Houston Rockets: Is the Dwight Howard/Omer Asik Duo Worth it?

Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

So far the Dwight Howard/Omer Asik experiment has the Houston Rockets, 1-0 in to start off the regular season, however a hungry Dallas Mavericks team is looking to change that.  The Mavericks come into Friday night’s game looking to keep their unbeaten record alive against the Rockets, following an impressive victory over the Atlanta Hawks to open the season.

Last time these two teams met was in the preseason where the Rockets won 100-95, and while the score is not the important part one thing is worth bringing up.  Dirk Nowtizki was able to get into a rhythm because of the lack of defense played by Howard on the perimeter.  This seems to be a problem in the making for this Rockets team because we all know that Howard nor Asik is agile enough to hold any of the elite stretch 4’s that the NBA has to offer.  In the season opener against the Charlotte Bobcats Josh McRoberts, a stretch 4 forced the Rockets to cut the duo short due to his ability to knock down the 3.  Now add a player like Nowitzki to the equation and you have a legitimate problem at the 4 spot.

With players like Kevin Love, Lamarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, David Lee and others that play the power forward position Rockets may have a problem on their hands.  The bad far out ways the good when it comes to the Howard/Asik combo, and it has yet to bite them in the season so far.  Fans would rather it not hinder the team, but help, and many can make a case that it has worked out well.

In the opener Howard and Asik combined for a total of 40 rebounds while the whole Bobcats team had a total of just 37.  Those kind of numbers can be eye opening if you are a team with that kind of advantage on the boards; but if that combination hinders your defense is it really worth the risk?

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