Evidence That Howard & Asik Should Be Able To Play Together

The significant problem that keeps getting overlooked is that for Howard to work in the paint, the other big man needs to be able to pull his man out of the lane. Asik can't do that because he can't shoot from more than four feet away. So having him with Dwight means two big men are on Howard every time. The second problem is that Even if Asik pulls his man away from the bucket, he lacks the foot speed to crash the offensive glass. So on defense it would be awesome. And on offense it would result in Howard being double teamed AND having little help on the offensive glass.

 

people against howard&asik thesis are all thrilled about 3pt shooting, but they are missing a vital part here. Offense was okay last year (and not because of great contribution of 4 spot).

The thing rox lacked is defense despite asik. smith or d-mo aren't nba ready yet (maybe against bobcats or magic but nothing more) neither of those guys could do any team defense. they dont box-out people, makes asik fight with 2+ guys all alone on boards (that is the main reason why he was no1 in total rebounds) And howard for asik is just a small upgrade at best for team defense.

the other thing is, none of our backcourt likes to defend. Harden and lin look for steal any time to start run&gun, and they were easily beaten to the basket mostly. And the prince charming does not defend anybody at all (dont kill the messenger). Anybody who dribbles ended up in the lane and asik was the only guy to meet them. That was what we were lacking, another cover in the paint. Now we have 2 elite rim protectors we could play at same time and it is only a good thing like the armor of a tank.

about the offense, a non shooter at 4 will only effect harden heroball which we do all time last year. This season its inevitable to change it since howard's arrival. Less hero ball, more p&r. p&r will be better with howard and asik i can guarantee you. 2 of the hardest picks that any dribbler could want, and both guys have fast legs to roll to the basket.

i think howard at 4 and asik at 5 will be much more better than last year. And it is a greater upgrade than howard at 5 anybody else at 4. I mean if the smallball fetish of the coach wouldn't relapse, we have a great year ahead.

 

Not compelling at all. Harden's production was poor during the entire time Greg Smith was the starter. The Rockets ended the season poorly giving up a chance at 6th seed. Greg Smith was fouling MORE because he was facing players quicker than he was used to - something that is likely to happen to Howard/Asik.

More importantly, Smith is a better FT shooter than both Asik and Howard.

Finally, teams WILL adjust for Dwight+Asik and they did not do so for Smith. That means, if we trot out Asik and Howard, the other team will put a SF or a stretch 4 in and make our big guys come out and risk fouls.

It's just a terrible idea and we don't have 10-15 games to spare. We want to try to win it all this season. I know it's been a long time since we've been in win-now mode, but as fans we need to understand that very carefully.

WIN NOW means we don't have time for the gimmicks and patchwork. Unfortunately, it looks like we won't have any choice but to start the season with Asik on the roster, but it's not ideal and even if it CAN "work" it will not be ideal or optimally effective for our current roster. We actually ARE an upgrade at PF away from being a top 3 team in the NBA. Asik and our other assets can net us a significant upgrade at PF. Why on earth would we fight this?

It is an absolute nightmare for us to have Dwight and Asik under the basket with Lin and Harden on the perimeter. You literally could not conjure up a worse mix of skills for four starters.

I love Asik, he is one of my favorite players in the league. This is not a good situation for us, and less so for him. Thank God they only have to play 10-15 minutes together and thank God Morey's history says that - no matter what he says - Asik will be dealt once we receive a worthy offer for him.

Till then we have one of the best backup C's in recent NBA history. It's not a terrible problem to have.

 

Difference with Dwight and Smith at least defensively, is that Dwight can cover 4s. Smith was just horrid in the playoffs but it was his team defense that made him so bad: reaching, over pursuing, not boxing out, and just mental lapses. Dwight's all pro in those regards.

I believe since Lin, Harden, & Parsons are all slashers and 3 point threats that the Asik/Dwight lineup can work offensively. It just depends, as always, on the matchup. Good thing we can play Parson/Garcia in the 4 spot if we need to.

 

Small ball is such a trendy topic that it's easy to lose track of reality. Want a championship? Let's talk playoff match-ups:

WEST
Spurs: Duncan & Splitter

Spoiler

<PRE>
Rk Lineup MP
1 T. DuncanD. GreenK. LeonardT. ParkerT. Splitter 362:24
2 B. DiawT. DuncanD. GreenK. LeonardT. Parker 152:39
3 B. DiawD. GreenK. LeonardT. ParkerT. Splitter 124:39
Team Average 3976:00
</PRE>

OKC: Ibaka & Perkins

Spoiler

<PRE>
Rk Lineup MP
1 K. DurantS. IbakaK. PerkinsT. SefoloshaR. Westbrook 1306:27
2 K. DurantS. IbakaK. MartinK. PerkinsR. Westbrook 357:32
3 N. CollisonK. DurantS. IbakaK. MartinR. Westbrook 187:06
Team Average 3966:00
</PRE>

Clippers: Griffin & Jordan

Spoiler

<PRE>
Rk Lineup MP
1 C. ButlerW. GreenB. GriffinD. JordanC. Paul 699:38
2 M. BarnesE. BledsoeJ. CrawfordL. OdomR. Turiaf 283:34
3 C. BillupsC. ButlerB. GriffinD. JordanC. Paul 281:09
Team Average 3946:00
</PRE>

Grizzlies: Gasol & ZBo

Spoiler

<PRE>
Rk Lineup MP
1 T. AllenM. ConleyM. GasolZ. Randolph 1308:33
2 M. ConleyM. GasolR. GayZ. Randolph 867:18
3 T. AllenM. ConleyM. GasolR. Gay 716:43
Team Average 3961:00
</PRE>

EAST
Heat: Bosh & Haslem

Spoiler

<PRE>
Rk Lineup MP
1 C. BoshM. ChalmersU. HaslemL. JamesD. Wade 687:18
2 S. BattierC. BoshM. ChalmersL. JamesD. Wade 299:39
3 R. AllenS. BattierC. BoshL. JamesD. Wade 134:24
Team Average 3976:00
</PRE>

Pacers: Hibbert & West

Spoiler

<PRE>
Rk Lineup MP
1 P. GeorgeR. HibbertG. HillL. StephensonD. West 1218:13
2 P. GeorgeT. HansbroughR. HibbertG. HillL. Stephenson 169:60
3 P. GeorgeG. GreenR. HibbertG. HillD. West 148:33
Team Average 3918:00
</PRE>

Nets: Lopez & Garnett

Spoiler

No data, but likely most common lineup

Howard + Asik is not a luxury against these teams, it's almost a necessity defensively. The outlier of course is Miami.

Offensively, still a huge unknown. Several plausible theories mentioned here on how to at least prevent it from being a huge liability. In Chris Finch we trust?

Last year Rockets were all O, no D. I'll gladly shift toward a better balance, which will be necessary to win in the playoffs.

 

Note: on my last post, I referenced reg season minutes played for 12-13. Should have used playoffs. However, results were the same in terms of most used big men.

 

This may be the best rotation since the mid 80's if not better:grin:

 

If the three point shooters are shooting a pretty good, and you get a lot of second chances, you are going to score a lot of points.

 

Clippers were playing their 4th game in 5 nights on the road. I would never take anything seriously that happened in such a game. Nor would I take anything seriously that happened against Orlando last year.

Also, the Clippers achilles heal is their 4/5 guys' lack of an offensive game in the half court. I wouldn't be using them as a model to aspire to. They also got thumped out of the first round convincingly even with HCA.

 

TWIN TOWERS BABY!

 

Blakes got an average mid range jumper, Asik/Howard do not!

But I do think it could work in stints.

 

think we will definitely see it in doses depending on the game and the match-ups...would love to see it work...you can never have too many good line-ups...for Asik's sake they have to get him minutes

 

Asik will make a bad decision by leaving Rockets. Asik needs to understand it this way: Rockets can offer him the best chance to succeed and win a championship. If he is traded, hypothetically, he is going to end up in Toronto or Bucks, one still think he is going to achieve his career height? He could be a star on their team, but so what? Losing every year and pray for a good draft?

In NBA, players are evaluated vastly on being a winner. That is why guys like Boris Diaw can still play on a Finals team. Why? Because he played on Steve Nash's peak Sun's team. He was a winner. And some guys like Monta Ellis will never be traded to Lakers or Celtics, why? Because he is not a winner. He can definitely play on the GSW's team and be a star and so what? Winning matters!

 

Start the season with Asik at C and Dwight at PF. If the experiment doesn't work, go to D-Mo or TJones starting at the 4 with Asik at least 25 min off the bench.

Come playoff time, we will need Asik. If we don't make it to at least game 6 of the WCF, you trade him in a package for the best available player in the offseason. Rondo? LA? Love? Or young prospects with lots of potential and picks.

 

The Beard is usually weaving through 4 people in the paint anyways! Asik and Dwight in there shouldn't be a problem. I see it as 2 more options on the drive, or 2 sharks with laser beams in the moat.

 

Asik needs to see it as a challenge for his career. Rockets can offer the best platform. If he wins a championship one or two, boy, he is going to make ton of $$.

 

It will undeniably have it's perks, it's just about keeping Asik happy. If we're willing to do then he's a bench player that's the quality of a starter and being paid like one. He's probably the opposite type of 6th man(defensive impact) than most would figure, but he'd be an extreme luxury which might be the type to REALLY put us over the top.

A matchup with Memphis would be in favor, plus many others league wide. Our real issue is finding a swingman off the bench that can close the games(for the majority of the time) and depending on matchups then Asik can close with the starting group(sans the 4-man). I'd rather not "trade" anybody; particularly not Asik for one. I'd rather sign one and there are many out there. Garcia, if he played like he did in the playoffs, for the course of the regular season...then he can do it. He's probably our greatest shooter and he actually played excellent defense. I just don't know if he can do that past a 6-game stretch, heck it was actually like 3-4 games in the series.

Gary Neal could be one, might be too small or might just be too poor on D but he has the big game mentality. Pietrus is one, but he's a low IQ player, and Stephen Jackson is one but he's got some issues coming with him. Artest is another, but same issue there. Artest to close games out at the 4-spot would be sick. Dwight, Artest, Parsons, Harden, Lin. Talk about excellent pick & roll D, close out D, and even penetration D.

Devin Ebanks can be a voucher, he's got the D, but not the range. Ronnie Brewer as well. I mean heck if we get one of these guys, or if Garcia plays to form then our rotation off the bench as is, is nasty on D. Asik, Beverly, Garcia, and TJones.