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The Center Position Won't Win Us Anything!

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Glyde22, Aug 4, 2001.

  1. Glyde22

    Glyde22 Member

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    Team defense is more of an issue than the center position
    There is a lot of talk about getting a center to replace Dream. Do we go for offense in Jackson, defense in White and La Frentz, athleticism in McCoy or size in Miller or Mihm? Or maybe we stick with what we've got. The center position is not the issue we make it out to be. Are we looking for a Shaq stopper? Because there isn't one, or do we find a way to counter.

    It's all well and good to have a center that can drain an 18 footer but in reality how often does that work. I don't recall Sabonis drawing Shaq out that often and teams will send their PF to the perimeter to guard the 6'10" Jackson anyway. And we all remember Mutombo getting pimp slapped for 5 games. Great centers are perhaps the rarest commodity of all in the NBA. I'm not sure there is any such thing as a "True Center" anymore. In the meantime find the best fit for your system. Whoever they are they won't make or break us at this point. They'll just be another cog in the machine.

    What the rockets need more than anything is to improve their team defense and frontcourt rebounding, dominant center or not. The Bulls won how many titles with that platooning band of scrubs at the 5 (Longley, Wennington, Cartwright)? But they, as well as the Sixers and the Lakers of last year were great team defenders. Our backcourt for all its offensive prowess could go a long way in improving its defense. We all remember Kidd torching Francis and going for a career high in that PHX game. Our guards rebound way too much while their man is halfway down court.

    With the number of young, quick, long athletes we can put on the floor we should be one of the top defensive teams in the league. As hyper as Mobley and Francis are they could both be in the top 5 in steals if they tried. We have shot blockers in Griffin and (yes Cato) and Collier at the very least can take up space. We may not be big but we can be disruptive to a teams offensive flow.

    All I'm saying is it doesn't matter who we get because all of them will be deficient in some area. Give the O'neals and Duncan's their points and the Mutombos there rebounds. No team is strong in every area. Great teams find ways to adapt to there opponents and COUNTER!
     
  2. LAfadeaway33

    LAfadeaway33 Member

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    Preach on brotha!!!;)
     
  3. treeman

    treeman Member

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    Amen! I knew I wasn't the only one around here who understood tactics and matchups.

    We've been spoiled for 17 years. We've come to think that a great C is the single most important element in creating W's. We've led ourselves to believe that without a dominant a*skicking 5 it is impossible to win playoff games. We've also neglected the fact that before Hakeem, teams DID win without dominant Cs. We forgot that basketball existed before Hakeem...

    It is a TEAM sport. No one position dominates. People sometimes dominate, but if you've actually ever paid attention to 99% of the games, it is a TEAM effort that wins. It often appears that a single player singlehandedly wins a game (scoring 40+ pts, grabbing 25 rebs, swatting 12 shots, etc), but it's easy to overlook the fact that that particular player has invariably been set up to get those #s by his teammates.

    And it is defense that wins playoff games. Why did the Kings fold this time around? Scoring out the kazoo, but no D. Why can't the Bucks get over the hump and win the East? Scoring out the kazoo, but no D. Why didn't the Rox make the playoffs last season? Lotsa scoring options, but our guys haven't learned team D yet. Why did we used to get there? Because Hakeem and company were good at team D.

    Playing matchups - mismatches, more correctly - is the key to defense. If the opposing player is big and can muscle his way to the basket, use speed to keep the ball away from him, or make him come to the perimeter. If he's small and fast, use size and mass to block/deter him. If he can't shoot ignore him and double the guy who he's likely to pass to. There's a million ways to play matchups, and every one of them depends upon the situation. Rudy knows them all. Or at least, he knows the ones we're likely to use. He also knows that positions no longer matter.

    The days of set plays - particularly post plays - are over. It's all situational. No more dumping it to the 5, no more backing it in. Small lineups can kick major butt now, at least until the other team can counter. It's almost a free-for-all, but it's still possible to coach it. With the new rules talent and athleticism will be more important than ever. That's why I'm not worried about this team. We've got both out the kazoo.
     
  4. TheFreak

    TheFreak Member

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    Great post. The team dedicating itself more to defense rather than ESPN highlights will mean more to the team's success than acquiring a prototypical center.
     
  5. Dallas Rocket

    Dallas Rocket Member

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    Terrific post...and I totally agree. When you boil it down, it's defense that usually wins championships. Yeah, I know, you need those 2 or 3 go-to offensive players. But look at the Rockets during their championship years, they played great team defense. And the Bulls- didn't they have 2 or 3 all-defense players each year?

    And looking at why LA is dominating, the difference is the commitment to defense drilled into them by Phil Jackson. As great an offensive player as Kobe is, I was MORE IMPRESSED with his defense. He could play suffocating D on a 1, 2, or 3 and really take players out of what they wanted to do. And team defense is what got Philly into the finals.

    With the athleticism we have, we should be much better defensively than we have showed. I only saw flashes of real team defense last year...not sustained efforts game in and game out. And this is one of the areas I expect great improvement in the next couple of years as they play together. :)
     
  6. Dubious

    Dubious Member

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    "It is a TEAM sport. No one position dominates"

    As I think back over recent NBA history it seems that ,on the teams that win championships ,there is one and maybe two players that do dominate ,supprted by adequate role players. And , generally that is at the Center position.
    The Lakers of course dominate with Shaq and could probably win with a role player at SG. The Bulls dominated with a SG and role players. The Rockets dominated at Center. The Pistons dominated at the PG and a center.

    When you get back to the Laker/Celtic years the teams were pretty good 6 deep but Kareem and Parrish were dominate centers. Moses had great players with the Sixers but he was still the focal point. The Traiblazers had Walton, Knicks willis Reed and Bullets had Wes Unseld.

    The point is , other than Michael Jordan's Bulls almost all past NBA champions have had a center that dominates the game. He is usually the player with the highest shooting percentage, most rebounds and most blocked shots.

    It is possible to win without a center using team speed to play the rebound and run and that is more fun to watch than the 2 man game. But just because we don't have a center we ought to have the sour grapes attitude that we don't need one.
     
  7. oeilpere

    oeilpere Member

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    Hey I couldn't agree more with the sentiments posted here by you pillars of basketball acumen. LOL

    defense is an area that we were known for and relished/envied. But as said, we may have been spoiled with Hakeem.

    I do think the one single factor that dictates our need for Shandon is hs D. I also have heard that if a soot is avaialable this year that Mario will play for us, if given the opportunity, at a minimum price tag. The need for Kevin Willis or a similiar beefier version of him (beefy,athletic and fearless) is also one of the criteria for fixing a spot in the middle.

    There is not a lot of choices out there. I think some here will be disappointed no matter what we do.

    For an example if we brought in a guy who is very underrated in this league, a guy who runs like he islumbering at times but can still run the floor for short periods, but he has great defense, is young but plays above himself,does not mind banging with the Shaqs of the world .... well he wanted around $4M and everyone got antsy ..... yet Todd McCulloch is dissed left and right on this BBS. To me at this stage he would have been a nice fit. Unassuming, no ego, workhorse,etc .... yet how many of you would have ripped his heart out and the very mention of possibility.
     
  8. Rocket Freak

    Rocket Freak Member

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    I agree with you fine people.

    One thing (among many) Dream did great though was allow people to overplay and gamble a little more on D because they knew Dream was back there to reject anything and everything that got by them.

    I'm curious how the new rules will change the game.
     

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