Howard at PF will work against SOME teams. It is not totally a "one or the other" thing. On the other hand, at least half of teams will be able to stretch it out too much. But definitely there will be times when we'll want both on the floor. The GARM needs to stop talking like it only can never work, or will work all the time. Have to be flexible and adapt to survive.
i dont think people are thinking it will never work, it's just hard to picture. With our offense i just can't picture having d12 and asik running up and down the court without drastically changing our offense from last year.
Dwight is saying the right things to keep Asik happy. Asik is gone in 1 or 2 years unless a miracle happens and he is settling for his bench role and less money which nobody in their right mind would do in their prime and with other teams being interested in his starting service.
y parsons, dwight and lin Isoing Harden? seems so distantly! must mean the harden for lebron james could be a done deal! now we're not winning 3 championships but seven! with the arrival of james, logically.
I agree but also keep in mind that this team has Harden, Lin, and Parson on the perimeter. Nobody can Pick and roll like Harden and he has two options with Asik and Dwight, although Dwight is a better choice. Also, Lin's ability to drive and dish are going to be greatly improved. Either way, I'm excited with the team we have, even our three young PF. The 86 team's 1-3 were decimated by cocaine not injuries imagine that, how 80's of them. Plomo o Plata!
I'm pretty sure that in an interview shortly after we got Howard, Morey said that playing Howard and Asik together would likely not work.
I've seen tape of defenses with 2Pat in there or other teams with a stretch 4 and the defenses still pull 3 guys in there with the defensive bigs right outside the paint kind of in no man's land. They basically leave the corners open because they can adjust fast enough to a pass to put a hand up. I would think with guards like Harden, who likes to go left - you could have asik on the baseline just outside the paint right where the defender would be anyway if Asik was a stretch 4 and camping out behind the 3 point line in the corner. The defender can't sag further away from Asik and step up to take the drive without giving Asik an easy layup - because once Asik gets the ball, he converts at a high rate. Also, having Asik there does one more thing - it lets Asik get in the way of that guy trying to guard the corner 3. So now you have Parsons behind Asik in the corner, and Lin/Bev/Garcia in the other corner - either way, the defense is going to have to a problem. You either pick up Harden on the drive with two guys and hope he doesn't pass it to a wide open Lin in one corner or Parsons in the other, or to Asik on the right block, or lob it to Howard for a dunk....or you play Harden straight-up which is where he is very effective. Problem with a stretch 4 is that let's say you have Casspi in there, well if he then goes to the corner, his defender doesn't follow him, just stays near the paint anyway. And now you have to move one of the guys in the corner to somewhere out top. So now that guy is basically taken out of the picture as a high percentage threat. At the very least, you're going to make the defense move a great deal and that's kind of the goal on offense anyway - since a lot of defensive motion usually equals mistakes and an opportunity for an easy score. Now if the screensetters guy doesn't come out - as Carl pointed out - that gives Harden an open J. But it doesn't matter to some degree anyway as let's say Howard is setting the screen, and Harden goes around and his man goes over the top to take away the J - then Howard still drops down to the other side of the block that Asik is on - so his big can't step up to Harden without opening up a dunk for Howard. Point is, Hardens original defender is still behind him and he is off to the races down the lane. The question becomes can Harden make the pass with those trees closing in on him. Again - I'd still rather have Lin or Asik taking an open corner 3 then Casspi taking a 20 foot jumper from the top of the key.
Not necessarily. It really comes down to how good a screen is set and how successful the defender is fighting over the screen. You will get some open shots, yes, but not consistently -- at least not against good defensive teams. Some teams (the Pacers for example are quite good at this) actually have great success having their big sag down and the guy guarding the ball-handler go over the screen to force a contested two-point jumper/floater of the dribble. Look at this Rockets set from last year, for example. Some of the open pull-up 3s you see early in the video, you may still get from time to time. When those shots are not there though the lane will be much more clogged and it'll thus be much harder to create a good look. You're also rather unlikely to get any quick-hitter looks unless the defense falls asleep. Of course, you might not run this set at all with Howard and Asik in the game. I'm just using it as an example to illustrate sagging (aka soft or shadow[ing]) defense. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/aEFDOS8ZT_0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Other teams will hedge or trap the ball-handler and force Asik or Howard to make a play from 17 feet+ out, which quite possibly will be even more of a challenge. Obviously it's not ideal, but I do believe that you can run an effective offense with Howard and Asik on the court for stretches. You just have to be a little creative. I'll probably do some post on this with video examples, however this may take a while. This.
Are we naive kids..... Will we give it a try. Of course. Will it work... Yeah depending on matchups and limited minutes Everything else is gravy but never change a formula of success: spacing and 3 pt shooting Howard and Asik are not supreme passers
Can you give an example of an offense in recent memory that was highly effective while employing 2 front-players who were useless with the ball outside the paint?
