Asik as PF? With two big men in Asik and Howard, the Rockets have a chance to change the way teams defend our team, the way we defend other teams and have two front court players that clean up the boards on the offense and defense netting us more second chance shots. I understand the talk of needing a stretch four, but why not move Asik to the four and let teams worry about defending him in the paint as well as creating a mismatch when he is on the block. If the opposing team has a stretch four, Howard could defend them while Asik defends the center on the opposing team. Asik showed some really good offensive ability when very little to none was expected. Asik's ability on the boards and defensive end could prove beneficial to the Rockets. Lets go old school with two seven footers on the front court, that can defend, rebound and shoot. Asik and Howard would create matchup problems for other teams and would be a nightmare for opposing teams' players that drive to the basket. If the matchup doesn't work, then trade Asik during the season, where he'll still have value. I don't believe the rumor that Asik wants out, ultimately I believe he wants to win and now the Rockets have a piece that can get them a step closer. If Doc says Asik is cool, then I believe him. I know the cons of Asik as a PF, but I think the pros outweigh them.
I'm just not sure if the twin towers model would work now. The only team that comes close to it successfully is Memphis but both those guys have some mid range game to spread the floor. Both Howard and Asik being in the paint not only makes it difficult for them to operate, but it makes it difficult for our guards to penetrate and kills the pick and roll. I'm not really sure what to do about the four spot though. In the world of stretch fours I see Aldridge and Love being at the top and they would be extremely difficult to get even though they've expressed dislike with their current teams. Next is Ryan Anderson and maybe Millsap but he just signed with the Hawks and the Pelicans may not want to play ball with Asik/Anderson. I'm kind of stumped on the situation. I'm not even sure Atlanta would want to do a SnT with Asik since they just locked up their front court with Horford/Millsap. I also don't think they'd want Lin, they'd probably just resign Teague.
Keeping the team intact give the most flexibility going forward. It's important for this team to come together and see what they can do. Going forward, the 2014 free agency is going to be significant, and if let's say a player like Josh Smith was a part of that free agency group, he would not even sniff a max contract. Since this team is still young, and the team as it stands now has a mixture of youth and depth, it's important to not get hasty and make too many commitments in a short time frame. In particular, I'm bullish on DMo. I think he will be a good compliment to Howard this season. Having said that, it's very possible that Jones makes a leap and give the team a similar defensive dimension to what JSmith would bring. I think there is a good change that the young big men will become more valuable this coming season so as to make it even easier to trade for a star pf like Love or Aldridge going forward. Keep the team as is. See what we have in the young pfs. Worst case, they can make moves after next season to clear cap room and make a run at LA or Love who are simply better players than JSmith.
I agree. Smith is nice but Asik will be nice. A sweet twin towers thing going on plus he could be rotated to give dwight a break
There is a possibility that a "Twin Towers" could work, especially if the Rockets employ a high post offensive set with either Howard or Asik at the top of the key playing the pick and roll and allowing Harden and co. to slash toward the basket. It may or may not work, that's why I'm on a message board and not a coach. I just hate to see Asik go when he proved to be very good and cold fill the role of a PF that this team sorely needs.
Lin will be a good fit with Howard. The skill sets of Howard and Asik are overlapping on the other hand.
I definitely don't think there should be a rush to jump into a trade. Get the guys together and see how it goes. We can still sign some cheap shooters and see how our young pf's progress. If Asik is really unhappy though (unconfirmed) then I'm not sure what the best route is. I don't see any good stretch fours out there to flip him for.
Any chance Asik is developing a consistent midrange? He made some towards the end last season. We definitely need that for them to succeed together.
Could very well be true. I remember Asik wanting to play a large part offensively. I just don't see him being able to grow offensively at the rate that would help him improve and further his career in the situation he may be in... Not sure.. Then again I'd rather not change anything about the Rockets. Chemistry is important and it can take years to build. Id rather see Delfino back and Garcia re-signed in a way that makes sense.
Best situation. I really believe there is a need for Twin Towers - especially in the playoffs against teams with dominant size.
Let's be honest, Bev isn't starting over Lin. Not good for business. And if Asik does stay, well i guess he better swallow his pride then because even though I don't even like the guy, D12 is definitely better than Asik. With that being said, Asik has improved tremendously over the years and is a definite starter on any team. Anyways, we really do need a decent PF. Keep Jones and develop him, he has serious potential and i'm sure everyone already knows that. DMO, meh... I wouldn't mind seeing him get traded.
The game has really been moving away from that... the Heat did it the past two years without a real center at all and took Perkins and Duncan out of games (Perkins all together was ineffective, Duncan was taken out only during some defensive possessions). The Mavs won before that with one center in Chandler while Dirk went crazy from all over the floor, not as a traditional big. I'm not saying twin towers definitely won't work anymore, and it's possible it'll force the other team to have some bad match ups but more than likely they'll spread the floor with shooters and make two bigs less effective.
I would only trade Asik if he really ask for it (which we don't know , rumor is rumor.) and that's what Morey said he wanted in the interview a couple days ago anyway. The real thing with Asik is this. 1. if we lose Howard to injury for 10-20 games, with Asik we're just fine, without him we're screwed. 2. when Asik sat last year, our defense generally went to hell, this problem would remain if we simply move him. but if we have him he'll get 15-18 min by default anyway the improvement in that 15-18 min is huge, we then try to sneak 5-10 min for him and Howard, Twin tower as an occasional strategy can surely work, almost anything for 5-10 min can work. 3. Howard has a trackrecord of running into foul trouble, especially in the post season, having Asik would go a long way into lessening this threat. 4. it gives us at least some semblance of flexibility remaining for future moves, if we lock in Josh now, it's done, if anything goes wrong we have very very little means to try and adjust. 5. this would give Dmo/ Jones a bit more chance to develop.
If Asik developed a consistent jumper, we would be underpaying him and JSmoove + J.Teague would of been Rockets by now.
I think having the best back-up C in the league could be the difference in getting a home court advantage seeding in the playoffs. You have to assume injuries will happen in the NBA. Dwight or Harden going down is our biggest risk for an early exit; not the level of play we get from Jones, Motie and Smith at PF.
