[chron] Novak focuses on defense in order to earn more playing time

I hear this all the time but it just isn't true. Novak that has learned defense and applies hustle would be something like a Shane Battier or Bruce Bowen. How many players like that are there in the league? Not many. Learning to play defense is not that much easier than learning to shoot the ball as you imply. Especially when the said player is completely clueless in that regard.

 

Luther Head is not a good handler, not a good defender, haven't shown that he can finish well. But he can hit 3pt shots consistently. He was a rotation player for the last two seasons. Who says a one-dimensional player can't find a job?

Novak will stay if he can hit his shots and play a little bit defense and rebounding. His problem was, he couldn't even hit his shots last season. And, unlike Luther, he didn't know where to spot up.

 

Stop blaming the Boki thing on JVG. Letting go of players happens in the NBA. Golden State did not hang on to Gilbert Arenas, Portland did not hang on to Jermaine O'Neal and those two guys played at All star / MVP levels. Atlanta did not hang on to Boris Diaw and he had a great year. We didnt hang on to Boki and a few years later he averaged almost 10 points a game.

As for your quote that defense can be learned and hustle just applied, how come after 7 years in the league everyone doesnt play like Hayes and Battier? It isnt just learned.

 

I hate to say this but I think Novak will be cut or traded.

I was rooting for him last year, especially after T-Mac said what he said, but he's been a bust so far. And on a team with so much talent, he's going to get cut.

 

I mention PF b/c Harris played both in college and on the Rockets team, there will be little, if any, playing time at the 2 or 3, considering we have so many guards eating up minutes at SG and with Battier, Tracy, Bonzi, Snyder and Novak all capable of playing SF. Hence the 4 is the only place I could see him getting minutes.

Harris hustles, and as I mentioned I appreciate that, but so does Hayes, Snyder, Landry, Scola and Battier. Each of those guys has some inside game, they are all 6'6" to 6'9", etc.
How many pure shooters do we have on the team? How many guys in the 3, 4 or 5 can hit anything from the perimeter or spread the defense?
Rather than stocking up on the same type players, why not have the option to give the team a different look, an option to spread the floor and open up the lane?
Novak can improve his D, but there is no chance of Harris becoming a threat from the 3pt line.

 

I don't have strong opinions about either but my 2 cents is that Novak winds up in the D-League and Harris makes the roster.

Novak is the son of a coach and played 4 years at Marquette...if he still doesn't know where he's supposed to be on defense maybe the issue is more physical than mental.

Clyde or Worrel made an intersting point about Harris during the Panathinaikos game. The comparison was to Adrian Dantley. Granted, that's a stretch but shorter, posterior strong players like Dantley or Barkley or Corliss Williamson do create mismatches.

Playing with starter caliber teammates probably hides the weaknesses of both Novak and Harris. IMO, the "truth" will display itself in transition and that edge from what I've seen belongs to Harris.

 

I didn't say a one-dimensional player can't find a job. What I meant is that Mike Harris has a better chance of becoming a solid player than Novak (and thus is worth keeping over Novak) because, although his shot is worse, he is better in virtually every other aspect. Andymoon basically said that the ability to shoot is more important than anything else and I disagreed. For example, teams don't have just shooters as specialists but also perimeter and post defenders.

 

bad examples...GS couldnt afford Gilbert though they wanted to keep him..i mean the guy coin flipped to see what team he would sign with.

portland traded for davis but they were a team of vets who were in "win now" mode and davis was a lot more useful for them to go at shaq than a still young and skinny jermaine. remember they were high on him and refuse to trade him to the rockets as part of the pippin deal because they wanted to keep him until he became good/great. problem was after the blazers did so well they wanted another assest that would help them then and there..jermaine was their best assest.

atlanta...diaw flourished in the suns system he had plenty of chances to pad his stats there but take a look what he did last year when amare came back...not nearly as good as he did the year before when amare was there. he really regressed last season with amare back there and having to play a 4th option or worse. year before he controlled the ball a lot in the low/high post cant do that anymore with amare in there. plus atlanta gave up diaw for a better playing joe johnson (problem was they gave up a lot of 1st rounders too)

now i dont think steve will be nearly as good as any of the players above but i think its waaay too early to quit on a guy who got next to no PT last year and is just a 2nd year player. pure shooters are hard to find, esp pure shooters with size. he can be such a huge assest to this team with yao and tmac in terms of spreading the floor if just given the proper opportunities. i would at the very least let him play out his contract since its really cheap before just cutting him. there was a reason why the FO dipped into the MLE last year to guarantee him a 3 year deal though he was a 2nd round pick.

 

Why do you think so? There have been players that have added a three point shot to their arsenal and there have been players that have noticeably improved their defense.

Harris has a midrange shot (somewhat) so it's not like he can't shoot a jumpshot (like Hayes). Novak on the other hand is weak, slow and clueless on defense so he has a long way to go.

 

The Rockets brass are obviously just trying to drum up Novak's trade value. Just like they're doing for Rafer.

 

i thought it was a bad example because those guys are just better players

 

what spot does harris play? the 3 or 4?

 

This is just plain bs.

There have been a ton of players that improve their shooting over time, in fact most do if they stay in the league because they have to rely on something other than speed/athletisizm as they age.

Defense takes speed/strength/athletisism/knowledge/size Novak doesn't seem to have any of these atributes except size and the only one he should have been able to gain quickly is strength and he hasn't even done that. He will never have speed or athletisism and from what I have seen Harris beats Novak in every category except size.

Novak is history.

 

Do you realize how offensive that is? Substitute Black Boy Power Squad and see what kind of response you get.

 

For us to send Novak to the D-League, he would have to make the roster as well.

 

man, me and tinman had i thought was a friendly debate on another thread in the nba dish, and it lead to this? i like to provoke others, but this is ridiculous!

 

well thats what everyone called them a few years back not just me

 

he can cover both positions.

 

The problem is not Black or White it's that people are too busy looking for a reason to be offended.

 

Ahhhhh! So racism is fine (and justified) as long as we can trace it back to historical roots. Okay. I see said the blind man.