79 replies to this topic

[Red94]

New post: Huq's Pen: Finally

[Steven]

I agree with everything. Rahat was doing his The Rock impersonation, "Finally, The Rockets has come back to the playoffs." CP3 in The Ketchup and Mustard is looking like it might have a chance. The Clippers can't fall out of the 4 seed. They won their division and no matter what their record they have to remain a top 4 seed. Memphis will have home court tho.

[Richards]

Since we are in playoff officially, do you guys have any thoughts on rotation.

I saw McHale testing with Harden/Lin/Bev combination lately but only got a mixed result.

TJones was playing well and hope he won't dip like D-Mo. Garcia vs. Delfino. Who is backup C?

 

Any thoughts?

[Steven]

Depending on foul trouble, it wouldn't surprise me if Greg Smith becomes the backup C. Have a big man rotation of: Asik, Smith and Jones, LLC. Garcia has played well lately so he might be the backup wing with Beverly the backup point. A nice 8 man rotation for the Rockets. Harden is going to play 42+ minutes. So that leaves 198 minutes to be split among the other 7.

[Mason Khamvilay]

This is the best way to split the minutes in the playoffs imo:

 

Asik 38 minutes (probably the most he can handle without dying) -- Greg Smith 10 minutes

Greg Smith 19 minutes -- Terrence Jones 29 minutes

Parsons 42 minutes -- Harden 6 minutes

Harden 37 minutes -- Lin 11 minutes

Lin 32 minutes -- Beverley 16 minutes

 

Garcia, Delfino and D-Mo might get some minutes but it won't make a huge difference. The only non-starters I care about getting significant minutes are T-Jones and Beverley, unless we're struggling to score and really need floor spacing then play Delfino or D-Mo at the 4. I definately want to see that Lin/Beverley back-court while Harden rests or backs-up Parsons at SF because Lin is a better SG than Delfino and Garcia both offensively and defensively (sad but true).

[Richards]

I was frustrated with McHale' rotation. But he surprised me with inserting Smith, good use of TJones, and aggressive Harden-Lin-Bev combo. After we got Parsons back, I even want to see Asik/Parsons/Harden/Lin/Bev lineup. 

 

We are underdog and can't go with conventional way. McHale must be creative and surprise opponent with new looks. To be honest, I don't know how though. 

[Richards]

This is the best way to split the minutes in the playoffs imo:

 

Asik 38 minutes (probably the most he can handle without dying) -- Greg Smith 10 minutes

Greg Smith 19 minutes -- Terrence Jones 29 minutes

Parsons 42 minutes -- Harden 6 minutes

Harden 37 minutes -- Lin 11 minutes

Lin 32 minutes -- Beverley 16 minutes

 

Garcia, Delfino and D-Mo might get some minutes but it won't make a huge difference. The only non-starters I care about getting significant minutes are T-Jones and Beverley, unless we're struggling to score and really need floor spacing then play Delfino or D-Mo at the 4. I definately want to see that Lin/Beverley back-court while Harden rests or backs-up Parsons at SF because Lin is a better SG than Delfino and Garcia both offensively and defensively (sad but true).

I love it. I wish McHale see your post. No Joke. I am serious.

Don't worry for Asik, he always surprise us. You know what, he started showing off with his good long jumpers.

 

Yep, either Harden or Lin must be on court at any give seconds.

[timetodienow1234567]

Bleacherreport said that the rocket's LVP was DMo. I thought that was funny with several other guys like Royce available.

[ale11]

I agree with everything. Rahat was doing his The Rock impersonation, "Finally, The Rockets has come back to the playoffs." CP3 in The Ketchup and Mustard is looking like it might have a chance. The Clippers can't fall out of the 4 seed. They won their division and no matter what their record they have to remain a top 4 seed. Memphis will have home court tho.

 

I know about the rule, but what's the upside of being 4th no matter what if you don't have the homecourt advantage?

[phaketrash]

I know about the rule, but what's the upside of being 4th no matter what if you don't have the homecourt advantage?

 

Can't drop to 6th? If you were in a division that was reaaaaally weak.

[ale11]

Can't drop to 6th? If you were in a division that was reaaaaally weak.

 

Well, I guess that was a bit obvious, my bad it seems logical

[Steven]

It's in order to try to keep teams at the end of the year from tanking games to play the worse team.

[RollingWave]

I don't see Paul leaving, he runs that team, the team can pay him, and he's bailing first? that would certainly knock him a huge peg down on most people's books. probably including his own. so I don't see that. I also don't see the hate on Blake Griffin, he's put up 20 PER and .200 WS /48,  if your going to doubt stats, why not doubt the guy who put up godlike stats but never won a game past the first round after this rookie season?

 

It is true that things aligned a lot more than expected this year, also helps that the Laker's circus imploded, Dirk wasn't healthy and the entire T-Wolf team was also hurt.

 

I also agree that McHale should be on most ballot, not the first choice, but certainly on the later ballots, he took a team that came together on opening day, with no one who was a full time starter last year, and half of the team played in the D League at some point in the last 2 year, into the playoffs, that's insane. 

[Mason Khamvilay]

I don't think Cp3 leaving will knock him down, I don't think Lebron leaving knocked him down, I never understood that argument. I can't think of a single retired player where people say "he would be been ranked higher if he didn't leave that team". 

[Rahat Huq]

I don't think Cp3 leaving will knock him down, I don't think Lebron leaving knocked him down, I never understood that argument. I can't think of a single retired player where people say "he would be been ranked higher if he didn't leave that team". 

Agreed.  No one will remember that you left.  They only remember that you didn't win a ring.  To that end, it's smarter to leave (if the money isn't a factor, which it usually is.)

[phaketrash]

If you watch games, you can see Blake is not at anywhere near the star level that CP3 is. If teams double CP3, Blake (or anyone else on that team for that matter) can't do much about it. Blake's stats are good, but they've been essentially stagnant since his "rookie" yr. CP3 is a maestro on the court...just watching him play is like omg. Forget stats; some PGs have seemingly better stats, but no way in hell would I take them OVER CP3.

[rocketrick]

If you watch games, you can see Blake is not at anywhere near the star level that CP3 is. If teams double CP3, Blake (or anyone else on that team for that matter) can't do much about it. Blake's stats are good, but they've been essentially stagnant since his "rookie" yr. CP3 is a maestro on the court...just watching him play is like omg. Forget stats; some PGs have seemingly better stats, but no way in hell would I take them OVER CP3.

Definitely agree that Chris Paul is the key guy for the opposing teams to shut down in the playoffs. However, if Billups can get healthy enough to be a factor in the playoffs, I wouldn't necessarily count the Clippers getting knocked out in the first round. And wouldn't Chris Paul look great in Rockets red starting next season!!

[phaketrash]

Definitely agree that Chris Paul is the key guy for the opposing teams to shut down in the playoffs. However, if Billups can get healthy enough to be a factor in the playoffs, I wouldn't necessarily count the Clippers getting knocked out in the first round. And wouldn't Chris Paul look great in Rockets red starting next season!!

 

Billups is great...when he's available. It is just, he isn't getting any younger and already 36, and in the last THREE nba seasons, he has only played like 20 games each time. That is it. So he's around for 1/4 of a season for 3 seasons in a row, and is 36 lol. 

 

CP3 in a Rockets uniform would be amazing. I would be sad that that most likely means we have to move Lin though...Lin is such a good team member and hard worker. You can see his improvements (April he's like 40% from 3 pt range, 19 pts a game and 9 assists a game!) as the season goes on. A full summer of training? Man...

[RollingWave]

Blake Griffin this year so far has gotten better in every advanced stats category from his rookie year , granted it's not a huge jump, but he started off from a point where he was already a star caliber player. where do you see him jumping to? he's 7th in WS/48 and 8th in total win share, there is 3 players in the entire league that's significantly better than that, and one of them is his teammate. I think if your blaming Griffin for only being the best PF in the league, and not an other worldly one, is a pretty big problem given that he's basically better than Wade / Westbrook this year. or at least about the same (his RSPM is #9 as well.)

 

 

Lebron left because Cleveland couldn't pay him, and couldn't put a good enough team around him, he still single handedly brought the team into the finals once and the conference finals several other times. and I think it's safe to say that non of those Cleveland team had players even remotely comparable to David West / Tyson Chandler / Blake Griffin . And quite frankly there's no way that LA can't pay him, 

 

I still say the #1 issue is the coach on the Clippers as they don't have a clear plan past "let Chris Paul run whatever he wants" ,  but at the end of the day, it is very rare for a unanimous top 10 player to never gotten past the 2nd round in 7 season, let alone a top 5 one. and really, again, you can NOT say that Chris Paul never had good teammates.

 

Do I want him on the Rockets in a vacuum ?  YES!  I'm just pointing out that I think he's gotten a lot more pass so far his career than I think is justified.

[thejohnnygold]

We all like Chris Paul, but is he what this team needs?  I just can't wrap my head around what he will bring to the table that makes us significantly better....will we suddenly start averaging 120 ppg?  It is Harden who continues to be Mr. Turnover.  Lin has gotten his TO problem mostly under control.  Will Paul's bounce passes be so much better that Asik will never fumble them?  I don't mean to come across sardonically, but I think he is a redundancy and his value above what we already have at the position is limited given that it is already an area of strength.

 

A couple of months ago--shortly after Beverley's arrival--I did a comparison between the backcourt duo of Paul and Bledsoe versus Lin and Bev by production....the numbers, parred out to 48 min. production...were nearly identical.  From what I understand, Paul's defense is nothing to write home about so, again, what are we adding besides "stardom", a bigger contract, and veteran experience?  I know he can do a lot of amazing things on the offensive end...but so can Lin...I'm just not convinced the upgrade is as big as one might think.

 

Further, I still think we have yet to see Lin's ceiling.  I have high hopes for next year and expect that he is going to show marked improvement across the board. 

 

Should Paul come on board, I do hope we retain Lin as a back up, combo-guard behind Paul and Harden and he can take the 6th man role.  There is just too much to like about him to toss him aside.

 

Rollingwave, I agree that one has to question whether Paul is over-rated   Yup, I said it.  He has played on teams with enough talent that, if he is as good as perceived, should have accomplished more.  Technically, they are in 5th place in the West right now on a team with loads of talent.  I'm not saying he isn't a great PG, but that raises concerns for me.  Let's see how this year goes, but right now I'm on the fence and leaning...