The Rockets defense this pre-season has been really good. But after Omer Asik was inserted into the line-up next to Dwight Howard the defense became epically good. The one thing that is most obvious has been the fact that teams have been forced into taking contested mid-range or long rang shots. The number of times I saw Connelly or Parker or Ellis work their ass off to get past their defender and get in the paint only to come face to face with either Asik or D12 and forced to pass the ball back out to the perimeter have been numerous and a pure joy to watch! With both Asik and Howard on the court at the same time, Duncan, Splitter, Gasol and Randolph were completely ineffective on the offensive end. The only team that has had even a modest amount of offensive success with both Asik and Howard on the floor was Dallas and all of that success was due to Jose Calderon getting hot from the outside. Even Dirk Nowitzki had his issues when Dwight was guarding him. Yes he had one play where he was able to get Dwight off his feet and dribbled past him for a wide open mid range shot, but there were several others where Dwight was all over him and forced him into a really bad shot. Below are the shooting percentages from the opposing teams since Omer Asik and Dwight Howard have teamed up to start in the post. Those are all world epic numbers, especially considering that San Antonio had the best offense last season and Dallas is expected to have a terrific offense this season. Memphis FG% 31% (18% @ the half) San Antonio FG% 39% Dallas FG% 40% So is it real or fools gold? When I was watching the 1st quarter of the Memphis game it dawned on me, Chandler Parsons, who is a terrific defender, might be only our 4th best defender on the court depending on if you think Beverly is a better defender. Let that sink in a moment. For most of the last two seasons Chandler was either considered our best or second best defender. But now you can start Omer Asik, Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverly next to him and damn! I know it's only preseason. I know your supposed to take everything you see in preseason with a grain of salt but there is every reason to believe what we are seeing is real and will carry over into the regular season. ******On a side note... A Huge Thanks!! To Dave Hardisty for the podcasts. I have had to force myself not to beg for more. Each one of them are "must listen to events", especially if you are an out of town fan.
im going fools gold. with potential for real gold. they have guarded the bigs well beyond my expectations but the guard play form people like Parker with the likes of CP3, Rose, Russ, Curry out their, our permitter D still has huge question marks however for me I'm enjoying seeing Cassipi thus far with a greater desire to get the rebound and play tough D. On the twin towers part i still think that watching guards now pass out of the lane reaffirms the article "the Dwight affect" with his "invisible blocks" and with asik or no asik if a trade may happen, that the Rockets D will be much better no matter what.
That's why i must say that we must not trade asik. As we will not have an elite 5 to back dwight up if asik is traded. An all-star 4 will not be able to back dwight up as he will start up ith dwight. Dmo, camby, smith, and jones meanwhile have not proven that they are elite defenders, shot blockers, or rebounders. Asik must stay.
When you have great interior defense from the twin towers and great pressure perimeter defense from the front court, the offensive options that a team has gets very limited. Put yourself in that situation. Beverley is on your nutsack but down the court Dwight and Asik are stonewalling the interior. You have no space to do anything. I like the defensive synergy. No open jumpers and damn sure no easy layups. A lot of bad shots were forced up in those games.
Twin towers like any other one side heavy defense style, depends on match ups. I wouldn't expect McHale use it much against an elite outside shooting team that has a small line up or a stretch 4 (Golden state). It may not even work if they have a very mobile 4. It is yet to be tested and if we choose to stick with it, teams will try to find ways to crack it, that is the time for real challenges.
Of course it's real. The Rockets were a top 5 defensive team in the half court with Asik last year. They were destroyed in transition and when Greg Smith/PPat played center. Fans generally concentrate on perimeter defense because we generally follow the ball. So Harden being out of position or opposing PG blowing past Lin gets all the attention. But when it comes to result, the truth is that the defensive center truly is more important than everything else combined.
I don't think the Rockets will be as good as they have been, but will still be a top 7 defense. Parsons is at best the 4th best defender when he is on court with Howard, Asik, and a Beverley. I was skeptical of the Two Towers lineup (I can't bring myself to call it Twin). Defensive improvement seems to matter more than the drop off on offense which has been small.
Last year we were 16th in defensive efficiency, according to basketball-reference.com. Changes this year: More years of experience Harden and Parsons said they will commit more to defense 48 minutes of elite rim protection Better backside help means we can defend more aggressively on perimeter -> force more turnovers. Defensive upgrade at PG. There's no reason why our defense shouldn't be, at worst, top 10.
We were already top 10 with Asik on the floor last year. There is no reason why we shouldn't be in the top 5 this season, with a real possibility of being top 3.
Real deal Why are people scared of stretch 4s? Make them beat you. It's not like they can dribble past Asik. All they can do is shoot if they get the ball beyond the 3. I WANT teams to give up in the lane and pass around to their third option/4th option, stretch 4s. Durant: "Crap. Not Houston again. I hope Ibaka is on fire, today" Love: "Crap. Not Houston again. I guess I'll have to roam around the 3 today, and forego offensive rebounds. I probably should not start me on my fantasy team today." Just because we hurt some teams worse than others, doesn't mean the others are happy to play our defense.
It's the real deal. Coke.™ Oh wait, Coke is the real thing. Our D is fo sho nuff real, but do remember, these are the very two teams Morey said it'd work against. Let's see what happens against GS when they get hot from 3.
Don't take anything away from preseason. Wait for the real games to start. A lesson Carrol Dawson never learned. Also... The question becomes in playoff time, what happens. Does the elite two towers defense prevail... Or with enough game planning, does an opposing coach and team find ways to beat you, while taking advantage if the fact that you aren't as good offensively. I'm talking the Spurs, Clippers, Warriors, Heat type teams in the playoffs. Well coached. Great on floor leadership... If the two towers has flaws, they'll exploit it. To be clear... I don't know the answer. But whereas I've previously been more vocal about moving Asik sooner than later to maximize his trade value... I am on board with seeing how it works in the real season. The biggest issue, ultimately, might be personality. Asik doesn't seem to be fully embracing the change...
Let's put it this way: very impressive so far, more impressive potential. Once the Rockets get "settled in" on the twin towers line up, they could be "shut down" good. I like starting the game with the "all defensive" line up, building an early lead, sitting Asik, feeding Howard, then bringing Asik back in with the surprisingly effective second unit led by Linn. I think we are just scratching the surface on the full potential. Gave the Grizz a dose of their own medicine last night: embarrassing, for them.
Agree. Yes. Always, the big test is long series. But if you can make an elite team spend time adjusting to you, you've somewhat won a battle right there. That gives our Coach time to hone in on what we do, and just tweak to stay ahead of the game. You sneak in a win early in the series, and they are playing catch-up scrambling to adjust while we fockass in on their weaknesses Also, the offensive drop off is theoretical. While most like true versus getting an offensive PF on the court, we currently don't really have one. So, no drop off, when we consider the offensive rebounding increase (increase in possessions is a huge factor in winning games), plus it looks like we have an even better fast break this year.
It's our rotation that makes us so dangerous. Starting with Bev, Harden, Parsons, Howard, Asik -- stud defensive lineup. But I love taking Asik out for Casspi and Bev out for Lin with 5 minutes left in the first. Now you have an instant offensive infusion. 4 minutes later, you put Asik back in for Howard, put Garcia in for Harden, and you still have plenty of offensive weapons on the floor. Then, Bev comes back in for Harden and they go with the dynamic duo in the backcourt. The rotation plays out perfectly.
