1: i read somebody post that defense win the champion, so who has the best defense skill in Rockets? 2. i read the news on the internet said, rudy is worried about yao is exhausted (mental and physical), is that true? is yao all right for tonight's game?
1. posey and cato probably. posey has some quick hands and he's got good lateral movement. cato is a shot blocking menace and he's a presence in the post. 2. dunno.. if I were Yao i'd be exhausted..
Kelvin Cato is our best defender. Posey is second. We traded our best PF defender to get Posey but it left us vulnerable at the more important 4 position, and we are paying dearly for it at times. Unfortunately, great defensive teams are not made with perimeter defense and 2nd string centers. On nights when Yao is not energetic, we have bad interior defense. Griffin gets abused by almost every PF in the West, and Mo is not better. A lot of our future success will hinge on Griffin and Yao getting stronger and consistently more aggressive on defense, including rebounding.
1) Posey, although he thinks he's a 2... 2) Yao is probably exhausted and I'll think you'll see more of Cato toward March/April..., which is a good thing as i think Cata has a chip on his shoulder and will be more aggressive...
I think Cuttino should get some credit too. When that guy bears down on his man, he can be as good as Posey. The only problem is Cuttino's not 3-4 inches taller.
It is arguable that Kelvin is NOT our best defender. I am even double sure that Hawkins is a better defender than James Posey. There is a flaw in James' D but I cannot put my hand on it. But Hawkins is very underrated for what he brings defensively. The fact is that our team does not have one outstanding stopper of note but somehow they have what it takes to be COLLECTIVELY good (as evident in the FGA percentage).
"Defense wins championships?" Man, this is one of the most tired sports cliches in the world. Can a great defense win championships? Of coursel, but does anyone really think the Detroit Pistons are going to win it all? Can a great offense win championships? Of course, but at the same time Dallas had an incredible offense last year but didn't do squat. Phrases like "Defense wins championships" is the kind of absolute drivel that submental athletes and columnists parrot when they can't come up with any real analysis. The game is complex and trying to reduce all of the intricacies into one-line slogans is ridiculous. Might as well throw in "We have to take one game at a time" or "Let's give 110%!"
It would be interesting to see Dallas and Detroit in a 7 game series. I'm not so sure Dallas would win that one. It would go to 7 games.
Name the last championship team that didn't have a great defense. Name the last finals team that didn't have a great defense. I can only think of the Suns. Now I'll name teams with an average offenses that have made it to the finals. The Spurs, Rockets (both years), Knicks, Sonics, Philly, Pistons, and so on and so on. The Lakers didn't start winning until the Phil got Shaq to play some D. That is what the problem with Lakers this year is. The defensive intensity was gone for most of the season.
There is a common misperception that Posey is a great man on defender. This is very untrue since he is beat by his man many times (although he does seem to closeout quite well) due to not having great lateral quickness like a player like Cat or Hawkins. Yes, Cat and Hawkins are both our best man on guards who should draw the toughest assignment each night as long as they can physicaly match up. However, Posey is easily the best passing lane defender on our team and one of the best in the game much the same way Pippen was and still is. You never hear about Pippen being called a stopper but he is tall and has long arms and plays the passing lanes great.
Obviously a good defense contributes to a good team, that is elementary. What is absurd is when people take a reductive view to a complex game. Do most teams that win have a good defense. Yes. Do most teams that win have a good offense? Same answer. In the example of the Lakers, I think everyone would agree that Shaq and Kobe's offensive skills far outweigh their defense. In fact, I'm of the belief that Kobe is a substandard defender who get bailed out when he overplays his man because he's got a 7-footer behind him. Defensively, I would say the Lakers are middle of the pack, luckily they have a potent enough offense that they don't need to hold teams to 80 points like Detroit does. It's a combination of offense AND defense that leads to wins. I would also suggest that it's pretty subjective to classify any of the all the teams you listed as "average" offensively. Houston had Hakeem (and Drexler) and a potent 3-point game. Definitely above average in my opinion. The Spurs had Robinson and Duncan in their prime. The Pistons had Isiah, Laimbeer, and Dumars. Again, way above average in my opinion. The quote was about winning championships, not making the finals, so you can throw out the Sonics, 76'ers and Knicks (though I agree the 76'ers and Knicks didn't have great offenses, but if they did they itely would have had a better chance at winning a championship). I don't mean to belabor a minor point, but I just despise it when people reduce complex problems into simple slogans and then repeat them as if they are an unquestionable gospel laid down from heaven. Contrary to the words of our president, it's not a simple black and white world we live in.
