Theory: Defense was so bad last season specifically b/c of Dwight and his impact on others.

We weren't great on D the year before Dwight came to Houston.

 

Any player who plays above average defense and then stops being good at it is game changing. Ariza and Beverley both fell off last year defensively and it cost us.

And we did, we invested a lot in him, spent a bunch of resources with McHale / Hakeem / Cd to help him develop his post game. We gave him his post touches, despite them being detrimental to the team.

Dwight was given what he was promised. Then the beginning of the season happened, and we were in a hole, bad defensively, and it no longer made sense to sacrifice your offense when your defense was garbage.

You are trying to dumb down basketball, and it just doesn't work that way.

The bottom line is Dwight Howard is a bad post up basketball player. Saying he should get more touches because he shoots 62% is a poor argument.

 

I don't see how any of those things are random occurrences.

Why would I dislike harden? I mean a year after being #2 in mvp voting and getting to the WCF, he decides to spend the off season partying and banging Khloé only to come back, get McHale fired and drive away Dwight.

I love harden for that!

 

Okay, if you insist on continuing to be a douche, that's your choice.

 

LOL. Of course anybody who doesn't agree with you about Harden is a douche.

 

Its not about not agreeing, it's about creating a narrative.

What exactly are we in disagreement about?

We were talking about Howard, and Mr. Douche rolls in and starts trying to make it about Harden, just non stop trash talking.

 

I blame Dwight most for defense because that's what he has been known for. He couldn't accept his self inflicted limitations and let it get to his head.

However, our team defense was simply terrible last year. There was no communication or consistent effort but I am glad Dwight is gone.

 

LOL. Harden is THAT powerful. Lvl 50 yo.

 

Forget defense and just sign Kyle Korver and Mike Miller already.

 

I'm not the one trying to compare Dwight's defensive impact to Ariza's or Beverley's. That shows a fundamental ignorance of defensive basketball.

Also, it's incorrect to say that Dwight was given what he was promised. Any promises made to him before signing his contract would logically apply to the duration of his contract.

Bottom line is that a motivated defensive Dwight is worth a lot more than a few wasted offensive possessions.

 

Yea, you are the one trying to make a dumb argument about mutual esclusivity of offense and defense. It just doesn't work.

First of all we weren't in the meetings, we don't know what was said or if anything was promised. The Rockets made a good faith effort and invested in Dwight's post game, it didn't work out.

There is just absolutely no way to quantify this whatsoever.

 

I sat close to courtside at games in Portland and at the Toyota Center this year, and you could see that frustration all over Ariza's face. I think Dwight's presence affected the entire team in a negative way, enough to negate the few positives he brought last year.
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^ topfive's earlier post:

 

theories are like aholes...

 

Here we go rewriting history.

 

How exactly are you getting "mutual exclusivity" from my argument when my argument is that Dwight's defense depends on his offensive involvement?

It's a pretty safe assumption. When Dwight was a FA, we all knew what he wanted. And since he signed with us, wouldn't you agree that it's likely we promised him what he wanted?

Good faith effort? Seriously? Dwight was entering his 10th year in the league when he signed with us. We knew exactly what we were getting. To expect him to improve dramatically in his 10th year is stupidity. Your "good faith effort" argument is nonsense.

It's common sense.

 

Transition D effectiveness year Rockets went to WCF was due in large part to Band of Brothers 2nd unit inspiring and pushing 1st unit. Dwight was out a good portion of that season and became different player, effort wise in post season.

Following season began with bunch of injuries to key players plus loss of the triggerman on Band of Brothers, Josh Smith. He was brought back to much delight of players but it was too late to recreate that chemistry, especially under interim HC who had no clue to what rotation he wanted to play or to hold players accountable, never mind improve or inspire the team.

 

It is complicated.

An elite help defender at the center can cover a multitude of sins on the perimeter. When the Rockets signed Dwight he was the best help defender in the NBA. Teams did not challenge him inside and when they did, they scored at a very low percentage. That allowed the Rockets on the perimeter to make mistakes with fewer consequences. It made the Rockets seem like a good defensive team because there were few scoring opportunities inside, so few high percentage shots.

Last year Dwight Howard's skills declined greatly. His lateral quickness and quickness off the ground diminished. Teams attacked the middle at will, Howard purposely was slow switching or coming out so he could keep his raw rebounding stats high.

So no, it wasn't all Howard but he was the largest culprit.

It is also why I am not overly concerned with Gordon defensively IF they get someone like Chandler or had they dealt for Bogut.

 

There are two agendas, the rocket fan agenda and the harden only fan agenda

The op theory is a hof theory. Making excuses for harden not playing any defense is pathetic

 

There were plenty of reasons we sucked on defense last year.

We were terrible at defending the 3 ball.
Turnovers led to a lot of easy baskets by the other team
Transition defense was bad all year long.
Dwight and Harden not caring most of the time.