From the 4 games I have watched him as a starter he seems to have all the tools needed to be a very good offensive player in the NBA. Great first step, quick, aggressive and very good hops. All he needs is a shooters touch. I would not be surprised at all if in 2 years he was averaging 15 or more PPG.
If Chandler could simply return to the level he reached in his rookie season, and consistently stay there, I'd be thrilled. While I don't think his defense is as bad as some make it out to be, it's regressed. He needs to work on that.
He's fallen off since his rookie campaign because he's chosen to expend his energy elsewhere. Having said that, if you check the tape his lack of lateral quickness has always been a liability. Physically he has the tools Battier had, but it's unlikely he studies his opponent as meticulously as his ostensible predecessor did.
I think the problem defensively with both Harden and Chandler is the lack of any adequate backups. Its hard to expend the energy when you are averaging more minutes than anybody else in the league. Couple that with the fact they are also asked to be virtually the entire offense as well and you get lazy D. I think in addition to us needing a new coach (or at least a new "Defensive assistant") we have to bring in the depth to allow our guys to be able to take a breather once in a while before we can expect to see results on that end of the floor.
i'd be happy with chandler scoring 14 a game and playing 2011-2012 style defense. remember how smooth he was with his footwork, while keeping both arms up? since his face cleared up from acne, he has lost that.
reduce his minutes to 32-34 minutes and you will see the defensive chandler back... defense all mental... if you are exhausted you will have more mental lapses...
With Parsons, I feel like he could have been a very good defender. After his rookie year, I felt like he could have been a better offensive Shane Battier. Even though he lacks the athleticism and quickness, he does have the length, height and smarts to be a great defender. And in his rookie year he also had the defensive mindset which made up for his inefficiencies and boosted his advantages. This mindset is what he has not had the past 2 years, as a whole. That's the problem. He shifted from a defensive mindset to a more offensive mindset these past few years. And frankly, I don't blame him. By being more offensive minded, Parsons has raised his price tag from 4-6 million to around 8-10 million per season. A player known for his defense will be paid much less than a player with some offensive talent. And even if Parsons isn't worth that 10 million per season contract, there will be some stupid GM that will look at his offensive stats and happily give him that money. And for a player like Parsons who has been vastly underpaid, I don't blame him for taking that approach even though I get frustrated because I know that if he played with that same defensive mindset as he did during his rookie year, the Rockets would be much better team.
He can be a really good defensive player if he has the discipline. Otherwise, he will get beaten most of the time because of lack of focus.
In his rookie season, he was a 2nd round pick trying to just stay in the NBA. He thought he could do that by being a lockdown defender. As soon as he realized he could actually score a little he decided to focus all on that and ignored defense.
Parsons never was a great defender. He was competent, about average, and still is. The thing is, most rookies are not competent defensively. So, Parsons was ahead of the curve as a rookie. Right now, compared to the overall NBA population, he's just average. It would be helpful if he didn't have such a ****ty defensive SG to play next to most of the time. It's easy to look bad when you can't rely on your wing man to keep track of his man and help responsibilities.
Although that may have played a part but I think a large part of his defensive decline is due to more minutes. 1st season 28 minutes 2nd season 36 minutes 3rd season 37 minutes it takes time for players to learn how to play smart for extended minutes... young players tend to play 100% all the time they are on the floor...
Garcia and Hamilton are very capable defenders. Dmo and Casspi have shown flashes however the Rox have one of the most Potent and Youngest offenses in the league. Their roster was deep enough to share the scoring load while they expended more necessary energy on D which also sets a tone to their teammates since James is an All-Star and Chandler is a starter/aspiring All-Star. Definitely easier said then done though. Not playing Hamilton/Dmo/Casspi and Garcia-briefly in the playoffs and playing James/Chandler soo many minutes was obviously more a of coaching thing.
