Houston Rockets: No Jeremy Lin, No Problem; No Chandler Parsons, No Chance for Fragile Rockets

Lock it if being posted.
Parsons is such a good player and glue guy to this team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/houston-rockets-no-jeremy-lin-no-problem-no-174800633--nba.html

Houston Rockets: No Jeremy Lin, No Problem; No Chandler Parsons, No Chance for Fragile Rockets

Aaron Brooks Has Filled in for Lin Nicely, but Parsons' Impact Can't Be Replaced.

COMMENTARY | Jeremy Lin went down with a knee injury in the first quarter of a November 27 matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.

Despite already being without the services of James Harden, who was sitting out with a sore foot, Houston didn't miss a beat without Lin.

The Rockets ended up edging the Hawks 113-84, led by third-string point guard Aaron Brooks and backup wing Francisco Garcia, who both scored 21 points on the night.

In the coming days, news came out that Lin would miss the next two weeks with a knee sprain, but his absence didn't slow down Houston at all.

On November 29, Harden returned to the lineup against the reeling Brooklyn Nets, but took just four shots in the blowout victory over Lawrence Frank's, I mean Jason Kidd's crew. Chandler Parsons led Houston's balanced attack, scoring 21 points on 7-7 shooting and 6-6 from 3-point land.

The following night, the Rockets traveled to San Antonio, where they handed the Spurs their first home loss of the season. Harden and Parsons combined for 56 points and 11 assists, as the new-look Rockets delivered their first marquee victory of the season.

However, at the end of the game, Parsons' back tightened up, which led to Chandler Bang wearing street clothes for the next two games.

Bad news.

Without their heart and soul, the Rockets fell to the Utah Jazz. Despite Harden scoring 37 and dishing out eight dimes (and playing solid defense on Gordon Hayward, who torched Garcia for 17 first-quarter points), Houston's offense couldn't get in a rhythm.

What proved to be the back-breaker in the game was that fact that Houston's defense couldn't guard on the perimeter. Alec Burks and Trey Burke torched Aaron Brooks, who was playing in place of Chandler Parsons down the stretch (Harden was playing the 3, while Brooks and Beverley handled the backcourt; normally, Beverley, Harden and Parsons would have been in).

The next game, Houston returned home to take on the Phoenix Suns, once again playing without Parsons, their heart and soul. With Harden struggling from the floor (he shot just 3-17 and 0-10 from distance), Houston put together its most pathetic performance of the season, eventually falling to the Suns 97-88.

Keep in mind, at this point, the Rockets had been playing with Lin for nearly five games (we'll include the Atlanta game, because he played just four minutes). Their record in those five games was 3-2. On the other hand, they'd been playing with Parsons for two games, and their record without him was 0-2.

On December 6, two days after the loss to the Suns, Parsons returned to the lineup against the Golden State Warriors, and he made his presence known immediately. If you didn't watch the game and you just looked at the box score, you'd say that Parsons was rusty; he scored just eight points on 3-13 shooting. However, Parsons' ability as a floor-stretcher, perimeter defender, slasher, cutter, and passer made all the difference for the Rockets.

On December 8, Parsons was once again in the lineup while Lin continued to sit out with an injury, and the Rockets defeated the Orlando Magic 98-88.

If you're keeping score at home, the Rockets' record without Chandler Parsons is 0-2 this season. Their record without Lin is 5-2 (including the Atlanta game). However, when the Rockets play without Lin and with Parsons, they are 5-0.

Obviously, just putting the records up doesn't begin to tell the whole story about both these players' impact on the team, but the point is clear: Without Parsons, the Rockets would struggle to make to the playoffs. Without Lin, there may not be any drop off at all.

A number of factors determine their respective impacts. The most important of those factors is how you replace each guy. Parsons, who is undoubtedly the Rockets' third-best player (second-most important player offensively ... sorry, Dwight Howard) was replaced by Francisco Garcia in his absence. Obviously, that's a major drop off.

On the other hand, Lin was replaced by Brooks. Yes, the same Brooks who won The Most Improved Player Award a few years back for the Rockets, when he averaged 19.6 points and 5.3 assists per game. Still just 28 years old, Brooks is a solid NBA backup point guard, and even though Lin deservedly is ahead of him on the depth chart, the drop off isn't dramatic.

The point here is that Parsons' impact on the Rockets is exponentially greater than Lin's impact on the team. Yes, Lin is going to be the anchor of a second unit that needs to perform for the Rockets to win a title, but his impact on the Rockets is comparable to Jamaal Crawford's impact on the Los Angeles Clippers. Both guys are relied upon to score in the second unit, and both guys are below-average defensive players.

On the other hand, Parsons is the glue guy for this Rockets team. Offensively, Parsons' style makes Harden's game work. Harden is a cold-blooded scorer and a willing passer, but has the propensity to hold the ball for long periods of time. Parsons is a straight-line attacker and a crafty cutter, who was learned to play as Harden's sidekick in a style that's similar to how Scottie Pippen learned to play next to Michael Jordan (I'm not comparing those four players in terms of greatness; I'm just making a comparison that all basketball fans can understand).

In the NBA today, there are a surplus of point and combo guards. However, the wing position isn't as deep. In the Western Conference, guys like Tayshaun Prince, Thabo Sefolosha, Jared Dudley, Tony Allen, Corey Brewer and J.J Redick all play major roles on teams that are likely to make it to the playoffs. Houston is lucky to have a guy as good as Parsons manning the 3, and without him, there wouldn't be nearly as much excitement in Houston this season.


The Rockets struggle at times on the defensive end, and those problems were exacerbated when Parsons was out of the lineup. As I said all summer long (honestly, this was the longest summer of my life), Parsons is the heart and soul of Houston because of the little things he does offensively (not all of which make it into the box score) and because he guards the best opposing wing.

If you're skeptical of Parsons' impact being so great, look at Houston's two games against Utah. In the first game, which was a Rockets victory, Houston was led by Parsons, who had 24 points, 12 boards and six assists. Gordon Hayward, who Parsons was matched up with for most of the game, had 16 points on just 7-16 shooting. When Houston played Utah without Parsons, Hayward scored 29 points on 12-18 shooting, doing a good portion of that damage on Garcia, who started in place of Parsons.

In Parsons' first game back against the Warriors, he held Klay Thompson to just five points on 2-10 shooting, and 0-4 from 3-point land.

Make no mistake about it, Parsons is a top-flight player in this league. Lin, on the other hand, is a very good guard, in a league filled with great guards.

Hopefully, both Parsons and Lin will be fully healthy by December 12 when the Rockets start a three-game road trip against the surprising Portland Trail Blazers.