But we are talking about losing two key defenders and signing a poor defender. The poster I replied to was claiming that the Thunder was #10 in defense, implying that either (1) Melo's defense was not bad, or (2) Melo's defense didn't matter. Either way it was irrelevant to the point of discussion which is what we have lost and how Melo could not replace them, and that defense was more important than offense when we almost beat the Warriors. We were the #1 offense last year. Why should the solution of getting better be focused on offense?
Ennis will make up for some of that loss on defense, and hopefully we can bring Melton along to the point where he's a rotation player this season.
Why are you acting like you lost Prime Pippen and Jordan defensively? The stat is to show that contrary to relative belief you can still produce a good TEAM defense with Melo in your line up(#10 as OKC showed) Offensively you want more weapons to attack teams with, making them work on defense is always a plus. Melo isn't replacing Ariza or LMM, he's bringing a different element. One in which you avoid an 0-27 stretch in the biggest game of the year.
lets see what guys like ennis or mcw or one of the younger guys can contribute to the defense before we write it off. it may not be as strong but I still think we can be a good defensive team. while our offense was #1 last year, we didn't look as sharp in the playoffs. and could have definitely needed that offense in the last two games, especially from three.
I agree with some of this. Harden was able to prove that he can play both ends of the floor with another reliable scorer and a proper system. I believe Melo, if he can stay healthy and trim a few more pounds, could be productive in our system. It really looked like Melo went Charles Barkley on the Thunder and went to a Golden Corral buffet after not being allowed to go to his team of choice. If Melo does come to Houston there has to be a guarantee that he will be 100% compliant to anything and everything D'antoni, Paul, and Harden say. If they ask him to jump he should only ask how high. That is the only way any of this works at all!
The defense will be fine I’m Not sure why so many ppl keep talking about defense. We have Clint Capela and cp3 with tucker Ennis and even Gordon all those guys are good to great defensively. That’s like 60% of the Rotation being defensive and 2 of them being great offensive players and clint is good on that end in his own right. Harden is neutral on D Melo and Ryno are below avg that’s understood but Ryno when engaged (fingers crossed) can be a good 12-15 min weapon who is a sniper from 3. Melo imo will be fantastic offensively playing in MDA offense and with atleast one of harden it cp3. Their is a major difference in playing with cp3 and harden as opposed to Russ and PG13. One team won 47 games and lost in the 1st round to freaking Utah. The other team won 65 games and beat Utah in 5 games and by double digits every game and is the only team to win 3 games against the champs in the playoffs actually the only team to even win more than one game. It’s hard to base anything off playing in okc and Russ. Look at Olidipo and Sabonis? I’m sure Melo will look like a totally different player with harden and cp3.
Absolutely. If Melo comes to Houston, he needs to realize he is now just the new role player with a little more upside. The team doesn't need his ego, opinions or anything. He's basically Chris Paul's and James Harden's new pet.
I am confident that no matter what Melo decides to do, the Rockets will not be a threat to win the West as they have already lost too much of their defensive and 3 point identity.
Lol good luck with him not giving his opinions..and pet? thats a bit much. This is exactly the attitude that results in failure. Melo is coming to take part not to take over. He's not a slave and you guys are toeing a fine line of being really inappropriate.
I have a feeling they will try to use Melo as the small ball 5 on offense. Olympic melo is elite as a quick decision/finisher. That is exactly how the Rox are setup.
With the way our roster is constructed now. Absolutely NOT! It is also only July. Schedule is not out yet but I think Morey still has three months to make something happen. Morey is not a stupid man. I however guarantee you he has the same sentiments and is still going to do everything in his power to improve the roster. We will be back! In Morey we Trust!
I hope MDA manages their minutes next year. They are getting older. It would be nice if only of the 3 (assuming Melo signs) could play in a quarter in the second half of a game if we have a decent lead and let the young guys shoulder the minutes. Only bring them all in if the lead gets threatened.
Too much? Ariza and Luc that’s is so far. Ariza will be missed but more so on the locker room. Defensively perhaps but we asked too much out of him and he got tired. I believed that’s why he couldn’t buy a bucket. We will surely miss him on defense but offense not so much. He hit his corner threes on the reg season but playoffs time he was in a slump. Luc was good until he got injured then came too soon and reinsured it but trying to dunk. He wasn’t the same after that. We still played great defense and Luc 3pt weren’t that great through out the season. If we had lost pj I would be more worried. We still have cp3, Capela and pj. And Ennis looks good, he can focus on defense n hitting those corner 3s. Carmelo may not be the greatest defender but at times he has play ok. Just look at Harden he play good defense last year. Plus we probably won’t be done till the trade deadline. I’m sure Ryan will be moved or we will get another piece.
Do you know why LeBron (even though he is Melo's friend) and the Lakers are not even interested in Melo? Because they are trying to build a defensive identity and Melo sucks at defense. We need to do the same and hope Warriors take Melo on, but it seems they are not stupid enough to add Melo to their roster either. Pat Riley and the Miami Heat, HELP!!! Never rooted so hard for the Miami Heat all my life!
They also have a long jam at the 3/4 between LeBron, Ingram and Kuzma plus them holding a spot for Kawhi its just not ideal for either side. Houston and Melo has always been the best place since you guys traded for Paul there is no more ideal situation for him. -Open spot -Perfect role -2 Dynamic Guards -Defensive help -Perfect system at this stage in his career But I get it, you're having fun being this way and when the season comes and the Rockets are on their way to the WCF with a chance at a title you'll be happy.
