Much of the debate has centered around Dmo, Jones, and Smith as potential starters - or even sliding Parsons down to the 4. The more I think about it, the more sense it is to me to start Asik here instead. For MANY reasons. DEFENSE: Is there any question that having Asik and Howard in together is going to making scoring in the paint against us next year a miserable task? When Dwight goes up to force those missed shots, guess who has his back to get the rebound - the NBA's number two rebounder last year - 2nd only to Dwight himself. Having both in might actually turn us into an above average defensive team and make up for our perimeter welcome mats. And with Parsons at the 3 as a tall SF, it only makes us that much better in the interior. OFFENSE: Conventional wisdom is that having both Howard and Asik in the line-up will slow down our running game. I actually disagree. With the number of rebounds we'll get - there will be plenty of outlet passes to fuel the break. Teams will have to choose between playing for the offensive boards or getting back 4 guys on D. Lin/Bev/Harden can break at times as soon as the shot goes up because of the ridiculous rebounding percentage we'll have. It will put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses. Furthermore, Howard can run the floor as a trailer as he is such a good finisher he doesn't need to get out ahead. He can just dunk right over defenders. So the question becomes our half-court sets. And yes, Having two guys who can't hit a perimeter shot does create some challenges. But it also creates opportunities. One - you can now run a PnR and have two bigs to finish with a dunk. Just think, Howard sets a pick for Harden who drives into the paint with Lin and Parsons spread behind opposite corners. Once Howard rolls, the opposing team has a bigger conundrum. Let Harden drive to the basket, take Howards man to pick up Harden and let Howard have a path to the basket. Or let Asik's man step up and leave him open for a dunk shot on the opposite low block. Or bring in a defender from the corner and give up a corner 3 to Parsons or Lin. Or you can run it the other way with Lin and Asik. Point is, you don't need to clear out Asik or have some sort of stretch 4. The defense is going to pack 3 guys into the paint either way. Might as well use Asik as a decoy to keep one of those guys from cheating towards the ball handler. When Asik is one the bench, you can post Howard or run DMO with him as a stretch 4. And when Howard is on the bench, you can run the same offense we had last year basically. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS: First of all, it keeps Asik happy and willing to perhaps stick around. If he ever develops an outside jump shot, he's going to be gold. Secondly, it keeps his trade value higher for him to be a starter. Now, it's not without it's problems. It will slow down our offense somewhat from a fast break standpoint, but not by much if Howard is willing to run. And the upgrade in Defense is well worth it in my opinion.
I agree you put the best 5 out there. Asik is part of that. how much better are the rockets with howard playing with jones, or dmo out there instead of Asik? To me not at all. We are better with him on the floor.
Asik is a good player but he does not have the hands or dribble to play the 4 in my opinion. He seems to be strictly a basket area type of guy and a 4 should be able to play away from the basket. Playing Asik away from the basket is taking away his strengths. Now Howard can play either the 4 or 5 well and be maybe a top 5 player at either. The best bet would be to slide Howard over to the 4 when Asik is on the floor. Do that and we will have a championship caliber team. Then we are good to go at the 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
Asik is too slow to play the 4. Howard played the 4 his first two years in the NBA. If they're both out there DH would need to be at the 4.
Having twice as many 2nd chance opportunities on offense is huge, as well. Imo, worth sacrificing narrowing the lane and some high % drives with more mid-range or 3pt shots.
I agree howard at 4. Either way we HAVE to try the twin towers option. And not just fleeting attempt but a concerted look at it. Howard > jones, dmo Asik > jones, dmo It's really that simple.
Howard will never play the 4 and the Rockets wouldn't dare even ask him. Asik isn't too slow to play the 4. Defensively you simply match him up against the 5 and match howard on the 4, but on the other end you have to treat Howard as the 5.
I don't mind what you are saying, but athleticism at the 4 would require the zone. I'm not sure if Dwight or Asik excel at zone defense. That doesn't mean they don't, I'm just bringing up a line of thinking.
Asik doesn't have the athleticism too defend the perimeter against a stretch 4 Doesn't have three point shooting ability or even a mid-range shot thus Rockets trying too run the pick and roll would be less effective as opposing teams could cheat and pack the paint without another outside shooter to defend. Spacing on offense would be terrible. 48 minutes of Howard (32mins) and Asik (16mins) is going to give Houston shutdown D in the paint and outstanding rebounding they didn't have last year with Asik on the bench. But Rockets need a PF that can play inside and out and contest perimeter shooting in the smaller, modern NBA
No way should Asik play the 4 if Howard is out there. Howard is quicker and more athletic so it's absurd to have him play center if Asik is on the floor at the same time. If we're trying to win, Howard should be at the 4 if Asik is on the floor. With all this said Howard might not want to play the 4 but then again he didn't like playing PnR either.
So you sub Asik out earlier than Howard, and then bring him back quicker therefore creating a staggered rotation situation.
i don't like the idea matching Howard against opponent's stretch 4 , i think it's silly to put the best rim protector in the league(Howard) away from the paint.
many teams have small 4's that want to attack off the dribble and shoot from the outside. asik would never be able to close out on the perimeter and even if he managed to get out there before giving up an open shot, he'd never be able to rotate back to the basket before giving up a backdoor cut or allowing his man to take him off the dribble once out on the perimeter. same issues with howard at PF, neither are good guarding the perimeter. even with a zone where you can camp both in the paint, the opposition needs to simply put 4 on the perimeter and we break down defensively. not to mention we'd be the slowest team in the league in transition defense, and offense. don't get me started on offense. asik would give teams a green light to double dwight without the rockets being able to capitalize by finding the open man. you know why? because if dwight is in the post, presumably with a post defender attached to him, and asik can only play under the basket, asik's defender can double dwight AND stay an arms length away from asik. both dwight and asik need to stay in the paint. they have 0 offense anywhere else. on defense and offense this cannot work in todays nba. the best they can hope for is one possession at a time if we absolutely need a stop but even then the worry to being beat on the perimeter and slow on rotation's would make any coach think twice.
Obviously Asik would never step out. You are giving up the outside shot a bit (I say a bit because you still have 3 other guys to provide perimeter D) in exchange for dominating the defensive boards and limiting 2nd chance points. Plus most teams don't start their small 4's. Yes, you will have to play basically a 3-2 zone at times, but not always. On offensive, I already said you wouldn't post Howard when Asik's in the game.
My contention has always been: Basketball is not about putting the best 5 players out there as your starting 5, but about putting your best UNIT out as your starting 5. Asik is a better player than Jones, but Jones will better compliment what we will be trying to do on offense. Give Asik starters minutes off the bench, and late games when we need rebounds or McHale has to make offense/defense substitutions every possession, then you have them both on the floor.
