Based on Saturdays game, (which is all we have to base on) who knows? We'll see how we do Wednesday against the whole Spurs team. (instead of Manu and a bunch of dudes). Jordan looked good, but lets see him bring it against Duncan's old a$$
Still have my doubts but some of you guys are hyping up Hill way too much after ONE PRESEASON GAME of a Duncan less Spurs.
I want to trade or release Thabeet and give more attention to Smith if we can get a serviceable Center.
Agreed. My gut tells me he just needs to develop confidence that he belongs. This is a problem with some younger players. True, he isn't an Olajuwan. But remember the one thing Hakeem said to Yao in their brief workout -- "You are the big man. You have to dominate." (Easy for Hakeem to say, but still, the point being you have to have that confidence.) The one thing that McHale brings to the Rockets is a big-man mentality and skill set as a head coach. Maybe my mind has just gone blank, but I don't know of any other HC's that were either a PF or C. There aren't even that many Jack Sikmas on staffs for tutoring bigs. Whatever else one might think of McHales credentials as a HC, he is a HOF player at a big position. If Thabeet is going to make it as a serviceable Center in the NBA, he's got a good situation, if he'll just take advantage of it. The one thing McHale keyed on about Hill was he was eager to learn, very coachable and worked hard. And, of course, you are right. McHale is evaluating him every day. He didn't single him out for being impressed like he did Hill, but still...
You won't have to waive Thabeet in order for Smith to get good PT. With such a condensed season, there will be plenty of minutes to go around. There will be games all throughout the season where maybe Scola and Martin won't play due to fatigue. Plus, you always have to worry about injuries.
I wouldn't bet my life on it but I think that Hill and Thabeet will be better then what we had last year. Love chuck but these two should provide much better rim protection.
Samuel Dalembert is our very best option without either (1) trading away our future through an extraordinary draft or (2) dissolving our current core talent and leaving us without a sufficient veteran nucleus to optimize the benefits of that draft in the near term. The question becomes this: is Dalembert (or equivalent) sufficient to overcome our current weaknesses in the post and give us the opportunity to make a minor run in the playoffs this year? This observer believes he is not. Dalembert is a fine basketball player, but he is not and never has been a game-changer. Jordan Hill is not the second coming of Hakeem Olajuwon, although he had a fantastic game against San Antonio. He likely will remain inconsistent, but he has growth potential, is young and athletic, and can score a little. I suspect we will give him the season to establish his role with this team or his asset potential in trade. Hasheem Thabeet is, I am certain, a fine person. But he is fool's gold on the court. Even if his stamina improves his footwork is atrocious and his shooting mechanics are awful. He does have height, which can be effective on a solid team at the college level, but height is not enough at the professional level to overcome the obvious deficiencies in his game. Greg Smith is interesting, but I have not seen enough of him at any level to comment. We need a reliable back-up center this season, to play every game to the best of our abilities, and let the season play itself out. We will be better for the effort next season, have cap space for a significant upgrade to the roster next season, and possess draft choices in a deep pool to build our team's future.
This is not about being a game changer or not. You need an extra body until Jordan can play full time center on Defense or Thabeet really proving himself. We all know Jordan is quite the offensive player and Thabeet can occasionally block some shots. Will it be enough? Depends on the contract though. But either way....there is too much unknown details here.
I believe Hill will be our Starting Center no doubt. He has improved since last season and he seems to be more in control than the last few seasons. He works hard, hustle, can go up and block a few shots and has improved his rebounding. Thabeet on the other hand, I doubt he will make any impact to this team. He just doesn't have what it takes to succeed in this league. He's tall and semi athletic, but honestly, he doesn't really know the fundamentals of the game and his IQ is pretty low. I don't expect much more out of him this season and I think Morey will probably waive him sometime this season to make room for a productive player. Hopefully Samuel Dalembert can sign with Houston and be a nice backup center behind Jordan Hill.
There were little things that Thabeet were doing that were good enough to help the team. He got gassed out pretty quickly, but you could eliminate that problem by shelling out more minutes to Smith. The point of the thread is, we now have three different types of centers. That is usually ideal for match-up purposes.
...Don't know yet. We saw them hold down a weak Tiago Splitter and undersized Blair. I'll hold my judgment until I see them try to stop the likes of Blake Griffin, Bynum, Howard, etc. Does NOT look good tbh. CHUCK HAYES! Come back soon buddy!
I think Greg Smith is going to fill that Chuck Hayes role. He and Thabeet could be used as situational back-ups giving them equal minutes. Something like Hill= 20 minutes Thabeet=15+ minutes Smith= 13+ minutes
Morey is very happy that Jordan had a good pre-season game because he can use it to lure a trade for a real center. (see Donte Greene) Trade Hill to Cleveland for Varejao. Trade Thabeet and Flynn to New Orleans for Kaman Playoffs here we come Kaman/Varejao Scola/Patterson CBud/Williams Martin/Lee Lowry/Dragic
