100% agree. All the contenders have a Big man in their arsenal. Lakers: Drummond/Gasol/AD Dallas: Kleber (245 pounds) / WCS (240 pounds) / Boban Nuggets: Jokic / JaVale MeGee / Bol Bol Clippers: Zubac / Cousins GSW: Draymond / Wiseman (245 pounds) Portland: Nurkic / Kanter Suns: Ayton / Kaminsky Spurs: Poelti / Gorgui Dieng Grizz: Jaren Jackson (245 pounds) / Valanciunas Nets: DeAndre Jordan / Blake Griffin (Claxton is still a little on the thin side.....they will upgrade in off season) Hawks: Capela / Nathan Knight (254 pounds) / Onyeka Okongwu Wiz: Len / Thomas Bryant / Robin Lopez Knicks: Mitchell Robinson (240 pounds) Miami: Bam Bam (256 pounds) / Dedmon Pacers: Sabonis / Myles Turner Bucks: Brook Lopez Celtics: Tristan / Robert Williams (240 pounds) / Taco Fall Not post up threats, but can create problems near the rim. Discard our current Bigs to the side like Gnats. Olynyk sometimes trips over his own feet in the open court. Has become more evident without Harden shooting free throws and being almost last the entire season in 3-pt percentage. We can't be out rebounded by 30 and win like the Rockets did last season against the Bucks.
Honestly gross. Imagine going from Dwight and Javale to Gasol and Drummond. You went from one former DPoY and a tall leaper with a giant wingspan to...another former DPoY and a tall dude with tree trunks for legs. And Gasol can't even see the floor at point, which is sad, because he's better than Drummond.
Right. I'm just saying that the Lakers lost 2 very good frontcourt rotation players not named AD and ended up with...2 very good frontcourt rotation players. There's usually a drop-off in talent, but this isn't the case here.
Yes, but with AD it's all about getting through the marathon season and save AD's health for the playoffs. I mentioned to my friend @saleem this past off-season that teams saw Gasol as the big time defender still. I mentioned teams will find out differently. Toronto was playing zones to cover his flaws. I also mentioned a college player and his flaws being covered up by his team playing 2-3 zone in the tournament and just prior.
Julius Randell has finally developed. Complements the others well as he can now play inside or out. I've been wanting Mitchell Robinson since just before he was drafted. Some players listed are still developing; like Nathan Knight. Which is part of my point......colleges and highschools are kicking these players out on a more regular basis. The ones that can't shoot 3's will be kicked to the curb soon.
If the Rockets can get Khawi Leonard and draft a Green/Cade, that would put us in the contender category. They should also draft a big man or two. 240+ lbs each.
This is nice and all but we all know TF isn’t spending money on any free agents. Why? Because he can’t afford it. To paraphrase Kanye’s first (and best album) “He Broke, broke, broke, he broke, he ain’t got it!”
Definitely the first time i've heard someone suggest to draft a particular weight, why? Also, what do you think would draw Khawi to Houston on oppose to his home in LA after leavine SA then Toronto to go home
If Tillman Fertitta wants to win games and get to the Playoffs. He needs to resign Kelly Olynek. Kelly just flows within the offense. He can easily score and pass. Has so many types of layups and moves.
Mike D’Antoni has long taken criticism for his handling of the defense and he is still more comfortable when he has a defensive top assistant he can rely on to handle the defense. However he also is the one that largely saved the defense after he lost his top defensive assistant. He made the changes in so far as scraping Turner’s system and he is the one that was making strategic decisions on changes and communicated them to the players.
Two things I'd like to see - Resign Olynyk and use the MLE on a veteran guard that can defend ..... and shoot. Would the Knicks match the full MLE for Frank Ntilinina ? I don't see anyone else on the FA list that we can afford or that I'd be willing to pay full MLE money. There's no actual cap space , you have the MLE of $9,535,740 , the BAE of $3,731,690 and that's it ..... other than minimums. Guys like Fournier are out of the price range unless its a S&T and I don't see a mid tier S&T being an option this year. You don't have contracts that are movable in the right price range to make it happen. Wall & EG are toxic contracts , Wood is your third highest paid player and not one you want to move , Augustin is the next highest paid player at $7m .... Bradley at $5.9 and House at $3.8 are the next two ... No one else makes over $1,782,621. You just don't have a lot of financial tools to work with. Its almost comical that they need Wall's contract to reach the salary floor ....
I respect holy disagree. I believe defensive assistants leave or get blamed for he defensive shortcomings because D'Antoni likes to go smaller;; which take away from the team defensively. D'Antoni is well known for replacing mandatory practice with optional shoot around"s. This has taken place on other teams he has coached as well. Reputable defensive coordinator like Bzdelik, who is the one most known for the creation of the "Grind-house" defense with the Memphis Grizzlies. Bzdelik has or had a reputation to uphold.....so he said he wanted to retire and spend more time with his family. Only to seemingly come out of retirement two weeks later. We (Rockets) ask defensive coaches to create a masterpiece with lesser quality materials. Like asking Picasso to paint a masterpiece; but instead of giving him quality paints and canvas, we are supplying them with notebook paper and crayons. D'Antoni's idea of coaching up defense is yelling, "play harder!" "We need more energy!" Here is an article from The Onion about D'Antoni during his time with the Lakers. Now it is a gossip site like TMZ; but it does name specific names and incidents. I haven't seen any players denying such events. https://sports.theonion.com/mike-dantoni-drawing-up-plays-to-get-lakers-to-like-him-1819574348
I’m well aware of his reputation and I cannot speak of his time before the Rockets. What I can tell you is that MDA is the reason the Rockets defense improved after a horrible start. He took control from Turner and made changes. He also had involvement when BZ was the DC as well, but more on the strategic side. I am not claiming MDA is a great defensive coach, simply saying on the Rockets was not as inept as people think. I say that as someone that used to poke fun at MDA defensively.
I think I just figured out why CF (and I) love Olynyk so much reading this post: he's just American Luis Scola. An awkward looking veteran big man with flowing locks and a smooth offensive game who moves on the offensive side of the floor with a grace of a swan. Scola is easily one of my top 5 all-time favorite Rockets. Can Olynyk take that torch and be that guy for the Rockets moving forward?
Again, we agree that we disagree. I'm saying D'Antoni shows no attention to defense. Last season the Rockets implemented or carried over the switch everything defense. With that in place, cancelled mandatory practices.....offered optional shoot-a-rounds instead. This is why players love him. He will yell at players but for the most part cuts them a lot of slack. I give D'Antoni high marks for his offensive mind......but that is negated by his poor preparation or detail to defense. Improving offense can help the defense. Making the other team take the ball by way of inbounding more often helps, for every action there is a reaction. In part I agree, with today's NBA when you have guys like Steph Curry or Trae Young shooting the ball as soon as they pass mid court. That shoots over the best defenses. But I'm old fashion and a strong believer that defense wins championships. Lakers have the number one defense and that is why I favor them over the Nets. My theory is that, despite all the injuries, the Lakers have had an interior defensive presence in the form of AD, Drummond, Gasol, Harrell (switching in space to keep them near the rim)......allowing the perimeter defenders to stay at home more often. Sticking to their assignments as they leave AD or Gasol or Drummond or Harrell to take their lumps defensively. Last time I checked the Lakers were not that great with interior defense (I believe middle of the pack); But their 3-pt defense was 4th best. We just see things differently. Tip of the cap to you, though. Rockets need a greater defensive presence in the interior that can hold his own more often. Allowing our perimeter defenders to stay with their assignments, more often. Turning our poor 3-pt defense into better. Edited: Lakers 22nd in DFG% in less than 6 feet (63.1%) Rockets 26th......but I feel we send more perimeter defenders to help bring it that low.
