Play coach instead of GM. Going with what you've already got, how would you improve the team? (Notice I use the term "improve" - I don't think the Rox need to be "fixed" because I don't think they're broken, but they do need to get better.) First, I'd lose Hawkins - he can't play offense at this level and his defense, though good, just isn't good enough to make a difference against the better teams. Look at Doug Christe tonight - that's a guy who, even if he couldn't shoot, would belong on the court for his D alone. But guys like that are few and far between - and, sorry, Hawk isn't one of them. Also, not having a shooting guard who can shoot really hurts our inside players by allowing opponents to drop of the guard and crowd the inside with a tight zone. And on a side note, why are we playing this guy instead of signing Jim Jackson? What makes him right for the Kings, but wrong for us? Second, KT goes to the bench. His rebounding is better than Mo Taylor's, but not so much better to make up for his inability to shoot. His shooting is on par with Griffin's, but Eddie's much younger and is expected to improve - and Eddie is a much better defender and rebounder too. Let's face it, he's not a 3, but actually an undersized 4 and he should be behind Eddie, Mo, and Cato at that position. Also, everyone knows that he's not part of this team's future, so why bother? Third, stick with Eddie. He's still very young and, since we're not expected to win a championship this year, there's no harm in letting him stumble some. In a perfect world, I see him as playing a lot of 3 too, with Mo at the 4 - Eddie would compliment Mo by bringing the defense and rebounding that Mo seems to lack. Forth, I don't care whether Boki plays or not this year, but you have to give him minutes over Morris and Hawkins - he should come off the bench before they do for sheer talent and importance to the long-term. I simply can't believe that he's so bad that he can't outperform those guys. Wasn't he the star on the Euro championship team last year? It's not like he's some kid straight out of high school. In the end, my rotation would be: PG: Francis SG: Mobley SF: Rice PF: Griffin C: Ming Bench: Norris, Cato, Taylor, Nachbar I'd have Norris back-up at both guard positions, Griffin play all 3 front-court positions, Cato getting time at both 4 and 5 (sometimes sharing the court with Ming), and Nachbar serving as a back-up swingman. To me, this is your team for the next several years, with the exception of Rice, who Boki will hopefully replace as a starter in the future. Unless Rudy and CD are planning to trade one of these 9 guys (and I don't think they are), there's no use in playing other guys (barring injury or foul trouble). Let these 9 guys get 99% of the court time, let them develop together for a year, then evaluate what they've been able to accomplish at the end of the season. Don't play guys just because they've been here longer or are tight with other guys on the team (this means KT and Morris).
Sounds good to me, actually. We won't need another post presence starting at the 4 when Yao begins to assert himself, so it makes sense to start Eddie for his defense and rebounding. Taylor is the better player right now, but it makes more sense playing him off the bench as Yao gets more minutes and actually starts scoring. Cat, Eddie, and KT for Brand, Maggette, and Rooks still sounds good though.
1. Play Ming and Cato togehter This will might elminate any hostility that Cato may feel towards Yao, if he knows he can play even with Yao on the court. This would also decrease inside scoring on the other side of the ball. 2. Get Yao more shots Increase his shots per game to about 10 or so. Let him post up more often and get easy shots of shorter opponents. 3. Get Eddie Going I'm not sure how to do this other than giving him more minutes, so give him more minutes. 4. Rotate Yao and Cato in the starting lineup Yao can go against the opponents bench, and Cato can get used to starting some ball games again 5. Give Nachbar some playing time Let him get some garbage minutes and let him play when the whole team is struggling to make baskets. we hear about how well he shoots lets see it 6. Get Cat more shots when he comes back Let him find his touch and than he will be more consistent thats all i can think of
I know Sterling is an idiot, but he'd have to be @#%*ing nuts to move Brand for anyone who isn't already an all-star. With the exception of Duncan, there's not another PF I'd take over him. Even if the Clippers are ridiculously cheap, I'd let everyone else walk before him - he's a max guy.
I think that getting Hawkins, Morris, and KT off the court will get Yao more shots, as defenses will be less inclined to sag down on him with double-teams. We've seen that Yao can pass the ball - let's make sure he has someone to pass to.
I'd have to go with a starting lineup of: C: Ming PF: Taylor SF: Nachbar(He's got Pro experience, just not NBA experience) SG: Mobley PG: Francis And first off the bench would be: C: Cato PF: Griffin SF: T-Mo SG: Hawkins PG: Moochie That starting 5 is our future, with the possible switch of Taylor & Griffin as the starting PF. I say just let them play & grow together. There doesn't seem to be any sign of a set rotation & that might explain why no one has gotten into any kind of a groove yet, with the exception of Francis. It doesn't matter if we don't make the playoffs this year, just get a regular rotation & stick with it. It's not like the coaches don't have a pretty good idea of what players bring what skills to the team. Having said all that, I believe that Francis/Mobley/Ming, with Cato backing up Ming, is enough to carry us into the playoffs.
How do u improve the team? Easy. Rudy T needs to come up with a better game plan OR change the way they play the game. Stop jacking up shots and playing too much man on man basketball. Learn the word, "team basketball." That would improve the team. Also, don't start Hawkins, instead start Rice.
I would say to start Mo Taylor and expect him to produce or think about trading him. someone break Moochie's leg (just kidding)but for real he is not worth a damn crap cuz he can't play defense for 2 pennies anyone he guards has a field day. Why does he play Moochie so much he doesn't need to get alot of minutes at all we need a better back up for Steve. Someone that don't neccessarily need to score but that can't play good defense and pass well and hit open jumpers. We need a quicker small forward to be able to play defense and hit open shotz to back up Rice or to come in for in situations where the other teams small forward is to fast for him and play defense. We have to slow small forwards in Rice and Griffin when he plays small forward and the back ups like Morris or whatever his name is can't hit an open shot for nothin. We should try and get Rashard Lewis and have Glen play off the bench cuz to me Glen don't seem like he deserve to start man we have a 3 point shooter like him last year in Walt Williams but he had the same problem he was slow but to me Rice and Williams are the same its just that Rice has hype in his name but he still hasn't proved to me that he is worth the money. If someone is better then Rashard get him then we don't need that great a player just someone fast who can play some defense. I say trade Kenny and Griffin and get a good power forward,Im not sure how much Griffin will develop cuz to me he seems like he moves his feet slow and has no ball handling ability,thats the kinda stuff that you can't practice at some people are just slow when it comes to moving they feet,I shouldn't have to explain why we should trade Kenny,We should even trade Mo if he don't start scoring. I don't think we can beat the better teams without trading unless they get Mo Taylor going if he has any game left in him,get Cuttino back,Steve improves on assisting to people,play the inside out game to Yao Ming,fire Rudy for playing Moochie and the stupidest times of the game like the 4th qaurter. Yall see how against a good defensive and offensive team like King just humiliated us and no one on our team could score? You saw how we have no other scorers besides Steve right now? Yao can help but he can't do enuff right now its gonna take time but we don't have time cuz before you know it if we play this messed up we won't make the playoffs again. I think we will tho but moves have to be made.
Yes, I'd use T-Mo over Rice. It's my opinion that Rice will be gone after his contract expires, maybe sooner (unless he resigns for the Veteran's minimum, which I doubt he would). I'd rather play the guys that I plan on keeping for the long haul. Also, T-Mo is in the last year of his contract & I'd want to know if he's going to develop or not. I'd give T-Mo at least half a season of being in the regular rotation & playing 15-20 mpg, before I'd consider other options.
Glad you brought this issue up. Rotation seems not a big problem for this team. To me, it is a lack of ball movement which is caused by lack of movement by players. So, to improve this team, we have to kick the ass of those guys who don't move and just stand there waiting for a miracle.
Why do so many people say that Eddie is a better defender and rebounder than KT???? It drives me nuts. The only thing Griffin does better on the defensive end is shot blocking and most of those blocks come from the weak side. If there was a one on one game between KT and Eddie, Griffin would be killed on the offensive and the defensive ends.
I think they wanna keep Griffin for his potential cuz we have seen what KT can do and people don't like it he don't know how to pass or be a consistant scorer,he trys to do to much and ends up clanking the ball off the backboard trying to do a spin move and he can't post up for crap or shoot over the top,all he has is that lil spin move to the bucket and his outside shooting is never consistant.
To me, I think shortening and defining the rotation will improve ball movement. If you have the same guys getting the same minutes in the same roles, night after night, they're going to get more comfortable with each other, which will lead to better ball movement. Pick 9 men and stick with them for at least a month, if not two. If one of them is obviously holding the others back, then give his slot in the rotation to somebody waiting on the bench - try something different. But at least try for consistency in the short-term. Rudy always says that he likes to change his rotation in order to "match-up" with different teams from night to night. But you should be able to find good match-ups out of 9 guys. Too often it seems like Rudy thinks, "Well, we've played a whole quarter and this isn't working, so let's try someone else." That kind of thinking might win a few games in the short-term, but it's bad for consistency and will hurt in the long-run when your team fails to come together.
Ahem... Griffin this season, in 26.5 minutes per game, averages: 6.1 rebounds 1.9 blocks 0.5 steals Thomas this season, in 29.6 minutes per game, averages: 6.5 rebounds 0.3 blocks 0.7 steals I think that if Griffin was on the court for 3 more minutes a game, he'd average at least another rebound, so I'd say he's the superior defender to Thomas RIGHT NOW. But my argument is not based on RIGHT NOW, but on the FUTURE, 1 or 2 years from now. Who is the bigger part of that future? Griffin or Thomas? At 20, with just 87 NBA games under his belt, will Griffin substantially improve over the next 2 years? At 25, with 231 NBA games already under his belt, will Thomas substantially improve over the next 2 years? I think the answer is that Griffin has more room for improvement. And since he's already marginally better than Thomas, why are they splitting minutes?
To improve the team, if I were Rudy, I'd tell all the PF's that in order for them to get any playing time they have to obey one rule: NEW PF RULE: They can only shoot one shot beyond free-throw distance for every two rebounds they collect. This would solve two major problems with that position, rebounding and low FG%. Plus it might stop be from throwing my shoes at the TV all the time.
Furious Jam, I agree with everthing in your first post of this thread, except the Jauquin Hawkins part. Hawkins is one of the few Rockets that actually concentrates on defense. Plus he realizes he is a role player and does not try to do too much. He is a very unselfish player. Anytime you can get a charging call on Kobe Bryant 8 games into your rookie season, you belong in the NBA. Hawkins did just that. Finally, when the Rockets have ball movement on offense, and other teams leave Hawkins open, he is already showing that he can hit the clutch jumpshot (see Nov 17th at LA for a specific example) Considering all this, Hawkins should be a part of the Rockets rotation. He should come off the bench when Mobley comes back.
I don't throw things at my TV because it's expensive. Instead, I throw things at the wall, because I rent.
Just read in the Chron that Hawkins has a hand injury, so I'm willing to cut him some slack for now. And there's a place in the league for super defenders like Ron Artest, Doug Christie, Ben Wallace, PJ Brown, etc. I just don't think that Hawkins is in that class, especially since those guys are also better offensively than he is.
