I don't believe that this has been posted yet. Interesting read... especially the part about the ROX guards. Editor's Note: To preview training camp and the 2005-06 season, John Hollinger addresses three key questions concerning the Rockets. 1. How much difference does Stro make? Free-agent pickup Stromile Swift was Houston's major offseason acquisition, and he seems to fit the Rockets' needs perfectly. The power forward spot was a glaring weakness all season, as Juwan Howard disappointed at both ends of the court before getting hurt late in the season. In the playoffs, the Rockets were forced to use scrubs like Ryan Bowen and Scott Padgett, yet amazingly still took the Mavericks to seven games before bowing out. Thus, Swift will have a huge impact simply because he replaces such unproductive predecessors. Swift's per-game numbers are unimpressive because he was trapped behind Pau Gasol in Memphis, but check out his 40-minute averages: 19 points, nine rebounds and nearly three blocks. Swift also should excel from the high post because he has a nice midrange jumper, clearing out room for Yao Ming to play on the blocks. Meanwhile, his ability to run the court and finish around the rim should get Houston some easy baskets, which were rare a year ago. 2. Are the guards too old? The 2005-06 Rockets might break the unofficial NBA record for most old guards on one team: Mike James is 30; Derek Anderson is 31; Bob Sura and Moochie Norris are 32; David Wesley and Charlie Ward are 34; and Jon Barry is 36. The projected starting point guard, Sura, is having knee surgery (again), which is a bad omen considering how the team struggled when he was out of the lineup a year ago. Sura and Anderson both have serious back problems, while Ward has a bum knee and Barry and Wesley have slipped noticeably the past few seasons. Fortunately, the Rockets have such a plethora of guards to choose from that they can survive injuries to the backcourt. James energized the team when he arrived at midseason and might take over as the starting point guard this year. Free-agent pickup Anderson is an accomplished jump shooter who should get plenty of open looks courtesy of Yao and Tracy McGrady, and Ward's presence can only help since he missed nearly all of last season. Finally, there's a shred of youth in the unit in the form of first-round draft pick Luther Head, providing another strong shooter to space the floor. As long as the Rockets' guards don't all show their age at once, the backcourt is deep enough to weather declines from a few members. 3. Are T-Mac and Yao the West's best duo? Although players such as Swift, Sura and James are important pieces, realistically, the Rockets will only go as far as McGrady and Yao can carry them. That looks to be quite far indeed. McGrady actually had an off year by his standards in his first season in Houston. The only thing that saved his per-game averages from a steep decline was his playing an insane 40.8 minutes per game. He probably won't have to play so much with the additions of bench players such as Anderson and Head, and the hope is that more rest will allow T-Mac to rediscover the outrageous scoring skills he displayed in Orlando. Yao has the opposite problem -- he averaged only 30.6 minutes per game because of stamina and foul issues and needs to stay on the court longer to take advantage of his devastating shot-making in the post. That said, is there a duo in the West one would take over these two? Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili certainly make an imposing tandem in San Antonio, but Ginobili plays even fewer minutes than Yao and neither Spur can fill it up like McGrady. The only realistic competition is Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire in Phoenix, but one can make the argument for Yao and Tracy even against those two because the Rockets' pair provides more defensive value and has played at this exalted level for longer. Perhaps we'll get a definitive answer if the two teams meet come May.
Looks like this article is from insider. But here's the link for reference: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/trai...ningcamp05/news/story?page=overview05/rockets
Which is about the same number of minutes he's averaged the past 4 years. Do some research, Mr. Hollinger.
is there a schedule for which camps will be shown on which days? or is it a little of all of them all the time?
The writer is a complete idiot. His comments about how JH was playing before he got injured proves he knows nothing about the Rockets. This is a worthless read, IMO.
I hear lots of people referencing Stro's "excellent" midrange jumpshot. Does anybody know if this is really true...can he really fill it up from 15-18 feet? I've seen very limited minutes of him on court, but his J was never something that I picked up on...in fact, I probably would have identified that as a weakness of his. Can someone confirm?
Indeed. JHo was the one guy that I think really finally "got" what it was like to be on the floor with T-Mac and Yao - and they're still figuring it out. His injury, and later heart problem was brutal for him and us. He's going to be huge for Stro and I'm sooo glad we didn't trade him for a pg. T-Mac had an off year? Man, I missed that. Hell, I guess if Yao gets 3 more shots this year T-Mac's really going to suck. Utterly pathetic.
Seems like he burns the Rockets every time on open jumpers. But according to 82 games, his jumper average is pretty poor. Of course maybe that's because he doesn't normally get a whole lot of open looks because they don't have anybody that really draws double-teams on the Grizz. We'll find out once we get into the season. I mean, I didn't realize that T-mac was such a fantastic passer until I saw him play a few games.
An excellent observation. Gasol is the only player on the Grizz remotely worthy of a double team. And his postup usually never starts any closer than the middle of FT lane. IMHO, Stro and Yao have far more complimentary games than Stro and Pau.
I was watching a little bit of the NO Hornets one from last year they were showing yesterday...and scrolling across the bottom was the schedule for this week's Real Training Camp, they are doing one team per day. I dont remember which team was on which day...but the Rockets were not listed as being on this week.
