Just not true at all, teams already know Omer's value, they don't need to see any more of it. It is just flat out STUPID to continue to start the two together, it won't work and it could cost them a first round playoff bye, you just need to suck it up and do what is right and not worry about babies that are being paid millions of dollars to play a game. DD
McHale is clueless. From 11/08/13 post practice interview on rockets.com: Well duh! How about trying to start games without TT?
Agree there..... Asik as a starter is not going to be significantly better than the 11 pts 11 rebs and 1 block 2 ast guy
This. The Lakers loss is in %80 due to the slow start. There was not enough offence to counter the hot Lakers shooting and it also give the underdog team the confidence they can pull a win instead of showing them right away they have no business winning this. But if you won't showcase Asik now when will you? when the league takes shape and the games become more meaningful? I don't see how Asik finishes this season as a Rocket.
I was all for trying it out. At this point I don't want to see the experiment continue for another dozen games or so. The evidence is in: it kills our first quarter offense. I HATE watching them fight back from a down first quarter. Been watching that for too many years, and this just amplified it. I can see situations where playing TT would be advantageous. But that's maybe 2-6 minutes per game on average, more if the opponent's coach is a dumba$$. Asik's fate was sealed when we signed Dwight. He's either an expensive backup 5 of he goes somewhere else. I'm fine with either one. But the bleeding needs to stop. Preseason's over, these games count. ALL of them.
the only way for the twin towers to have a chance to work is if everyone plays as a team. there's less than a 0% chance if no one is on the same page. it will only make the team worse if everyone cant be on the same page. so if the rockets are gonna continue with this bullsht they've been putting on, without any plans to correct their mistakes, then they shouldnt even think about starting asik and howard. dont put all the fkn blame on the twin towers. howard isnt demanding the ball on a consistent basis, lin isnt demanding the team run plays they're supposed to, harden thinks he can do w/e he wants, the coach cant get everyone on the same page, etc etc. there's no logical reason to believe the twin towers can work if the rockets play like donkey s**t.
#1: George Karl is amazing, and as good as Mchale is I'll dump him for Karl in a heartbeat...maybe even hire SVG as an assistant coach. Often called the "Tsunami Kid" during his early days, Karl has been known for producing instantaneous results during his early days. Plus, the system he employed in the Denver Nuggets had aggressive D, efficient offense, quick pace and featured two fully grown big men who played in the post (Kmart and Nene), but still allowed two trigger happy scorers to blossom (Melo, Billups). #2: Most people here are losing sight of what's important. It would be great if we can win a ring this year, but honestly this should be a year of deciding what exactly it is we have on our hands. The Rox should keep the long haul in mind at all times, and while the loud minority here want to dump Asik for whoever stretch 4 happens to be available, let's not forget that majority of the posters shouting "down with the TT" are also the ones who wanted Les Alexander to fire Morey a year ago. So forgive me when I say these guys aren't exactly what you'd call forward-thinking people. #3: It's pretty obvious right now both DH and Harden are better off with a stretch 4, Howard achieved his greatest success with Rashard Lewis as his PF and Harden blossomed last year with the paint wide open for his incursions. But do you really think we'd win a ring with Howard incapable of scoring in a crowded area and Harden routinely breaking of plays to go ISO? It may work in the regular season, but what happens in the playoffs when Tim Duncan and Splitter both camp in the post and Kawhi Leonard starts defending Harden with his life? Are we supposed to depend on this stretch 4 to bail our asses? The TT lineup is nowhere near the source of the problems, the issues have to do with lack of execution and discipline in running plays. The offense is expected to take a hit, but with two guys clogging the paint we should more than make up for it rebounding and defense. #4: 48 mins of paint defense is the only thing known to stop King James, fancy smancy stretch 4s will be eaten alive and besides, both Parsons and Casspi play the stretch 4 well anyway. If there's a really good deal involving a stopgap C like say Robin Lopez and lottery picks then ok, make the deal. But you don't trade Asik for the sake of trading him, not when you already have viable stretch 4s and actual PF projects on the squad.
Um, no not really. Bulls being the number 1 team in the regular season didn't help them when they got swept in the playoffs by the Heat.
Re-watching some of these games, there seems to be a real confusion of roles at times between O and D12 when guarding the rim, which oddly enough hurts the defense that the vaunted Twin Towers is supposed to be known for.
That's what would be inexcusable about McHale running that lineup out there even one more game. Forget the offensive struggles with Howard and Asik starting together. Their defense is horrible. They're allowing scrub teams to break 30 points in the first quarter with ease. Even last year's Rockets team wasn't that pathetic on D.
You don't stick with it when it's not working period. Asik value will not decrease if he comes off the bench.
As hot as the Lakers were from deep, the Rockets were just as icy through the first three quarters. As it had all night, Houston got plenty of high quality, open looks from beyond the arc – they simply couldn’t convert them into points. The Rockets were just 5-of-20 from downtown heading to the final frame.
Teams may be in agreement on how good Asik is, but if we reduce his role significantly that signals to the rest of the league that his value to us is not that high. So, ideally, we figure out a way to make him a major contributor on the team. That said, I don't like watching the TT lineup struggle any more than you, and I'd like to see us try something else so we get off to better stars. If we want to give Asik more minutes, that drop Dwight's minutes in the 4th quarter (where he's less effective because of his FT shooting) instead.
A few my comments. Posted on another thread. It took a lot of time so want to share with many CF fans. 1) I agree we should enjoy the game. Rockets is currently 4-2 and the sky is not falling. 2) I also agree that the situation in Rockets is somewhat mind-bugling, especially the way the coach staff and management handle Lin ever since he joined the Rockets. Like many other fans, I am not an insider so I don't have any insider information to explain what is going on. So many, like I, just speculate and draw our own conclusions. 3) From bits and pieces, I am sure that Lin was bothered by the way he has been treated. But so far he has been very professional. I am glad that he handles it well. His improvement is really promising. 4) I am a long-time Rockets fan. In the past, I came to the CF, just browsing. You may notice that I only recently increased my posts. The reason is that I was a little frustrated by the Rockets organization and the way Rockets started the game for the past 6 games. 5) I have a different opinion on the starting line-up. I actually like TT starting unlike most people on CF and THE media. The two losses we had were mainly due to the hot outside shooting of two LA teams but the paint protection has been good except for the 1st half of Utah game. I also saw a glimpse of brilliance of TT line-up during the last two preseason games and the two 2nd halves of Utah and Portland games. TT totally changed the complications of those two games. If you go back to watch the two 2nd halves of Utah and Portland games and compare with the 1st quarter of all 6 games (Rockets trailing big). You will notice the ingredients for TT to be working to our favor. On defense, the perimeter defense must be tight and don't let other teams' perimeter players to have 3 pointer shot. Let them drive or shoot contested middle-range jumpers instead of spot-up shooting. One of the bigs must move up and defend pnr. This is why I was so critical of JH's defense even before all those threads ridicule his defense. JH does not have to play good defense for the TT lineup to work. But his defense must be acceptable. You can't leave shooters open and shoot uncontested jumpers. I have lost the count how many times he lost his man. That's ridiculous for a PROFESSIONAL basketball player! On offense, one of the bigs must come out and set pnr, which can create much-needed space. Not to mention that we have three of the best pnr players in JH, DH and Lin. If both sit up in the paint, we are doomed. Also the other three must be offense-threat. This is why I argue for Lin as starter. The opponent is not afraid of PB's offense and to a little less degree CP's at all. They simply clog the lane or double-team JH and DH as we saw just from the limited time PB was starter. The coach can try PB and TT starting. But I don't see how it is going to work with that lineup. 6) I don't buy the "fit" argument of Lin not starting at all. If that's the argument, Heat won't have Lebron and Wade in the same team and they wont win btb. In the current NBA league, you must have dynamic perimeter attackers to set up the offense. The age of post-up big man is over. Look at even Spurs. Duncan, arguably the best post-up big in NBA, only posts up situationally. Most successful bigs play off perimeter attackers. This is why I am a big supporter of Lin's starting. Don't tell me Lin doesn't fit with JH. The evidences from last season, especially after ASB, support otherwise. Both JH and Lin played well together in majority of the games. With Lin's clear improvement this season, that argument is garbage. If Lin is going to be used as a 6th man, JH and Lin will have to play significant minutes together. JH and Lin will have to play off each other no matter what! This is where the speculation comes in. Lin is playing so well so why leaving him out the starting lineup. The only reasonable answer is the coach and management do not think highly of Lin and Lin is not in the long-time plan of Rockets. They want to assess if PB is. 7) We also need to accept the fact Lin and Asik is untradeable in short term, even for the next two seasons with their poison deals (LOL, initially poisonous to Chicago and Knicks and now to Rockets). Look around the league, which team will accept them? So don't fool ourselves. The best solution is to make the best out of it. So with the current lineup, is Rockets a Champaign-caliper team. Arguably, yes, only if we play team ball in offense and defense. Thus my argument. Our strength is TT and perimeter attacking. So why not taking advantage of the strength? Or did I say JH must play acceptable defense? Also only ISO situationally! 8) Lastly, stop all the name calling. It does not help either sides' argument. Just simply childish. A long post. Wish everybody a good weekend! Go! Rockets!
