Asik / LMA

[cons]

Anyone else feeling a little less enthusiastic about Asik?
 for a guy who's supposed to be a defensive big he's getting torched in historic fashion by lamarcus aldridge.
 gotta figure this decreases his value a bit

im hoping they can do something a bit bigger than getting Asik - i think he's a bit more hype than reality.

[Birdman]

I never was a big fan of Asik..

[Celtics18]

I'm still a fan of Asik.  I don't think anybody could have done much about the incredible shooting performance that "Dirk" Aldridge has been putting up. 

[sofutomygaha]

Houston is generally a savvy organization. I think a lot of us have had a sneaking suspicion that one reason he played so little this year is that his perceived value would go down. Guys Asik's size are volatile  commodities because of the fragility of their backs and joints. In Asik's case, his knees have been a problem but the nature of the injury has been reported as some kind of mystery where they just swell up inexplicably, baffling the team doctors.

Houston got to the point where they were forced to give up on this gambit and let Asik play out his rehabilitation on the court. It's still mysterious, but what is clear is that right now he's not as good as he was a couple years ago. It's not a matter of Asik having been overrated. It's a matter of not really knowing where his body is at right now and where it's going.

[kozlodoev]

LaMarcus Aldridge is good. This season, he's especially good.

[PhoSita]

LaMarcus Aldridge is a stretch power forward.  Asik is not meant to be covering players like that.

[GreenWarrior]

I don't really follow other teams until the playoffs and a handful of games during the reg. season. so until this season I hadn't really heard of Asik.

I did catch him a couple times this yr. before facing Aldridge and thus far I really haven't been impressed. maybe him coming off his injury is the issue and Aldridge is just a bad match up for anyone but he shouldn't be asked to defend him, Dwight should be that guy.

with that said, in the east this guy might have more of an impact. from what little I have seen of him he seems to just be a tall body in the west.

[pearljammer10]

LaMarcus Aldridge is good. This season, he's especially good.

Yeah I don't think it's a matter of Asik under performing, I think it's a matter of LMA proving he's an absolute stud.

Plus: Asik should be protecting the rim, not playing out on a guy like LMA

[fairweatherfan]

Aldridge was ridiculous last night but most of his makes on Asik were 12-15 foot fallaways with a hand in his face.  Not like he was beasting Asik down low or taking him off the dribble.  Very tough shots to defend better than Asik did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMFV7WFtHm0

[Fafnir]

Only way to defend Alridge better would be to deny him the ball very aggressively. I don't think either Howard/Asik is up for that.

[LooseCannon]

I saw Asik strongly contesting shots and forcing Aldridge to take several fadeaway jumpers that he just nailed.  LMA isn't scoring because he is being poorly defended (at least not by Asik, who is doing a better job than Dwight Howard or Terrence Jones), but because he is just making shots.

Aldridge is tough to defend because over 40% of his shots in the regular season were long twos and a lot of bigs are uncomfortable defending out that far.  Asik, as a center, is seen as the Rockets' best option for guarding Aldridge, a power forward, because his mobility allows him to defend beyond the paint.

[Monkhouse]

1) LMA went on a CRAZY stretch. Also Terrence Jones was guarding him in the first game, and snippets of the second game which he scored around 18-20 points on him... At that point the only way to stop LMA is to double team, and pray someone misses a 3.

2) Asik is a Center. LMA is a PF that thrives on the mid range. Asik isn't going to be able to keep up with him every time, because if you saw the game, you would see Asik was also trying to help on defense due to James Harden.

3) I repeat LMA went on a crazy stretch. I don't think anyone could have stopped that. Not even Lebron/Gasol/Ibaka.

4) McFail is a terrible coach. Howard should have been on him, and there should have been double teams with consistent switching to cut off LMA passing out. Asik can guard LMA, but last night, there was just no stopping him, and at some point you gotta switch defenders.

5) Also I don't know if you saw the same game I did... But Asik was contesting most shots, and half of his shots were fade-away jumpers that just miraculously went in.

[gpap]

Anyone else feeling a little less enthusiastic about Asik?
 for a guy who's supposed to be a defensive big he's getting torched in historic fashion by lamarcus aldridge.
 gotta figure this decreases his value a bit

im hoping they can do something a bit bigger than getting Asik - i think he's a bit more hype than reality.

Yes and no. Getting a guy like Asik would be nice but I wouldn't be crushed if they didn't get him either

My problem with Asik is he's limited offensively and would prefer a big who can score like Greg Monroe.

However, rating him upon his defense of LMA is problematic as Aldridge is playing out of his mind right now and is going to get himself a MAJOR pay day when he hits FA.

Matter of fact, come to think of it, I want to see the Celts compete next year in the worse way.

However, if DA decides to tank another year so he can free up as much as cap space as possible to make LMA a signficant offer in 2015, I would actually understand.

I don't know if this is possible but imagine if DA clears up enough space for 2015 where he goes out and pulls a Pat Riley and lands Aldridge AND Kevin Love OR Marc Gasol along with an extended Rondo.

[PhoSita]

Aldridge was ridiculous last night but most of his makes on Asik were 12-15 foot fallaways with a hand in his face.  Not like he was beasting Asik down low or taking him off the dribble.  Very tough shots to defend better than Asik did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMFV7WFtHm0

Yeah that was my thought too, after watching the highlights.  Not sure Asik could have done a whole heck of a lot more.  Aldridge was on fire from the lowest percentage part of the floor.  Good defense means giving him those shots, within reason.  He just couldn't miss.

[jambr380]

I am not going to judge Asik's abilities on one series where Aldridge is playing out of his mind, but I feel as though he has always been a little overrated by some on this board. I have heard the word, 'elite', used several times when describing him as a rim defender. While I understand that he was certainly in that category last year during his coming out party, he has yet to show that he can be one of the best year in and year out.

We as Celtics fans have been in desperate need of somebody who can hold down the fort down low. If Asik is the guy, then I will go along with it (although I don't know if Wyc will for $15 mill next year), but we should look at other possibilities as well as Asik might not be the guy we have all been pining for.