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The new trend in the NBA is creating super teams. Recently teams have been going out and spending tons of money on star players to form a "big 3". Three big name, all star caliber players on one team. Some people used to think that it was cheap and building these super teams was corrupting the game of basketball. For example when the 07-08 Boston Celtics went out and acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join Paul Pierce to form the first official "Big 3". Then the trend continued with the 2010-2011 Miami Heat when they combined Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade. Now the Rockets have done the same thing but have put together arguably the best starting 5 in all of basketball, and I will refer to them as The Big 5.
Lets start with the young, talented superstar, Jeremy Lin. The creator of Linsanity, Lin averaged 13.4 points and 6.1 assists last year. Some people are unimpressed by Lin's season, but they need to realize that he's only 24 years old. At 24 Lin showed leadership, toughness, and improvement in every aspect of his game. He's only going to get better and this year might be his year to prove that he is an elite point guard. Lin's game is the pick n roll, which was virtually impossible to run with Omer Asik; since he has bricks for hands. This year with Dwight Howard expect Lin's ppg and apg to improve yet again.
Next for The Big 5 is James Harden. James (23 years old) burst onto the scene last year averaging 25.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists a game. The man does it all and will also improve this year with Dwight Howard in the post. What makes Harden's season even more impressive is how he succeeded in Kevin McHale's "give the ball to James and watch him work" offense; aka we didn't run an offense. I'm overly excited to see him and Dwight run actual plays this season.
The most important member of The Big 5 has to be Chandler Parsons. He can lock down the other team's best scorer, he spaces out the floor nicely with his ever improving jump shot, and lets face it... the man is gorgeous. He quietly averaged 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and dramatically improved his FT% by 18% last season. At 24 years of age he's a leader on and off the court, which is why he's a fan favorite. Expect another stellar year from CP in the 2013-2014 season.
Serving as the centerpiece of The Big 5, literally, Dwight Howard is referred to as the most dominant Center in the league. He is going to give other teams nightmares and mismatches all year long. Especially with a team full of shooters, Dwight is on the perfect team to win a championship. Howard averaged 17 points and 12.4 rebounds a game last season, which is considered a down year for him. He was injured for part of the season last year, yet he still led the league in rebounding. At 27 years old, Howard is the oldest player in the Rockets' starting lineup.
As of now we are waiting on Daryl Morey to make a trade for a superstar PF, so until then this space will remain empty. Check back every day looking for an update, or check out my Donatas Motiejunas article because he may just be our starting PF this season and he is very talented. Averaging 23.5 points and 10.8 rebounds last year in the developmental league; D-Mo is going to be one to keep an eye on in the future.
I emphasized the age of The Big 5 to make sure readers understand that the Rockets will be a dominant force for the next 10 years. They are technically not even in their prime yet. With the 5 players as aforementioned in this article, Houston's starting 5 would average just over 95 points a game, which is outrageous.
Brooklyn has the only Big 5, Houston has only the Big 2!
ReplyDeleteI'm just being modest in this article. We have way more than 5 superstars
DeleteLOL'd at this article actually being the "big" 4 with a PTBNL hahahahahha
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DeleteD-Mo is an international superstar
DeleteHe inferred the numbers of a Ryan Anderson or LMA would slot into the 4 hole if Asik is indeed traded. I doubt he believes D-mo will average his Dleague numbers, I suppose you could just ask him rather than assume and call him a joke
DeleteAbsolutely Brooklyn is stacked, but their window to win is incredibly narrow. Houston has at least the big three in CP, James, and D12. There's also a decent chance we flip Asik, and end up with a Ryan Anderson or LMA type star 4. I also assume you're sleeping on Jeremy Lin, his advanced metrics look good, and show signs of improvement. D12 completely changes his responsibility as well, Lin and Harden will no longer have to run shot clocks in a stagnant offense where nothing develops and force. I look for JLin to establish himself as a top 5-7 PG this year. As Brett states in this article though, the second team is our greatest asset!...http://houstonbias.blogspot.com/2013/07/rockets-second-team-key.html
ReplyDelete"expect Lin's ppg and apg to improve yet again."
ReplyDeleteLin's ppg and apg DECREASED last year from the previous year. While also playing more minutes. But why let facts get in the way right?
Lins APG literally regressed to the tune of .1 while lowering his turnovers per game .5, therefore his efficiency increased and in relation to turnover-assist rate, yes he DID improve. And the minutes point you make is asinine. In relation to last year he still attempted the same number of shots per game at 10.9. The facts are his eFG% was impressive and as a result there's reason to believe that his scoring will trend north assuming he maintains his standard FGA. There's much more telling numbers behind the standardized big 3 that we use.
DeleteThe Spurs big three had 3 championships by the time the Celtics formed their big three. So, the Celtics didn't have the first official big three.
ReplyDeleteThe Spurs have 3 guys that grew with each other. They weren't stars somewhere else first. They just play well with each other
DeleteA lot of people haven't seen Motiejunas play. He is really talented. They really do have a "Big 5". Go Rockets!!
ReplyDelete