"sb/yao for 4/5 may work on offense really well... i am just saying that when we're playing defense, i think we have a problem down low. yao can't get some of those tough rebounds and does get dunked on quite a bit. the jury is still out on what sb can do for us at the 4 in regards to rebounding and defense. he has played mostly sf in his career. if you're not concerned about defense and rebounding, let me be the first to tell you: YOU SHOUD BE!!!!" A QUOTE FROM A POST I SUBMITTED MONTHS AGO...
I think the Rockets fans are going to eventually accept the truth that Howard is the best true PF on the team. Granted he's in the bottom tier of starting PF's but the opinion of him here is absolutely insane.
Don't know what you mean by "best true PF", but what matters is which player, when added to the other four, will make the unit as a whole better. What evidence is there that Juwan makes the team better?
Any time you feel like taking your geek boy stats to Les and telling him your geek boy stats are better than Morey's please by all means do so maybe then YOUR geek boy stats will solve the PF problem better. However until then please return to the world of reality, where there is more to rating a player than just some nerdy geeky geek boy stats that.
We don't need a PF change... yet. We didn't lose this game because of a deficient PF. I know Boozer has a huge looking stat line, and the Jazz killed us on the boards, but if you look deeper into the numbers, you'll notice that they only out-rebounded us by 1 on the offensive boards. Their rebounding totals are inflated by our pitiful free throw shooting, and sub-par FG%. And it's not as if Boozer went crazy on us down low. Pretty much all his baskets were off midrange shots. He was just on fire tonight. The whole Jazz team was on fire. CJ Miles drilling shots with a hand in his face, Fisher and Deron shooting lights out. Our team defense and P/R defense need improvement, but it'll come. I'm much more concerned with our own shooting. We missed 13 free throws and lost by 10 points. That's the ballgame right there. Oh and how about we get some more shots for the 7'6" guy shooting 67%.
Tonight was the first night I ever even had the thought of J-Ho needing to go in. One rebound from your power forward can make you think those things. Kirilenko/Boozer/Okur, that's not a bad frontcourt when you really look at it. The Rockets frontcourt's still overall better but there's is one that can get you on a night when you're not on.
That;s overly optimistic. Against a player like Boozer, expect Padgtt and Battier to regularly get abused, to doubt that is to be in denial. And Chuck Hayes can't help much either nor Mutombo against that type of player, say Brand, Zach etc as well. Whether this board is ever going to accept it or not matters not, Howard is the best choice in these matchup types. It is better to get beaten at that spot fairly well than to get totally manhandled at that spot. And Novak has no chance in hell at matching up on the boards or defensively with these types of players. So the delusion that Howard does need to play and that Battier is the defensive messiah needs to stop already, also people need to grasp that Battier is a sub par rebounder.
You don't need evidence, you need t actually learn how the game is played. You are probably the single most glaring example on the forum of a fan that fails to grasp that basketball is not related to geeky fan boy fantasy type stats. Until you actually grasp this, you will continue to believe things like Battier is a better post defender at 4 or rebounder than Howard and that Chuck Hayes should be a starting PF on a team that is trying to win a championship. Sad, but that is what it is.
So, you can make claims without anything to support it. That's convenient. Did I say anything about fantasy type stats? He is a better post defender. How many points did Battier give up to Boozer in the post in this game? Oh, I forgot, you don't care about things that actually happened during the course of a game ... you know, "evidence". No one said Battier is a better rebounder. Though, he does get numerous tips to teammates that don't technically count as rebounds, but help the team nonetheless. Whichever player is most effective at that position should get minutes ... doesn't matter what the aspirations of the team are. I watched Juwan Howard enough the last two season to know he's not cutting it. His midrange jumper isn't an efficient shot. He's a decent post defender, but his help defense isn't very good because he's slow footed and doesn't block shots. And I certainly do not believe he's a better post defender than Chuck Hayes. Van Gundy himself has said that Chuck is the team's best low post defender. I think he knows more about the capabilities of his players than you.
Like I said, go ahead and convince yourself that you and you alone have unlocked the holr grail to basketball.
I am sure JVG would rather have Hayes guarding Duncan in game 7 of the WCF's in the post with 4 minutes to go in the fourth quarter than Yao. I mean afterall Hayes will have 5 fouls and Yao only 4 right? Yes the true brilliance of this strategy shines through.
