Roster expectations 2013 Starters: Dwight(so happy i can type this without any hesitation) Harden(thanks presti) Parsons(u so sexy) Lin(u better pick up ur game or ull be traded) Derrick Williams(via trade to Minny for a 1st and Asik)??? Bench: TJones, Beverly, DMo, Garcia, Anderson, Smith, DLeaguer Player, and Canaan
I agree, keep lin and asik. At least until the trade deadline. No need to rush things. If they run a line up of: Lin/Beverly Harden Parsons/garcia(resign mle) Jones/dmo Dwight/asik 3rd string: Canaan Smith Anderson Ohlbrecht They'd be fine offensively and defensively in the regular season as that is a sick 9 man rotation that can play up tempo or inside/outside on a half court set. Though it does have me wondering if having asik coming off the bench would lower his value some? Doubt it, but I would rather have asik come off the bench and traded at the deadline for a slightly lowered value than s&t him for Jsmith
I wouldn't mind keeping Lin, but that can easily change if he doesn't play above his contract season. None of the weak deferring, shaky handles crap either.
I've been going back and forth on this but I agree, I wouldn't mind keeping them both. If there's 1 thing I took from last season, it's that we desperately need backup 5 who can anchor the defense in the 2nd unit and Asik is that guy. I know we're paying $8mil for him but I just think his defense is way too valuable for this team. I'm not comfortable having Smith as our backup 5 during the playoffs. Plus, I think the whole "Asik doesn't want to play with Howard" thing is way overblown and a lie. Omer isn't the type of guy who would just say things like that. He rarely talked to the media last year and when he did, he was always complimentary and humble. So I highly doubt he would say that. Also, Asik is your insurance just in case Dwight gets injured during the season. Omer is one of the most durable guys on this team and in the league for that matter. Overall, he's just too valuable in my opinion to just trade away. As other people have said, we already have enough offense; what we need is defense. As for the 4, I definitely agree. I'd like to develop the Tjones and Dmo. Tjones impressed me in the latter half of last season and he played really well during his stint. Plus, we could always have Parsons at the 4 with Dwight and perhaps have Gracia at the 3. This wouldn't necessarily be the starting 3, 4, and 5 but it's still really good for short/medium spurts. Plus, we still have space to sign a sharpshooter. As for Lin, I'm still confident he can improve tremendously. His %'s in the latter half of the season kept improving and i don't think it'll just taper off. My only issue is his health. For the last 2 playoffs he's been injured thus rendering him useless. But that doesn't mean we should just trade him. I also have high hope for him during this offseason and I think he'll come back this year even better. I also agree with AroundTheWorld regarding our chemistry. We had great chemistry last year which was why I enjoyed watching this team even more. Overall, I'd rather keep both guys than swing for the fences with a Josh Smith or some other free agent. This is just my 2 cents though.
that would be sweet. even more so Asik and picks and cash considerations for Ilyasova and Mbah a Moute. a REAL stretch 4 in Ilyasova and A Moute is a premier defender in this league. haven't looked at salaries or anything, but just dreaming here.
i think the twin towers idea can work for stretches if we start taking mid range jumpers. consider if asik's defender leaves him open to protect the paint, he can then screen the heck outta harden/lin/parson's man for an open jumper.
Asik should stay if Josh Smith is the only deal the team can get for him. I'd rather have Asik than Smith for a 48 minute of elite rim protection. Asik was hitting some pretty midrange shots with good form a few times last season, so hopefully McHale can have him work on that as a temporary stretch center. As for Lin, I think next season will be his breakout season, since he has time to work on his game, fix his deficiencies, and generally has an idea what role to play on the team. Him and Howard should be way better than Lin/Chandler combo back in New York. Lin's health is kinda exaggerated by some people here. His injury during the playoff this year was a freak injury, and the guy did start the entire season for the team. It's just his lack of confidence sometimes that I'm worried about.
A great thread, ATW. I've been saying much the same. Unless we're clearly improving the team and leaving us sufficient depth, I don't see a good reason not to keep two important players in the rotation, starters last season, on the team. They are under contract for the next two seasons! In other words, they're stuck. It's nirvana for a Rockets fan. We have all this young talent that is only going to get better with time, and that includes Omer and Jeremy. Playing deep in the playoffs will smooth over bruised egos, in my opinion. ;-)-
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Very rarely. RT <a href="https://twitter.com/BOBBYRYANTX">@BOBBYRYANTX</a>: Any chance Rockets play Asik and Howard like they did Billy Paultz and Mo Malone in early 80's in same lineup</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/statuses/353593001307668480">July 6, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
That would be asinine to have both Howard and Asik in the game at the same time. We need a stretch 4 that can hit that mid range jumper/set shot, pretty decent defender and a rebounder. Hopefully T.Jones and D.Mo can be that guy. Now as far as Asik, dude is a starting Center, he proved that this past season. It would be a knock in the face to have this man come off the bench. Even though that's the nature of the business.
Keeping Asik at least to the trade deadline would also be an insurance in case Howard's healthy concern turns out to be a real issue.
Billy Paulz is no Omer Asik. But I get Feigan's point. If the clumsy Whopper could work with a great center, then Asik certainly can.
Lin needs to show that he can be an effective starting PG on a contending team. If he can't do that within the first half of next season, I expect Morey to trade him, IF he has not been traded along with Asik for some significant upgrade at the 4.
