82 replies to this topic

[SadLakerFan]

It's laughable that you think Howard can create his own shot. He's 2nd to last at points per post ups in the league at the moment (right in front of Pau Gasol ironically). Parsons is debatable. His pump fake is great and he more often than not is able to get in the lane, but he also lacks the ability to straight up get by the opponent a la Harden or Lin. In fact, I found most of Parsons shots come from him spotting up, slashing, or as a secondary pick and roll option.

 

 

I watched the Lakers all year last year, so I understand the frustration.  Dwight in the low post isn't pretty, but there is so much pure physical ability that he should be allowed to work on his game because that's what he wants to do.  In any event, last time I looked, the Rockets weren't having a terribly difficult time scoring. 

[Chai]

You're not wrong, but having Howard post up is not about dominating every game on the inside.  It is about match-ups and play-offs.  Let's say we run into OKC again.  Just the mere threat of Howard in the post forces Perkins into the lineup because Collison and Ibaka will struggle to guard him down low.  The odds are this doesn't affect our offense very much since Dwight isn't destroying people inside like he used to.  What it does do is alter OKC's offense.  Perkins is looking worse than Asik these days on offense and struggles to finish around the rim (shooting 47% and that is on dunks and put backs).  This gives OKC one less shooter on the court and crowds the floor where Westbrook and Durant like to operate.  Going back to defense, this moves Ibaka out of the paint and to the wings where he is much less useful.

 

All in all, Dwight Howard posting up creates a net benefit in my mind.  He still needs an entry pass to get it started so I guess your point stands that Howard cannot create his own shot...other than that, it serves more purposes than just putting points on the board.  Just my two cents.

I do agree with most of what you said. The only thing I'd like to add is that outside of OKC, I really can't see another contender that would suffer a setback by slotting in a big C at least capable of slowing down Dwight (Portland = Lopez, Clippers = Jordan, Spurs = Tiago/Duncan, GSW = Bogut). However, in the case of OKC, if they've been this successful running with Perkins for the past few seasons... I really can't see them doing much worse running perkins against dwight for a series.

[rm90025]

 

Beverley..

Has not had a game where he committed more than 3 turnovers. Lin has had 3 games with 5 turnovers and 1 each with 6 and 8 TOs. Or 47 TOs this season for Lin and 27 for Beverley. You could break it down more and say Lin has played 496 minutes and committed 47 turnovers, that’s one TO every 10 minutes of play time. Whereas Beverley has played 648 minutes and committed 27 turnovers, 1 TO for every 24 minutes of play. Lin’s propensity for coughing the ball up so often easily outweighs the little margin of advantage over Bev he may have in the assist totals column. The PPG discrepancy between them is easily made up for by Bev with the impact he has defending starting PGs...

 

I posted this on TDS after the POR loss. The Rockets don't need a scorer starting at PG, nor do they need a facilitator. They need someone who can defend (check+), protect the ball (check+), and capitalize on opportunities that come his way in the natural flow of the game, e.g, rebounds, blocks, steals, etc... (check+)... Beverley fits our need there perfectly IMO. Lin's only advantage over Beverley is his ability to create his own shot. Hey, Brooks can create his own shot too!

 

For the right piece, Lin is definitely expendable and easily replaceable compared to other PGs in his salary range. So if he is part of the "inevitable" Omer package, I would neither be shocked nor disappointed.

 

To put Beverley in perspective, in the 9 games since Lin's injury, Beverley has played over 30 minutes per game, has scored in double figures 3 times, shot over 40% once, is under 30% from the 3 pt. line, has averaged more fouls than assists, and has an assist/TO ratio of less than 2:1.    He has also never outscored/out-assisted his PG counterparts and has been clearly been overmatched (even if you want to be charitable and give him props for his 'pestiness') at both ends of the floor in at least one-half of his games. He is not a quality NBA starting PG.