GDT: Rockets at Mavericks 11/20/13 8:30 PM CST on ESPN

[Kante]

Originally Posted by Dirk's Knee

+1. Dalembert had a good stat line which hid a generally poor effort on the floor. At least he played some D in the 4th which is more than he usually does...

Man, you really hate Dalembert or? What is it with Blair and you...?

[dude1394]

Fans ragging on the only center worth a crap ( and I mean far and away ) is perplexing.

[GhostOfAdamMorrison]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Fans ragging on the only center worth a crap ( and I mean far and away ) is perplexing.

I'm not "ragging" on him. Dally has been a solid stop-gap this year. Certainly better than Kaman. I'm just stating that Howard abused him (when he hasn't been abusing other centers one on one).

[dude1394]

I daresay Howard hasn't played this well since I've been watching him tbh.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by dude1394

I daresay Howard hasn't played this well since I've been watching him tbh.

Cadbane will twist the facts to support whatever worldview he already has... Therefore, Dalembert is a scrub (of the "stop-gap" variety) because he couldn't shut down arguably the best center in the league. You lose.

[GhostOfAdamMorrison]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Cadbane will twist the facts to support whatever worldview he already has... Therefore, Dalembert is a scrub (of the "stop-gap" variety) because he couldn't shut down arguably the best center in the league. You lose.

That's the great thing about facts...they're precisely that. They can't be twisted.

But words...you're good at twisting those. Show me where I called Dalembert a scrub?

Here are the facts: Howard is shooting 33% on post-ups this year. Andrea Bargnani dominated him one on one. Howard had his best game of the year versus Dalembert. Make of them what you will, sad little man...

[Dirk's Knee]

Originally Posted by Kante

Man, you really hate Dalembert or? What is it with Blair and you...?

Originally Posted by Underdog

Cadbane will twist the facts to support whatever worldview he already has... Therefore, Dalembert is a scrub (of the "stop-gap" variety) because he couldn't shut down arguably the best center in the league. You lose.

You guys need to pay closer attention. Dwight's post game hasn't been good at all this year check out this quote from this very discussion:

Originally Posted by GhostOfAdamMorrison

Actually, I was being too generous. Howard has been GARBAGE in the post...which makes Dally look even worse.

Taken from a post on RealGM:

"To be blunt: Howard's post game is dead, or at least on life support, and if it doesn't recover, the Rockets run the serious risk of wasting a dozen possessions per game in order to keep the big fella happy. Howard has shot 20-of-60, or 33 percent, on post-up attempts this season, per Synergy Sports. That would have ranked 88th out of 92 players who recorded at least 75 post-up plays last season. He has turned over the ball on an astonishing 24 percent of his post-up chances this season, per Synergy. That would have ranked last among those 92 players last season.

This is not a startling trend. Here are Howard's post-up numbers for the preceding three seasons:

2010-11: 50.6 percent shooting, 14.5 percent turnover rate

2011-12: 49.9 percent shooting, 13.6 percent turnover rate

2012-13: 44.5 percent shooting, 18.2 percent turnover rate"

Additionally, Dalembert ranks 20th in the league among starting centers at opponent points in the paint. I realize he's an upgrade over last year, but he's a liability to any success in the playoffs this year. The Rockets game planned to expose our low post weakness. How many other teams are going to watch tape now and do the same? To answer Kante, Dalembert won't earn any love from me until he starts showing some scrappiness under the rim.

[grndmstr_c]

Originally Posted by Dirk's Knee

You guys need to pay closer attention. Dwight's post game hasn't been good at all this year check out this quote from this very discussion:



Additionally, Dalembert ranks 20th in the league among starting centers at opponent points in the paint. I realize he's an upgrade over last year, but he's a liability to any success in the playoffs this year. The Rockets game planned to expose our low post weakness. How many other teams are going to watch tape now and do the same? To answer Kante, Dalembert won't earn any love from me until he starts showing some scrappiness under the rim.

I'm just curious, is that after or before last night.

Also, not sure that was the Rockets' game plan that was the culprit. Daly played him (overly) soft to avoid fouls, and the Mavs gave him almost no help defensively. To the extent that (single) game plans determined the outcome of the Daly/Howard matchup, I'd argue the Mavs' game plan was by far the more critical factor.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Dirk's Knee

Additionally, Dalembert ranks 20th in the league among starting centers at opponent points in the paint. I realize he's an upgrade over last year, but he's a liability to any success in the playoffs this year.

Personally, I'd like to see more than 12 games from a guy on a new team before I started making predictions about how he'll perform in the playoffs.

[Dirk's Knee]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Personally, I'd like to see more than 12 games from a guy on a new team before I started making predictions about how he'll perform in the playoffs.

We gave up over 50 points in the paint to the the Rockets, T-Wolves, and the Thunder and rank 7th worst in the NBA in allowed points in the paint at 43.8 (right between 4 & 7 Wizards and 5 & 6 Nuggets). Sorry, but 12 games is enough to see that we need to improve substantially in that area.

[dude1394]

Man... It's not always the center issue there. If you are saying that we should have a dpoy at the center position, I agree. But other than that you are fussing about team defense IMO.

[Melonhead]

First quarter had like 5 layups. That's not a center problem. That's team defense. I want a head buster on the floor somewhere every now and then that's not afraid to D hard.