More Important Need? Elite Wing Defender or an all around stretch 4

Lots of posters eating crow that thought Dwight would instantly make us a top 5 defense.

With average to below average defense at the 1-2-3 (save Bev), either need a stop guy or the guys we have to buy into it.

 

The 4 is pretty weak defensively as well.

 

I keep thinking that Francisco Garcia has some undisclosed injury because he does not look at all the defender he showed last year. Maybe he gets healthy and becomes the wing defender we need already on the roster.

 

A few thoughts:

1. I don't think the team has any kind of "hair on fire" kind of needs that requires a trade to be made before the next game.

Having really hit their stride, the team is still 8-5 and on a 50-win pace. If the team just continues to perform and improve, the front office is not jeopardizing the playoffs or anything by waiting a month or two to make a deal (and they may have to wait until December 15th to make the deal that they really want to make anyway given the constraints under the CBA).

2. The upcoming games will help the team assess what they really need and what's really available on the market. Right now, it looks like Terrence Jones can be an above-average starting PF while Francisco Garcia hasn't been all that great. Things might look different 3-4 weeks from now. Thing sure looked different on the T.Jones front quite recently.

3. Of course, by the time the playoffs start, you want to have all the talent in position to match up against tough opponents. I am not worried that the front office and Morey is up to this task. They were quite good at adding talent to fit around stars when they had Yao and McGrady. There is every reason to believe that they will be able to find the next Shane Battier, Ron Artest, Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry.

 

Question for you guys.

With the pace the rockets run is it even possible to have a true shut down defense?

If the rockets are always speeding up the pace the other team gets more shots as well.

I am thinking McHale needs to really start working on the half court game and shot selection when the team has the lead.When playoffs come half court will be important. Hou always builds a big lead then suddenly jumpers start missing but pace is still fast and the other team starts dwindling away at Hou leads.

 

Add new coach to that poll

 

exactly what i thought when you responded to my comment. you can put atleast 3 so called amazing defenders around harden it still wouldn't matter

 

Right now we look like a really good team, that can`t finish a game. We have blown more big leads this season already than all of last season.

This is not something that can be fixed with an elite wing defender and it is not something that can be fixed with a stretch 4. First and foremost it`s a mental thing and the coaches job to fix. But it is also mastering the little things (like somebody boxing out Dwights man when he goes for a block) and getting back to the 3 point shooting percentages we came to expect out of guys like Parsons, Harden, Garcia, Casspi.

An elite wing defender would take time away from Beverly, Lin, Garcia - because Harden and Parsons won`t play much less minutes. I don`t know if those are the minutes/guys that give us a problem.

A stretch 4 takes minutes away from Jones/DMo/Casspi/Asik - we probably can live with taking minutes away from them, although it could hurt the developement of our young guys.

What we could use first and foremost is a guy that can stop those runs by opposing teams. A vocal guy, a leader and preferably someone who is clutch. A Billups kind of player (in his better years) or a Garnett kind of player. I was hoping Parsons could develope into that role, but it doesn`t seem that way.

So either coach needs to change the mentality of the team, or we could use that leader, that can wake this team up when it`s running cold.

 

Come on, Parsons can't play the PF position. But I could maybe go along with it if I thought that the current lineup would be hopeless defensively, e.g., overmatched physically. But that isn't the problem. It's effort, and you need to hold people accountable for slacking off, especially your star players. You bench Harden a few times and I bet he gets the message.

 

Wilson Chandler?

 

YESSSSSSS

 

KNICKS WILL TAKE LIN"S SALARY

 

Like one player will solve all the problems in defence

What we need is a better defence strategy reaction when needed.

 

Jeff Green is softer than a roll of Charmen Bathroom Tissue.

 

he plays the PF position for quite a bit of his minutes, more so last year than this year since we got casspi. But lets say we were to get Deng and a quality PF, and we were to move parsons to the bench. He would still garner about 30 minutes a game. Dont get me wrong though, im not about benching parsons.

part of me does think that he shot so much better last year because of playing more stretch 4 minutes. He would have less talented wing defenders on him and more space to shoot. This year he has incorporated a pump, pump, pump, pump fake that he likes to use alot. But maybe he would make his 3s at a better clip if he were playing the 4 more and not as much against the more athletic wings in the game. anyways im ranting.