Sacramento Kings@ Houston Rockets

DMC has two weakness in his defense
1.Defending huge post players
2.rotating to stop drives to the rim
Because Dwight’s post games tend to kill our offense as often as Asik’s stone hands, Lin has to drive aggresively to the rim and draw a foul and angel DMC.
moreover last game, DMC was held to 6 points in fourth quarter by Tim Duncan. He scored most of his points against splitter.
Ben Mclemore seems to have not fully grasped how to play defense, perhaps Harden should exploit it.

Respect other players

very important stretch for Houston Rockets

Rockets will have a back to back , alternating between bottom feeder Nets and top seed Spurs.  Then  Jazz, Suns and Warriors. This stretch will determines the fates of Rockets two centers. Omer Asik and Dwight Howard.
1. Is Asik too important for Rockets?
2.Can Howard  Handle reduced playing time, barely touching 30 minutes in some nights
The second will be elaborated further.
1.Howard will be a victim of his own succes. He is a very big bruiser,  guarding him wears out any center in the league.
2. Most teams have rookies/ old veterans as back ups
3.Current rotation  benefit Asik greatly, because he starts the fourth quarter, facing either  worn out starters or overmatched back ups
4.Don't forget how good Asik is. Last year he was able to suffocate  Tim Duncan and  Andrew Bogut

Question is, can Asik take advantage of the situation. Playing 100% to show Mchale he needs to be on the floor. Can he find his rhythm  against bottom feeders Nets and Jazz and this very important show that he is very important to defeat Spurs and Warriors, two teams that will block path to finals

Omer Asik is Outsmarting darryl Morey

I believe Morey wants to use  Asik as a trade bait for 2014 FA, and  using Asik as a back up until then. In other word,  Asik in danger of spending 2013-2014 as a back up. well, He outsamarted Dork Elvis by  constantly demanding to be traded. This lowered Morey's bargaining position vis a vis other GM, forcing him  to settle for less

Sacramento Kings VS Phoenix Suns

Masoon Plumlee is a Rookie, who has to face DMC.  Eric Bledsoe is good starter, but super sub Isaiah Thomas always lit up second half.
prediction  Sacramento Kings win this one

Houston Rockets vs Boston Celtics

faverani seems to have good size and he is a good shootblocker. I know that Olynyk is Dmoish, weighting 234 lbs at 7-0. Kim Kardashian’s hump is 6-10. anyway beyond Dwight Howard Rockets’s frontcourt can also be considered small, hope Asik willbring his A game tonight

"They averaged 23.3 assists during their win streak but are at 15.3 during the three-game losing streak"

That’s a quote from celtics sb nation. that anomaly makes me believe that Rockets will win tonght

LA Lakers Review

Have you watched the children TV Show Timmy Time? because the show really describes Lakers.
It might sound funny, but beware. a group children can confuse and tire adults because they are so many of them, and they have energy to run around.
Steve Nash is the wise old headmaster while Gasol is the teacher who wants to keep up with his students but his legs betray him

Houston Rockets Vs Denver Nuggets Preview

1.Kenneth Faried is the key, if he can keep D12  away from the glass and get offensive rebounds, the balance of the game will tilt to nuggets' favour
2.D12 is a containable post player,  brian shaw must take risk by not double teaming him
3.Nate Robinson can burn Rockets from the perimeter

Houston Rocket's pounding basketball

There is a reason  why Rocket  has  an ability to coming from behind and somehow  got double digit win. It's the ability of the two towers to deliver  48 minutes punishment to opposing front court. Mchale has peculiar rotation in the end of third quarter and the start of the fourth.
Instead of  going with the relatively better player in Howard,  Mchale goes with Asik. Opposing coach has 2 options.first option put  a back up center and watch Asik eat him  alive. Second  option  stick with the starting center to fight toe to toe with Asik.  Here is the catch, a relatively  fresh Dwight Howard will check in for Omer Asik and dominate. the opposin center will think " I can handle Asik" then  Howard comes in "you got to be joking".
It's like how lions hunt. The pack  attack  its prey until  the prey is dying, then  the alpha male  come in for the kill. Watching Rockets is still like year. Harden-asik's screen combo  to hold the lead,/ dig Rocket out of hole .  It's like  Howard is a mega sub.  Iwith this rotation  Howard is in for a career year, so is Asik if he  can average 30 minutes.

Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Clippers

I prefer Asik on Griffin and Dwight on Deandre Jordan because :
1. Last season Asik was successful in stopping griffin, forcing him to shot jumpers
2.Dwight has more athleticism to intercept lob pass to Jordan
X factor Ryan Hollins & Byron Mullens
 -If TT can force Doc Rivers to go small, Asik must dominate hollins to force Doc to keep Jordan on the floor all time. Then a relatively fresh Howard enters the game to dominate Jordan.
-I once watch Mullens got hot from land of three,……
about twins towers
-There is a pattern, early in the game, opponent can easily snatch offensive rebounds because of miscommunication between Howard and Asik ( none of them box out the rebounder
-Asik must learn by now that he has to be more careful when setting screens, no more silly early foul
-Howard and Asik must hit their free throws so that rockets can do hack a jordan effectively if needed

Denver Broncos vs Washingtown Redskins Preview

Reason for Reskins to be optimist:

1.Last week, Denver Broncos had a great difficulty stopping Andrew Luck's run. They allowed luck to get a touchdown and a critical firstdown through ground. they were also at lost on how to tackle him once he got out of the pocket.

2..RG3  seemed to to have gotten his legs back and  his pas is getting  crispier week after week. If his pass can keep Broncos's defense honest, he can torch  Broncos's defense with his run. Hopefully he can convert 75% of his trip to red zones into touchdowns
3.last year there were 4  playoff teams that featured a dual threat quarterback:Redskins, Colts, Seahawks, and 49ers.Redskins is the seond team out of the group that Broncos face

Is Andrew Luck a Running Quarterback?

Just like Russel Wilson, Luck uses his speed to escape pressure and  extend plays, just like any  running quarterback, Luck will  just run to the end zone when his receivers are well covered. Luck  just doesn't run much because he is a very good passer, but that disqualify him as a running quarterback does it? 

Luck is a smart guy, that's why he won't hesitate to use every arsenal he has to win games and that includes running.Teams that doesn't acknowledge him  as dual threat will regret it.

refs ruined Broncos @ Colts

what a farce. there was not much peyton manning could do when  his receivers were being hold, there was not much Andrew Luck had to do when he always had the ball in the midfield.

Manning started it well,  scoring a touchdown  with just two passes in broncos' second possession. But after a fumble a series of no call on holding by the colts, manning became shaky. He appeared  to regain confidence late in the third quarter after  finally the refs  called a  pass interference, and  he led the broncos to the red zone. Then Broncos got slapped by two penalties, first a false start and second a delay of game, broncos ended up with only a field goal.

It's hard to measure Andrew Luck in this game,  he was good and those touchdowns were things of beauty.it's hard to  say he was great when he had so much of his work cut out for him . Holding by the colts resulted in punt by broncos in their own red zone, which in turn resulted in  the colts getting the ball in the midfield. Luck also had some 3 and outs.

Can Dwight Howard Keep Omer Asik on the Bench

   Dwight Howard can’t be any happier in Houston,  the fans adore him, he has two hall of famers to tutor him, a second star in Harden and a very good backup in Asik.Regarding Asik, Howard said that Asik was a big piece to a championship .  Howard  unwittingly put himself in a tremendeus pressure by  signing with Rockets.  For the first time in his career, Howard is expendable.

   This writing doesn’t argue that Asik is as good as Howard, nope and with to Rocket coaching staff  focus on Howard, he won’t. It argues  that in the most likely scenario in which Howard and Asik will never be on the court together at the same time, Asik will unlikely  be limited to under 10 minutes per game. Howard shouldn’t take his playing time  for granted.

First,  people forgot how good asik is,He had stone hands ,but it didn’t stop him from racking up points last season he had 5 20+ games and played a defense that can strangle even the league’s  best centers.

Vs Chicago Bulls 20 points, 18 rebounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBx7rnE5-rA

VS Miami Heat 15 points, 14 rebounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RGKD3kInkY

Omer Asik 3 blocks on Tim Duncan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZxypRIKVNc

   Second,with Howard locked at starting  spot, Asik has to face backups. Looking at  the depth chart, you can see some backups are rookies, other are washed up veterans.  Howard  being a better player is a meek point because Asik will face weaker opponents. While Howard  has his hands full of  Bogut, Jordan and Pekovic; Asik can have fun with O’neal, Hollins and Turiaf

   Third, last season  everytime  JamesHarden took  a day off, Asik suddenly became reliable offensive players. So Asik will be doing just fine with  weaker supporting casts.Below are  videos of two of three games, the other game was 21 points, 10 rebounds vs San Antonio Spurs on 10 December 2012.

Playoff game 4  vs thunder 17 points, 14 rebounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_mikBd8Ui4

Career night, vs Orlando Magic 22 points, 18 rebounds

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

  Asik will earn his minutes, 15 minutes at the least. There wil be games where Howard have stalemate with opposing center, Asik will comes off the bench to break it and get his 25 minutes. 

   In the end,Rockets can  win in regular and playoff with either Howard or Asik and Kevin Mchale is a coach whose rotation is based on merit.For Rockets this a good thing, because when Howard starts to throw tantrum, he can do it on the bench.

Terrel Pyror Assesment

Can really throw the ball, although sometimes he  underthrow it. Judging from the fact that it he did it 3 times without an overthrow, it seems to me that the underthrow was  intentional and  not a result of inaccuracy.  Has an ability to throw an accurate pass while running.
The Raiders were plagued  by own mistakes. Pyror tripped by his own center in several plays and  a touchdown was erased because the receiver was out of bound before catching the pass. Could have more touchdowns.
Runs too much, The coach should trust him more and let him throw passes

Sacramento Kings’ opening game being broadcasted in India

I doubted the wisdom of doing it. It should not be forgotten that last year Kings were a horrible team, and eventhough Denver Nuggets lost several key players like Andre Iguodala, Corey brewer, Kosta Koufus and probably Danillo Gallinari. Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried will keep Nuggets  a respectable opponents,especially if  ISO ball and Demarcus Cousins’ head case still plague Kings.   

If kings players played as awful as last year in  that game, it will disinterest indian viewers,  this will  ruin Ranadive plans  of capturing indian large market.  Yes kings’s game being broadcasted in India will open its people eyes to the game of basketball, but  it might not be the kings who will reap the benefit but winning teams like Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets,  LA Clippers etc.

New York Giants’ predicament

Yes some players are injured,but the direst problem  lies in the mentality. Last year  the players were amazed by  RG3 dazzling speed and geaped tons of praise on him, this was a troubling sign that  should have been  addressed by the management.  Defensive players’s job  are to crush the opposing team’s offense, hunt heir QB  and inadvertantly hurt him in the process.

Preview: Sacramento Kings

Kings will improves  significantly but i doulbt they will  get to the playoffs
1.Last season Kings could stand toe to toe with  teams like Clippers, Nuggets, Lakers. they lost  alot of games, because  players often takes early shots instead of  distributing the ball to get open looks.A good coach can easily fix this problem
2.Demarcus Cousins is moody,  when  kings were winning games, Cousins will play very good  basketball. However after  a lost, Cousins will  be disinterested and didn't give his best in the next game.  If the franchise player continue to be like this, it's hard for the team to go to playoff

Preview: Houston Rockets

1. Can  Howard  be a leader?  Last season James Harden did his best matador impersonation. Omer Asik failed to rein Harden in and as consequence, lost his starting job. Howard has to persuade/ force Harden to play defense.
2.Besides drawing fouls, can Harden relies  on other thing to score. Last season, the majority of his points came from the charity stripes.Because in  playoff he will be guarded other stars and  his effectiveness will be reduced. Put Kevin Durant on him,  and it will be over,
3. Does Omer Asik  have a chip in his shoulder? If it does, watch out Dwight
4..I think  not having Omer Asik trained with Olajuwon is Rockets fron office's biggest blunder
a.His offense wont be as developed as  it would had he trained with Olajuwon
b.It was an opportunity to secure  omer asik's loyalty, because it would have been a good compensation.Moreover if asik had a post move, he wouldn't  have to worry about his next contract
c. Asik won't be good enough to be traded for star pf like Lamarcus Aldridge .

season preview: Chicago Bulls

1. Addition  of JJ Reddick and  Tony Snell will relieve the  pressure off Derrick Rose.  The presence  of other weapons  will prove to be most usefull against presence. Pacers play very physical defense abd last year they injured Carmello Anthony. . If Rose forces  he could get injured again.
2.How to adress Joakim Noah' injury risk. Bulls can borrow a page from Rocket's play book. Last year omer asik can took rest in blow out games.  So This year Bulls  should build substansial lead  so that Joakim  joakim's presence on court won't be neccessary. By adding  shooters in the wings, Bulls indirectly address joakim noah's minutes problems

Omer Asik and Houston Rockets can mutually benefit if he stays

for Rockets
Many argues that Asik's role will be reduced in the playoff because  other teams adapt and they play smallball. It doesn't matter, winning  the title is.
against spurs
Tim Duncan is still great but he won't be able to play 48 minutes in a playoff series, eventually he has to take a breather and subbed by Tiago splitter. Rockets, however  will have its paint protected for 48 minutes nonstop. Asik also can own Tiago Splitter.
against Heat
We already knew how Splitter dissappeared in the finals and Heat made a run when he was on court. Rocket won't have the problem when Howard sits on the bench.
They can still flip Asik  in 2014 free agency with a stretch forwad like Kevin Love, Chrish Bosh or even Lamarcus Aldridge.  In order for such a trade to happen  rockets have to do two things
1.They have to win 2013-2014 title.
2.They have to develop Asik's offense so he can be  competent two way players.

For Asik, the second reason will  benefit him  greatly. He and dwight Howard are already scheduled  to train with Hakeem olajuwon  in the offseason. If he plays his card right, he could demand Mchale to allow him to take more shoots and do more post ups. Mchale has no reason to reject the demand. Last year asik averaged double-double and showed his ability to score everytime harden went down. Howard will also be there to rebound Asik's misses.
Playing with Howard won't hurt  asik's to get his next big contract. He can exercise his player option in the third year and  go to a team where he can start. He then just will have to prove his value as a starte again .
Things that will up Asik Value  when he hits free agency
1. Championship pedigree by winning a title with Rocket.
2.Competent offensive game. In my opinion Asik can be worth $ 11 millions if  he can  hit his hook shoot consistently. The offense will really matter, because  he will be 29 when he hits free agency in 2015

Would Morey be forced to trade Parsons?

Dwight Howard is  80% in the bag,  Darryl Morey  still has to deal with another headache. How to trade Omer Asik/ Jeremy Lin? Portland has acquired  Robin Lopez.Hawks the most potential trading partner has just acquired Paul Milsap which   make it unlikely for Morey to dictate the term of Josh Smith trade. Frankly, i don't think Hawks needs Asik anymore.
Pelicans has an interesting piece, in Ryan Andersen. Problem is,  Pelican's outside shooting is suspect. Trading away Ryan Andersen for Omer Asik. doesn't make any sense at all. Unless Rockets add Chandler Parsons to sweeten the deal 
Another possibility is sixers,  Rockets has suspiciously managed to trade  Royce White and Furkan Alder to them.  Is it a prelude to Omer Asik trade?

Omer Asik can help Demarcus Cousins Grow as a Franchise Player

1. Asik can be on court together with DMC at 4. When Asik needs to rest, DMC plays Center. No other team can afford the rotation of two starter quality centers.
2. DMC's weakness is his suspect defense. Asik has  a fundamentally strong defense. it's pretty self explanatory
3.Kings  will have the luxury of benching DMC every time he pouts .Kings  can send a message to him "if you don't give your 100% on the court, we will just bench you and can still win
4.If  there is one thing that can be learnt from King's last year campaign,was that DMC loves to win. When  Kings started to win after to allstar break,  DMC  restrained himself  on the court and  played to his full potential. But after  heartbreaking lost, like the one to Denver Nugget,  He reverted to his old self and didn't care at all. If next Season Kings have asik, in  a game  after a heartbreak, the  team  can hold the fort for as long as it takes for DMC to realize that team is leading.
5.There is a misconception here,  Asik is an offensively limited player, but it doesn't mean he can't score. Last season Asik averaged more than 10 points, more importantly  his roll to the basket improved as the season progressed. It's possible that next season his offense can take a leap, especially in a team that plays inside out.

rocket can't just dump omer asik

Asik is one of the best center in the league and will make any team isignificantly better. let's check it
1. Dallas maverick: it's a Dirk and Asik frontcourt. Asik finally can play with an elite pf, dirk is not done yet just look at his stat post all star game.Asik will be there in case Dirk miss his shot. Moreover, Mavericks will stil have a room  for a star.
2.Portland Trail Blazers: many fans consider this as an ideal landing spot for asik. yes it is,  a core of   Asik, Aldridge, Batum  and Lilard can compete and defeat any team in NBA. Road to hell is paved with good intention.
3.Sacramento Kings: a frontcourt of  Asik and Cousins( he will play PF)  will take the title of best frontcourt from memphis Grizzlies. They will abuse Howard anytime, anywhere....
4. La Lakers:Provided that Kobe, Nash and Gasol  return 100%, lakers can be a good  team with the addition of Asik.
5.OKC Thunder: no brainer
6.Miami Heat: Asik will provide Heat with rebounding and interior defense, it's unlikely that  Pat Riley will be stupid enough to deal Bosh to Rockets.  
7.Chicago Bulls: with the return  of the turkish hammer, Bulls  will be two teams.
    -Noah,Boozer, Deng, 
    -Asik, Gibson, Butler
   the one with Rose is a championship team, the one without is still a playoff team

Heat's tribulation

Their frontcourt
Bosh was not a center, and for him the ordeal was not over yet.  Duncan might not be as big as Hibbert,  but he had more post moves and more importantly duncan is crafty, he got bosh into foul trouble.
Despite his almost perfect fg. Andersen was not an  offensive juggernaut. His limited offense  was exposed because spurs packed the rim with mobile defenders that quick enough  to cover him. Andersen had once said  that he was worried of  David West, because  west was crafty and good free throw shooter. Well  Duncan was a very crafty veteran

Should Pablo Prigioni Return to knicks' starting 5

last 5 games Pablo Prigioni averaged 4,8 pts and 3,4 assists , not a strong  case to return  him to the starting lineup right? what shouldn't be overlooked is  the intangibles he  brought to the court.  Prigioni  is able to apply full court pressure on George Hill ,  prigioni's quick hand  makes Hill  slows down for fear of getting the ball stolen. This means  Pacers has less shot clock to work with, forcing  them   to launch hurried shots.

 Pacers has stingy  defense but their  offense is not that great. the only way knicks can  win  is if they can get more possessions than  pacers do. 

There is no stopping hibbert,  but if  knicks can  ensure that when hibbert gets the ball there is only 10-14 seconds left on the shot clock, it's already a success and Knicks need Prigioni  for it.

Chris Andersen must see bigger minutes

    
Joakim Noah  is the heart of chicago bulls, he provides defense,  rebounds. and most importantly  he is a great passer, that's why he is a crucial part of Bull's offense. If there is a weakness to this machine,  it is his size.  In Bulls  vs nets Series,  Brook Lopez might be bigger than  Noah, but his lack of physicality on defense allowed Noah  to establish a rhythm.
Now  the reasons Chris Andersen must get bigger minutes.
     1.Chrish Bosh is not strong enough and  he doesn't  bump Noah out of rhythm.Birdman is bigger than Bosh  and he is by nature a physical player. His physicality is needed  to  deny  noah  a position
     2.In the fourth quarter,  the  heat has no low post presence  because Bosh camped out in the perimeter. This strategy worked against OKC in the last year final because Kendrick Perkins was slow. It won't work against Bull because Noah a very mobile center who can guard Bosh in the perimeter  and quick enough  to go back to the post to grab defensive rebound.  Bulls  defenders are very disciplined bunch that rarely ever lost their men. Heat will never be able to get an offensive rebound, because no one is  there to grab it.
      So what to do  with  Bosh? return him to his original position at 4. He can use his range to draw away  Taj Gibson from the rim, allowing  birdman  to battle Noah one on one  for a rebound.