Let’s remember that big man legend and guru Hakeem Olajuwon is an employee of the Houston Rockets now — everything he said comes with an element of spin.
That doesn’t mean it’s all wrong, either.
After working out with them, Olajuwon is very high on the potential of a Dwight Howard/Jeremy Lin combo, he told a local news station, as transcribed by ESPN.
“Just the little offense I saw, that combination is very deadly,” Olajuwon told Fox 26. “You can see that both of them are very excited, seeing that, ‘Wow, we bring the right ingredients together…’
“To be on the right team, which (Lin) is right now, he can really help and play his role very well and be effective,” Olajuwon told Fox 26. “There’s no pressure on him now. It’s on Dwight and James (Harden). [Lin’s] position is crucial for the team’s success, and he can play that role very well.”
We’ve said this before but it bears repeating (and you can be sure Mike D’Antoni brought this up more than once): Last season Dwight Howard shot 44.5 percent and scored 0.74 points per possession when he got the ball in the post, he shot 79.6 percent and scored 1.29 points per possession when he got the ball back as the roll man in the pick-and-roll.
Howard pushed back with the Lakers about the pick-and-roll, but if he really buys into running it with the Rockets they could have one of the best in the league. “Linsanity” happened in part because Lin is so aggressive as the ball handler running that play (remember D’Antoni was coach), and nearly a quarter of James Harden’s shot attempts last season came off the pick-and-roll last season and he averaged a point per possession.
So yes, there is a lot of potential there, and if the Rockets are starting to unlock it they might be moving more quickly up their long learning curve this year. But I’ll need more than the word of a coach, even a Hall of Famer.
