Well its obvious those Yao fans didn't like the way you called him slow footed and blaming him for Novaks game. lol...
Yao is slow footed, but it is because he is so tall...... I love Yao, just saying you can not cover up 2 slow guys at the same time. And obviously you are going to play Yao.... DD
i don't think anyone can deny yao is slow, as good as he is. however, i think novak slowness isn't an issue while playing with yao. he's open alot because opposing teams concentrate on either yao or tmac. as the previous games shown, he gets his open shots and makes them. the problem obviously is... he give up more points on the defensive end. so... i think he can still be serviceable against teams that are better on defense relative to their offense, with limited minutes of course. or match him up against someone that can't shoot, perhaps against bowen against a team like the spurs. still, he's a borderline novelty until he hustles on d a little more.
Novak is better as a one-possesion player. Like in crunch time where they need threes they could sub him for offense, and take him out for defense. Other than that, he's fine as a garbage time player.
Kyakko, It is not on offense that Novak and Yao have the problem it is on defense. We can not have 2 slow players on the floor at the same time. And I do think Novak fits Adelman's motion offense to a "T" but right now they are running a hybrid version of it. DD
The thing is, he doesn't fit into Rick's Motion offense. All players need to be able to be reasonably quick, which Novak isn't. And not to mention he's a rookie. All he's going to get is garbage time. He needs to get faster.
Not true. They need to be smart with skills before quick. I like my second unit lineup. Brooks Bonzi Novak Scola Landry/Hayes I think we should go a full 10 man rotation, give Novak basically Luther's minutes. With the lineup I just gave you, you have everything, shooting/slashing/finishing/postingup/rebounding along with plenty of defensive quickness to cover Novak. And if Novak got hot and threw up a 6 for 7 from 3................., you get it. But if he's not hot......you can park him rather quickly without destroying anything. When you look at the above lineup and substitute in Luther......which is basically what we are doing now, I don't see what you gain on either end. Luther is a weak link defensively and he's not as good a shooter as Novak by far. You gotta find minutes for a guy that is giving 1.5 points per shot and 55% shooting from 3. You gotta find that guy a few minutes to do his thing.....especially on this team with the shooters having the trouble they've been having.
Yeah I agree, Luther has not gotten used to the new Motion offense. Althought Steve is slow, overall he is better than Luther so far.
i understand, and i agree with you for the most part, but the advantage of being on the defensive end is that your side chooses the matchup. novak might be of some use, if say... a player like turkulo(sp) were on the court. novak can be matched up with him since he's not much of an offensive threat. this would last about 2 minutes, until the other team realizes the mismatch. i dont' think he's that slow. he just looks that way, cuz he doesn't really seem to know how to move. sometimes he seems to want to zig then changes his mind and zags (it looks awkward). it's like he's trying to remember what to do in his head.
my fav. part of being at a rockets game is watching novak practice and nail more shots faster then all the other folks on the court
novak has pretty decent quickness at the 4 spot, but he will get beat in the post and on the glass. i doubt any other team would feel like outbidding the rockets for him since he's done nothing in the nba yet. we could store him to use sparingly, or do right by him and move him to a team thats a good fit... maybe as a sweetener to get a deal done.
Agree Novak compounds the slowness along with Yao. But if Novak can't come in with Yao, how come he's not coming in when Yao is out either? Hermann is an expiring contract. The Pistons will continue to let him rot away... Would love that move, though. Maybe he can be lured in as a free agent next season, if he'd even be that high on the list.
There is no question about it Novak would benefit defensively playing with Hakeem. (of course who wouldn't) And I agree that both Yao and Novak are slow footed. So it would make sense that Yao and Novak on the court at the same time is a no-no but IMO Novak is worst defensively playing without Yao on the court than with him. It doesn't take long for most coaches to realize Novak can be beat to the basket and without someone to clog up the middle you are screwed. People on this board underestimate Yao's defensive ability all the time. But the league doesn't. That's why they constantly put Yao's man out on the top of the key or behind the Arc. They are trying to get him away from the basket. Because Yao may not be the leading shotblocker but I would bet if there was a stat on shot defferer Yao would be leading. Every coach knows or learns very quickly that getting Yao away from the basket on defense are better yet out of the game is one of the most important strategies for his team to have against the Rockets. It's no coincidence that the opposing team plays there quicker shooting center over there bulky post up center on Yao. Getting Yao's defensive presence away from the basket is the best way to score some inside points against the Rockets. It's why Portland plays Aldridge alot of minutes against Yao even though they have a stronger big man in Pryzbilla. Time and Time again teams do this because it's the only way they have a fighting chance to score against Yao. Getting back to the Novak & Yao on the court together theory. The whole point of having the athleticly challenge Novak on the court is to make teams pay for doubling Yao or even Tmac. So if you didn't want Novak out there with Yao because of Yao slowness than guess you are saying there is no place for this kid. Aside from that the biggest problem is Novak is not and never will be a power foward. He is 6-10 but would be better off being a little more athletic and 6-8. He should play the SF almost exclusively but doing so creates a defensive liability that would be fine if we had Yao and Othis Thorpe on the court but we Have Scola and Hayes and Landry who all together average less than 1 block shot together. So Yao is the only hope to get help for Novak if he gets beat. But if a team is smart enough they will try to move Yao out the paint and then drive on Novak and now you have a major problem. To Compound matters Battier is usually guarding the toughest assignment and Novak is not up for that by a long shot Battier is already filling a role as 3 point shooter very well as of late and with everything else he brings it makes it hard to give any of those minutes to Novak. Add that to the Fact when Yao is out you are better served using a player Like Bonzi who can get to the basket and gives you a post up presence. So now you will mostly play Novak in at the 4 and who do you steal those minutes from, Scola Landry or Hayes, NOT. Add that to the fact that the main purpose of bringing in a player like Novak is to make teams pay for doubling Yao. Well it just so happens that Scola does that very well with his 15 foot jumpers... Yeah it's not a three but it makes teams pay for leaving him open to double Yao which is nearly the same result, although a 3 is more exciting. And Rafer and Battier are hitting at a better clip so Novak's specialty is not as needed as it was before. So in conclusion I would agree there is a place for a shooter like Novak in the NBA but on this current squad inspite of his incredible shooting stroke there is very few minutes for him. But not because of Yao's slow foot speed but more because there are certain players that just fit better and or more needed than Novak. I would also add that Novak's role may be very limited for a while but there still may be a place for him against certain teams and for short spells. I also think in the playoffs he may find more minutes when teams most certainly will be doubling and tripling Yao and having a sharpshooter around may the secret weapon that they are not ready for.
Great analysis, but geuss what, we lose plenty of games with Novak as McLady's backup. Stop the foolishness. Dude can shoot the rock and that's it. This isn't the ACC and Duke. This is the L
I think we can surmise there are times when having Novak and Yao on the court at the same is a good thing.
And how. I was watching Miller and Novak every time the Kings were on offense and Miller was totally passive because everything went through Artest. Adelman must have been thinking if Novak wasn't being abused then he may as well stay in the game until the end. I still didn't like his positioning on offense most of the time. It seemed like after Novak missed his first shot, he was determined not to shoot again any time soon. Even though Miller played way off him, Novak would position himself several feet behind the 3 point line instead of on the line and ready to shoot whenever he got the ball. Except on the last play.
