16 replies to this topic

[Red94]

New post: Rockets Roundup: 11/28/14
By: Kevin Kim

A quick and digestible look at the most top-of-mind Rockets news of the past few days.

 

Houston Chronicle. Motiejunas, Canaan carry shorthanded Rockets past Kings.

 

"The Sacramento Kings had everything going their way. The Rockets, however, had Donatas Motiejunas and Isaiah Canaan, and that was more than the Kings could handle as the Rockets pulled away down the stretch, 102-89, in what has become a series of short-handed, defense-first wins."

 

NBCSports. Rockets may bring in Al Harrington to bolster front court depth.

 

"Harrington has left China where he started the season and is looking for an NBA gig. The Rockets may be that team, reports Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders: According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Houston Rockets are considering signing 16-year veteran forward Al Harrington, who was recently cut in China in order to allow him to pursue an NBA return."

 

And a Thanksgiving power rankings binge:

 

NBA.com. Rookie Rankings: Week 5.

 

"But 25.3 minutes off the bench for a team off to a good start, when every outcome is important in what figures to be a rush-hour traffic jam near the top of the Western Conference standings come April, is an underlined endorsement of how much the Rockets feel they can already count on [Papanikolaou]. That's a large enough role that it goes beyond McHale trying out different lineups to counter injuries. That's also a high profile that continues, enough to get Papanikolaou a spot on the Ladder despite the miserable accuracy, and because he is more than a shooter. Or non-shooter."

 

Sports Illustrated. NBA Power Rankings.

 

"Dwight Howard's absence led to two heinous losses last week -- one by 26 to the Grizzlies and the other at home against the Lakers -- but James Harden could be finding his stroke after hitting rock bottom with a six-point, 1-of-8 effort against the Grizzlies. His 32 points in a win against the Mavericks resembled last year's standard."

 

NBA.com. NBA Power Rankings: Week 4.

 

"The Rockets' defensive improvement (league-high 8.6 points per 100 possessions better than last season) achieved legitimacy with Saturday's win over the Mavs, in which they held the No. 1 offense under a point per possession without Dwight Howard. But what happened to their offense? It's scored 94 points per 100 possessions over their last eight games."

 

ESPN.com. Hollinger Power Rankings.

 

Ranked 12th...how much of that is from SoS?

[txtdo1411]

What happened to their offense? Um being down 3 starters tends to slow down the scoring pace a little... The fact that we are still playing such good D without Bev and Dwight in the line-up is fairly remarkable. 

Edited by txtdo1411, 28 November 2014 - 09:07 PM.

[stanfordkp]

The fact that they had been able to maintain their defensive efficiency without any rim protection is beyond astonishing.

[rockets best fan]

The fact that they had been able to maintain their defensive efficiency without any rim protection is beyond astonishing.

agreed....................I may be alone in this assessment, but I am not impressed by Papanikolaou. his hot and cold play concerns me. I think we need a steadier hand in his role. I have been slow to criticize his play because I understand he has to adjust to the league, but his shooting brings back nightmares of J. Lin, and that's a hell of a horror movie  I know he's and NBA rookie ( though he has several years overseas), but the last thing I expected him to struggle with was his shooting. if he is unable to turn the corner on his shooting numbers his role should be given to someone else IMO. if all we wanted was defense from his role we could have kept Jordan Hamilton from last years team. he needs to score at an efficient clip and thus far he hasn't done that. if the Rockets aren't already looking for his replacement.......it's time to start

[thejohnnygold]

agreed....................I may be alone in this assessment, but I am not impressed by Papanikolaou. his hot and cold play concerns me. I think we need a steadier hand in his role. I have been slow to criticize his play because I understand he has to adjust to the league, but his shooting brings back nightmares of J. Lin, and that's a hell of a horror movie  I know he's and NBA rookie ( though he has several years overseas), but the last thing I expected him to struggle with was his shooting. if he is unable to turn the corner on his shooting numbers his role should be given to someone else IMO. if all we wanted was defense from his role we could have kept Jordan Hamilton from last years team. he needs to score at an efficient clip and thus far he hasn't done that. if the Rockets aren't already looking for his replacement.......it's time to start

 

disagreed.....you may be right about being alone in that assessment  .

 

I am impressed by Papanikoloau.  Yes, he has been hot and cold on the shooting; however, I will cut him more slack than you.  It's been 17 games and you want him to adjust a mechanical memory motion he has been honing for probably the last 16 or so years.  It's a slightly different distance in Europe (as you know) and to re-program one's mind to be able to shoot the ball without thinking, just doing it, is not going to happen that quickly.  In the meantime, the Rockets have clearly given him the green light to shoot from deep as 58% of his shots are threes (going in at 31% currently) and at 6.5 fga per game it's not like he is shooting us out of winning anything.

 

He has had a few stinkers (who doesn't?), but he has only taken 10+ shots in a game 3 times this year (3-10, 6-10, and 2-11...he also went 1-9 one night).  He isn't doing much shooting otherwise, but he is frequently getting us 4-5 assists per game which is where I think he boosts the offense--ball movement.

 

Getting back to his shooting, what I do know is he is able to do it and that he will get there.  In the meantime, the guy is a swiss army knife of a basketball player.  He does it all, and has a nose for the ball that is rarely seen (and can't be coached).  He reacts quickly to defensive rotations finding guys open for easy buckets.  He hustles hard.  He blocks shots, gets steals, dives for loose balls, and, from what I've seen, has a pretty good b-ball IQ.  Add to that his ability to play 2 positions (switching on defense in the NBA is becoming a mandatory ability for players) and my belief that he is going to get better across the board over the course of this season, and likely next season as well as he adjusts to the NBA level, and I think we'd be foolish to trade him unless it nets us a star.

[txtdo1411]

I have to agree with JG in regards to Kostas. His shot has not been very good so far, but that is only through 17 games. Given his past shooting history overseas, I am fairly confident he will get it to at least league average. The fact that he is still finding a way to contribute without his shot falling is what makes him so valuable. He is probably the second best passer on the roster, and he is sneaky on the boards. Always hustling and always trying to make a play for his teammates. It is hard not to like him as a player, although you found a way RBF 

[rockets best fan]

I have to agree with JG in regards to Kostas. His shot has not been very good so far, but that is only through 17 games. Given his past shooting history overseas, I am fairly confident he will get it to at least league average. The fact that he is still finding a way to contribute without his shot falling is what makes him so valuable. He is probably the second best passer on the roster, and he is sneaky on the boards. Always hustling and always trying to make a play for his teammates. It is hard not to like him as a player, although you found a way RBF 

I don't see why it would be hard to dislike him as a player. I usually dislike players with PER's under 10  now I will concede he does have valuable contributions in other areas, but right now IMO they do not outweigh his horrid shooting.

[thejohnnygold]

I don't see why it would be hard to dislike him as a player. I usually dislike players with PER's under 10  now I will concede he does have valuable contributions in other areas, but right now IMO they do not outweigh his horrid shooting.

 

Did you see last night's game, RBF?  Kostas was 6-14 from the field (0-2 from deep, but he made one from the corner with his toe on the line...which almost counts  ).  Still, he was huge for us in the game and made more plays than I can remember on both sides of the ball.

 

When, not if, but when his shot starts falling he is going to be huge for us.  Morey is going to look like a genius.  McHale is going to look like a genius.  Toyota Center will start serving lamb gyros with mint tzatziki.  There will be celebration dances.  It will be awesome.

 

[txtdo1411]

I usually dislike players with PER's under 10

 

Haha that's too funny. If his PER (and shooting) continue to be below league average then I will jump on the search for a back up SF/PF bandwagon. As of right now, he is showing he can do everything that is needed to be a very solid player in the NBA even without a reliable jumper. Once that comes along we are talking ROTY and 6MOTY potential  ... okay that might be taking it overboard, but I love watching this kid play! So fiery and competitive. 

[thejohnnygold]

Haha that's too funny. If his PER (and shooting) continue to be below league average then I will jump on the search for a back up SF/PF bandwagon. As of right now, he is showing he can do everything that is needed to be a very solid player in the NBA even without a reliable jumper. Once that comes along we are talking ROTY and 6MOTY potential  ... okay that might be taking it overboard, but I love watching this kid play! So fiery and competitive. 

 

RBF should know better.  PER is not that great of a measure.  Do you know who else is sporting a pretty low PER?  How about Trevor Ariza (13.06), Jason Terry (12.83), Donatas Motiejunas (12.37), Tarick Black (12.14), Joey Dorsey (8.69), and Isaiah Canaan (13.91) all have below average PER scores...in fact, they are all lower than Jeremy Lin's 14.15 PER (did that just for you, RBF  )

 

PER undervalues defense and team synergy.  Do you know what all those guys have in common?  They have played big parts for a 14-4 team by giving us great defense and synergy.

 

Meanwhile, Patrick Beverley is sporting a 15.91 PER, Terrence Jones has a 19.40 PER (just decimal points beneath both Horford and Millsap), Dwight Howard has a 20.26, and James Harden is 7th in the league with a 25.35 PER.

 

What does this tell us?  A few things.

 

1. James Harden is very good.

 

2. Our team has good depth and is well-constructed.

 

3. PER is not a great measure of a player's value unless they are a high usage star or play Center for the Mavs (both Chandler and Wright are in the top 12 of PER).

 

Meanwhile, as a team we sport the #2 offensive rebounding team, the #2 team defensive efficiency, #5 in total rebounding, and are #8 in point differential.  So our players aren't individually ranked all that high?  Who cares?  Our team is killing it and Papanikoloau and his 25 mpg (which is roughly 11% of the total minutes played) is helping us get there.  In fact, take away those 4 "above average players'" minutes and 46% of our team's total contributions are made by "below average" players.

 

Moral of the story--stats like this do not correlate well to direct lines of logic....at least not in my opinion.

[rockets best fan]

@JG

of all the players you named only Dorsey ( 8.6) is below 10. considering the average NBA player is a 15 and Papa is at 9.3 your point is? I am not as confident his shot will be consistent as you are. I have all ready conceded he offers some pluses in other areas, but scoring isn't one of them. in my opinion he is trade bait......nothing more. if he plays good it only increases his value on the trade market.

 

Haha that's too funny. If his PER (and shooting) continue to be below league average then I will jump on the search for a back up SF/PF bandwagon. As of right now, he is showing he can do everything that is needed to be a very solid player in the NBA even without a reliable jumper. Once that comes along we are talking ROTY and 6MOTY potential  ... okay that might be taking it overboard, but I love watching this kid play! So fiery and competitive. 

it's not that I hate the guy. he doesn't measure up to what I think we need in that role in order to compete with the big boys.

[Steven]

@RBF

In Europe during Captain Caveman's worst year he shot 34% from 3 and 47% from the field overall. Just give him some time, it will come around.

Edited by Steven, 05 December 2014 - 02:26 AM.

[clydesmoustache]

I do hear your concerns if his shooting doesn't improve. He does seem to jump every time he passes as well. A frustrating backup guard used to do the same but i haven't seen papa get caught out. I would love to know his vertical leap as he seems to have more time in the air than that guard.

Parsons+(Garcia or casspi) < Ariza+Papa so either way I am happy!

[thejohnnygold]

@JG

of all the players you named only Dorsey ( 8.6) is below 10. considering the average NBA player is a 15 and Papa is at 9.3 your point is? I am not as confident his shot will be consistent as you are. I have all ready conceded he offers some pluses in other areas, but scoring isn't one of them. in my opinion he is trade bait......nothing more. if he plays good it only increases his value on the trade market.

 

it's not that I hate the guy. he doesn't measure up to what I think we need in that role in order to compete with the big boys.

 

What's my point?  Well, in a nutshell it is that using PER to make a blanket assessment of a player is like looking in a fun house mirror to decide how good-looking you are.

 

[ale11]

 

0:57 it's my favorite. They guy has an amazing basketball IQ, he is a willing and skilled passer, and most importantly, I think he understands entry pass angles. The best assists we've seen from him mostly go to DH or D-Mo (he seems to be developing great chemistry with his fellow European in particular). Any time we can get Dwight easy points without the need to watch him post up, it's a win, that way there's no need to post him up constantly so he can get his 20 points.

 

Shooting is streaky, remember how lights out Casspi was shooting entering last season? Or how Ariza started shooting like 60% and spent three games basically not making a basket from the outside? It comes and goes.

 

 

http://www.basketbal...s/HOU/2015.html

 

At 3.0, Kostas is second in assists per game....so there's that too

[ale11]

 

0:57 it's my favorite. The guy has an amazing basketball IQ, he is a willing and skilled passer, and most importantly, I think he understands entry pass angles. The best assists we've seen from him mostly go to DH or D-Mo (he seems to be developing great chemistry with his fellow European in particular). Any time we can get Dwight easy points without the need to watch him post up, it's a win, that way there's no need to post him up constantly so he can get his 20 points.

 

Shooting is streaky, remember how lights out Casspi was shooting entering last season? Or how Ariza started shooting like 60% and spent three games basically not making a basket from the outside? It comes and goes.

 

 

http://www.basketbal...s/HOU/2015.html

 

At 3.0, Kostas is second in assists per game....so there's that too

[Steven]

Nice job Ale11. I like quoting myself as well.

I agree. Kostas fits this team with his ability to create scoring opportunities with his passes for the second unit.