re: Omer Asik ain't pretty but

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It's one of those things where the fans sitting at home say "I could have made that one." and then they get mad at him

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I guarantee you I have better post moves than him

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The Lin and Asik signings were huge blunders. He was in desperation mode to unload those contracts after the first season. You notice how nobody else has done a PP contract since.

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This is stupid. Lin, maybe but they only wanted to move Asik after they signed Dwight and he was not really needed. the temperature picked up because they were trying to clear cap space for a 3rd star.

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BS. Please don't try to sell that here. The only reason your team became relevant is because of Harden. It was a massive coup for your team and saved Morey's job. The Lin and Asik signings were huge blunders. He was in desperation mode to unload those contracts after the first season. You notice how nobody else has done a PP contract since.

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It's not BS. I said it on here two years ago.

When Harden would miss games, the team would still be competitive and could win games.

When Asik sat on the bench to rest, the team turned to complete crap. Worst defense in the league when Asik sat.

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You were the worst defensive team in the league that season, even with him

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They were mid pack.

Asik can't shoot. 53% in the RA is awful for a big man and isn't that good for an attacking guard. Yet he has a higher FG% at the rim than Evans, Gordon, and Rivers. Holiday barely beats him. That's your top 4 attacking guards and only one is better than a notorious zero on offense. Not sure how Asik is making these guys miss layups or take dumb shots.

Monty should play Asik more, not less. The defense is abominable when he sits. The offense sucks when he plays, but most of that is because he plays plenty of minutes with the bench. With starters, his Net Ratings are positive. When he's surrounded by the likes of Rivers, Salmons, Babbitt and Jimmer, it's Steimsma level offense.

Pull AD early in the 1st for Anderson, let Anderson and Asik play with Evans/Holiday. Pull one of the guards before the end of the quarter, then bring Davis back in the 2nd for Asik. Davis just might be good enough to turn the backup perimeter group into something resembling a basketball team. But Asik and Anderson aren't.

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You were the worst defensive team in the league that season, even with him. You won and got into the playoffs, because you had one of the best offenses. Taking away your leading scorer, who was one of the leading scorers in the league, would have hurt much worse. Harden led your team by over 10 ppg. He is the reason your team is one of the best teams in the league now. I get that you respect Asik for his contributions, but I don't buy it. Sorry..

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Not true at all.

The Rockets were smack in the middle defensively with a defensive rating of 106.1 which was 16th in the league.

The Rockets having bad defense was a myth. They were average.

With Asik on the court, the defensive rating was 104.2, which would be #10 in the league.

When Asik sat, the defensive rating was 110.0, good for 28th in the league.


So top 10 defense with him on the court, and 3rd last with him on the bench.

He was HUGE for the Rockets that year. The Rockets could score a lot of points even without Harden that year because of their pace.

Harden missed several games and the Rockets won more than they lost.

And as for Harden, the offense had a rating of 110.2 with him on the court and 109.6 with him sitting.

Not much difference.

They could still score without Harden, but there is no way they would win many games with the 3rd-worst defense like the would have had if they didn't have Asik.

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I just looked it up, they were 3rd from the bottom at 102.5 per game allowed (only Charlotte and the Kings were worse). They were second in scoring at 106.0 (Denver led the league at 106.1).

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Yeah. That's PPG. They averaged 98 possessions per game, so 102.5 PPG isn't that bad. They were tied for 16th in the league in DRating

Compare it to the then Hornets who averaged 91 possessions per game and gave up 98 PPG. That's a DRating of 107.6, good for 28th in the league

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As long as it doesn't cut into Davis's minutes. But other teams are going to adjust as well and match up their best players when Davis is on the court.

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The minutes shouldn't be a problem. And other teams may adjust, they may not. The strength of the team is the big man rotation. Clearly Davis is far superior to Anderson and Asik, but neither guy is a stiff. They can compete v most frontcourts in the league. They need perimeter help though- Davis doesn't need nearly that much help to dominate.

Edit- And at this point it is very obvious that the bench needs to blended with the starters throughout the game. Monty continuing to roll out lineups that don't feature at least one of Davis, Holiday, or Evans v 2nd units is arguably the dumbest thing he's ever done.

Differential matters but not total.

The Rockets gave up the 3rd most points because they played at such a fast pace that both the Rockets and the team they are playing get more possessions than most teams.

So yes, they gave up a lot of points, but that is because the opponents got a lot more scoring opportunities.

Some teams play slow and some play fast.

To put all teams on an even playing field, you measure every team by how many points they give up per 100 possessions.

That way, you can directly compare the defense of a slow team like Indiana with a fast team like the Rockets.

And when all teams are measured on an even playing field, the Rockets were 16th.

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To put all teams on an even playing field, you measure every team by how many points they give up per 100 possessions.

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No, this is how you and maybe some of the other people on here rate defense. Here is a link to the ESPN per game defensive team stats (LINK ). The first category is ppg. Its how normal, everyday fans monitor team defense and decide which team is better at it.

What you are trying to do is manipulate stats to prove a point. Such that pace isn't a factor. While I'm pretty sure that the Rockets played such a pace out of necessity and it was pre-planned (better in transition, depth, lack of front court, etc..). So you try to dial it back to cast your team in a better light. Its disingenuous.