Hartenstein and Clark have the experience and rockets trading majority draft picks already. Harteinstein needs to be on short list of bits looking to make team!!!!
No minutes for Gary Clark this morning. Gotta wonder whether he's gonna make it, they pushed his guarantee date back right? If Nene has to stay and since Ryno seems to be liked within the team, I think it comes down to Clark or Clemons. You can possibly have both by giving CC a 2way deal and converting if/when you can get off of Nene's contract
Clark, Blossomgame are not making the team. Not with signing of Spalding. Clemons will be 2 way. Hartenstein I'm on the fence right now. Harden Westbrook Gordon Tucker Capela Rivers Chandler House Sefolosha Green McLemore 11 above from current roster and likely 3 or 4 new faces. Clemons on 2 way.
Starters: PG: Westbrook SG/PG: Harden SG/SF: Gordon PF/C: Tucker C: Capela Role Players: PG/SG: Rivers SG/SF: Green SF/PF: Sefolosha SF/PF: House C: Chandler Bench: SG/SF: McLemore SF/PF: Clark PF: Anderson C: Hartenstein C: Nene 2W: PG: Clemons F: Blossomgame OR F: Spalding Seems the likeliest based on contracts and PT. I would hope House could regain a starting spot and allow Gordon back off the bench, but maybe our three-guard line-up will be excel. Also curious if McLemore surpasses Green in rotation and if Clark or Hartenstein play their way into the rotation. We could use young developing talent.
Hartenstein is no good. Ryno should be a rotation player off the bench. Also, when Harden and Russ are on the floor together, Russ should be running the offense with a spread offense. 4 shooters with an open lane. Imagine... Russ Harden Gordon Tuck/House/Thabo Ryno This lineup can play with speed and rain threes. Russ should be discouraged from shooting pull up threes though. His mentality should be to attack the rim at all times. As one of the best finishers of all time, he would either finish, get fouled, or kick out to 4 pretty damn good spot up shooters. This team has the potential to win a ship quite easily if they just play the right way...
At this point, I rather have Blossomgame or Ryno than to Gary Clark. Clark hasn't shown much when he does play. Is Spalding another version of Caboloco or Chriss??
Spalding is the tryout replacement for Anthony Bennett. The Rockets need a stretch 4/5 that have the lateral movement and long wingspan to play defense and able to shoot threes in the contract. I don't think he will fit the bill but it's possible that he may be to shoot the 3 ball with consistency. It's possible the Rockets see him as a project and may get time to improve his 3 point shoot
From what I can see he has the build to play 4 or 5 in today's NBA but his game is of a traditional center. Probably in the combination of Caboclo and Chriss. Probably a worst shooter than Caboclo and better post moves than Chriss
There's nothing Ryan Anderson has done to justify a spot on the roster. He has lost his shooting touch and he's a defensive liability. If he makes the roster, then he would be probably part of a trade down the line.
Ryno and Clark have done little to hold that the backup 4 spot. Its a number game with Hartenstein. He would probably be the 3rd or 4th center and not a good enough 3 point shooter or defender to be at the 4.
- Scoring points should not be an issue for the Rockets this year - Pace should be improved this year - Floor spacing and 3 point shooting accuracy/makes may be an issue - Should have one of the more productive small ball lineups in the league - Rockets may have issues with bigger lineups - They are lacking another athletic wing that can defend and shoot the corner 3 point shot - They need a player that did the same things as Trevor Ariza or even a Mbah a Moute did in previous seasons. - I predict another move or two is coming to improve roster - Players 1 - 8 is solid. I expect players 9 - 15 to change on the roster frequently
That lineup(s) would score easily enough but defensively we wouldn't be able to stop anyone or get rebounds.
It looks like the top ten is pretty much set right now. Our defense in the half court as well as in transition is concerning. 11 - 15 should be loaded with as many 3&D players as possible. I'm have not been impressed with Clark this preseason but at least I know he can defend and rebound. He will get back on defense and at least give effort. Because of his defense and rebounding he almost has to make the cut. I think McLemore has earned a spot even though he may be a Gerald Green clone. I'm not crazy about his defense but at least he can shoot and run the floor. Blossomgame brings energy, rebounding and defense at a position of need. He makes it just because our frontcourt is weak in terms of size, defense and rebounding. If Nene is going to be on the roster but won't play, then it comes down to Hart vs Ryno for the last spot. Due to Chandler's age, our 3rd playable center is extremely important. I'm not sold on Hart or Ryno for regular rotation minutes. I guess we will see how the rest of the preseason plays out but I don't just want to hand Ryno the job. I hope they make him earn it. He looks like he's running in mud right now. Even slower than a couple of seasons ago. As much as I love Clemons I just can't see the team having room for both he and Nene. We just have too many guards right now to justify it. I would prefer keeping Clemons on the 15 man roster over most of our sub par backup forwards but I'm extremely worried about PJ's age catching up to him, or PJ getting injured. We have to keep a certain number of viable front court options on the roster just in case. If he has to miss extended time for any reason this year our front court will be completely screwed(defensively). I don't know anything about this Spalding guy. I guess we will see how he looks during the next preseason game. I hope he can help.
I think your starters are a safe call: 1) Harden 2) Westbrook 3) Gordon 4) Tucker 5) Capela Bench 6) Rivers 7) Green 8) House 9) Chandler 10) Sefolosha add 11) McLemore minus Nene Bench Warmers 12) Hartenstein 13) Clark 14) Clemons 15) Blossomgame (Rockets look to add player by trade deadline.....by way of trade). So irrelevant...can be left open as well. 2 dual contracts....one being Ray Spalding/PF. I mentioned to @D-rock perhaps using dual contracts on PF’s or the next Bruno C. Rockets beat writer reported Sefolosha will be playing mostly PF......opens door for Blossomgame to make the team. Blossomgame turns down G-league assignment thinking he can get better deal from lesser team(s).
I certainly wouldn’t bet on Ryno. I spent half of a season waiting for him to regain his confidence and shoot the ball. It would make a great story if he could somehow recapture his old form though.
It seems like all 3 had a chance to turn into Capela but each is missing something. Caboclo looked pretty decent in the highlight in Memphis. Then again, it's highlight. I don't really watch their game enough to say we should've kept him but I thought he had potential. Spalding looks fairly active and if we could, i would love the rockets have him in GLeague and hopefully he'll grow into our 2nd or 3rd center for next season after Nene & Chandler retire..