For the month of October, Mitch Pratt, Andrew Kasmarek and Charlie Tritschler will be previewing the NBA teams for the exciting 2013-2014 season.
What I know…
- Arguably had the best off-season of any team.
- Kevin McHale is a very good coach and it should be noted he has a toolbox of post moves that he will be coaching Dwight every day.
- The Drew League is LA’s coolest summer league. James Harden is the leagues coolest cat. Therefore, James Harden plays in the Drew League in the summer and things happen like rapper, The Game, throwing him dirty alley-oops. Enjoy.
Additions/Subtractions…
They added Dwight Howard. Howard was so soft last year. I am talking marshmallow soft. I am talking chinchilla soft[1]. He folded on the Los Angeles Lakers. Historically speaking, players do not just fold on the Lakers. He lacked efficiency on defense as in the past where he dominated on the defensive end. Howard had a hilariously bad free throw percentage (49%) and looked like he was really not feelin’ playing under Kobe’s intense scrutiny[2]. Despite all that, Dwight is still the best center in the league, Houston will not be nearly as intense as LA’s bright lights, and I would expect an older version of Dwight to arrive in Houston.
They lost Carlos Delfino. The verdict is out on this move. Delfino is a good player, and last year would aide the Rockets during crunch time at either wing position. However, I am not sure losing Carlos is going to derail what the Rockets are doing this season, but he has proven that he is reliable.
What I have been pondering….
I am mad at this team. They were about to be my Western Conference team, but then they had to add Dwight. And I do not have love for Dwight. Dwight has A LOT riding on this season. He needs to prove that he is reliable, worth the money, and worth all the headaches that he has caused owners, coaches and GM’s in Los Angeles and Orlando. Houston should be the best situation he has been in thus far in his career. From a personnel standpoint, they are loaded. Far and away the best group of teammates Dwight has landed as well as probably having the best chemistry. Harden, Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin and Patrick Beverley[3]in the backcourt. Omer Asik, and Donatas Montiejunas aiding him in the back, Dwight is protected. He can foul if he wants to and not worry about putting his team in defensive jeopardy. He can decide to disappear on offense for a while and Houston will still be able to score. And this is all before you remember that Kevin McHale is the coach of the Rockets. McHale, as written about in Bill Simmons’ Book of Basketball, has a laundry list of post moves. If Dwight can pick up one more move from McHale (I’M TALKING ONE MORE MOVE!!!) to pair with his spin-move-right that he does every time[4], he could become the unstoppable force everyone feared he would become when he took the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals.
Speaking of that Magic team, if Howard reverts to form, this team is eerily similar to the formula the Magic used back in 2009. The formula? Healthy/Motivated/Defensive Dwight + Go-To Offensive Playmaker/Actual Best Player (Hedo Turkoglu for Orlando, Harden for Houston) + Floor Stretcher (Rashard Lewis for Orlando, Parsons for Houston) + Sketchy over confident but making it work PG (Jameer Nelson for Orlando, Lin for Houston) +Awesome Athletic Foreign Back-up Center (Marcin Gortat for Orlando, Omer Asik for Houston). This is something to keep an eye on.
Unrelated to the comparison of Orlando and Houston, Montiejunas is the man. He is 7 feet tall, he is athletic as hell, he is a lefty, and I think he is going to rule. I am excited to see what this guy can bring to the table. Especially if Dwight decides to be a sally and sit out a bunch of games for hurt shoulders or bad cramps. He is a good passer and I think is going to be worth a couple of “WTF who is this guy?” SportsCenter moments.
Prediction…
I see a lot of good Dwight this year. I think these guys are a four seed in the least, and will absolutely challenge the San Antonio Spurs for the Southwest Division this year. I think the Coach of the Year comes to Houston, not that McHale wants to hear that given the recent history of Coach of the Year award winners. Additionally, I am seeing a little playoff run in these boys too.
Fear the Beard, but still boo Dwight.
~Andrew
[1] In case you are wondering chinchillas are the softest things in the world. I found this out when Google searching “softest thing in the world” hoping that Dwight Howard would show up within the first four pages…he did not in case you were wondering about that too.
[2]And then I think if he could not play with Kobe, what would Michael Jordan have thought about playing with Dwight? Jordan punched Steve Kerr in the face, and I cannot imagine Kerr really deserved it, whereas Dwight constantly deserves to be punched in the face.
[3]Neither PG is spectacular but both bring good things to the table. With Harden, this position is not as important as with other teams.
[4]Quick rant, the reason I can’t stand Dwight is that he is so gifted yet he never adds to his game. He has only used one post move his whole career! This guy could have been Shaq 2.0. I think this bothers me so much because people used to chirp me about how LeBron never got better and just used his freaky athletic skill to be good. If you look at the numbers, LeBron did use his freaky athletic skill but he improved on the fundamental aspects of the game too, his shooting, his footwork, and positioning, Dwight Howard cares about none of that.
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