Smith was not doing well so makes sense, I still like him more than Cole but he fouls too much and indeed the effort wasn't there anymore. Aldrich did well vs. Blazers so hope he does well.
I think Smith, Aldrich, D-Mo, Morris, and a couple of other players are all trade bait and one or a couple of these guys will be gone by trade deadline.
Morey said D'Mo and Jones were victims of Greg Smith's emergence, but now Aldrich is getting those minutes. Makes you wonder if a potential trade partner wants to see Aldrich in action.
For as great as Smith is as an offensive player, he might be even worse as a defender. He is often out of position, doesn't seem to understand the defensive rotations, and is a major reason why the Rockets get killed by their opponent every time Omer Asik goes to the bench. Don't get me wrong. I really like Smith and think he will be a good player in time. But this "demotion" will at least get him some regular minutes while he (like Jones and D-Mo) works on his defensive rotations.
I wonder how much a factor the recent birth of his child is in affecting his game play? Hopefully he gets his focus back down there.
There is probably a ton of trade value in Aldrich. If you are thrown in as a filler center from OKC whose starter is Kendrick Perkins, and then later on replaced by Hasheem Thabeet, that just screams "I will be a player in this league!"
My money is on the Bulls. Noah is slowed by plantar fasciitis and their frontline is thin with only Noah, Boozer and Gibson being useful (Nazr Mohammed and Vlad Rad have been busts). Also need to dump around $3.7M in salary (likely via Rip Hamilton and guys like Mohammed and Radmanovic).
I think Morey was just covering for McHale honestly. Parsons was the exception, not the rule, and that was only because all the players are new to McHale. McHale doesn't like playing rookies. He wants a veteran team.
I think exactly zero coaches like playing rookies just for the sake of playing rookies (which everyone seems to want), they only do it if their team is out of contention a.k.a tanking, and since this team should (at this point) make the playoffs, why would McHale do that now?
I wouldn't say McHale should play the rookies just for the sake of playing rookies. I would say McHale should play the rookies because the rookies give us the best chance to win ball games both right now and in the future compared to 2Pat/Morris. I'm accusing McHale of having a bias in favor of guys who have been playing under his coaching longer.
No big deal, Smith just turned 22 years old, so he's just a very young guy that has some potential at this point. Cole has more size and does OK in limited minutes. This might be an opportunity for D-Mo to get a few meaningful minutes, but you never know.
Gotta believe they are just trying to increase Aldrich's trade value... Greg Smith can be inconsistent, but he is miles ahead of Aldrich!
His offense also started to drop off as he dropped passes on the pick and rolls or would look disinterested.
There is a 0% chance that Houston re-signs Cole Aldrich this summer, when he will become a restricted free agent, so the time to get anything of value for the guy is at some point over the next eleven days (trade deadline = 2/21). Since he is being showcased, and since the Rockets organization wants its guys to actually play basketball games (rather than ride the pine), the logical move is to send Greg Smith to the developmental league until Aldrich gets traded (or until 2/21, if Aldrich does not get traded). Smith should be back in the rotation by 2/22.
