Let's not forget: Bynum and Gasol are taller than Howard and Omer So, to answer your question...two 7'ers can win the title....twice...even in a so-called "PG dominated league." The point here, with the Rockets, is neither one of our big men can shoot past 8-10 feet, or pass that well.
What no love for the Yao / Chuckwagon Twin Towers era? Outside of end game FT shooting implications. I don't see the downside to owning the paint. Trying to squeeze through a double pick on these two mind just cut your career in half
^This. People keep saying the NBA has changed, but it's not due to lack of (big man) success. It's only because the last "dominant" big to exit college was a twigbone 6'10" 220 lb Anthony Davis. If guys by the likes of Hakeem, Shaq, Kareem, Robinson, and Ewing all suddenly emerged from the draft, the teams lacking a big front court would get ground and pounded down low, and would ultimately be forced to go big to survive.
Asik developing a consistent J would be awesome. Is it possible? sure why not, he even has Camby and his there-when-you-need-it long range game. My only problem is that if you tell Asik to set up for J's, you take him out of position for offensive boards and put backs. Until his long range game is actually in that 35% area, I would much rather him stick to what he excels at: hustle boards and buckets. As for DMo and Tjones, I agree that their shooting was horrendous. But then again, they are young and the coaching staff knows more about their game than I do. Expect to see a much more linear approach from both of these guys as they try to find time on the court complementing the stars rather than developing their own game.
I agree. I don't want Asik out there chucking up bricks. But...my point was..we already got TJ and DMo doing that anyways. And the thing is if Asik shot the 3 now...Dwight is underneath for offensive boards and putbacks. He's even better at that than Asik.
After mulling it over all summer, I can't help worrying about the fact that unless one of the two centers can shoot a good percentage from distance, it effectively minimizes one of the players by having them extend to the perimeter to guard a stretch 4 type player and leaves holes in our defense overall. Furthermore, on offense, it slows our team down substantially while also shrinking the floor as we'll have two bigs lumbering down neither of whom can shoot from distance thereby clogging the lanes. My conclusion, and thereby my opinion, is that it should be used tentatively until we can prove it works. Lol, I've said nothing at all actually. Maybe the best answer is let's just wait and see, I'm sure they'll try it as well. But then again, McHale only barely staggered our starting guards and doesn't as of yet have the best feel for rotations.. We shall see. In my heart of hearts, I would love to roll out our twin defensive monsters and dominate the season!!
Asik has the quickness to extend and defend 4's or 5's out on the floor. Dwight and Asik will mesh defensively just fine. Can't wait to see it. And if we will simply purpose to run off the defensive boards we can minimize the impact of them clogging the paint offensively. That is if Asik turns out to be totally inept offensively, which I dont think is the case.
The Lakers, Heat, Mavericks won championship without elite PG. They knew how to stop elite PG's offense.
Wow. Just wow. The guy can barely shoot free throws over 50% and you're suggesting he start jacking up 3's???? I appreciate your enthusiasm to think outside the box, but you might want want to real this thought back a bit. Even if for some reason, he learned how to shoot the 3, against teams that push the pace, the Rockets would have trouble getting set on defense if Asik is in the corners on offense. OP= If you want to make things work from a "twin-towers" perspective, traditionally the most affective setup is to work in a high-low post set, where you would probably have Asik as the high post big because of his passing ability. The 15 foot jump shot is something he would need to work on obviously to keep his defender honest, and not double Dwight in the low post. I have my doubts that Asik will ever be able to build the reputation that you HAVE TO guard the jump shot in the high post. I think too many teams will live with Asik shooting that shot all day long, and double Dwight. D'Antoni ran these sets with the Lakers against the Rockets late in the season last year as you might recall, and Gasol torched the Rockets from the high post. However the problem the Lakers had last year(and the Rockets might have this year) was the fact that they couldn't play one style of basketball when Nash/Kobe were healthy along with Dwight/Gasol. Houston could very well have the same problem with Harden/Lin playing alongside Asik/Howard. They are attacking guards that need space. You either need to have a system that revolves around spacing/attacking through pick and rolls, or you need to play High/Low with your bigs facilitating the offense (which might play against the strengths of the wings/guards). I am all for the Rockets trying out some sets in training camp to see if they can work in sets that allow them to play both Asik & Howard together, but if you are wanting to see the reason why it traditionally teams dont try it more often... look at last years Lakers team as a good example. Even with the most skilled passing big the game has ever seen, they still couldn't get it to work out because the sets they really needed to run they couldn't run without taking away the strengths of their best player in Kobe Bryant. I would be cautiously optomistic as a fan that is hoping to see the Rockets bust out the twin towers. Most fans dont realize that when they utilized the twin towers back in the late 80's, they had a big that was skilled enough to space the floor from different spots in the high post & out to the 3 point line in Sampson, and where a heavy post play style team. Their offensive attack started and ended with Hakeem & Sampson. Purvis Short & Sleepy Floyd were complementary guards to the post players... not the other way around.
http://www.thedreamshake.com/2013/9/26/4772152/omer-asik-and-dwight-howard-rockets-play-together good article on dwight and asik from the dreamshake blog
Laughing at Chuck Hayes @ 6'6 being considered as one half of a twin tower. If that was the case, most teams can put up a tri-tower or quad-tower ...
As much as i would like another twin tower presence in Houston, Asik and Howard are not it. Neither one of them is a PF. Forcing them to be one would be a big mistake and would set the team back. Look for there to be a trade unless Asik accepts coming off the bench.
That article was useless dribble. I would suggest he watch some film of Asik before trying to convince people that his defense does not translate out on the floor.
Even if Asik accepts the back up role,paying him 8 mill for just 15 minutes is stupid, trade him for Anderson or better trade him back to the East for Millsap.
I am really sick and tired of hearing this kind of nonsense. 7' centers that are dominant on the defensive end are the hardest player to find in basketball. You do not trade one on a decent contract for some crappy sub par PF just because he can shoot from range. We are damn lucky we don't have people in the Rockets front office that are this short sighted. Trust me, somebody is going to give us a LOT for Asik or we are going to dominate on defense which I have waited almost 20 years to see again. The reason this league is guard dominant is because that is where the talent is and also due to rule changes that don't allow you to touch/hand check on the perimeter. Gary Payton in his prime could not stay in front of Parker or CP3 with today's rules. So having a big in there to send them packing and clean the glass at all times is the only hope you have. I would love to see a Rockets team that is truly dominant on defense so we can get back to the finals. I'm sick and tired of flashy offensive BS that gets you kicked in the first round.
