While I have enjoyed the start of the season, and by listening to Chris Paul and the fans, everything seems fine, the last few games I have watched have been a bit worrying in terms of Paul's usage. It's clear that Chris Paul has done 99% of the adjusting rather than Houston doing any adjusting to him. That should have probably changed at least to around 75%-25% to help maximize Paul's value and the Rockets as a team in general. Anyway, Chris Paul is currently averaging 28 minutes per game compared to Ariza's 34 minutes per game. This is partially because we blow teams out, and by midway through the 4th, Paul doesn't need to be playing anymore -- even though Harden has stayed on the court and Paul comes off in the 4th at times. But the main factor with the minutes issue is the rotation: Paul comes off and Gordon comes on, leaving Ariza to continue playing at SF. I would suggest bringing Gordon on, and leaving Paul and Harden with him and removing Ariza from the lineup, at least 50% of matchups, when the matchups permit it. The potential problem, and perhaps why this isn't done, is because some coaches like to keep things simple, and then develop as much chemistry and familiarity with that known lineup as possible. On the other hand, you also have to know your team: two of the players involved here have a high basketball "IQ" (should really be referred to as "basketball smart" as we have no idea how intelligent they are on a basketball court, not that intelligence levels really change between niches), and if our players have the ability to pull it off, mixing it up like that could make it harder for defenses to adjust to Us instead, and thus, it can become an asset instead of a liability. On another note, since I know I have no rep here, and people will look at my stats and choose to make fun of my opinions, instead of making another thread, I'd also like to bring up the fact that if we had a player who could play on the low post, it would make this team even more dynamic, since that would allow Paul to utilize his full bag of tricks more. There's also a guy named Jahlil Okafor who will be a very good player and who is available for, apparently, only a second-round pick -- why not throw out your 2018 late 1st and have him backing up Capela or shift Capela to the 4? I'm almost certain he would be a very good player moving forward and have no idea why no one is trading for him, or for that matter, why the 76ers are willing to move him so cheaply. I guess you might not be interested in doing that because you want to spend your money on James or another, shorter, star, but gee whiz, Okafor really seems like a gift for the taking. P.S. The best Rockets jersey out there is the Nike black Chris Paul swingman and it isn't available from the Rockets Shop or NBA's store. Why? I spent several hours looking and eventually found an intentional website selling it (and it wasn't a fake like most of the other Paul jerseys are, which can easily be noticed by the difference in the red around the neck and arm between last year and this years jersey. The Asian knockoffs, almost purposefully, put Paul's name on last years jersey style -- before Paul was here).
I would rather Harden and Paul play the least amount of minutes possible without sacrificing the first or second seed untill the playoffs.
Wow. So, 1) Don't stagger the team's point guards. 2) Trade a first round pick for a guy who can't get minutes in Philadelphia. You should have hidden your post in a game thread instead of making your own...
i believe that the reason ariza is left in is because he is our best transition defender. He's always going to play a lot of minutes, even in leads because they're trying to protect the lead -- which can go away quickly with easily scored fast breaks.
Instead of right away bashing you OP , I'll adress your concerns . 1) don't look at Pauls average minutes because he just came back from injury and was on a minutes restriction early on ... Which effects the averages at this point . 2) ideally I want Ariza playing about 30 minutes .... Maybe even less . - the better and more consistent Ryan is , the less we need to play Luc and PJ at the 4 and the more time they can take from Ariza at the 3 or from Gordon ( if he's having a bad game) 3 ) okafor sucks massive ass . 4) I took the troll bait didn't I ?
That last wall of text shilling Rocket jerseys... LMAO. Are you a Rockets sales intern and did Morey put you up to this?
When CP3ofs speak, you must listen. When they write, you must read. When they post, you must stop what you're doing. Move over LOFs and DMoOFs... make room for a CPOF.
About why CP3 minutes is limited 6 games in. https://spacecityscoop.com/2017/11/15/houston-rockets-chris-paul-will-play-limited-minutes/ And Jahil Okafor trade value will only continue to drop. And you might even get to get him for free via FA next season. Which I'm sure Morey is keeping an eye on.
Paul's minutes will gradually go up, he is still not 100%. 3 guard line-up is interesting, but Ariza covers a lot of gaps. D'Antoni will try more of that at some point, with Ariza/Tucker at the 4. Okafor is an interesting option and adds a skillset we don't have. His style does not fit ours, but he could give us a different look if normal offense is not working. However, he is an UFA in the summer, and we probably won't be able to re-sign him. Also unclear what assets we need to send Philly to match his salary. At this point it does not make sense to invest a 2nd-round pick plus 2 prospects on a rental for a player that won't move the needle. Most likely we will use those assets for someone closer to our style and needs, same we did last year with Lou.
Nah, he averages 22+10 in a league where Sullinger averages 33+15. He is literally one of the worst non-Chinese player in that league, maybe the only one who is worse than him is Terrence Jones. Even Luis Scola averages 28+14 at age 37 there.
Thank you for your input. I was expecting to be made fun of considerably more and perhaps even have my thread removed by the moderators. Such as been my experience with the internet. RestHarden lives! And thanks for the likes, concurs and agrees to whom they apply. I'll add one more thing to support my original comment: I feel like we are right there with the Warriors, maybe even above. I think Harden + Paul is better than Curry + Klay, Gordon + Anderson is pretty similar in value to Durant, and Capela + Ariza is roughly the equivalent of Green, and our other depth including Mbah a Moute +Tucker, plus the leftover from Harden + Paul being above Curry + Klay is roughly the equivalent to the rest of the Warriors depth. So, if we could eliminate the value of Zaza Pachulia and what looks to be the rise of Jordan Bell, unfortunately for us -- and it doesn't really matter if you do that off the bench -- then in theory, we should be right there with them. Maybe people are bigger fans of Nene than I am. Nene to me is almost entirely a fill-in. You'd flip him for Okafor in a heartbeat if you could (No offense Nene if you happen to read this). That said, I feel like I would prefer going up against the Rockets offense if I were a team playing defense because our offense seems more simplistic. I know how to guard the Rockets, I know what is coming. With the Warriors though I tend to not necessarily know what is coming at all. They simply do more with it, mix it up more, and confuse defenses more often. Changing up the rotation between Gordon and Ariza could help with that. In addition, we don't really have anyone who can do anything on the low post at all. That definitely would add some more confusion to our offense for the opposing defense . . . is it going to be a lob or is it going to be a post move, or is it going to get kicked back out? Someone who can do something on the block adds considerable value. At the moment it is nothing but the lob. One might assume that the Warriors don't either, but Green does this role for them, in my opinion, quite well. Green has the ability to put the ball on the floor unlike any big we have. I guess you could include Mbah a Moute, but he isn't a very big body and doesn't have a presence in the paint.
