By Paul Williamson
The Houston Rockets are set for lift-off.
(Hey Rocket fans, I bet you have not read that line before…)
After years of being stuck in NBA purgatory, (not good enough to contend, not bad enough for draft picks) Houston has arrived as a legitimate title contender after the signing of Dwight Howard.
Howard joins a Houston squad that already features rising stars in James Harden and Chandler Parsons. The duo will really help spread the floor for Howard to operate down-low.
How good will Houston be? Let us take a look at five key questions that will help determine the legitimacy of Houston’s hype.
Will Dwight Howard stay happy and be effective for Houston?
Dwight Howard has an infamous reputation for being a drama queen. He constantly is looking to try and make everyone happy because Howard cares about his self-image.
This was apparent when he was in Orlando and he inexplicably opted into another year with them when everyone knew he wanted out.
He was the face of the franchise and very successful. Howard carried a sub-par roster to a finals appearance.
But that sub-par roster was the breaking point for Dwight, as he wanted out of Orlando, and went about it the most terrible way.
In Los Angeles, he was plagued with injuries, had to deal with Kobe Bryant, and the nice and friendly Los Angeles media.
In Houston, however, he will not have Kobe openly (and I’m sure privately) criticizing him. He will not have the L.A. media, and Howard definitely will not have a sub-par roster.
The excuses stop here for him. This is a make or break couple of years for Howard, and I bet he knows that.
He has the talent around him, now. What made him so successful in Orlando was the abundance of three-point shooters (Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis).
It allowed Howard to suck the defense in around him in the paint to leave the sharp-shooters open.
However, Orlando lacked help for Howard defensively. Replace the cement shoe wearing of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu with the athleticism of Chandler Parsons and Terrence Jones.
Houston also has a whole of bunch of three-point shooters. On top of Harden, Parsons, Jones, Jeremy Lin , and Patrick Beverly, Rocket General Manager Daryl “dork Elvis” Morey re-signed Francisco Garcia and Aaron Brooks, drafted Isaiah Canaan, and signed Reggie Williams, Omri Casspi, and Ronnie Brewer.
I have no problem with each and every one of those players shooting a wide-open three after Howard kicks it out to them to beat a double-team.
What is Omer Asik’s value to the team?
Houston went out of their way with their “poison pill” contract offer to Asik when they stole him from the Chicago Bulls last off-season.
Asik was fantastic averaging a double-double in his first full year as a starter (10.1 ppg and 11.7 rpg).
However, after the signing of Howard, Asik was not happy.
And, understandably so. He played backup to Joakim Noah and performed so well when he got the chance to start in Houston.
Now he is back on the bench and he is not happy forcing the trade winds to swirl.
Howard and Harden both went to Daryl Morey and requested for Asik to stay.
Asik remains a Rocket for now.
The power forward position for Houston is promising, but potentially a glaring weakness.
If Houston desperately needs a power forward around the trade deadline, they may need to part ways with Asik to get him. But if Howard and Harden continue to pressure Morey to keep Asik, then it might become an issue.
However, keeping him for the whole season might not be a bad idea either because Dwight Howard is injury prone.
Houston Rocket fans know all about stars that have injury issues (Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady).
If Howard goes down, fans should be relieved Asik is the backup.
It really is a win-win situation for Houston when it comes to Asik. He will be a valuable person for Houston this season.
So what about the power forward position?
There are four players that I project will log minutes at the four-spot in Houston.
Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, Omer Asik, Chandler Parsons, Greg Smith.
The primary power forwards will probably be Jones, D-Mo, and Smith with Parsons playing against smaller lineups and Asik against bigger lineups.
I really like both Jones and Motiejunas.
Jones is solidly built at 6’9”-252 and is strong. He has the ability to hit the open three. He is big and strong enough to guard traditional power forwards but is athletic enough to guard small forwards. That kind of flexibility is very valuable in today’s NBA.
Motiejunas is someone I have always liked since Houston traded for him after the 2011 draft.
He is 7’0” but moves unlike other traditional seven-footers. He has passing skills that remind me a lot of Pau Gasol. He has the potential to be a huge threat on the offensive end because of that. He will be able to hit the Rocket’s guards cutting to the basket, something Jeremy Lin loves to do, or hit the open perimeter shooters.
His down side right now is his defense. He is aggressive and collects a lot of fouls. If he can learn to be smarter, he might not be so bad.
Greg Smith is also very interesting. He is a bruiser down low and has a great motor on defense. He hustles and plays hard. He is someone you hate to face and love to have on your team. Smith is the type of player whose impact is not going to show up on the stat sheet.
He is limited offensively and cannot really score more than 6 feet from the basket.
Houston is going to need at least one of these three players to have a breakout season and solidify the four-spot. Last year guys like Jones and Motiejunas were good for stretches and awful for others. The Rockets are going to need them to find their groove in the NBA to help this team contend.
If not, I think you may see Morey go against the wishes of Harden and Howard and trade Asik (or Lin) for a power forward.
Who is the ‘X-factor’ for Houston?
Everyone knows about Howard and Harden. However, titles are not won with just one or two players, no matter what guys like Kobe Bryant will tell you.
Someone is going to have to step up their game this year and really take some of the load off of the two co-stars.
I think there are a few candidates. Jones and Motiejunas are players that have the potential to be it.
But the answer is Chandler Parsons.
The second round draft pick out of Florida is the best value in the NBA. He is in the third year of a second round draft pick contract.
In other words, he is not making that much.
He is an efficient scorer. He shot almost 49 percent last year scoring 15.5 per contest, including over 18 points per game in the playoffs.
Parsons also plays really good defense. He is quick with good size at 6’9”-227. He is athletic and stretches the floor real nicely.
With defenses worried about James Harden and Dwight Howard, Parsons is going to have the opportunity to become a big time part of the offense.
Is Jeremy Lin the answer at point guard?
Lin had his troubles last year. He was not even close to being the player he was as a Knick to make him a household name.
He shot just over 44 percent from the field last year, something that he has to improve. Lin also seemed to force the issue a lot last year and took many ill-advised shots.
Even though he had good steal numbers, his defense is lacking. He gets eaten up off the dribble and is lost in pick-and-roll situations.
Toward the middle of the season, Rocket’s head coach Kevin McHale started playing backup point guard Patrick Beverly more and more. The offense ran a bit smoother with him out there and his defense was solid, despite his size (he’s just a generous 6’1”-175).
Beverly is a better shooter than Lin, which makes him more potent offensively. However, I think Lin is a better pick-and-roll point guard, something that should make him more deadly paired up with Howard, instead of Asik’s oven mitt hands.
However, if Beverly continues to improve, I would expect to hear more Lin trade rumors, especially if Aaron Brooks, or rookie Isaiah Canaan prove they can handle backup point guard duties.
Lin needs to improve his jumper, shot selection, and defense if he is going to be the answer at point guard. He most certainly can do it and has the ability and potential. I saw a lot of good things out of Lin toward the end of the season last year so hopefully he can keep that up.
Is Kevin McHale a championship head coach?
The answer to this question is tricky.
Very tricky.
He has had a lot of roster turnover since he arrived in Houston.
The only player he still has since coming to Houston in May of 2011 is Chanlder Parsons.
That’s it, in just two seasons.
He inherited Kevin Martin and Luis Scola and now has James Harden and Dwight Howard.
McHale has not had the luxury of working with a core group of players for more than one season at a time.
However, he has always had the Rockets either in the playoffs or in the hunt for the playoffs. He was able to find ways to make up for Kevin Matin’s ‘ole!’ defense and Scola’s aging corpse, defensively (he was still serviceable offensively).
Last year he was given James Harden with just days before the regular season. In the NBA, that’s a huge challenge. Team cohesion is critical. Just ask the Spurs and Lakers, each were opposite extremes of cohesiveness last season.
I would say he did a phenomenal job, defying all the critics and reaching the playoffs.
Now, he has all he could ever ask for. He has the talent.
I think it’s tough to demand a ring, or even a finals appearance.
But if Houston does not make it to the conference finals, is that a ‘red line’ for the firing of Kevin Mchale?
Loading ...