I still think we should sign him, but Morey may want to slow it down and let Mchale play Trob/DMo/TJ and even RW first. Things can change and injuries happen, but Whiteside may always be there as a backup plan as long as nobody's grabbing him first.
Yeah. He should play those guys first. But the truth is none of those guys is a center. The only center on our roster is Asik. And we need a backup center. We need a guy that can give us 15 minutes or so of decent paint and rim defense when Asik is sitting down.
I hope you're right as well. He has all the physical tools and you can not teach that size and athleticism. Silver lining is that if Whiteside "gets it" the Rockets will be the first to know and hopefully sign him before someone else.
Every time I look at a Viper stat line, Whiteside has amazing numbers. Can't claim to have watched him play enough, but I'm hoping we give him a good look at making the team next year. He's still so young, and has apparently improved tremendously. You can't teach size.
It's amazing that people are still so obsessed with this guy, and want the Rockets to sign him while the guy playing in front of him has had a very nice showing this year in the D league. The guy is super long, and can block shots, but you just have to watch him play to realize that he's simply a terrible basketball player with no motor whatsoever. Also he would never see the floor in a fast paced offensive system like the one McHale is running. He would be so lost it would be an embarrassment. Can we please just wait until he actually earns starters minutes IN THE DLEAGUE first before signing him to a playoff team who needs players they can use both now and in the future
Rockets really should be offering Hasheem Thabeet a max contract, I think we can settle for Whiteside as a backup for around 8 million a year. Right?
What's your take on Ohlbrecht? Any other prospective Cs? I only watched two Vipers games and some highlights. Not impressed from what I've seen of Ohlbrehct though I could see him being a solid 10mins per game. Hassan while raw is just a physical freak which is compelling.
Ohlbrecht is an NBA player waiting to happen. It took him longer to mature and for his body to develop but he's an NBA talent. Has great offensive game, great mid-range shooter and spices up his jumpers with plenty of high octane post moves that get him layups and free throws. He's very smart offensively, very efficient. Not athletic, very mechanical, but a wide array of offensive moves and the knowledge to know how to put them together effectively. Defensively he's a big question mark. He has good length and size but his lack of athleticism and somewhat slow feet make me wonder what position he can defend at the next level. I don't think he's strong enough to defend the post, nor athletic enough to defend the rim, nor quick enough to defend 4s out on the floor. So my biggest concern about him is his ability to defend at the NBA level. If you could combine Albrecht's bball iq and offensive moves with Whiteside's size and athleticism, you'd have the best center in the NBA. But alas, no deal. However, Albrecht has never played in the NBA. So, signing him to a deal would be much akin to signing a draft pick, only better, with the lower salary and non-guarantee. And in my opinion, that would be great value because if Ohlbrecht were in the 2013 draft, he'd be a lottery pick. The whole thing with Ohlbrecht is can he play some semblance of defense at the 5? That is what we need the most. We don't need another 4. And his chances of breaking through into the rotation at the 4....slim to none. If he can't play 5 at the NBA level and we sign him, he's just occupying a roster spot and not increasing his asset value any. It appears to me we've already made a verbal commitment to Ohlbrecht however. It's just a matter of when we actually sign him. After that, we will likely get another roster spot open when/if Honeycutt gets cut, which I fully expect will happen. However, that will likely be filled by a guard, not another big. After that we could cut James Anderson if we wanted to add another big like Hassan. But the odds of that happening are small if we already have added Ohlbrecht. At this point, with the recent news that Ohlbrecht turned down the 10-day contract from the Celtics, I suspect we are committed to adding Ohlbrecht and seeing what he can do for us at the backup 5, seeing if he can steal some of Greg Smith's minutes there and be more effective defensively. My guess is we are going to float on Whiteside until possibly next season and risk losing him to another team who may want to take a chance on him.
If we sign Ohlbrecht, that's due to his familiarity with our system - they ran the similar system in vipers as rockets. Whiteside was traded to us mid season, so he's less familiar with the offense/defense assignments with limited minutes. But he'll be the next one in the line. Morey did a good job collecting assets, but we have too many big men. He has to find minutes to them, even if just for the sake of increasing the trade value, before adding more prospects to the roster. In that sense, don't expect Ohlbrecht to be more than an emergency option or a couple 10 day contracts.
basketholic was very right about defensive issues w Olbrecht. Not quick enough for 4, not big for 5. I dont see him getting lottery draft status at all tho. Scores ALOT on putbacks, cuts to basket well. High offensive IQ. I dont think his shot deserves respect yet. I dont see him having physical tools to take to next level. He's 24, just btw. And Whiteside. He's decent IMO. He has a nice hook (VERY suprising) is a giant, and has athleticism for put backs and blocks. Uses size to get rebs. He's 22 now. Has no business having the ball passed to him unless he's in scoring position. Ive seen him TO out of trying to create off dribble enough to know thats a prob. Decent backup... I dont believe he'll push Greg Smith for a role. He's fine in the D league FOR NOW. I would like to see him become a valid starter in the D league and prove he is more + than - for 30 mins.
well I guess we'll find out about Olberitch soon enough... I can see what you mean by his potential issue with the D despite being a pretty good shot blocker though. Isn't he sort of just a lesser version of D-Mo then? a 4/5 tweener that has an offensive game but questionable defense? though I guess as long as he can improve his D to the point where he can guard other tweener / backups that would still make him a valuable piece.
Ohlbrecht... my take... Id say he can at least play the same role as Cole Aldrich for this team... maybe give you a little more well round game especially on the offensive end. On the defensive end, he should give you around the same production as Cole Aldrich. Strength, size, and athleticism seem pretty similar.
that's a rather low bar :grin: Granted, as long as he can not embarrase himself on defense I'd suppose his offensive game will have some value.
Rockets greatest weakness is a backup 5 for Asik that can control the defensive paint and board. Macklin is gone from RGV. Ohlbrecht is gone from RGV. TJones and DMo gone from RGV. Royce White gets kicked out. Hassan is the only big left on the roster and he gets 14 minutes. Does anybody really think Ohlbrecht is the answer for us defensively at the 5? Am I the only one that thinks we are stashing Hassan and limiting his minutes to keep other teams from wanting him and picking him up?
To be a serviceable backup 5 you need to be average on two out of these three things: basketball IQ, size, and intensity. How is Whiteside’s hustle and intensity? He doesn’t strike me as someone with good basketball IQ. Seems like he’s in the JaVale/Thabeet level of intelligence…
Morey said in the Grantland's interview re: Robinson trade with Sacramento that Sacramento always drafts the types of players the Rockets like. I guess it would mean Robinson and Cousins, but Whiteside was also drafted by the Kings. Just way too early. Big man develop later. Whiteside may have a chance if properly developed. We'll see next year.
I don't agree with this altogether. To be a quality backup center for us, a player needs to have these abilities: 1. Enough length and athleticism to defend the rim. Hassan gets an A+ here. Watched him the other night block 6 shots, probably altered another 10 into misses in limited minutes. Hassan has incredible size and length. 9'6" standing reach. And defensively he knows how to use it. 2. Enough coaching to know what his job is and not try to do too many things. Hassan probably gets about a C- here when it comes to understanding his role. And RGV probably gets about a C for coaching him into his role. That's one reason I think they are stowing him. Those guys are too good of coaches to let Hassan run post ups. In college, at Marshall, he could do all sorts of things offensively. Everybody he was going up against he had about an 8" reach advantage and he was and is a very good athlete. So, he could throw down dunks, he could take a couple dribbles and sweep up hook shots, etc. And he does have some post moves. But he doesn't have enough sense to know when to use the dribble and when not to. Unfortunately, if he takes an offensive role he is a turnover waiting to happen as smalls can simply run up and flick the ball away. So what happens in RGV is his teammates wind up playing 'keep away' when he is on the court because they know if they throw it to him in the block it's most likely going to be a turnover. I don't think Hassan understands this. I don't think he understands that he should just be setting picks and rolling to the rim then rolling back out to set picks. He keeps dwadling around in the low block after he sets a pick just taking up space. However, on the NBA level, it should be very easy to clear this up for him. Look, young man, set the pick, go to the glass, then get back out! On D, show high on the PnR and get your fanny back in the paint to block and deter drives. Hassan will never be a basketball genius. He's a lamebrain. Let's face it. But he doesn't have to have a good bball iq in the role that we need. We need that long, athletic guy that will spell Asik that can defend the paint and rim effectively and can finish a pick and roll play. That's it. The truth is probably 70% of the players in the NBA are lamebrains, around 25% of them have decent bball intelligence, and about 5% of them have good to great bball intelligence. Hassan definitely falls into the first pile. I won't name names but there are plenty of big men in this first pile that play very effective backup big man roles on NBA clubs. And many, many of them make $3-$10 million per season which is a huge waste of money in my opinion. I do not want to see us pay a backup center that kind of money. That is why I am intrigued by Whiteside. I know he has the defensive skillset, size, and athleticism to be a backup for Asik. And he's out of the league and could probably be enticed to sign a league minimum deal for 3 years, possibly 4 even, with everything non-guaranteed after year 1. That's the kinda deal we need for a player that can give us 15 minutes a night giving us quality backup defense for Asik. That's better than paying Marcus Camby $3.5 per million for several years. It's better than paying a vet backup center more $$$$ 3. A decent enough attitude to take his licks and keep coming back. Hassan gets a B+ here. He's a good kid, good-natured fella. In fact his good-natured demeanor takes away from his game. He should actually be nastier on the court. But that's not him and most likely will never be him. On the flip side, he's not going to cause a problem, not going to be a locker room cancer. And he has demonstrated in his career a willingness to work and come back even when he's down. He's doing that right now. Hassan looks like a total goofball running up and down the court right now and admittedly, in the limited minutes he plays, he does some pretty stupid things. But when he is on the court, he changes the flow of the game defensively. He is a very effective defensive paint presence. I'd like to lock him up for minimum salary for 3-4 seasons. I can't help but feel the Rockets are going to do this after they make their big moves this offseason.
He walked off the bench before the end of the game last night when he got a DNP-CD. He's got talent but needs work on his attitude. That is the only thing keeping him in the D League.
