Here is why I think it is still a bit of a big deal. Dame is one of only roughly 3 guys on that list that is both the teams best player and best teammate. It starts at the top with us. That is a rare and great thing.
Who will have more of a one man show. Houston or OKC? I see Harden and Westbrook competing for the scoring title now. Winds for their team however? Meh.. low 40's at best.
Not sure Howard was the problem. The conventional "wisdom" in HOU seems to be that bringing in Mike D'Antoni and his 7 seconds or less offense will increase the pace, which will mean more shots for everyone and more shots == happier players. Two problems with that theory. First, the Rockets last year put up 83.5 FGA/g. During the peak years in PHO, D'Antoni's teams averaged about 2 more FGA/g. Pace in HOU wasn't the problem last year, it was distribution of all those shots. During the best years in PHO, they typically had 4 or 5 players putting up right around 1000 FGA/season. Steve Nash was the one with the ball in his hands, but was usually 4th or 5th on the team in FGA. He made himself the 4th or 5th option and saw to it that his other starters all got as many, or more shots than he did. In 2007-08, PHO won 61 games with 5 players getting between 950 and 1111 FGA. That's called sharing the ball. Those 5 players all averaged between 14.7 and 20.4 ppg - again, sharing the ball. In HOU last season, with the ball in James Harden's hands, they had exactly one player get over 850 FGA. That was James Harden with 1617 FGA. He took over 1000 more shots than their second leading scorer (1617 FGA for Harden, 600 FGA for Howard). No wonder their team chemistry sucked. And, that's the second problem with D'Antoni's system. It has failed miserably every time he hasn't had Steve Nash in his prime, playing like an MVP, running the offense. In HOU, I don't think 7 seconds or less will result in a better distribution of shots, as long as Harden is the one controlling the ball. To me, it sounds like a recipe to get Harden even more shots, and I doubt if that will improve team chemistry. D'Antoni had Nash in LAL, but he was way past his prime. So, the result was Kobe controlling the ball and jacking up a ton of shots (almost twice as many as the team's second leading scorer). How'd that work out? They took a championship core, added two future Hall of Famers and got worse. How was their chemistry? There was finger pointing all season long and it got worse after they were bumped from the playoffs in the first round. How did D'Antoni do in NYK? His team sucked and their chemistry sucked. Everywhere D'Antoni has coached since PHO has been a train wreck. He has a losing record as a head coach since leaving Phoenix. I hope to see that tradition continue in HOU. BNM
