Do you know why Houston spent so much time trying to bring Pau Gasol into the fold? Do you know why they went out and signed Samuel Dalembert hours before the season started?
They desperately, desperately need big men.
It's nice to think that Luis Scola can play center. After all, they got by with Chuck Hayes for years playing undersized at the position. However, Scola isn't the same defensive player that Hayes is, which is why Andrew Bynum went for 20 points and 20 rebounds last night.
It's why Houston has chased guys like Jordan Hill, Hasheem Thabeet and, well, every available center for the past two years. But, so far, they've had no luck with any of them. Soon, the Rockets will have a 100 percent Dalembert and Patrick Patterson to throw out there in some combination. Both of those players are good enough to defend in the post and close down some of these problems.
It's not the final answer, though. Houston still needs a big man. It wouldn't be as much of an issue offensively if Kevin Martin were hitting shots, but as this article suggests, rule changes have hurt his effectiveness. Will things improve?
Once this team is fully healthy, they'll be able to defend better down low than they did last night. In this condensed season, though, that may be too long to wait.
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