Elite Rebounding & Paint Protection vs. Stretch4/Spreading the Court

In the few games so far, I would say that Asik is a superior 1:1 defender and Howard is the better weakside and help defender.

 

hmmm...defense is actually probably more important as it creates good offense. you can't just assume that teams will start playing defense once the playoffs start. good defense (and rebounding) is more than just effort, no matter what coaches say. i can't think of a single team in the last 20 years that won a title without great defense. Dallas doesn't win in 2011 without Tyson Chandler and Shawn Marion. even Kidd in his old age was still a decent defender/rebounder.

you do need that offensive superstar or two unless you're the Detroit Pistons who had a poor man's Dwight Howard in Ben Wallace. Rasheed was that very rare stretch 4 who was also a very good defender. but they didn't have anyone who was offensively a top 25 player. their best overall offensive player (and best shot creater) was their point guard.

another example would be the Bulls, particularly during the second three-peat. outside of Jordan (who like Lebron, is a once in a generation or even lifetime player), they didn't have anyone that was a top 30 offensive player. Pippen wasn't very efficient despite not getting a whole lot of defensive attention. during his time with the Bulls, he rarely shot above 48% FG, 35% from three, and 74% from FT or about 3 made FTs per game. Pippen was nowhere near a Wade or even a Bosh offensively. after Pippen, there was a huge drop off. their next best offensive starter was freaking Longley with 9 points per game, then Harper with 7 (inefficient) points per game and then Rodman (who did hit the occasional 3, but could never be called a stretch anything) with 6 points per game. Kukoc and Kerr were the bench players who averaged 13 and 8 points respectively.

but the Bulls were probably the best defensive team of all time (even better than the 04 Pistons or the 76ers of the early-mid 80s). and it was their defense that puts them in the conversation as one of the best teams ever.

now the Rockets have maybe 85 percent of Jordan offensively in Harden and a poor man's white Pippen (at least offensively) in Parsons. they have a rich man's Rodman without the headaches (so far) in Howard. Asik is way better than Longley despite the lack of a jumpshot. Beverly's not quite as good as Harper in either category although Lin is better offensively. if Lin comes off the bench, he's close to Kukoc's level; maybe a little worse offensively, but better defensively. Garcia's not quite Kerr offensively, but also better defensively. Rockets 8-11 guys (Brooks, Casspi, D-Mo/Jones?) are probably a bit better than Bill Wennington, Judd Buechler, Randy Brown and Jason Caffey.
of course McHale is no Phil Jackson, and Harden ISOs or PnRs is nowhere near the offensive system as the triangle.

i don't want to sound like i'm seriously comparing the Rockets to the championship Bulls, or even the 04 Pistons (which has already been done here). i guess i'm saying the Rockets have more than enough (and i'm not just saying it like Thibs does) offensively and just need to keep bringing it defensively. or in other words, i'm saying that these Rockets have the dreaded potential to be something special as it is without any moves, if they can make it all work (Asik/Howard/Harden/Lin/Beverley dynamic) and stay healthy. and i think they can.

 

I think this:

was just a response to:

This:

is the other half of the equation!

 

McHale has the best option on his hands, he can mix and change the way of rockets play anytime he wants to. But in playoff time great D and rebounds will be essential and the team didn't have this before.