ready for playoffs, and should be getting at least 15 minutes a game in the playoffs. Terry is a career 40% 3 point shooter in the playoffs, he will be the best shooter on the floor for the Rockets when post season arrives.
Nope. I stayed out of this. But it would be better to limit Dwight's minutes to 30 and Jones' to 28 to keep them fresh for the playoff phase. Unless they embrace that pick and roll completely. And we might watch more of that super offense plus our Top 1 Defense Ball movement, ball movement, defensive stops, ball movement
Does DMo still start when Jones is back? If his confidence is the reason for playing well, why mess with it?
I would imagine if he's not back by this weekend, we'll see him return next Wednesday against Golden State. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone except for T-Jones was in uniform for that one. As for the rotation, the starters should be the same as when the season started: Dwight, T-Jones, Ariza, Bev, Harden. The primary backups should be D-Mo and Black playing at the 4/5. Papa playing at the 3/4. Canaan behind Bev. And Terry behind Harden. Cisco and Dorsey can play a handful of minutes for defensive purposes, but that should be it for those two.
Why do you say that? TJones is a much better player next to Dwight than DMo, we saw it last season and the start of this season. Our offensive efficiency was much better than it is now. I'm waiting to see two things before I proclaim DMo the better player than Jones: 1) how DMo plays when Howard comes back and 2) if DMo sustains this level of play for more than a few games.
