There isn't a talent drop in the starters, no. The bench one is pretty significant and I think we'll be seeing it more as the season goes on. Asik to Black/Dorsey is a massive drop-off. Lin to Canaan/Terry is a pretty big one. There were no particular gains made in the bench brigade to offset those losses - (Kostas, god love him, is great but will have the usual international rookie wild inconsistency). I do like the team chemistry a lot myself, but I don't trust the talent depth one bit. So I remain skeptical that one winning streak and we're suddenly contenders (I know that's not the premise of the thread, but it's kind of the mood around the board right now).
From what I saw last season Harden and Parsons didn't seem to like each other much. Parsons seemed to think he was quarterbacking the team and was constantly giving the other players instructions on the court. That seemed to rub Harden the wrong way. Rightfully so, in my opinion. This year, not only does everyone know their role, they seem to embrace it and take great pride in it. That's the stuff of contenders. Not trying to put an All Star at every position.
Well it's all about knowing and playing your designated roles on both ends of the court. Experience also plays a big part of it as well. Harden is benefiting from the hardship of getting blasted about his defense. So he made it a point to concentrate on his defense during to FIMA tournament. and pre season. McHale is also coaching better than he did last season. Love his rotations. Now he still don't know how to draw up a quality play after a time out. LOL Hopefully he gets better at it throughout the season. Bringing in quality veterans with Championship experience was very essential to our teams chemistry. So we brought in Ariza and Terry and it's paying off big time.
I disagree with losing talent Yes, we lost Asik, Lin and Parsons But we got Ariza, Papa and Terry Parsons and Ariza are pretty equal, Papa and Lin talent level is equal and Terry and Asik contributions are pretty equal Maybe Lin/Asik barely added more BUT what about growth? Canaan has more talent this year then last year Terrance Jones is an improved player over last year Harden has gotten better and improved as a player ... Considering player growth and keeping that in mind.. because we had young players who are getting vastly better over the offseason we are a MUCH MUCH MUCH more talented team then last year
Black/Dorsey is only a big drop-off from a playing and motivated Asik. Since he was neither, its no drop-off. And please, Lin rarely did anything good consistently. I WANTED to like him so so much, but the guy was an inconsistent shooter, defender, and assist guy. If he did ONE of those things well he'd be worth some time, but CANAAN and TERRY can shoot! BOOM! no real drop-off. Maybe Lin had better handles or a better feed to Dwight, but the guy made some of the biggest blunders I've ever seen on the basketball court... will ANYONE miss seeing his "drive into the lane and stop, hop around on one foot, lost with nowhere to go" move multiple times a game? Sorry, we're talking about "names" not talent. Houston lost names. Thats it. We replaced Parsons' name with Ariza, which is at worst a wash. We replaced Asik with Black and Dorsey, which at worst gives motivated people playing time We replaced Lin with Canaan and Terry, which at worst puts shooters out there to spread the floor, takes the ISOs away from a PG, adds a player with championship experience, and takes away unnecessary boneheadedness.
n turnovers in the crunch time, driving through the lane n then jumping in the air n throwing it outta bounds. I'm so glad i dont have to watch him anymore.
Lin (who was always confused about his role, fit in or take over) replaced by Terry (vet leader, come in and shoot) and Canaan (young player, embraces his limited role) Parsons (who was always confused about his role, role player or 3rd allstar) replaced by Ariza (vet leader, shoot and play D) and Pap (make plays, hit shots). Asik (who was always confused about his role, back up center or starting center) replaced by...well I guess Tarik Black. Either way, we replaced 3 guys who were confused with their roles, with guys who know their role and embrace it. Better chemistry.
Yes. I think leading the team in the World Championships this summer changed him. He trusts his teammates more, plays less "sticky ball," improved defense, and he just looks happier out there on the court.
Ariza and Terry both bring championship experience to the team. McHale can only do so much as the coach even with 3 rings and all those years battling alongside Bird and Parish. The team needs active players who can provide leadership on the court and both those dudes fill that role. The fact that they're better fits than Parsons and Lin is just the icing on the cake.
Panda when are you going to make your spine chilling youtube video's of this years squad? I been looking forward to those this year since the last two years have been amazing.:grin:
Our schedule has been so soft to begin the season, that it's difficult to get too excited about our excellent play. And we have played very very well. We've had great ball movement and we've shot the ball very well. However, before we go overboard with all the praise, let's play some good teams from the West so we can make a true assessment. I'm excited about our start, but I want to see more before I'm convinced of anything.
Not sure where to put this, but NBAsavant.com is an interesting site. Minimum of 50 shots: Ariza leads the league in average shot distance at 18.54; Harden is 8th at 14.747. Harden has the 13th shortest "average defense distance"* at 3.734; Ariza has the longest at 5.958 feet. Ariza has the shortest "average touch time" at 1.574; Harden has the longest at 6.525. Ariza has the 4th fewest dribbles at 0.56 (and the only non big man in the top 12); Harden has the most average dribbles at 6.038. *Which measures (I think) how close the defense is to you when you attempt a FG. So what we see is that Ariza has been playing like the perfect wing partner to Harden. At this link they also show "average shot clock" but I don't know what that's measuring. http://nbasavant.com/leaderboard.php?ddlYear=2014&ddlMin=50&ddlTeam=&ddlPos=&sort=6,1
No argument there. The good news is the Rockets will be tested this month. They have to face the Spurs, Warriors, Grizzlies(on the road on the 2nd night of a B2B), Mavs, and Clippers. We'll definitely have a pretty good idea of their contender status by the time December rolls around.
I agree that there is a drop off from losing Asik and I do find him to be our biggest off season "loss" (I say in quotes because without the trade we would not have Ariza, Terry and a future lotto pick - a great haul). I do not believe though its a massive one -Asik's talent is undeniabely better than Black and Dorsey combined, but he barely played last season. The team did ok in the games without him. Clearly they played better with him but if Black/Dorsey can replace what a disgruntled Asik brought (no way they can replace a motivated one) then that should be ok. Lin is not a big drop at all. He had his big nights (like that triple double) but his untimely turnovers, mental mistakes and poor shot selection made him more of a liability most nights than a spark off the bench. Terry and Canaan so far this season have shown to be more than capable to replace Lin's scoring as they also are averaging less turnovers combined per game than Lin did last year. Both of these guys also mesh better when they are in with Harden as there is no conflict as to who is going to be the primarily play maker. As for my 2 cents on the original topic -- I think there is two types of chemistry for a team - on court and locker room. Both have improved - Locker room wise we no longer have a disgruntled Asik and two guys in Parsons and Lin who wanted to be more than what their role dictated. (Did they have the skill to be more -probably but that was not what was needed on the team) -- All those guys are gone and they were replaced with veterans and young guys who either understand what it takes to win (vets) or hungry to get on the court so they will embrace the role they get (young guys) On court chemistry (outside of entry passes to Dwight) has improved because of this. People know what they have to do and where to go. The team seems more vocal on the court as well and willing to be accountable. This also has stemmed from a more mature Harden and Dwight. It also helps now that there isn't a Lin-Harden backcourt where there was confusion as to who the playmaker is and all. (One of the reasons why Bev played better with the starters) Canaan and Terry know who the play maker is and they just set up and run the offense. I dont want to read too much into the quick start considering the teams they've played but the schedule was not as easy as it looks with 4 road games and all 4 road games being back to backs. Plenty of opportunity there for a team to drop 1 or 2 games against opponents they shouldn't lose to because of the schedule. Instead the Rockets have been beating their opponents handidly. The chemistry shows and its helped on the defensive end to.
This has been the most improvement of them all... Their switching and rotation has been very nice so far.. There has been some confusion on defense, but overall it's been pretty good.. Last night the miami announcers were really giving the Rockets props on there defense, especially Harden's improved defense... T_Man
