The fact that you came up with a completely arbitrary line for Dwight like 19 and 12 on 60% is kind of ridiculous . Although I think we will play small this year sometimes with papa at 4 , Dwight Howard is able to play just fine with dmo and jones. Our offense was good enough with Asik starting to win in the playoffs , it was good enough last year with Asik and Dwight on the floor. When Dwight runs the pick and roll , he usually gets the ball in an alley oop situation or very close to the basket ... For most of the play the ball handler has the ball . There is plenty of space to make plays . So yeah they collapse on him as soon as he catches it but he usually catches it within 3 feet of the basket. Defenses are gonna pay attention to Dwight when he has the ball that close no matter of we have ray Allen, Reggie miller , and steph curry spotting up , because Howard is a sure two . It's hard to pass the ball out anyways when there are many defenders surrounding you. Dwight missed preseason so he's a bit rusty. He and harden will get their timing down better as the season goes on . Our offense is fine right now.
Dude BHollic is making things far to simplistic to fit his narrative against Jones. Its not about Dwight's post game and its not about Jones' inability to be Ryan Anderson from 3. You guys need to just STOP watching Howard, and Jones, and look at what the defense of the opposing team is trying to do, and look at what the Rockets need to do to counter their defensive gameplan. Stop looking at things with tunnel vision. The FACT is the Rockets aren't just getting spacing so far this season, they are dominant in their spacing. Ex: The Lakers game - The Lakers played the Rockets to take away the 3. What was the response, the Rockets killed them on the offensive glass, and when Dwight wasn't in foul trouble he was causing all kinds of havoc. Jones had 6 offensive rebounds. Ex: The Sixers game - The Sixers brought sometimes 3 or 4 people in the paint to swarm Dwight and keep Jones off the offensive glass. However they completely ignored the 3 ball from the perimeter and Ariza, Harden, Canaan etc. had a field day from 3 last night. The Fact is Dwight doesn't need to be Hakeem in the post for the Rockets to win. He's a major threat in the paint, and teams obviously are gameplanning to take that away from the Rockets. THAT'S THE POINT. The Rockets have a way to win. They have multiple ways to beat you, and these type of teams don't have the ability to take something away without giving up something else. And the other FACT is the Rockets have plenty of space for Dwight to operate IF the defense is taking away the 3 ball. Jones isn't just the only one being left open. Ariza is being left open, Harden is being left open sometimes, and Canaan is being left open. Even if the Rockets had a specialist "stretch 4" you might still want that "stretch 4" moving the ball to one of those guys regardless. Jones moves the ball well, and is really making an impact on the game so far this season with his ability to get offensive rebounds. I don't really understand how some guys on here have such terrible tunnel vision. ................ My guess is tonight, Miami will try to play Dwight 1 on 1 with a physical defender like Birdman & Haslem who will try to make things uncomfortable for Dwight in the post, and I think they will try to take away the 3 ball completely. The Heat are still very good at team defense with very good coaching and veteran players who know how to play team & individual defense. However they are going to have to give something up tonight. Pay attention to that more than Dwight's post moves, or Jones' three point shot.
A 10-15 foot jumper...??? Bwahahaha...!!!! All big men have to deal with getting beat up on. That's nothing new. With the lack of a consistent post game and with the fact that teams foul him and put him on the free throw line... Are you sure that they can't get him the ball or just skeptical on passing him the ball...???
We saw Howard bring his post game in the Portland series. He was aggressive and demanded the ball... He was big time. He has to bring that type of game on a consistent basis... PERIOD...!!! If he does that _ we wouldn't be crying about other pieces we need. I pay attention to Howard's post game because I want another championship in this city and that's what we're going to need from him when the playoffs come around (along with Harden playing better). Regular season and post season are two different animals.
of course he brought it during that series. Portland chose to play Dwight one on one and let other people beat them. If teams choose to play Dwight one on one he dominates. Last night philly swarmed him with help all night. Skinny Nerlens Noel cannot play howard one on one right now.
I remember NYC played him one on one in the regular season last year and several other teams as well and he didn't dominate. And what great center do you know that doesn't get doubled...??? That's on Howard to beat those double teams.
the point was he takes what the defense gives him. if people actually watched the Utah game they tried to play dwight most of the game one on one and look what happens. he took it to Kanter and Favors all night. more times than none if a teams game plan is to play dwight one and one he will win that battle.
I don't think anyone disagrees with you dobro. Not even baskballholic. The issue isn't what we can do versus bad defensive teams during the regular season.....it's what we can't do versus even average defensive teams in the post season. I've already admitted that TJones has taken a step forward. I don't know how big that step is, but he's shown improvment. He's still inconsistent and not really a big threat from distance, but he's finding ways to work around that. That said, Jones' weaknesses will be magnified in the playoffs. The question is whether or not that's tolerable. If you look at the top teams in the league, all of them have power forwards that can reliably hit the mid-range jumper or 3. OKC - Ibaka Spurs - Diaw Clippers - Griffin/Hawes Cavs - Love/LeBron Raptors - Patterson Heat - Bosh/McBob We need a guy that can guard 4s and hit jumpers. He doesn't have to be the starter, but we need that skillset as an option on this team. Let me stress that I AM NOT SAYING we should trade for any stretch 4. We should continue searching for a 3rd star. Hopefully we can kill two birds by getting an LMA or Horford.
Not at the magnitude that Dwight gets beat up on Remii. The only other player that gets mugged like that is Blake Griffin. Dobro already explained why we have a lack of post game. When teams play Dwight one on one, dude goes to work. Ex. The Portland series where Dwight dominated Lopez or Aldridge. Come on Remii you are tripping. You didn't like the Howard signing so of course you will be extra critical.
You have to counter that with you Superstars Harden and Howard. Those players you mentioned can't guard each other either. They are Superstars or very close to it. Patterson really man lol dude can't guard anybody either. All Jones have to do is hold his own. Meaning score the basket when we need him to, rebound the ball and try to contain those Superstar Bigs. Just know not too many can guard Howard or Harden. So it's up to them to take advantage of their mismatches as well. While the role players play their roles ( T. Jones).
And I'm not trying to say that Jones is the most incredible basketball specimen in the world, and doesn't have his weaknesses. However, he's not the throwaway that some folks here make it out to seem and advocate to move him for peanuts. The fact is the guy has value to this team, and thus far spacing has been great depending on how the opposing team plays the Rockets. Every team has their weaknesses. Look at the Bulls, a premier contender this year. They have put together 4 very, very good bigs in their rotation, and none of them have a perfect game. Each of them do something a little bit different. The Rockets don't have that luxury to throw in that many different combinations with their bigs. There is no perfect silver bullet for the Rockets at the PF spot. Even if they acquired every type of PF/C there is to handle every type of defense, the problem would then be about continuity, and having enough minutes to play all of those guys during the season. Which is the problem that the Bulls are already having actually. If you had a machine that created the perfect player for the Rockets right now, you'd probably have something that looked like Dirk Nowitzki, one of the all-time greats. There is no reason to needlessly dump on someone like Terrence Jones just because he's not one of the all-time greats. We can keep on hoping and praying that an all-time great to fall into the Rockets lap if we want, but folks need to be a little more realistic, and not so critical of Jones.
You know why Howard was dominant in the Portland series??... THEY DIDN'T DOUBLE HIM, Robin Lopez isn't a great defensive center one on one, and their primary focus on defense was stopping what Harden does defensively, and going at him on the other end as much as possible. What you want is for Dwight to be Hakeem. That's just not going to happen dude. There will never be another Hakeem. That's why he's was the GOAT in his prime. Dwight's presence in the paint as it currently is, is a very important piece of the puzzle to the Rockets winning that championship you, me and everyone else want. He's not Hakeem, but he's the best chance you have of anyone in the league on BOTH ENDS. Its up to Morey to find the right pieces around Dwight and Harden, and its up to the players to deliver. Hell, even Hakeem & Dirk had to cycle through years and year of different role players to find that right combination that worked. San Antonio went how long between championships to find another right combination of role players around their stars? Its not an exact science guys. If it was winning an NBA, or any prosports title wouldn't be such a big deal in the first place.
I remember Shaq getting beat up a lot. When you have to be right under the basket that's going to happen. Are all of those muscles just decoration... Dobro's explanation was just an explanation that you agree with... I ask again _ what great center do you know of that doesn't get doubled...??? And the reason I didn't like the Howard signing because he has no post game and Harden was still to young to lead this team to a championship. There's rarely instant gratification in the NBA. And I'm not one to believe Howard will stick around when his contract is up.
They also allowed Shaq to bully his way to the rim. Shaq always dip his shoulders into the chest of his opponents. I guess you forgot about that. Shaq is the reason why players can't do that anymore. When Howard is not being doubled or triple team , he dominates most. He might not have the type of post moves we are accustomed to seeing but yet he still gets double teamed. Please explain that to me Remii?
Fair enough, and I agree. Jones isn't as bad as some make him out to be. He brings a unique mix of athleticism, ball handling, and post scoring. Ideally, you would put him next to someone like Marc Gasol. On the other hand, the ideal fit next to Howard is a PF that can distribute, shoot, and rebound. There aren't many of those guys out there, and most are stars.
