So... what do you guys think the opening night rotation will look like based on tonight (admittedly a VERY limited sample)? My guess is largely the same as my prior post: (1) Lin, (2) Martin, (3) Parsons, (4) Patterson and (5) Asik as starters. Douglas backing up the 1, Delfino backing up the 2/3, and Jones backing up the 4/5. Morris, Motiejunas and White probably lurch at the edge of the rotation in case of injuries/inconsistencies from the regulars. Machado is the 3rd string/insurance PG. Jones might end up taking Patterson's starting job since he's more fluid offensively, which will make Patterson the backup 4/5.
Based on the very limited sample, we may see more of Jones than we thought, and Lamb just might earn himself some minutes. Lin, Martin, Parsons, and Asik look like locks for the rotation, at least the first half of the season. Maybe Martin, obviously a starter, gets moved at the deadline, maybe not, but Patterson is going to have to bust his arse to keep his starting gig, IMO. Jones looks damn good in the very early going. He looks like he seriously doesn't want to sit and watch, know what I mean? His motor is motoring big time.
This sounds about right, though you forgot Lamb . Whatever happened to Livingston? Is it already a forgone conclusion that he's out? I liked him This is a deep rotation of players that need minutes. Even if 2 of em end up in D-league, that still seems like too few minutes to go around for so many young players. Maybe there are still trades on the horizon, but I hope this doesn't stunt anyone's growth.
I think that Jones will push Patterson hard for that starting position. To me, there aren't too many things Patterson can do that Jones can't. I would actually say that Jones appears to be what we thought Patterson would become. The spot is obviously still pat's to lose but if he doesn't take a giant step forward he's not only coming off the bench, he'll be traded. I think Jones will see a significant amount of time coming off the bench at the 4 at first and overtake Patterson later in the season. Lamb I believe will also see a significant amount of time at the 2 coming off the bench and will be a starter only if Martin is traded. Dmo will almost certainly be the primary backup center. He has seen most of his scrimmage and summer league minutes there. While he'll be pushed around on defense he should pose serious problems due to his speed and range on offense and create some serious match up nightmares. It will be interesting to see if he gets any time at the 4 with Asik at the 5. That would seem to be an extremely well rounded giant front court. The real question mark is Royce white. To me, Royce needs to play the 3. He can obviously play multiple positions but I feel the 3 spot would be optimum for him. I feel that Delfino is here as a filler. He's not a part of the future plans for this team no matter what they may be. I feel that Morris, despite a strong camp showing will end up in the D-League along with Forbes and Machado. Thus my midseason rotation without a trade is a ten man rotation: Lin/TD Martin/Lamb Parsons/white Patterson/Jones Asik/DMO I believe that Jones and Lamb will have the best breakouts among the rooks and that Martin, Patterson, and Morris will be gone later in the year resulting in more of an 8 player rotation: Lin/TD Lamb/delfino Parsons/White/Delfino Jones/White/Dmo Asik/Dmo
We desperately need a back up 5. If we do get one D-MO will go back to PF and that provide less chances for our 3 tweeners to play at the PF spot behind Pat and D-Mo. There isnt much available at the SF spot either behind Parsons and Delfino. So, how are we going to split time with out 3 tweener forwards in Jones, Royce and Morris? The only way is for them outplay D-Mo and Delfino.
The starting 5 is a given short of injury or a guy falling into a black hole. I agree 3 guys will come off the bench early on. A 9th guy on specific occasions. Douglas, Delfino and Jones are probably the most ready. Whats hard to imagine is Lamb, Dmo, Morris and White not playing. In terms of last night and readyness id rank them: 1) Lamb 2) Morris 3) Dmo 4) White This ranking I see in terms of likelihood to be the 9th guy or displace one of the 6-8 guys. Its hard to see Douglas or Jones not being there, so Delfino seems the likeliest to fall of the 6-8. He looked very poor last night (yea I know, one game). Personally, id rather see Morris over Delfino if he can show consistency in his play. We will have to see. Can Lamb play the 3? He's 6'7" right? I dont know. But if he can, that helps his case. Dmo didnt look so great either, but we may need more coverage at the 5 cause I really am not comfortable with Pat playing the 5. White seems the odd man out on many fronts. He is behind the others given his missed practice time. He probably cant play the 5 better than Dmo or Pat, so I am having a hard time seeing him in the rotation unless he plays like Jones did last night every night, or someone at the 3 or 4 falls into a black hole.
Lin / TD Martin / Lamb Parsons / Delfino Pat / Jones Asik / Dmo All these players will be in the rotation. I think Morris and White will be fighting for the same minutes. If Mchale is smart, he would move Pat as a backup C, move Jones as starter, and let Morris/ Dmo and White fight for playing time for 3, 4, 5.
I would say there should be a possibility of this happening because of the lack of a defensive anchor in the second team, but I dont see it happening till a few weeks into the regular season at the earliest. If I was McHale I would want to see Jones, White, D-Mo, & Morris for at least 2 weeks in the regular season before I start shifting around the rotation & booting Patterson out of his role just yet. You need to see some consistency first. Should be interesting.
After half of the preseason, it seems that the rookies are a bit too lost to play rotation minutes. So, I wonder if the rotation will be: Starters: Lin/Martin/Parsons/Pat/Asik with Douglas backing up the 1 (and some 2), Delfino backing up the 2 and 3 and Morris backing up the 4 (Pat goes to the 5 when Asik sits). This would likely mean quite a bit of small ball, with Parsons at the 4 some.
This is probably going to happen with the exception of Terrence Jones possibly being that 9th man in the rotation getting 10 minutes or so off the bench. So far he has looked like the rookie who can contribute the most as a role player right away. Im gonna go on a limb too and say that Douglas actually gets traded, waived, or bought out before the end of the month. I think Livingston's contract will be too enticing for trades come the deadline in February for Morey to not want to hang onto him. Maybe Morey can trade Douglas to a team in need of a PG for a conditional 2nd round pick that we will never get.
Delfino shouldn't be playing any minutes. If he does, it'll reflect very poorly on the decision making of the Rockets front office.
Starters PG:Lin SG:Martin SFarsons PF:Jones C:Asik Bench PG:White SG:Lamb SF:Morris/Delfino PF:Montiejunas C:Smith 3rd String PG:Machado SGouglas SF:Forbes PF/Catterson :grin:
Based on the preseason PG:Lin/Machado/Douglas SG:Martin/Lamb/Delfino SFarsons/Jones/Delfino/White/Morris PFatterson/DMo/Jones/White/Morris C: Asik/DMo/Smith I see us making another move to clear up the SF/PF glut.
Livingston's contract becomes fully guaranteed on January 10, so the Rockets would likely need to make a move involving Livingston in mid- to late December (after most free agent contracts become trade-eligible). I think Toney Douglas's roster spot is pretty safe right about now. He's the one PG on the roster that is actually a plus defender. Livingston is also a good defender, but he's not going to man up the smaller, quicker guys as well as Douglas can. Given how the preseason has shaken out so far, I think it's looking increasingly likely that two of the three remaining cuts will be Jon Brockman and JuJuan Johnson. The last cut will probably be one of Shaun Livingston, Greg Smith or Scott Machado (who is making the most of his playing time right now).
Out of Shaun, Scott or Greg who do you think will be cut? Yeah & JJ hasn't played at all in the entire pre-season. Has Brockman played?
Thanks for clarifying on the Livingston buyout. I was thinking they had up until the trade deadline to use his buyout option. Not sure if that changes my "going out on a limb" statement, but the fact is that there probably wont be too many trades happening in late December for the Rockets to really make the most of Livingston's contract. So more than likely I am wrong and Douglas will remain with the team. I would say that if Morey is letting the coaching staff dictate who stays or who goes out of the two PG's its probably Livingston that goes. Douglas has been raved about by McHale. Maybe there is an ulterior motive for McHale raving about him to the media or not, but I guess we can assume that he's being sincere about his performance in practice. So far what we've seen from both of these guys in the preseason games... meh. Neither guy will be a difference maker for this team going forward into the future either way.
dobro, it helps if you don't look at Livingston's deal as having a buyout. That's not really what it is. Livingston's deal is just PARTIALLY GUARANTEED for $1 million (out of his $3.5 million total salary). That just means that, if the Rockets waived Livingston, only $1 million of his salary would be owed to him (unless he somehow was on the roster for enough games prior to being waived that he earned more than that prorated portion of his overall salary). FYI, all partially and non-guaranteed deals become FULLY guaranteed on January 10 if they are not waived by January 8. This is usually the same date each season but may vary a little year to year. Whenever you see contract information saying that a deal is "paritally guaranteed for $X with no guarantee date," that doesn't mean that the salary NEVER becomes fully guaranteed. It just means that it does not become fully guaranteed until this January 10 date. Hope this information is helpful.
