To quote the great Kevin McHale: "I've never seen Cap [flexibility] score a basket yet though." "I've seen old Cap, and his last name is [Flexibility], I've yet to see him put a hoop in, haven't seen him block a shot, haven't seen him get a rebound yet. But when Cap [Flexibility] starts putting up numbers, we should be in great shape." :grin:
The biggest weakness on this team is the big man rotation around Dwight. We need to find 2 complementary bigs to Dwight, either on the roster already or through trade or free agent signing. At least one of those 2 complementary bigs needs to be a dead eye shooter from 3. At least one of those 2 complementary bigs needs to be a paint and rim defender that can cover the middle for 15 minutes a game while Dwight sits. At least one of those defenders needs to be able to dominate the defensive glass when Dwight sits. BOTH of those 2 complementary bigs need to be able to hit their free throws at a 70% or greater rate. Somehow Morey has to get this figured out or we won't win a championship. We have one 7-footer on this roster (DMo) and he's not a guy that can be counted on to be a plus defender in the paint and most definitely not at the rim nor on the defensive glass. We've also signed Joey Dorsey to a minimum contract. Most legit centers, even backups, that have the ability to be plus defenders in the paint and at the rim....don't play for a minimum salary. So if Dorsey turns out to be that guy then Morey got himself another steal. But I would doubt if Morey is confident at this point that Dorsey is more than a question mark as far as pushing the front of the big man rotation and being a legit backup for Dwight. Neither DMo nor Terrence has shown in their first 2 seasons that they can shoot a basketball. DMo is showing some signs that he can though now, this summer. Terrence? Who knows what he's doing. Because none of us do. We do still have Josh Powell on the roster. He can shoot the basketball. But I don't know if he's even going to make the final 15. He's very slow for a 4. Powell is really an undersized spread-5 without the ability to defend. That's why he's barely in the league. We also know we almost signed Villanueva. He is most definitely a stretch-4. So if we eventually do sign Villanueva he COULD represent a part of the big man rotation by giving us the shooting we need at the 4. However.....he's a fat zero defensively. So if Villanueva becomes the shooting 4 we need THEN it becomes even more important that we get a solid 5 to back up Dwight defensively. Bottom line is right now we've got a hodge podge of bigs on this roster around Dwight that are either unproven or one-dimensional. For this team to go anywhere in the playoffs we've got to have 2 good complementary pieces in the big man rotation around Dwight.
Just 1. Jones, DMo, and Dorsey should be fine as backups. Papanikolaou may play minutes in small lineups. Rockets could use a starting PF next to Dwight.
No chit. Last's year bench was nothing but a big dissapointment. We don't know how this year's bench will fare, but it has a chance to be better, especially defensively.
Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas are vastly underrated. (Portland would have been destroyed If McHale would have simply placed Howard on Lamarcus for the entire game, and let Motiejunas play some.)
A new coach needed ASAP. We also need a 3pt specialist like Delfino was. A big body to back up Dwight too
"Max to Bledsoe" could easily turn out to be the same albatross contract that McGrady was after his injuries derailed his career. The difference is that T-Mac was one of the best 2 or 3 players in the league at that point, whereas Bledsoe is still just an almost all-star with a whole lot of potential. I don't want the Rockets to give up our future for a someone who hasn't even proved he can stay on the court.
I seriously think you could just submit this post to the New York Knicks and get hired in the front office. Seriously, please try this and let us know what happens.
Lowry has his heart and had the guaranteed money on the table, on a place where he is really loved. It is understandable. The aggravating to me is that at that moment, everybody was giving for done that Lebron and Bosh would continue in Miami. At that time, Bosh to Houston looked like a long shot. Morey was betting for Melo more than for Bosh. And ultimately we knew that the Rockets were not Melo's second option, not even his third option (cause he does not want to play PF, or play with McHale... whatever). I honestly think Morey was a homer here, giving himself more chances than he actually had to get Melo. And backed on those assumed chances he decided to pass on a player like Lowry, whoe made us a great team instantly. Another matter is that considering the timing on his plan, it implied to pass on other attractive FAs like Patterson or Channing Frye who could have sealed the roster. I don't blame being ambitious and failing, it happens, sometimes you gotta take risks to be great. What I blame is the utopia and homerism that brings the real failure of the plan: believeing that Melo was near when he actually was a long shot. This scenario had nothing to do with Howard situation last summer, where we were the clear top favourites. He passed on an allmost all-star caliber PG to pursue a long shot of getting another superstar, having already 2. Say too amibitious, too idealistic, utopian... whatever it is, is a mistake at managing. The decision of making Parsons a FA it was another mistake. Miscalculation, again homerism, I don't know, but another mistake. Fortunately we were able to get Ariza at a good price, a player who may fit even better than Chandler in this team.
Basically we still need what we needed at the beginning of the off-season and more: - PG upgrade + veteran back-up with Lin gone. Don't try to sell me on Canaan, Nick Johnson seems good but we are trying to contend here!! - SG veteran back-up. I love the resigning of Daniels as much as the next guy, but we need a veteran in case he cannot crack the rotation because of defense. - SF veteran back-up. Don't even try to sell my on papa, he's not the answer. - PF upgrade - either Jones or D-Mo becomes that guy and the other gets back-up minutes or we need a trade. This is however not as big a need as many think. I really believe with the right coach, the PF position would not be that bad but with McHale and no defensive coach, it's not good. - C veteran back-up. Any of the Jermaine Oneal's or Okafor's will do. Dorsey and Adrien can kiss my ass.
