Who should be the 8th man in the playing rotation?

Jones. If we don't get him going, we're ****ed until DMo gets back.

 

Playoffs? Playoffs? We're just trying to beat lottery teams!

 

Voted Brewer...He's not what I think he's what the Rockets truly need as far as fit, but he's just better than the other guys even with his struggles. Don't need another PG so no to Terry. Rest of the guys aren't good shooters. Brewer probably is better than Jones and more needed with Ariza playing so much 4.

Rockets across the board except Thornton appear to be having down years in shooting open threes. The Nets it seemed played a lot of minutes with basically 4 guys surrounding the paint waiting to help with one on Harden. With Rockets struggling to get spacing, Brewer is making it worse.

I've seen a lot of complaints about McHale, but this is the team Morey assembled. Morey should be taking some of the heat for not giving McHale enough guys to spread the floor. I'm not saying Morey should be fired as he does a lot of great things and I think he'll fix things by deadline. DMo may fix things if he comes back 100% healthy.

I just don't see a good 8th man at moment considering the top 7 guys the Rockets have.

 

People shouldn't lose sight of this. Morey is a big part of the problem right now as far as the assembly of the roster. The roster has yet to really match the type of play Morey prefers. Thornton has been a great addition and provides some shooting/floor spacing but signing guys like Brewer AND McDaniels, guys who can't shoot and are similar in style, was a head scratcher and redundant on top of drafting another similar guy like Dekker.

 

Both contracts looked higher than I would have guessed even with salary cap about to increase. Beverley's for injury concerns only. Brewer's for fit. I did think that Brewer may have gotten that contract so that the Rockets would have a contract that size for trading purposes....then the Rockets hard capped themselves. Granted, Rockets were over the cap so it may have been a situation of them at that price was better than not signing them because those were the guys they had Bird Rights.

 

I suspect McDaniels was signed as a gamble to be a potential Brewer upgrade if he takes to coaching. If McDaniels can pick up shooting and refine his man-to-man defense, he'll be a very good role player. Those are big ifs, but it isn't like he's on a big contract either. He's a high risk, high reward guy. I was disappointed he's shooting is still as far away as it needs to be...but then again he was a free agent and didn't get the summer league coaching time he needed.

Dekkar...I think Morey sees him as a gamble to become a stretch 4 with coaching. I think he's a lower risk than K.J., but might not have the upside.

 

I understand. Usually I'm thinking a GM wouldn't be taking too many gambles on a supposedly contending team and would be focusing on more immediate needs. Oh well.

 

On gambling, Morey's options were limited. None of the gambles involved the Rockets giving up a rotation player or the opportunity to get a rotation player with the possible exception of Josh Smith. Though Smith would seem to be redundant.

 

I voted Harrell but on situational basis, if you need some rebounds and D but if you need scoring you go with Brewer...

 

Whoever will play defense and not turn the ball over.

 

Today, and last night? Chuck Hayes.

 

I mean...

Brewer? Atrocious.
Jones? Atrocious.
Terry? Lawson and Bev should be more than enough
KJ? Can't possibly be worse than Brewer, but the Rockets clearly don't think much since he can't even stay out of the D-League

Montrezl is the only one of that group who has given even passable minutes this season. Why is he not playing? He played well. Extremely well! He's obviously not the best fit, but shoot...when the team's getting murdered on the boards and can't finish inside, why not go for the guy who can get boards and finish inside?

I'm just confused why McHale is so intent on sticking with things that aren't working, whether it be lineups, lack of adjustments, or sticking with guys who aren't getting it done.

 

Jones by Default.

How can you not have a PF in your rotation?

I swear though. If he gets another shot blocked while in the post, I'm going to break my TV. That guy is the smallest 6'9 player I have ever seen.

 

Smoove is better than Jones and Harrell, but he has the same problems on offense (I should have said redundant on offense). He isn't efficient away from the basket. Rockets have Howard, Capela, Jones, Harrell, Brewer, and KJ as players that don't have to be guarded closely away from the basket. Lawson and Ariza haven't been too good on open catch and shoot threes as in the past.

Personally, I think Rockets need to have three guys that can hit open threes on court at all times, but preferably 4 when Howard and Capela are playing.

Here's to DMo coming back healthy. Rockets look to be built for him as a key cog of the lineup.

 

Terrence sucks - this is hard to deny. But he hasn't always sucked, and there may still be something to recover. You can abandon him when D-Mo is back, but we really are hosed if we get complete zero out of him when we're (obviously) getting zero out of D-Mo.

 

You have Lawson, Harden, Thornton and Beverley to cover the guard positions, so Terry isn't needed. You have Howard and Capela to cover center. SF can be covered by Ariza and Harden or Thornton to go small. PF though, all you have is an undersized Ariza or a center playing out of position. So, it has to be a power forward, so Harrell or T Jones (or Brewer if you really like small-ball). Small-ball is situational at best, and I don't really want to see rookies in the rotation at all, unless they're just astounding. So, Jones it is.