You're underselling Dragic. For one, using his assists number from this year is misleading. He plays significant minutes with TWO other ball dominant point guards. He is often off ball, and plays more like a finisher than he has in years past. On the rockets, I imagine he and Harden would split time on and off ball, while he would be on ball 100% when Harden sits. That a significant change versus what he's doing right now. His assist numbers from the last 2 years: 2012/2013 - 7.4 2013/2014 - 5.9 Goran is also dramatically better on the fastbreak. Houston is 3rd in the league in fastbreak points, but only 11th in fastbreak efficiency. Why? Because Beverley and Ariza are half court players. Phoenix is 2nd and 3rd respectively, due in large part to Dragic and Bledsoe. You add Dragic to this team with Harden/Brewer, and you've got a dynamic fastbreak AND half court offense. Beverley definitely has a talent/drive for rebounds, especially on the offensive end. He's also an aggressive defensive rebounder in the paint, but remember that sometimes this just takes a rebound from Dwight and removes a guard from the fastbreak. But really, above and beyond everything listed above, Goran's real value is his ability to "get his". Goran can beat you off the dribble, in the PnR, slashing down the paint, etc. I can't think of one offensive skill he doesn't have. He completes this team in a way Rondo could not. And think of all the lineups we could throw at teams. Imagine that we sit Harden, Ariza, Dwight, and DMo. Right now, that lineup would probably get killed. But with Dragic.... Dragic Beverley Brewer Papa Smith We can keep pace with that group, and it would be a blast to watch. And if we somehow trade for a stretch 4 to go with Dragic (my suggestion is to reunite him with Channing Frye), we could role with this lineup.... Dragic Harden Ariza Frye Howard Dragic/Harden/Howard could practically camp out in the paint with all the space they would have. We would drive and kick teams into the ground.
Thank you It seems most of the ppl overly critical of Bev are Dragic fans WAITING on Bev to have bad games. He's shooting 40% from 3pt overall, and his defense is still elite at his position. Now he'll have bad games just as every NBA player ever to play the game lol. John Wall, Damian Lillard & D.Rose all had supbar games against us.
and thats an issue. james harden has to basically do everything for this team to win. scoring pts for houston and getting others shots. as good as he is, he could use some definite help. like it or not beverly does hurt this team with his lack of pg abilities in the backcourt. again, he's at his best off the bench for ~ 20 mins a game.
I don't want Bev to fail......I want him to come off the bench for 25-30 minutes a game and give us great energy. It's not like I don't want him on this team. Not sure I want to pay him when we've got Canaan/Johnson/Llull waiting in the wings, but I'll leave that to Les.
The Rockets won last night against the Cavs because of Harden sitting on the bench. He does not need to do everything in this team for use to win, this team is much more than about just him. He will have bad games like several of late, this team will and can pick up and in some situation, will even better with him on the bench.
Granted all points were not scored with Beverley guarding him, but what does it say about Beverley's defense that his man can blow up for 38 points on him? And we've seen Lillard go off on him in the playoffs, Curry, and Westbrook have great games. Remember the Beverley clip of him hounding Darren Collison in the preseason? Where is that guy? Where's the guy that goes all out guarding his man 90 feet from the basket? The problem is that he's starting and is simply playing too many minutes, and as a result he can't go all out anymore. Beverley coming off the bench with Smith and Brewer gives us a ridiculously good boost on the defensive end. The Rockets desperately need an above average PG in the starting lineup like Dragic. Beverley is the weakest link right now and it's too bad because in limited minutes off the bench, he's a great asset.
That's fair. I'm not bashing your opinion. I simply disagree. I think Bev's defense combined w/ Ariza's have actually helped Harden save energy this year. Take Bev out the starting lineup, Harden will have more responsibilities on defense. I'm not sure that's what we want. Whether we pay Bev will be based on this year's regular season & playoffs (which it should be). He just has to stay healthy. Not sure how you'd base not paying Bev off 3 unproven players like Canaan, Johnson and ESPECIALLY Lull. NONE of those guys are proven starters, yet you've announced them Bev's replacement?
we need essentially need a pg who can score/shoot and who won't be a liability on defense we do not need a true pg..more of a SG who can guard PGs. dragic/reggie jackson types would be great next to harden. Beverly, especially at the pg spot, does not get many opporuntities to guard his man straight up. PGs run so many screen and rolls, etc. In doing so, elite PGs will still score with Beverly on the court...and his lack of scoring ability hurts our offense. Having a PG who can score would give us a perimeter dynamic next to Harden that we desperately need.
i dont take a cavs team who is still trying to figure out how to play with each other and no lebron seriously. dont take regular season games so seriously as if it defines more than just one game. when it comes down to it when the team gets broken down in the playoffs, this will get exposed. and then youll finally see how much another playmaker is needed if you don't already. and yes he does have to do almost everything, especially offensively for this team to win.
You are contradicting yourself. If you really don't care about the regular season and the only thing you care about is how to win in the playoff, then the last players you need to concern in this team will be Dwight and Bev. You may want to put your focus on Harden first considering his performance last year.
no need to go any further. just wait and see if beverly is still the starting pg by the end of the year. the flaws will show even more than they already have in games so far.
Of course none of them are proven. Choosing not to pay Bev next summer is a calculated risk that one of the 3 above becomes a quality player.....which Morey's track record suggests is likely. To be clear, I'd keep Bev under the following conditions: 1) No more than $5-7 million a year. 2) He accepts coming off the bench. 3) We send out 1 or 2 of Canaan/Llull/Johnson in a trade before Bev signs his new contract I think all of those are likely, as Bev is going to have a difficult time finding a starting job around the league and it would be poor asset management to resign both Dragic (or any starting PG) and Bev without dealing a few of these PGs. I do think Bev getting traded at the deadline is not as unlikely as some believe. Notice that we've had Ariza and Brewer guard the opposing teams PG recently. Not saying he WILL get traded, only that it's in Morey's DNA to get rid of PGs and non-stars before a payday.
Trade for who exactly? Lol. Dragic? Because if that's so, I'm sure Westbrook's eyes would light up at the thought of dropping a EASY 35pts on Dragic every time we play them. All the elite pg's will have a field day in the postseason with Dragic guarding them. That is a HUGE risk I certainly wouldn't wanna take. Again. If we DO trade Bev for a Dragic, we're gonna get COOKED by just about any of the elite pg's in the West come playoff time. It will be embarrassing to watch. Just the thought of Westbrook scoring 15 straight points in the 4th quarter, pumping his chest while OKC's crowd goes crazy scares me. We will have zero answer
But those players also have to defend Dragic and use energy that way. You can't hide your start PG when both Dragic and Harden are in the opposing back court.
You're thinking too one-dimensionally. Bev has strengths and weaknesses, just as Dragic has strengths and weaknesses. You suggested that we would get destroyed on defense if Dragic is starting over Bev, but wouldn't a Dragic/Harden lineup destroy other teams?? That would be the best backcourt in the NBA. And when did Dragic get a reputation of being a bad defender? He's not a ball pressure guy like Beverley, but he's not a bad defender either. Good defense is less about "shutting them down" and more about rotations, discipline, and intelligence. Do you think Parker, Curry, Lillard, etc. can shut down Westbrook, CP3, etc? Of course they can't....yet their teams continue to play great defense. We can play very good defense with Dwight, DMo, and Ariza on the floor.....and amazing offense with Dragic and Harden.
The Heat also "hided" their starting PG to 2 championship whose inferior to Bev in both D and O this season.
