http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterockets/2012/01/rockets-suffer-travel-woes/ Typically I would agree with McHale that an 8-9 man rotation is optimal, but in a compressed season and with the depth the Rockets have, I think he may be making a mistake. The Rockets don't have an elite superstar right now (pending what Lowry is doing so far being maintained); they do however have depth, and the luxury of their bench players having a similar level of talent to their starters. Thus, not having elite players that can take over a game, their depth allows their players to out-effort and out work the team and then go to the bench for similar effort once the players on the court have exerted themselves. Now, normally this would not be enough to make up for the lack of stars, but in a compressed season, when the other team may be more fatigued and lethargic than usual, then having fresh high effort players on the court at all times could mean several extra wins. I liked the short rotation tonight, since the Rockets will be off the next several days. But I think playing an 8 man rotation during a 4 games in 5 nights stretch, like the brutal one coming up, would be a mistake. Personally I think they should aim for a solid 10 man, 2 deep at every position rotation. This gives players enough time for continuity and to get into the flow of the game each night, while at the same time having enough guys in the mix for everyone to be fresh and give maximum effort while they are on the court.
That does not mean anything... You can go to other players, exchange them if someone is injured, or sucking bad
I'm not debating who the 8-9 guys should be, I'm saying that it is a mistake for the Rockets not to play at least 10 players in a game considering the fact that the drop off for them from player 9 to player 10, 11, 12 is minimal, but the drop off from a tired player to a fresh one is much greater. Especially by the end of the season and when you take injuries into account.
He's right. The current rotation's a mess. A big rotation sounds nice but in reality players need to be playing with the same group of guys as much as possible to get them to play as a team. There needs to be a short rotation where players consistently know their roles then give short minutes to guys you want to give looks to.
No great loss. Flynn and T-Will aren't rotation players. They've had their chances in the past few years.
You only require 8-9 guys in an ideal scenario. Players 10-15 are just practice players and depth in case of injuries, or back to back games. You can't play a lot of people because players need some PT to get going, and while the dropoff in terms talent isn't significant, some players are just more consistent (Lee) while others play like lottery picks one night and garbage the next (Dragic, T-will). This is the way I see it: 1. Guaranteed Spots in the rotation: -Lowry -Scola -Kmart -Dalembert 2. Highly likely spots in the rotation: -PP -Hill -C-bud -Lee 3. Guys fighting for spots in the rotation: -Dragic -T-will -MM -Parsons 4. Doghouse: -Flynn -Thabeet -Adrien
Mistake? Huh? That is what I meant you tighten your rotation to 9 guys......if someone is injured or is sucking, move one up from the inactive list Play those guys at Rio Grande with the Vipers. Or wait for a trade.
Flynn actually had a great rookie season. His stats last year shouldnt even be looked at because he was injured for the most part of that year. As for Terrence.. If McHale really thinks he doesnt help the team, then so be it. I like Terrence very much but McHale must have a good reason for puttting him in the dog house.
This is how I see it. Parsons might bump Chase off soon enough. Chase's performance last night probably gave McHale second thoughts. Maybe there'll be stretches where they'll be using different reserves? In some games, it's either Flynn or Dragic and either Morris/Williams/Parsons/Budinger.
McHale might just be saying Dragic, Lee, Pat and Hill are the only ones worthy of seeing time (Besides the starters). Everyone else is crap.
I remember Flynn as a rookie. The T-pups won like a dozen games that year. Flynn is in the mould of short dribble happy shoot first "point guards". These kinds may put up some decent stats but don't usually help a team win very much. Twill, see other threads regarding his attitude. Dude is a knucklehead and changing those kinds of things is HARD. News flash for fellow rockets fans: The guys who sucked last year? They still suck this year.
I guess it depends on the opponent we are versing... If we are vsing against Heat or LA in a few days time then I stick with a 11 player rotation.
Flynn's style of play in his rookie year shouldnt be blamed on him. He was forced to run a triangle offense (or was it motion? im not entirely sure) during his run there while being a master of the PnR in college. It was just a bad fit.
I was going to make this exact same post last night but my wife had other ideas. The only tweak I would make to your post is in the rotation lineup. Dragic is the backup point currently and there is no question about that. Morey and Coach value his ability to Push the tempo and defend both wing spots well. Also he is the only legit combo guard we have. Because of his size and shooting he can play the backup 2 well and also Man the 1 very well. In Mchales offense the 2\3 or pretty much the same so I think we will continue to see alot of Martin playing the backup 3. As long as his defensive weakness can be masked by Wins I don't think that will be a problem. If losses start to pile up because the production from the opposing teams 2\3s are off the charts, don't be surprised if you see changes in the rotation or major trades made.
The offense they ran (triangle) has nothing to do with Flynn's lack of defense and shooting touch. With Flynn, I didn't really see any urgency to get better, which is a bit of a shame since he seemed the most coachable out of the 3 backup pgs (T-will, Dragic and him). He can't help being small but he really should have used the offseason working to fix his broken jumper.
Absolutely figure out the 8 man rotation....for late March/April. In this compact, overstuffed season, keeping legs as fresh as possible is crucial. In back to back situations and the 4 in 5 nights, I'd absolutely hold out one or two guys (say Patterson and Lee) one night to unleash them the next game while the rest are fatigued. Rotation A (9 man) Hill/Dalembert Scola/Patterson Budinger/ Martin/Lee Lowry/Dragic Rotation B1 (back to back night 1) Hill/Dalembert Scola (36 min)/Morris Budinger/Parsons Martin (36 min)/Williams Lowry/Dragic Rotation B2 (back to back night 2) Hill/Dalembert/Thabeet Scola (24 min)/Patterson/Morris Budinger/Parsons Martin (24 min)/Lee Lowry/Dragic
It is the only way to build chemistry, and I for one have been clamoriing for it since day one, glad to see him taking charge and doing the right thing. I do think there is a budding chemistry spill waiting to happen though as some of the guys that are probably just as good as the rotational guys rot on the bench, that will not go over well in contract years. I hope Morey can trade some of our depth for future picks, find a taker for TWill and Flynn in particular, maybe Thabeet too. DD
I would break it down like this: 1. Will every game this season if healthy, case closed: 1. Lowry (PG) 2. Scola (PF) 3. Kmart (SG) 4. Dalembert (C) 5. Patterson (PF) 6. Lee (SG/SF) 7. Dragic (PG) 2. Will play every game this season, unless beaten out of the rotation: 8. Hill (C) 9. Budinger (SF) 3. Possible chance to beat out either Hill or Budinger, moving them into the rotation and either Hill or Budinger out of it: 10. Parsons (SF) 11. Morris (SF) 12. T-Will (SF) 13. Thabeet (C) 4. Super-glued to the end of the bench, or cut: 14. Flynn (PG) 15. Adrien (SF)
