A front court of Dwight and Asik will benefit our offense. The defense will go up, but the offense will go down more than the defense will go up.
This may work in limited minutes (no more than 10 minutes at time) or against big low post dominating line ups like the Grizzlies or Indiana.
Our starting 4/5 at the end of the year was Greg Smith and Omer Asik. Dwight Howard is somewhat better than Greg Smith. He's better offensively and much, much better defensively. Omer high post...Smith low post. Omer high post.....Dwight low post. Share the court for 12 minutes a game and then they alternate the remaining 36 minutes in the middle.
If the opposing 4 plays in the paint, and isn't a stretch 4 it could work in stretches. Against the following (contending) teams it might work in short stretches, since the 4's don't stray far from the paint: West: Grizzlies: When M.Gasol and Zebo are both on the floor Lakers: When P.Gasol and Kaman are both on the floor Spurs: When Duncan and Splitter are both on the floor Bulls: Noah and Boozer are both on the floor Jazz: Kanter and Favors are both on the floor Clippers: Jordan and Griffin are both on the floor East: Nets: Lopez and KG are both on the floor Pacers: Hibbert and West are both on the floor
I think you could play DH at the 4 in certain situations. If the opponent doesn't have a stretch 4 or the team generally speaking is bad at shooting FT's then perhaps it's feasible.
I have always liked the idea, Howard is mobile enough, it is worth a try. Some fours will take him out to the three point line, but it might work. Howard's limited scoring range is a problem.
Omer is mobile enough. Omer is a better perimeter defender than over half the starting power forwards in the NBA. In fact, he's a better perimeter defender than 2/3s of the starting power forwards in the NBA. Find me 10 starting power forwards who are better perimeter defenders than Omer. Find 10.
I don't think you do this against the Griz or Pacers. While they are excellent low post teams, their greatest advantage is their ability to get to the foul line with the help of Gasol and Zbo. I don't think it is worth it getting BOTH our bigs in foul trouble against that lineup. The best option would be to continue to split asik and D12. That way, we can totally take advantage when the Griz have to reach into their frontcourt depth. Another thing to consider is that this lineup would stagnate our offense A LOT. Paint clogging bigs that can't shoot will eliminate Harden and Lin's offense off of dribble penetration. However, i think it would be great to go to it in very rare occasions as part of an ultra defensive lineup with Bev, Garcia and Parsons/Casspi. You throw this squad to lay the smackdown on a run by the opposing team. No opponent penetration, grab ALL the rebounds and score all your points off of the fast break/pick and roll.
Pioneers, and innovators, are those who aren't afraid to buck the system, to take risks, to try new ideas and schemes. Morey risked all for Dwight, he is a high-stakes guy who he does what others wouldn't dare do. Is it crazy to play Asik and D12 together? Kind of. However it's never really been tried before on this type level with these type talents. And that's why it just might work.
I definitely think they should try starting Dwight and Omer together. The way I see it, you should start your 5 best players, unless it is proven that it really won't work. I have a feeling that the potential dominance on defense and on the boards may more than make up for any offensive challenges. And anway, what is better than three shooters firing away from the perimeter with two dominant rebounders cleaning up the mess and getting putbacks? That would certainly fit within Morey's formula of shooting only threes and layups for peak efficiency.
I don't think it's crazy at all... Is there a possibility that It won't work very well? Sure. But I'm sure any coach that is a former big man would salivate at the thought of figuring out how to play asik and Howard at the same time... 3-5 minute stretches of play at a time is something I could see working... Certainly not against every single opponent, but based on the comments made by some posters, it seems like some of us downplay the fact that we would absolutely dominate the glass/paint while they're both in the game... Sure we will give up some jumpers, but the tradeoff (in small doses) could totally be worth it... An example is when we lost by three to Miami last season with bosh playing mostly center, against asik. Bosh gave asik fits in the midrange and went for 24 and 10....But asik also went for 19 and 14 in the same game, so it's not as if bosh clearly won thst match up. Furthermore, I would argue that Howard would fare even better than the asik (on both ends of the court) in a match up with a similar type of player to bosh. I'm excited to see if it'll work... I think there's a real chance playing asik and Howard on the floor together somewhere between 8-15 minutes (depending on match ups ) could be more beneficial than just bringing asik off the bench for 15mpg.
Asik in limited minutes role on bulls was an absolute terror on d. Since he would be the more rested player, and since howard is a better shot blocker, id put asik at the 4 to guard the perimeter and do some hacking Imagine the change from asik then subbing in casspi or parsons at the 4. Talk about change of style.
actually i have always though Howard was a power forward who played centre, i like the idea, it wouldn't be much of a change from centre anyway
Both Marc and Z bo can hit a mid range jumper Pau can definitely hit a mid range jumper Duncan has one of the best off the back board jumpers ever Noah can hit a 10-15 footer and Carlos Boozer game is basically shooting mid range jumpers Lopez and KG can both hit jumpers with regularity West can hit jumpers THe only teams I can see the Rockets getting away w/ playing Dwight and Asik together against is the Clippers and maybe the Jazz.
