Asik / LMA

[Monkhouse]

I wasn't saying Asik wasn't doing his best against Aldridge. when I said it should be Dwight's responsibility to defend Aldridge, it should be. Aldridge is insane to begin with but in this series you'd think someone on Houston kicked his grandma. So you'd think the guy who has won the defensive player of the yr. award would and should be up for the challenge?

personally I think Dwight is a twit who will never get it(esp. at this point). he's the ultimate garbage man and he should have embraced that a long time ago. instead, before gm 2 he comes out and says "gimme the ball!!!". the game was over right there. he should have said "I got Aldridge!!!". everything kobe believed about Dwight is true.

I don't disagree with anything that you said, but I would still be through the moon if we ever were able to get Dwight to the Celtics...I guess I'm a total sell-out 

Don't want Howard anymore on this team...

Hes going to be 29 this year, and while hes a great shot blocker, where are his post moves? He still doesn't have any refined post moves, and if he didn't have such a strong body, and crazy vertical for his size... Last night he did show some array of moves, but they were moves that any great defender like Noah/Gasol has stopped in the past.

I would prefer us to try to get Marc Gasol/Noah.

Those two are not only great defensive leaders, but excellent at passing. Something that surprises me considering Howard, despite being double teamed in Magic, has never ever eclipsed more than 2 APG.

Not too many players can fight Father time, and Howard is going to definitely hit rock bottom the moment hes past the age of 32/33.

[LooseCannon]

It seems like some people perceive Asik as this big white stiff who clogs the middle, when he's actually a big man with good mobility whose defensive prowess comes from being able to roam all over the court and being able to defend against the pick and roll (a skill where many see him as superior to Howard), not just camping out in the paint and living off of his (elite) post defense.

I think his defensive mentality probably makes Asik a better option than Howard for guarding Aldridge and even if Howard is slightly better, the need for Howard to save some energy for offense probably tips the preference to Asik.

[GreenWarrior]

I wasn't saying Asik wasn't doing his best against Aldridge. when I said it should be Dwight's responsibility to defend Aldridge, it should be. Aldridge is insane to begin with but in this series you'd think someone on Houston kicked his grandma. So you'd think the guy who has won the defensive player of the yr. award would and should be up for the challenge?

personally I think Dwight is a twit who will never get it(esp. at this point). he's the ultimate garbage man and he should have embraced that a long time ago. instead, before gm 2 he comes out and says "gimme the ball!!!". the game was over right there. he should have said "I got Aldridge!!!". everything kobe believed about Dwight is true.

I don't disagree with anything that you said, but I would still be through the moon if we ever were able to get Dwight to the Celtics...I guess I'm a total sell-out 

Don't want Howard anymore on this team...

Hes going to be 29 this year, and while hes a great shot blocker, where are his post moves? He still doesn't have any refined post moves, and if he didn't have such a strong body, and crazy vertical for his size... Last night he did show some array of moves, but they were moves that any great defender like Noah/Gasol has stopped in the past.

I would prefer us to try to get Marc Gasol/Noah.

Those two are not only great defensive leaders, but excellent at passing. Something that surprises me considering Howard, despite being double teamed in Magic, has never ever eclipsed more than 2 APG.

Not too many players can fight Father time, and Howard is going to definitely hit rock bottom the moment hes past the age of 32/33.

I don't even care about his offense at this point. should he be a dominant offensive player? absolutely! but he's not and he never will be, he is what he is. at this point he's more of detriment on offense because he becomes a black hole...with the occasional kick out to someone on the perimeter. he should be averaging 30+ in this series, getting 20 or more on just out hustling the other players & getting 10 between free throws and the rare post up opportunity.

it's his defense, hustle and thought process that kills his game these days. like I said in my previous post he comes out and says "gimme the ball!!!" when he should've said "I got Aldridge!!!". he thinks he needs to be Olajuwon on the offensive end, which would be great if he had Olajuwons' game, and actually tried to learn to become that offensive powerhouse he should've been. but he didn't. if kevin McHale and hakeem Olajuwon can't improve your offense then throw in the towel and work on what you're already good at and be more dominant in that area.

[PhoSita]

It seems like some people perceive Asik as this big white stiff

Sometimes I think that's how most people perceive any white big man with a European sounding name who hasn't made an All-Star team.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

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

This.

Asik is a great help defender, a rim protector and a glass cleaner.

You put him again ts a PF who can hit 20 foot jumpers and has the skills down low as well, he'll have a hard time.

[Who]

I would prefer us to try to get Marc Gasol/Noah.

Those two are not only great defensive leaders, but excellent at passing. Something that surprises me considering Howard, despite being double teamed in Magic, has never ever eclipsed more than 2 APG.

I think Dwight Howard is a strong passer out of the low post. Deals with double teams well. He didn't when he was younger but his last 2-3 years in Orlando he worked on it a lot and showed good improvement. Dwight just didn't get many assists from passing out of the low post because there is usually a defensive rotation to the initial perimeter player receiving the pass + then the perimeter player would have to swing the ball and it would be 1-2 sometimes even 3 passes made before Orlando got a shot out of it. So Dwight helped create the space and facilitated the shot with his passing out of the low post but few assists because first pass rarely led to shot which is normal.

What I would like to see Dwight develop -- passing wise -- is his high post passing. From the elbows and above FT line. Has shown only basic passing ability from that area of the court. That is a drawback in his game. It would at least give him some value away from the basket despite not being able to make a jump-shot regularly.

[hpantazo]

As others have mentioned, the fault lies with Dwight Howard and McHale, not Asik. I knew Howard was a clueless loser, but I'm surprised at McHale's ineptness as a coach.

[Who]

Asik vs Aldridge = good defense, better offense

[KGs Knee]

I gotta say, I knew most would take the easy way out and simply blame Dwight.  It's laughable, but expected.

http://www.youtube.com/v/wpevt7MlAnY?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0

Watch closely, you'll see a number of good post moves.   The claim he has no post moves is outdated and plain wrong.  He's not Al Jefferson, but he's not Omar Asik either.

As for his defense, well, the way Aldridge is playing right now, no one could stop him.  The age old adage, "good offense beats good defense" still holds true to this day.  I would like to see Dwight step up a bit more and take the challenge personally, and limit LMA a bit, though.

Dwight has been doing more than his part these first two games, but this vitriol towards him is expected.  Funny that Dwight gets all the blame for losses, but Harden gets the credit for wins.  Interesting how that works.  One player has been putting up huge numbers so far, while the other has laid a coupe of duds.

[KGs Knee]

What I would like to see Dwight develop -- passing wise -- is his high post passing. From the elbows and above FT line. Has shown only basic passing ability from that area of the court. That is a drawback in his game. It would at least give him some value away from the basket despite not being able to make a jump-shot regularly.

This I do agree with.

Otherwise, he just 'floats' if he's on the perimeter, if he's not setting picks.  There's no point for him to be out there, except to take his man away from the rim.  If he's not occupying a defender, it doesn't accomplish what the point of him being out there intends.  I also wish he'd get back to playing more in the PnR, though, too.  Him and Harden should be devastating in the PnR, but McHale doesn't draw up many for those two. 

[Who]

What I would like to see Dwight develop -- passing wise -- is his high post passing. From the elbows and above FT line. Has shown only basic passing ability from that area of the court. That is a drawback in his game. It would at least give him some value away from the basket despite not being able to make a jump-shot regularly.

This I do agree with.

Otherwise, he just 'floats' if he's on the perimeter, if he's not setting picks.  There's no point for him to be out there, except to take his man away from the rim.  If he's not occupying a defender, it doesn't accomplish what the point of him being out there intends.  I also wish he'd get back to playing more in the PnR, though, too.  Him and Harden should be devastating in the PnR, but McHale doesn't draw up many for those two.

I read some statistic the other day that showed Harden rarely passes to his roll man on the PnR. One of the most infrequent passers in the PnR to roll man (Steph Curry was most frequent if I recall correctly). Maybe that is why McHale doesn't put them together.

Here is the link that someone else posted the other day -- click here

The guy least likely to pass to the screener is James Harden (27.2 percent). So when they come off pick-and-rolls, Curry is twice as likely to pass to the screener than Harden is. After Harden comes Carmelo Anthony (27.4 percent), James (28.0 percent), Jrue Holiday (29.0 percent) and Tyreke Evans (30.3 percent).

[BballTim]

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

  This.

[LooseCannon]

How are people rating Asik's performance upon being inserted into the startling lineup for Game 3, with the Rockets winning as Aldridge shoots 8-22 for 23 points?

[fairweatherfan]

How are people rating Asik's performance upon being inserted into the startling lineup for Game 3, with the Rockets winning as Aldridge shoots 8-22 for 23 points?

I think Asik's performance was basically the same in Game 2 and 3, though the Rockets as a team did a better job keeping the ball away from Aldridge.  But Aldridge got a lot of the same (tough) looks, and couldn't consistently make them this time.

That's not to say Asik isn't guarding well, just that the percentages caught up to Aldridge. Game 2 was good defense and better shooting.  Game 3 was good defense and worse shooting.

[footey]

Aldridge played out of his mind the first two games. Bill Russell couldn't have stopped him. Asik has played good defense all three games. McHale should have played him with Howard earlier, they would probably be ahead in the series right now.  Portland played two big guys the same time, Aldridge and Lopez, and McHale failed to match up until game 3.