Did you guys notice how we have somehow reverted back to 2005 when we had a plethora of 6-8ish undersized, unskilled, and non versatile power forwards? They may play hard and rebound well on some nights; heck, they may even produce decent statistical numbers. The truth is, when we go up against taller and stronger power forwards, we will always be undersized because of lack of strength, height, or non existent offensive skills. DMo will get abused on the defensive end with his non-existent rebound skills. He lets shorter and more physical players affect his game. You push him a little bit and his mentality is shot. Please see the FIBA world cup where he was playing great until teams pushed him around raking him out the game. I understand we went for Bosh but other cost effective, defensive minded, and adequately skilled power forwards with plus attributes were available including Blatche, Ed Davis, Channing Frye, Ryan Hollins, Chris Kaman, etc... I like Morey and a self admitting Rockets homer but we will continue to get exposed for something that looks good on paper that lack common sense accompanied by subpar coaching.Cuban is right to acknowledge that Morey is about analytics and lacking some basketball common sense.
Forwards we lost: F Parsons - 6'9" F Caspi - 6'9" We replaced them with: F Ariza - 6'8" FC Dorsey - 6'9" F Papanikolaou - 6'8" No. No I really don't see your point. But I do remember just how tiring this argument was years ago.
We basically have the same PFs that we had last season with the addition of Adrien. Neither Jones or D-Mo are 6-8 or undersized. When you say "reverted back" that implies that things were different at some point. When was that? Jones is 6'9" and D-Mo is a 7 footer. We had Scola who's also 6'9" and we had Morris (6'8") and Robinson (6'9"). I guess Hill was 6'10" but that just puts him between Jones and D-Mo size-wise. We only used Asik and Howard together for a handful of games so I wouldn't count Asik as a PF. You site D-Mo's defense but when was the last time we had a PF with strong defense? Maybe Chuck Hayes but he's only 6'6". We are certainly no worse defensively than we were with Scola.
I wouldn't either except you named mostly small forwards. You forgot about the possible additions of short Adrien 6'8, Black 6'7, underachieved Jones 6'9 although Parsons looked taller than him on Tuesday, Powell 6'9, Mitchell 6'8....all of these are power forwards. Oh, this argument was tiring years ago and its still an issue today.
Scola was a good offensive player and an asset by tiring out his defender as a scoring threat. Chuck Hayes was a plus defender with excellent hands. My frustrations are that we were only able to get undersized scrubs like Dorsey, Black, Adrien, Mitchell, that possess below average skills on both ends.
Blatche is a good rebounder and has good mid range game Hollins is 7 feet that is an xcellent weak side defender Davis is taller/stronger than any other power forward we have and is adequate on both sides of the ball. Frye is a great stretch 4 Kaman is injured prone but was available. He is a good offensive player.
Since when did Terrence Jones at 6'-9", 250+ lbs with athletic build become "undersized" ???????? D-Mo is 7' tall!
Parsons with his 1 rebound looked taller than Jones with his 2 rebounds? That's bordering on trolling. I didn't forget to list anyone. I only listed new forwards that are likely going to make the team and can play some PF. Adrien has a chance to make the team, but still, who is he replacing that makes us so much shorter? Jones was on the team last year. Powell and Mitchell are not making the team. The truth of the matter is that we're likely rolling with the exact same PFs that were in our rotation last year, Jones and DMo, both of whom are taller than 6'8". So no, I still disagree that we've suddenly reverted back to 2005. And it was a tired argument then because it was debated to death and was shown that height can be overvalued. I had hoped our forums had grown since then. I guess not.
The main issues that prevent D-mo and Jones from becoming consistently good PF's is one they're still considered rookies, Dmo came from Europe where the playing style is much different but he's clearly a much improved player. He's gotten physically stronger and it looks like he's putting more efforts on the defensive end (he didn't play much or significant minutes with Howard from what I remember in the Dallas game). Jones on the other hand looked pretty much the same, he seemed like he was lacking focus and didn't look too comfortable out there. Again, this is a preseason game. Coaching staff is looking to see who is worth keeping on the roster so we'll see plenty of players in and out of the lineup/rotation. I would compare the offensive flow of the Dallas game to a Tmac/Yao comparison. To me it seemed like they were sharing touches on each offensive possession (in regards to the starting line up). The second unit seemed to have more fluid ball movement. I know it's a big much to want the Rockets offense to be as fluid and dynamic as the Spurs but I think subtracting Parsons and adding Ariza is a blessing in disguise. Unless Dmo or Jones can develop a consistent amount of effort on both ends of the floor, I see a trade coming for a more established PF. Unfortunately there aren't many that would fit our needs that are also available. If the entire squad is held accountable for their defensive lapses this team will be fine.
First statement on trolling made no sense. Also, I guess the following statement suggests that you are the ultimate authority on forum growth. All bow to the queen of opinion.
All of the players you've listed as potential replacements for the PF position have plenty of issues with their games. Blatche can rebound and can hit the mid range jumper BUT he also lacks focus and is known to give inconsistent efforts. Hollins can play defense but leaves a lot to be desired on the offensive end Davis is still unproven (guessing you meant Ed Davis) Frye is an ideal stretch 4 but isn't a great rebounder, also was looking for his last big contract. Kaman.. really? maybe as a back up center but no thanks for a starting PF. I would take the old pre-injured Kaman (caveman) on the Clippers. Out of your list of prospective targets, Frye would have made for a decent choice but if we're looking rebounding/scoring PF we're better trying to develop our own PF. Both Jones and Dmo are still figuring out what their strengths and weaknesses are, it doesn't help that McHale hasn't shown the ability to get players to buy into the defensive schemes. It's not majorly his fault, Les wanted a coach to replace Rick Adelman (who was doing great btw, he just didn't have the right players for his system) and he chose McHale. Unless McHale can coach this team to the NBA finals, unfortunately for us we're bound for another transitional year with a different coach..
I do agree that length plays a big part match ups in the NBA, you can't teach length. If Dmo/Jones doesn't work out this season, I hope that Pelicans pick nets us a better PF.
Except the average standing reach of NBA PF's is 8'11" which all 3 of those you mentioned - have. What they lack in height, they make up for in arm length. I am sure that by now, you are tired of hearing you don't defend with your head so height is not relevant anymore unless you still rely on the old school analogy that height is might. Consider this, Yao Ming is 8" taller than DH. But when they raise their hands, DH is only shorter by 2.75". The reason Ibaka, DH and Olajuwon are great defensive players is not because of height, but the combination of unusually long arms, athlethiscm and mobility (because they have shorter legs)
You make a good point but the power forwards you listed are horrible. Frye would have been nice, but blatche, Hollis and kaman are better off as back up centers and Ed Davis would have just been a gamble, but again he's not the answer. I'm sure Morey knows our PF position is our weakness, but fixing that won't be easy. Even the PFs that aren't top tier but really good are still highly valued by their team, like Gibson or West.
