C - Yao (if healthy)/D-Mo/Thabeet PF - Scola/P-Pat/Chuck SF - MC Morris/Bud/Parsons SG - Martin/Lee/Twill PG - Lowry/Dragon/Flynn
We need to decide on 10 players who will get time with two waiting in the wings. I dont want it to take too long to figure out what lineup works and go through all these lineup experiments like Detroit last season. It got them nowhere. Lowry/Dragic Martin/Lee ??????/Morris/Budinger Patterson/Hayes ??????/Donatas/Fesenko No Scola, Flynn, T-Will, Hill or Thabeet. Just dont even bother with these guys, It would be an absolute waste of time to try work Flynn into the rotation when we know how effective Lowry and Dragic are. Playing Hill and Thabeet will only decrease their trade value even further. Forget giving minutes to T-Will and concentrate on Morris. Trade all those guys to help with our needs.
It would be nice to have this line up C - McGee/D-Mo/Yao (if healthy) PF - Scola/P-Pat/Chuck SF - MC Morris/Bud/Parsons SG - Martin/Lee/ PG - Lowry/Dragic/Flynn
I wouldn't want to risk having another injury prone center and I think trading scola, Martin or lowry is the best way to get a quality center and I don't want to givw up Lowry or Martin so I'd rather offer Scola but whatever Morey thinks is best.
Note: This isn't my personal choice, but what I am predicting will be our rotation for the start of the season. CTrade/FA)/Thabeet/Yao/Montijunas PF:Scola/Patterson/Montijunas SF:Twill/Morris SG:Martin/Lee PG:Lowry/Dragic or Flynn I think we'll either let Hayes go in FA, or use him in a sign and trade possibly with Bud and Hill in a package for a C. Either way I think Bud is gone, Hill is gone, Hayes is gone, Parsons will either be overseas or in the D-league to develop. I think we'll see a lot more of Twill and Thabeet (especially Thabeet - McHale wants to play bigs) and with drafting Montijunas I think Hill's out of the picture, Bud is someone we use to help us get a player. I see Montijunas rotating in and out of the 4/5 spots, Morris as our backup 3 behind Twill, and Patterson as our 6th man. I also wouldn't be surprised if either Dragic or Flynn were used as trade bait.
1) Kyle Lowry / Goran Dragic / Jonny Flynn 2) Kevin Martin / Courtney Lee 3) Marcus Morris / Chase Budinger / Chase Parsons 4) Luis Scola / Patrick Patterson 5) Andris Biedrins / Chuck Hayes / Yao Ming*
I dont understand why everyone thinks that Chuck will not be returning to the Rockets. He is our defensive identity. With his skill set on the defensive end, it would be stupid to let him walk. If our main goal is to compete for championships, why wouldnt you keep a player who can guard and shut down the likes of (Garnett, Pierce, Z-Bo, Amare, P.Gasol, D.West) pretty much all of the star power forwards. You guys say we need to improve the defense but you want to write off our best defensive player. Get a clue guys!
2 things need to happen: Scola/Martin/Bud for D.Howard, and Yao coming back healthy. Talk about a defensive juggernaut of a starting lineup, good luck for opponents getting over 75pts a game lol PG: Lowry / Dragic SG: Lee / Williams SF: Patterson / Morris PF: D.Howard / Motiejunas C: Yao / Thabeet
C: ??/Yao PF: Scola/Patterson SF:Twill/Morris SG: Martin/Lee PG: Lowery/Dragic Will try to trade Budinger, Thabet, Chuck, Hill, Flynn
That would just be ridiculous. I'd switch Williams and Lee around though. I think Howard and Yao could keep him on check. Or he could be a spark off the bench. Either way that would be sick. Also, if this was the lineup, I would keep Chuck if possible. Thabeet couldn't handle more than 5 minutes a game right now. It would also be possible to start chuck and have yao off the bench. Playing minutes when Howard is out. You would have Yao/Twill/Dragic/Morris/Motieljunas as the 2nd.
You need to take risks when it come to centers, especially when they're hard to come by healthy. Just look at the mavericks and Tyson Chandler. Before going to the mavericks he was considered a liability due to his past injury and look at him now, he managed to stay healthy all season and they won a championship and they got him for basically nothing. If we have a chance to get a center I say we take it and hope for the best.
C- Yao Ming, D-MO, Chuck PF- Scola, Patterson SF-Morris, Parsons SG-Martin, Buddinger, Williams PG-Lowry, Dragic, Flynn Trade / Sign & Trade Thabeet, Hill, Lee for...........
Yao/D-Mo/Hill Chuck/Scola/Patterson Bud/Morris/T-Will :twitch: Martin/Lee Lowry/Dragic/Flynn If Yao can give 20-25 mpg, Hayes is a much better compliment to Yao than Scola. better defender, better weak side rebounder, higher B-Ball IQ, plays just as hard. I think Chuck Wagon is a better all around PF than Scola, and a much better High Post Passer than Scola (Which is where they will be with Yao in the paint) Granted Scola is a better scorer, which is why I say bring him off the bench. With Yao, Scola, and Martin on the floor, you run into the problem of 1 ball and no one playing defense. Then you bring in a second team with Lee and Dragic forced to carry the load? Won't work. Start with Yao inside out to Martin and Bud, or Lowry/Hayes pick and roll, or Hayes/Yao give and go with Bud and Martin. Second unit comes in, feed Scola and spot up Lee, and develop draft picks. Give Hayes 7-8mpg at center to give PatPat some minutes at the 4. Sit hill behind the bench and banish Thabeet to the D-League.
I never wrote Chuck off, I love Hayes' role on the floor. If you read my post (and actually read it) you'll see that it wasn't what I WANTED to happen, it was what I PREDICT will happen. Mchale wants bigs, Hayes is awesome, but he's a big with the height of a 2/3, I can't see him being resigned, unless it's to trade him.
The point of taking risk. Tyson would be playing for us right now if Morey would of accepted the Trade without Tysons' physical. That was the only thing holding back the trade. As a GM you have to be Smart, but also take Chances. I think at that time, the Rockets were too fragile and it would of been a huge risk. But would of been well worth it. Now we are in a postion to take Risks, we have an overloaded roster. We can lose up to 4/5 players and still have a good team.