Okay. So Ill be the first to admit that I truely believe JVG didnt give Stro a good enough chance (yes I know Stro wasnt great in Memphis before either). Ill be the first to admit that I believe J Ho, is the lousiest excuse for a starting PF in this league. Look at his numbers, and how lousy the team becomes when he is in the lineup. http://www.82games.com/0506/0506HOU.HTM Ill be the first to admit I wasnt thrilled about getting Battier for Gay and Stro. Ill still think on an individual basis this was a bad move for the team. And that Battier wouldnt be the answer at the four come playoff time against Dirk (who abused Battier last playoffs) Duncan ect ect. BUT! I am a Rox fan. And agree or disagree, they are my beloved. I started thinking about what JVG is going to do with his new lineup, now that Bonzi is on board. My heart tells me it should be. Alston Bonzi TMac Battier Yao But I have this sinking feeling that the lovefest for JHo from JVG is going to keep JHo in the lineup regardless of how terrible the team is when JHo is in the lineup, and that we are going to see Wells come off the bench. Ive always been an advocate of play your 5 best players, but what if JVG keeps JHo in the starting lineup? I say that this would be unacceptable at all costs. Id be one grumpy mofo if Wells sat and JHo started. I know that its all about minutes and who cares about starting, but getting off to a good start every game to me, is more important that allegences built from a perceived "hustle" player...***COUGH*** RYAN BOWEN. Should Wells Start? And how many minutes should JHo be getting considering his production this coming year?
whether wells gets to start isnt much of an issue in my opinion, because we do need someone to pick up the slack when yao and tracy are resting, but with jho i would rather him coming off the bench but avg less than 20 minutes if anything. but then again i dont know what will happen if tracy starts at the 2, etc. i hope novak learns how to defend cause that would help us out tremendously..either way we have a good solid lineup that has potential to produce a very deep run if anything. remember bonzi's signing is similiar to stro's except bonzi is going to have much more of an impact than my clueless friend stro... WHY IS THE OFF SEASON SO DREADFULLY LONG..!?!?!
Dreamshake, No disrespect but there isn't a single thing in your post that hasn't been discussed ENDLESSLY already. The only thing you missed was to complain that the Rockets should never have traded Rafer for Mike James and how badly the Rockets screwed up by not giving him the $10 trade kicker and it's all CD's fault. This lineup will be incredibly flexible. Here's one crazy but possible lineup: PG: TMac 6'8 SG: Bonzi 6'5 SF: Battier 6'8 PF: Juwan 6'10 C: Yao Or you could, PG: Rafer SG: Head SF: Bonzi PF: TMac C: Battier The great thing about this lineup is if something isn't working, you can do just about anything and still keep good players on the court. JVG will play who he feels helps us win games ...I guarentee thats all he cares about. He doesn't care if you like/dislike Juwan Howard.
Juwon should be our second unit post player. His one strong point is that he is decent at shooting the midrange jumper, but we now have Battier and Novak who are better in that regard. Battier should be best paired with Yao, due to his long range shot, and Novak needs to gain experience, and will play limited minutes to begin his career. Raef Bonzi Tracy Shane Yao That unit could push the ball easily to start the offense, with Yao lagging behind. If nothing easy is there, Yao posts up and off we go. Can't wait.
I just counted 12 threads on page 1 either directly about Bonzi or because of him. It's out of control. Mods, please lock the dumb threads and clean up the mess. Thank you thank you very much.
When I first heard about us getting Wells, I thought man what a lineup like the one you mentioned. But then I read articles and people on here even that thought Bonzi might come off the bench. Then I remembered JVG's love affair with Juwan and was scared just like you. If he even thinks about having Wells come off the bench that is inexcusable. If you want some firepower on the bench, keep Wells in when Tmac goes out. All the people who are worried about Battier being a PF should have a little more faith in him. He will hold his own. He might have problems against Brand and Duncan but that is about it. As for Dirk, Tmac can handle him even though I still think Battier can handle Dirk better than he did in Memphis where they suck in the playoffs. Even then he is such a crafty player that he will still be effective not to mention opening up the lane on the offensive end. What's great about these 3 players is that they are very similar in that all of them can play the 2, 3, and 4 to some extent. There are very few players like that in this league. I think we will have the team causing mismatch problems because of our strenghth at 4 positions and many different lineup possibilities. Battier will be able to do so many things more effectively playing PF than SF or SG. He will close the lane, block shots, draw charges, foul when need be(saving Yao's arse), not let the pick and roll turn into two points, guard perimeter 4's that jack up 3's, and many more. Considering the fact that Tmac, and Bonzi are solid rebounders and team defenders, there is no reason Juwan should start if everyone is healthy. But only time will tell JVG continues his love affair with him.
Quit crying because everyone is bashing on your favorite lackluster megastar Juwon Suckass. This thread was to discuss what if any time Juwon should see as our PF, how we could use Battier in his place, how Battier would fare at the 4 full time against the big time PF's of the Western Conference, and the insertion of Wells into the starting lineup. Do you use Wells as a viable off the bench firepower. Or should Wells start and slide Sunglasses to the bench where he belongs with Ryan Bowen. Will JVG go with best 5 players, or will he remain fixated on having one of the worst starting PFs in the league start.
Battier's good, but he'll break down if you make him a full time 4. PF by committee, including Battier. Certain matchups will be good for him at that spot, many won't. Evan
i agree. juwon can play 24 minutes a game backing up shane at the 4. that leaves 24 minutes at the 4 for shane who can backup tmac for 10 minutes. bonzi can also backup tmac for a few minutes to clear some room at the 2 spot for head and snyder. i like this lineup alot. they can run with the best teams and rebound with the best teams.
I'm sure in the midst of the massive Juwan hatefest around here, no one has considered the possibility that Bonzi might be more effective coming off the bench as a sixth man, and T-Mac could still start at the 2 anyways.
Usually a team is only as strong as its weakest link. A good basketball team however, can mask deficiencies of one player. Of course the weaknesses are magnified in a playoff series. Problem with Juwan is that he has so many deficiencies and so little to offer that even an All-star team would have a hard time covering for him. Despite all the new additions, 1) If Juwan starts, he will get Rockets to a slow start to begin games most of the time. Rockets will usually have to climb a hole the rest of the game. 2) If he gets significant minutes, the Rockets are playing handicapped and will continue to lose. 3) If he gets significant minutes, JVG will be stealing valuable time from youngsters on this team who can develop.
I think Juwan would do great against a lot of second teams. It's first stringers that he gets eaten alive against.
Rafer/Spanoulis TMac/Snyder/Head Battier/Wells Howard/Hayes/Novak Yao/Mutombo That is the way I see it. If we could package Howard with one of Wells, Head, or Snyder, and get a real PF, that would help a lot. I don't like depending on Wells for much of a contribution as he doesn't play to the strengths of our stars and is a bit of a headcase. Given that, without TMac at the 2 we don't have too much to work with. Also, playing TMac as a three pushes Shane to the 4, which is okay, but not his natural position. Instead of trying to make the team into a poor man's Suns, I would go with a more traditional rotation because it better suits our superstars (who happen to be a 5 and a 2, which is a proven combo). Now, we can limit Howard's minutes by giving more time to Hayes and letting Novak see some minutes (which would be good because we need guys to hit open shots desperately. In the waning minutes I would like to see: 1 - whoever turns out to be our best shooting small guard (V-SPAN or Head prob.) 2 - TMac 3 - Battier 4 - Novak 5 - Yao Surrounding Yao and TMac with three shooters is a formula for offensive success.
My guess is (this is offensive formation only): Rafer/Span/Head/Lucas Wells/Snyder/Head/TMac TMac/Battier/Wells/Novak/Snyder Howard/Battier/Hayes/Novak Yao Ming/Howard/Deke I think Howard will start for at least the first half but I hope his minutes are kept under 25.
Does anyone here REALLY think Novak will be a starter this year? He may not even crack the rotation. Come back to Earth. The guy has a looooong way to go.
is it just me, but i think Juwon is a decent pf. He's not tier one, by any means, but he also isn't in the bottom tier of pfs. He's got a reliable jump shot, pulls a few boards, sucks on d, but he does all the little things you ask of him. He's a team player. Juwon getting 20 minutes i think is great. I mean, we can't have a super star at all five positions, and i'll settle for juwon at 4 for limited minutes.
