What Combo Guard could the Rockets Target at the Deadline?

big fish in a small pond, rather. (really ought to proof read)

 

lets go for that guy we got over there at Spain ..lol

 

That would be the Sergio Llull that isn't coming over because he just signed a 6yr contract overseas after turning down Morey, lol.

 

Lebron James

 

fixed

 

I read Skyhoop and the other guy comments. I have no idea what I just read.

 

It's just the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Salary Cap related stuff. I apologize for all the acronyms and technical details. If you want to learn more about it, here's a good place to start:

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm

 

None. We need a Power Forward and we need Jeremy Lin to have the ball and make the play calls.

 

I estimated it would take ~8 million or Mayo and ~12 for Milsap. I don't have my Rocket spreadsheets here at work, but I believe we have ~15m in space without all the non guaranteed deals. This is not enough for my scenario. Dumping Patterson for whatever gets you closer to the amount of money needed (~17m). Maybe even enough to nab both at a discounted price that grades upward (Mayo - 7, Milsap - 10). If you don't dump him, thats not realistically possible. You are putting too much emphasis on the word "dump". He can be moved for whatever as long as it doesn't add to our cap in the summer.

Thats great, but none of them matter.

Yes, it hard caps us against the apron, of 4 million above the tax line which would be ~76 million dollars for one season, and prevents us from using one tiny exception.

So basically, in my scenario we would sacrafice the ability to add nearly 20 million dollars in salary after the season starts which is essentially impossible anyway and eliminates one exception where we could sign a mariginal bench player at best. Adding two starters is worth that 10 of 10 times.

Your sensationalism of the evils of a S&T is just plain wrong.

 

I shouldnt need facts to back up that Dragic would fit this team better than Lin, it is blatantly obvious to anyone who watches both teams play even a few games, while i do watch every minute of every Rockets game.

First off, if you think that Lin is even an average defender, then you are a box score watcher, and not a game watcher. he gets steals and that is it. he cant guard anyone one on one, horrible pnr d. the only thing ive been impressed by is his weakside block ability.

Quick facts about each team as to why their numbers are similar this year:

Phoenix: No shooters on the floor, with Scola and Gortat in the middle, means a very packed paint. Pick and roll heavy offense, but because of lack of shooters, defenders will double the pnr ball handler (Dragic) bring the help defender to cover the roll man (Gortat or Scola) and leave the wing players open for 3's bc none of them can shoot.

Rockets: 3 point shooters covering the floor. fastest pace in the league. PnR heavy offense as well. The difference in the PnR in Houston than Phoenix is that since we have 3 pt shooters, defenses cannot rely on doubling the ball handler and bring weak side help to the roller every time. Which means generally the paint would be more open in Houston's offense than in Phoenix.

From that very basic breakdown of each team, it would make sense that Lin's numbers are 1) inflated because of the pace, as far as rebounding, assists, scoring, and TO's. and 2) would be much worse if he were playing in phoenix, where the paint is more packed.

Dragic would be getting open 3's in Houston instead of right now, where his defenders play up on him bc the defense will crash and leave their wings to miss 3's. Dragic is a better decision maker and creative passer, especially in the fast break. And obviously the much better defender.

I know i dont have the synergy stats to back me up, but i'm not about to pay money to get those stats to prove to someone, something that is obvious to most people who are more than casual NBA fans.

 

of course i wouldnt, bc cp3 is the best point guard in the league. so Harden would be the second best player on this team. not the by far best player on the team like he is now.

I do agree, teams need roles, but just because Harden is technically the SG doesnt mean he has to fit into the traditional SG role. Especially if he's the best player on the team. Great players are unique and dont fit into traditional roles. look at Lebron. if he fit his traditional role, he would only average about half the assists he does right now, and would score less. that would obviously hurt the team. Roles are important, but its more important that they fit the personnel properly instead of fitting into traditional roles.

 

Dragic is below average defender based on most statistical categories. If you dont want to use stats then I guess your mind is made up. Goran is the primary playmaker on the Suns and Lin did well in that role but isnt allowed to handle the ball on this team. I dont believe that either is a top 15 PG and neither is in the ideal situation to maximize their skill sets. Again neither one of these guys have impressed me yet with their play this season especially giving how inconsistent their play has been.

 

Ok so why dont u give me stats then. Everyone keeps asking me to bring stats to the table to prove obvious observations. how about you give me some stats to prove that Lin is a better defender, bc i guess watching all of lin's games this year, all of Gorans the last year and a half isnt enough for me to make a good interpretation of their abilities.

 

The amount of people defending Lin on these posts is down right embarrassing.

He has been abused on defense by every decent PG this year. Want facts? Let's look at his last 6 games vs "good" PG's.


Deron Williams 27/11

Ty Lawson 21/7

Eric Bledsoe 19/7

Jrue Holiday 30/9

Rajon Rondo 12/8

Kyrie Irving 30/6


I'm sure if I dug further into the box scores I would find much of the same. The fact of the matter is Lin struggles on defense, why the hell else does he get benched so often late in games? I'm sure one of you cyber coaches can fill me in.


Dragics struggles this year have come from being in a system that doesn't curtail to his skill set. The guy needs shooters on the perimeter for him to be at his peak, which he does not have in Phx.


Another thing to add on Jeremy Lin, and I'm sorry that this is going to ruffle some of you Lin lovers feathers..but let's just be realistic about the guy. He had ZERO scholarship offers coming out of high school, was not drafted, was cut by multiple NBA teams, and now is struggling mightily for a team that by all accounts is at least above average.

Jeremy parlayed 15 games of great basketball on the biggest stage in sports into a 25 million dollar contract. Nothing else in this guys basketball career makes me optimistic that he is the PG of the future. If I'm wrong, let me know.

 

I won't argue with you that Dragic is a better decision maker and creative passer because I personally think that you’re definitely right about the creative passing abilities that Dragic has over Lin, and I do think that he is currently a better decision maker, but not by much, and considering he’s been in the league longer, I’d have to give Lin the benefit of the doubt and say Lin’s got a higher upside in this regard; however, how can you just make blanket statements, not that the passing and decision making weren’t blanket statements, about Lin’s and Dragic’s defense.

You stated that if anyone thought Lin to be an average defender, then they are not watching the games and just looking at the box scores, which is ironic since the truth is the exact opposite. Yes, I do think Lin has trouble with smaller faster guards like Lawson, though he did a decent job on him last game, and Rose, but he IS a good defender. What about the defense he put on Miller, on Kobe, Galo, Lebron, and more recently, Iggy?! In regards to PGs, he did a good on Rondo and Williams, who scored 20 in the first but 9 on Douglas, didn’t he?

And someone else posted this, I don’t know who, but it made some sense despite the exaggeration of the other guards not being able to stay in front.
“Like any guard, Lin needs good team defense to truly excel. In the same way that, when he gets a pick, there's no way Rose or Westbrook or Lawson can keep him from getting to the hoop, Lin can also be picked off. The silly on-sided way people talk about these plays is ridiculous as if picks are a special problem for Lin and other elite guards handle them with aplomb. No, they don't, watch the games. For example, how well did Lawson do last night?”

 

People, please look at the title of this thread: What Combo Guard could the Rockets Target at the Deadline?

Appreciate it you guys can stop arguing about Lin/Gorgic in this thread.

 

You're right pcheung.

Not that these guys are available, but I'd have to say Iman Shumpert as backup to Lin or Eric Bledsoe to replace Lin. Hey, maybe Lin could be a good backup to CP3. I'm sure Lob city wouldn't mind having another good lobber to Jordan and Griffin.

 

Or backup for Harden, cuz I like Beverly

 

What are you talking about?? There is no way anyone who knows anything about position, rotations, and footwork could possibly think Lin is a good defender from watching him. and Lin never guarded Kobe, Galo, Lebron or Iggy, except on switches. Parsons and Delfino are the ones that always check the best wing scorer on the opposing team. Parsons played Miller most of the time in the most recent Denver game too btw. 12/8 for rondo idk how you can say thats doing good on him, Rondo isnt a scorer. But against Deron Williams, how could you possibly say he did well against him when his man scored 20 points the first quarter?? even if 9 of them were on douglas, that means his man still scored 11 points on him in the 5-7 minutes he played in the 1st q, which is absolutely horrible.

The statement above is completely false. You can an excel as a guard defensively without good team D. Examples, Iggy in Philly in early years, in Denver now, Parsons last year, Kobe for most of his years in LA, Gerald Wallace in Charlotte, Sefalosha in OKC. If you mean a guard can look better defensively if it has a strong defensive frontcourt, you are right, but it doesnt mean they are a good defender. If Lin had Hakeem behind him, he still would be a bad defender.

Secondly about Westbrook or Rose being able to not stay with Lin on a PnR, even if it was true, which it isnt bc everyone goes under the PnR against lin because he cant shoot at all, it is forgivable bc those players are so good offensively that you can live with them not being elite defenders. Like how we feel about Harden.