Steve Novak - and the Rockets

canada.

 

Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No, it's Japs.

 

I brought this up in a thread previously. I just don't see how you deny a guy minutes that is shooting 60% from 3 and giving you a healthy 1.5 points per shot. Look at Jason Kapono and furthermore look at James Jones. Kapono is just as unathletic as Steve and James Jones isn't much more athletic than the either one of them.

So, I've been thinking about this for quite a while. There's got to be a way to get the guy at least 10-15 minutes to gun some 3s. And here's my answer.

NOVAK SHOULD BE MCGRADY'S DESIGNATED BACKUP.

Here's the thought process:

Point 1: I totally agree with your point about playing with Yao. I think Yao needs to be surrounded by quicker players that force the opponent to a position on the floor where our defense can clog up the lanes and then you've got Yao as your shotblocker/alterer. Novak doesn't fit with Yao because of the slowness factor.

Point 2: If you watch the Rox on a regular basis, you know defensively that McGrady comes down and takes the weakside and simply stands there halfway between the corner 3 line and the edge of the paint area, just standing there while Battier is grinding it out on the strongside. Ball reverses and McGrady moves over to the weakside again and repeat....just stands there defending dude in corner and taking 2 steps in when the shot goes up to grab the rebound. McGrady does not start digging defensively and moving and taking the switch until the game is in crunch time in the 4th.....if it ever gets to crunch time. McGrady only defends in small spurts. Which I'm okay with. I don't mind him taking it easy down there since he's got so much responsibility for running the offense for us. For once, I'd like to see Yao and McGrady in a playoff series where they were both healthy and neither one of them was run down to the point they ran out of gas, which is what happened last year with McGrady. (My point is Novak can do this.........with the 2nd unit. It puts him in a position where he doesn't have to have a whole lot of defensive responsibility.)

Now look at the 1,2,3 spots together. In the first unit, we've got Rafer, McGrady, Battier. When you look at the backups, if you put Novak in with Brooks, and Bonzi, that represents a pretty good balance of inside-outside-postup-shooting-penetrating-finishing right there. Especially when you look at the bigs and you are running Scola and Landry/Hayes and the 4/5 slots with Yao out. You play the same D, let Novak defend the weak side perimeter player, he can stand around out there ala McGrady, not much responsibility and Brooks and Bonzi can dig it out strongside perimeter. (This would require a commitment from Bonzi to D it up a little more. Although recently, he has already shown a greater commitment to contributing on D. Witness last night.)

Defensively, when you look at that 2nd unit, there is plenty of quickness, probably more overall quickness than the first unit, with Steve being the slow factor just like Yao is the slow factor on the first unit. But you are masking Steve the same way that McGrady takes a break with the first unit.

Also, think about it this way. When McGrady is playing in the first half of the game, he is not being aggressive. He's hanging out on the perimeter, taking long jumpers, settling, etc. Last night's game was a perfect example. I really don't have too much of a problem with that either, since we know in crunch time, McGrady's gonna hit the lane with penetration and if he is hot from the perimeter......well, all the better, we are almost unbeatable when McGrady is hot from the perimeter and driving the basketball at the same time. But, when he is not hot from the perimeter, which more often than not is in the first half of the game, why not park him on the bench for an extra 5-6 minutes and let Novak come in and gun that bomb? What diff would it make except to help us keep McGrady fresh and give Novak those long bombs to shoot over McGrady. (Novak is the better shooter out there.)

When you think about this in regards to putting Bonzi on the block to operate and creating space for him, Bonzi is much quicker with the ball than Yao, a much better handle, he can actually move around with it, see the backside help, dribbles much lower, much quicker making the move, etc. Bonzi in space is very tough to handle. The opponent has to bring help. There's your 3 balls and minutes for Novak.....against a weaker second strong unit, with Novak being able to defende a 2nd string player on the weakside where he doesn't have to do a whole lot besides watch for the ball to swing.


The weakness of our team with Steve and Yao is too much slow footedness.

The weakness of our team with Rafer and McGrady is too much spotty shooting. 40% of the floor is tied up with guys that are either red hot or ice cold. If they are cold, it limits Yao's effectiveness. Might as well go with something different. If Rafer is cold and McGrady is hot, well, sub in Brooks and let the kid start firing, because the defense is going to funnel to Rafer.......consistently. Likewise if McGrady is cold and it's the first half, just bring him out and bring in Novak, use Novak for McGrady and replace Yao with Landry/Hayes and there you have it.

The other thing about Novak is his offensive game is still developing. He is just now starting to take the duck under 2 point shot, which is like shooting a layup for him. That is, when the defense flies out, he upfakes takes the single dribble under the defender flying out and nails the 17 footer from the circle. You know this dude ran into all sorts of defensive schemes in college. Granted they didn't have the athletes they have in the NBA, but he also didn't have the atheltes playing with him that he has in the NBA, and he still managed to get a ton of shots off at a very efficient score rate. I think with more experience, there is no reason to believe that Steve could not continue to improve offensively enough to start creating for some of his teammates. Right now, in very limited minutes, Novak is the most efficient offensive player we have on this team. And the minutes do distort the stats. But we all know the guy can shoot and he totally warps the game when he comes in because the opponent has to account for him. He needs to play beside other guys that will take advantage of the overplay and get the layups/dunks/open 3 point shots off the defensive attention paid to him. You can't put him in there with Hayes, Battier, and Alston and expect much.

 

The seperation between good players and bit players isn't that much. The way Novak shoots the ball, hard work can get him to another level. Imagine if he could take people off the dribble to say the ft line. He's now a different player. That element comes from ballhandling and suddeness.

I can tell u from experiece that if u do track work, u get quicker and faster. In the offseason if u do hrs of ball handling drills, u become a better ball handler. Chris Mullin was a great ball handler, that's why he could get to any point on the court.

Guys limit themselves more than coaches. Players have to work on their weaknesses to get to the next level. The next level for Novak is a rotation player. To be a guy like that, he has to add more than 1 dimension. Same goes for chuck hayes.

 

That's not Europe.

 

Shhh... he's on a roll..



(Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.)

 

.556 from da 3? great utility for a creative offensive mind ...

gotta find situations to get this guy on the floor!

 

You know what you do? Trade Mike James and Steve Novak to the Pistons for Walter Hermann and free up a roster spot. Novak will get waived and Mike James gets to play with his old teammates again.

 

Yeah,
why is Steve getting so much heat? he's just a role player just like Bullard.
Bullard was well loved and everybody knew that his roll is to just hit jumpers.

 

I would rather have Walter Hermann. C'mon he's rotting on that Piston's bench. Hermann is a great player and has great pedigree. Lets reunite him with his teammate Scola!

 

I believe the reasons are pretty obvious when you think logically. First of all, MOST white boys are not in the league for their athleticism, but rather for their decision making and jumpshooting. I am not saying that all white people are good shooters, and all black people make bad decisions, but i am saying that most white players must rely less on athleticism. I agree that yes, any athlete can get quicker and more explosive, but 90% of nba athleticism is genetic. These guys were already the top athletes of their high school and college, so for them to see drastic athletic improvements is just not realistic. It's like asking a jockey to lose weight.Losing three pounds may not seem like alot to you and me but for a 95 pound man who is 40 pounds underweight it's unrealistic. I think you only notice the euro white boys who come here and are athletic because Europe is contributing far more rotation players in the league today then college. The European game is much different then that of American where shooting,running, and decision making are emphasized more than athleticism. In europe it's as if almost everybody can shoot but the athletic player can do it all. I'd say it's the exact opposite for college where everybody is athletic but the special players can shoot too.

 

I'm not saying novak can be amare, but he be at least in par with dirk atheletically. Getting quicker and more explosive is leg strength. That why I say ming isn't as strong in the lower body. He has huge calfs, but his lack of lift is from leg power.

Novak is typical of guys being stagnate. He can shoot which is a great asset, but what are doing to really becoming a player in the league?

 

I actually don't think his defense is all as bad as it's been made out to be. He's not stopper, but it's not like he is zero D. With that being said, I just don't think there is much room for him on the squad. He only does one thing really well. At least with Luther we know he can also create a shot and drive to the bucket.

 

I don't think Novak is anywhere near Dirk from an athletic standpoint. Dirk may look a bit awkward at times due to his size and positioning (playing on the perimeter often), but he possesses moderate/passable athleticism. If he didn't, he too would be relegated to a more one-dimensional role, me thinks.

What is Novak really doing to improving his athleticism and defense? Who knows. But chances are that if we see it as fans, than the coaching staff sure saw it before they drafted him and are seeing it now. I would venture to guess they put Novak through drills, exercises, and strength training to improve this. Let's trust the experts on this.

As for what he will turn into....it's hard to say. We see so many players come through the league that have one strength, and teams leverage that strength as often as they feel is needed. It fits a need, checks a box. Novak looks to be "that guy."

We may never see Novak do anything other than make a crucial three here and there...and that's certainly ok with me.

 

I've never rated a thread. I read them all and comment. Its a good thread/thought to me.

 

you need some pictures of Yao playing ping pong with Steve or maybe just some random Yao pictures, then they'll get your rating up.

 

Take that empty roster space and bring in Harris.

 

I wish Novak had someone like Reggie Miller to tutor him, moving without the ball and coming off picks to nail the J or 3.....damn...mouth watering...