I think the answer is to play Lowry fewer minutes. That's not even born of a tanking motive. The team needs to learn to succeed without Lowry on the floor. The more minutes he plays, the more dependent the team becomes. It reminds me of a season where McGrady was doing everything until he was injured. The team found its identity while he sat and they played a better team game when he returned.
Martin is struggling much more this year. The guy seems to be a mentally weak person, who should be traded sooner rather than later.
Yes, I remember the team had the same struggles when Ish played as the back-up. And we all know AB´s problems, from what some have reported, he´s still struggling even in China. The fact is, no back-up has been effective since Lowry was the back-up. The fact is, our 2nd unit has not been a plus since Lowry was manning the second unit... Well, I´m contradicting myself now but Dragic did a good good job in a lot of games last year but this is/has been discussed in another thread.
http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusminus/plusminus_sort.jsp?pcomb=5&season=22010&split=9&team=Rockets Small sample size, but I took a look at the 2010-2011 numbers, it seems that a couple of the more effective lineups with Dragic and without Lowry were: Dragic/Lee/Budinger/Patterson/Hayes (27 minutes +31) Dragic/Lee/Budinger/Patterson/Miller (52 minutes +19) Dragic/Lee/Martin/Patterson/Miller (27 minutes +14) Taking a guess from the above, I am thinking: 1. Lee's return might help Dragic. 2. Patterson's recovery from the ankle surgery may also be a factor. 3. Having a high post-passer (Hayes or Miller) may be a factor as well. Now, there's not much to be done about Lee (who is, hopefully returning tonight) or Patterson (still rounding into form), but the Bobcats are tanking and Boris Diaw and his moobs can be had for next to nothing-- maybe Thabeet + Flynn will get it done.
More high post offense with Lowry off the floor is a big factor, I agree. But we don't have a player with the skills do run that offense through. Well ... maybe Parsons?
So, it's either small ball with Parsons at PF or find a high post passer. I am on the Boris Diaw (and his expiring contract) bandwagon because he should be fairly easy to get. Any other possibilities out there?
I think the answer lies here but without being so drastic, we would have lost games if we did not over-play Lowry. I feel our coaching staff should pay more attention to the second unit, hopefully Lee's addition is the 1st step to improvement. I think it's all about finding the right balance and striking chemistry.
Are you talking about playing him at Center? I don't think he should be taking minutes off Scola or Patterson. Do you think he can play with them as a tandem?
You know CH, threads like these are why i shake my head at some of the other goofy stuff you post. Great thread and I was thinking the same thing. His usage is up higher than normal and you're right that they don't have guys who can create a shot on their own which is a problem to me. Maybe a tradeis and should be in order. What about a guy like Shaun livingston? Last year, he played well when given the time. This year with jennings back and healthy, his production and minutes have been down. He will never be what he was supposed to be , but he's solid, mistake free, and still young. He's not nor will ever be a good shooter, but his decision making ability to set guys up are still very good. I think he's on the books or 3.5m which is ok. Maybe the rockets can use some of the tpe and then ship another player out to balance the salaries. The other solution you offered was the von wafer type. I think too many people undervalue the ability to get a shot on your own. Some call it ball hog or ball stopper, but i think that is vital in the nba. There are times when a great defense can wreck a system with ok players. The triangle only worked because it had great players. They ran the triangle post jordan with elton brand and crew and they were sorry because they didn't have the personel. It would benefit the team to have a non system type of player.
Boris Diaw looks horribly out of shape to me. But, if we did acquire him, then if anybody he should replace Jordan Hill in the rotation.
Yeah, diaw is way past out of shape. His body never looks good, but now, he's just in 1 spot all the time. He's a very frustrating player to watch.
They don't seem to mind his shape: Spoiler If Diaw is added, I'd imagine the deployment of bench bigs be based on needs and matchups. Patterson is a solid defender and a good jump shooter (even in his current diminished form), Hill is the best rebounder but too skinny and mistake prone, and Diaw is the passer/long-range shooter. Diaw's lack of rebounds worries me, but then again it's not like Brad Miller was chasing down many loose balls last season.
It seems to work with Dragic and Lowry on the floor together. Dragic does the ball handling and lowry is like a player coach on the floor directing. So he is like TWill. He is on the floor but not expending a lot of energy.....
BTW, I ran a search on B-R.com for centers and forwards with the most assists per 36 minutes (couldn't figure out how to filter out SFs without also filtering out PFs who were not also listed as Cs-- which, strange enough, include Chuck Hayes) http://www.basketball-reference.com...omp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ast_per_mp There are, of course, guys who would never be available and guys you really don't want due to their salaries. One name that stood out to me is Ronnie Turiaf. He has a suprisingly high number of assists (more than 3 per 36 minutes in muliple seasons, I never noticed it). I'd imagine he'd be availabe since Washington isn't playing him (is he injured? Edit: Yes he is: http://dc.sbnation.com/washington-w...-turiaf-injury-washington-wizards-broken-hand ) and he was just a salary-balance trade throw (NY clearing cap for Chandler, I think).
Lowry is almost an all star, and he's the only one on the team. No dleague point guard (Lin, Smith) will help our team
