The Houston Rockets Thread

[CKR13]

According to the Houston Chronicle, the Rockets are interested in veteran forward Stephen Jackson, who was waived by the San Antonio Spurs last season.

[CKR13]

Jeremy Lin arrives in Taiwan, his parents' country. Chinese Taipei recently finished fourth in the recent 27th FIBA Asia and the federation stated that they would have aggressively recruited him had they qualified to the 2014 world cup. Also, Lin's documentary, Linsanity will be premiering in Taiwan.

[alex15]

The Rockets have added Marcus Camby again. Does this mean Asik is out?

http://www.interbasket.net/news/1278...-marcus-camby/

100% he's out

[CKR13]

I read an interesting snippet about the Rockets experimenting with Dwight Howard at the power forward position and that allows Omer Asik to start at center and appease him by all means.

Howard started his career with the Magic back in the 2004-2005 season where he played PF as centers back then were Kelvin Cato, Tony Battie and Andrew Declerq. Mario Kasun, I vaguely remember also playing some center. Back then, Howard was the only productive PF as the likes of Brandon Hunter and Michael Bradley would not just cut it. Pat Garrity backed up Howard at PF.

[UMUT_FB_LAL]

He will only be a PF on paper but a C on the floor along with Omer, Omer has more skills for the PF position than he does in the first place. Stupid move, the Rockets didn't need Howard at all who hasn't got a winner mentality or game intelligence. They were a really exciting team last year but know they're fucking it up.

[CKR13]

It is given that Asik has a much more polished low post / back to the basket game compared to Howard, who is still has a tendency to lean on athleticism like the dunk to score on the low post. Now, this is a way of the Rockets in trying to keep Asik within the team and giving him a starter's position so he can contribute.

But I see this not working out, Howard is not a dependable jump shooter and when Asik and Howard are both in the paint, stagnation of the offense can happen if the opposing team zones up. Then there's spacing where Asik and Howard together will clog the paint, limiting the baseline attacks of James Harden and Jeremy Lin.

[Levenspiel]

I also have doubts about this strategy. Obviously two different level players, but with similar strengths (rebs, defense, etc) and weaknesses (terrible FT%, no range, etc), forced to play together?

I see that Houston does not wanna let Omer go, as they have been more than pleased with him; but I guess this will eventually happen.

[UMUT_FB_LAL]

I also have doubts about this strategy. Obviously two different level players, but with similar strengths (rebs, defense, etc) and weaknesses (terrible FT%, no range, etc), forced to play together?

I see that Houston does not wanna let Omer go, as they have been more than pleased with him; but I guess this will eventually happen.

Dwight is a better scorer and a tad better defender and much better blocker. But he might show up to play well one game and disappear for a while. Omer is much more stable and does all little things to help his team. His defense is solid to good, he sets screens, he understands the systems very well and is intelligent, his finishing gets better and better and he even has a mid-range jumpshot. He is also a very underrated passer, his breakaway passes that start fast breaks are very good. His ft shooting has also vastly improved. He can improve on receiving balls better though, sometimes he fumbles passes he gets.

Omer Asik makes teams that he plays for much more stable and solid, he gets the system going, and James Harden is the star of that system. Dwight can put up big numbers but he can either help a team or he can really hold them back and hurt them. The system is clear. Two big guys and three guys that can penetrate and shoot the three, very similar to what the Lakers had in their recent successes. The Lakers also had a better Harden (Kobe) and a general that did anything (Odom) though (will this be Parsons for the Rockets? a promising player, that's for sure), and a very deep bench and experience. This Rockets plan might just work, since they had a solid, deep rotation last year with a lot of promise, but it depends on how much of it stays. Dwight might just have a great year, he's a very sensitive guy and maybe there was too much pressure on him in LA, his feelings for redemption might just set him free.

[Levenspiel]

Yep, I fully agree. Even if not at Howard's superstar level, Omer is an awesome and possibly more reliable player... but I cannot blame Rockets for signing Howard. That's an opportunity you cannot miss... (but may regret a few years later..)

[durden_tyler]

Rockets are just hyping Asik to get maximum value in a trade.

Asik is a good, effective player but really a very, very bad fit alongside Howard. Between the two, it's a no-brainer who you want to be getting 35-40 minutes a night. The first good trade Morey sees this season and he'll bite-- especially when they see the struggles if they pair the two in the frontcourt.

Asik for Ryan Anderson sounds like a very good deal for both clubs, i see it happening already.

[NorCal]

Asik may be a more steady player and he is one of my favorite, more underrated players in the league. However, he is not Dwight. Even with Howard's struggles last year, his ceiling is so much higher and the difference in shot blocking has been shown time and again to be an extremely important part of almost all great defensive teams.

Howard's back to the basket moves are actually underrated, IMO. Most of the advanced stats show he's actually quite effective in that area, especially when he's been surrounded by great outside shooters as he was on the Magic teams and as he should be with the Rockets. Its just that his moves aren't very fluid and he has absolutely no range so people tend to think he's ineffective but he's been a very good post scorer for years. He's also an absolute beast in the pick and roll, something that L.A. didn't take advantage of. I expect Houston to run a lot of pick and rolls with Howard/Harden and Howard/Lin. Howard has some glaring weaknesses in his game, and combined with his so-so last season (which was only 50% his fault IMO) has actually made him an undervalued player, IMO.

And I don't think there's any way you could play Howard and Asik together for long stretches, not unless you are using them to counter a particularly strong frontcourt on the opposing team. Spacing is just way too important in the NBA these days and they wouldn't have enough space with both of those guys on the floor at the same time.

Whether this team trades Asik or not depends on how the team is meshing and, of course,what they are looking to be able to get back for him. The Rockets have a lot of nice, young players, and there's a good chance they may land a stretch four or a key backup at the wing without having to move Omer. And as for Omer's reported unhappiness with the Rockets trading for Howard- if the Rockets are winning a lot of games, that tends to heal bad feelings. I personally think they'll finish 3rd or 4th in the West this year and will be out in the 2nd round. Then, next year, with one more key piece (I have a lot of faith in Morey to land one more key piece) and one more year of development, this team could be fighting for the Western Conference crown.

[Daniel J]

The Rockets add defensive specialist Ronnie Brewer!

http://www.interbasket.net/news/13062/2013/08/rockets-sign-ronnie-brewer/

[alex15]

I read an interesting snippet about the Rockets experimenting with Dwight Howard at the power forward position and that allows Omer Asik to start at center and appease him by all means.

Howard started his career with the Magic back in the 2004-2005 season where he played PF as centers back then were Kelvin Cato, Tony Battie and Andrew Declerq. Mario Kasun, I vaguely remember also playing some center. Back then, Howard was the only productive PF as the likes of Brandon Hunter and Michael Bradley would not just cut it. Pat Garrity backed up Howard at PF.

they can have howard in the 4 spot, but the only problem is they run the dribble drive offense you need shooters.

[CKR13]

they can have howard in the 4 spot, but the only problem is they run the dribble drive offense you need shooters.

I believe that their new offense being conjured by Kevin McHale is a Horns Set that deviates from the turnover prone Dribble Drive Offense. When we think of the Horns set, the most potent one is Sergio Scariolo's horns set with the Gasol brothers. Since Asik and Howard does not have the consistency of Pau Gasol's shot, the horns set that will be implemented could go way back to the glory days of McHale, Robert Parish and Larry Bird.

This means old school sets of high percentage post plays with a bigman pinned to the weakside low block and T-strikes out to an elbow screen for a cutter. Other post player actively screens in the high arc to either duck or roll to the basket. Arc cutters of flashers can quickly ping the ball to the bigman holding the low post. Roving out bigman can play trailer catch once he dives to the basket for a ping reward. Bill Fitch started that one with the McHale, Parish and Bird. KC Jones capitalized on it too.

Modern example is last season's Detroit Pistons squad with Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond up front. Indiana was forced to play a bit of horns set as the Quad set was less potent without Granger.

Back to Houston, Harden and Lin being guards, will find it imperative to navigate the offense better without the ball.

[alex15]

I believe that their new offense being conjured by Kevin McHale is a Horns Set that deviates from the turnover prone Dribble Drive Offense. When we think of the Horns set, the most potent one is Sergio Scariolo's horns set with the Gasol brothers. Since Asik and Howard does not have the consistency of Pau Gasol's shot, the horns set that will be implemented could go way back to the glory days of McHale, Robert Parish and Larry Bird.

This means old school sets of high percentage post plays with a bigman pinned to the weakside low block and T-strikes out to an elbow screen for a cutter. Other post player actively screens in the high arc to either duck or roll to the basket. Arc cutters of flashers can quickly ping the ball to the bigman holding the low post. Roving out bigman can play trailer catch once he dives to the basket for a ping reward. Bill Fitch started that one with the McHale, Parish and Bird. KC Jones capitalized on it too.

Modern example is last season's Detroit Pistons squad with Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond up front. Indiana was forced to play a bit of horns set as the Quad set was less potent without Granger.

Back to Houston, Harden and Lin being guards, will find it imperative to navigate the offense better without the ball.

Most of NBA teams runs the Horn or A set offense, Hopefully this will work. I always believe on Kevin McHale I think he is a good coach. But Dribble drive is more exciting to watch tho, By the way I just wanna ask if you don't mind, Your knowledge with all these plays are impressive, How do you know all of this stuff? thanks