Parsons-Ariza could be a wash, but Asik/Lin is going to be devastating. The 2nd unit has no creator and no rim protection. Harden is gonna have to play damn near every single minute. Dwight or Harden missing 10 games could be the difference between 5 seed and missing the playoffs in the west.
Asik did not play or contribute as much as people act like he did last year. Much of the season he was "hurt" Much of the season he was out of shape and actually had quite a few DNPs-Coach decision if I remember correctly
I am not discrediting everything he said, but I feel that our bench has changed drastically since last year. I am not a Lin fan, but his game is better than ish smith. I also know that Asik wanted to be traded, but only to replace him Dorsey. Currently speaking, Asik is a far superior back-up and kept us alive in the series with Portland. I agree our starting five remains remains unchanged with exception of replacing parsons with Ariza. I get it we struck out, but to sign players that barely cracked rotations of teams that didn't make the playoffs is ridiculous. There are plenty of players that can be had for value and add experience. For example, Shawn Marion is just one. The object of the game is to get better and in my opinion our bench has gotten drastically worse. I apologize for having my own opinion
Euro league is way different than the NBA. What centers do you know in the western conference that are taller than 6'9". Not every player from Europe is going to be like beverly
Plus the physicality of Euro-league big man is drastically different than the physicality and athleticism of NBA big men. Asik was also a legitimate 7 footer. Dorsey at best is 6'9". There is a huge drop-off from Asik to Dorsey
People like you are annoying. You say there "they had no control of it in the first place". They could have traded Parson's last year or matched him and traded him this year. Sounds like control to me. Who wants a mediocre team? Either have a chance at a ring or pick first.
Ariza has proved to be a good role player in his career but not a #1 option. That's the difference between now and his first stint with the Rockets. You must understand that. He will thrive in this role. We need defense more than sexy offense and dunks.
POFs getting destroyed in this thread. Ariza is a better complimentary player to Harden and Howard than Parsons was. Once we add another playmaker, Parsons' only advantage over Ariza will no longer be an issue. That said, I have to disagree with Horry. We are not the same team as last year simply because the depth is gone, BUT it's early and we have money to spend and assets to trade. I absolutely believe Morey when he says this team will be better than last year's team come playoffs. That's the most important thing to me.
Rockets would have been fine with Sean Elliot. It was those two guys Hakeem and Olajuwon that made the difference. Point taken with the length but in Parsons case it is negated by a slow and subpar nba athlete. Hence, the subpar defense.
In all reality the rockets lack of team defense is what really lost that series IMO. Losing Sampson as defensive coach was a killer for them.
Yeah... I'll believe it when I see it. I would love the Rockets to come out and prove me wrong. Just don't feel it in the cards.
This. We went from Bosh and Parsons and still having the MLE and BAE to Ariza, Dorsey, and Ish Smith. That is an unbelievable letdown.
Parsons is 6'9 with a wingspan of 6'10, Ariza is 6'8 with a wingspan of 7'2 (standing reach of 8'9 vs 9'), length? Ariza has a fairly noticeable advantage there, one of Parsons' issues was he lacked length.
Now having some time to sit back and think about things with a clear head.... I think actually the loss of Asik will hurt this team more than swapping Parsons with Ariza. In all actuality, Ariza does alot of things better than Parsons on the other end that kind of make it a minor downgrade. However when Dwight went out of the game last year, and when Asik went out the year before, the defense dropped down to nil. I'm more concerned now with not having a legit backup big man behind Dwight. Dorsey can board like a mad man. D-Mo can score from the C spot & is an excellent backup post up options to run your offense through in the post. However you don't have that defensive anchor that this team relies on so much. I think if anything has hurt this team its going to be there.
