i like how these people are talking like nachbar should be getting major minutes and its rudy's fault for not giving him those minutes. you guys are silly... ming is a rookie who gets major minutes because he is ready for them. if he wasn't ready or wasn't able to cope with all the changes so fast then he would be riding the pine like boki is and cato would be playing more. did you guys ever think that boki just isn't ready??? we aren't a minor league team who just throws players out there so they can develop. we are trying to win here. i don't think there is some conspiracy to hold boki back and i don't think rudy is just too stupid to realize that boki should be playing. give the coach some credit for once.
I think it comes down to a chemistry issue, namely between the guards and Boki. IMO, Francis and Mobley have a tendency to have a trust issue with new players. We saw it last year with Griffin not really getting any shots until he had that big game against the Lakers (24-13-4, IIRC). We saw it early on with Yao, as well. Compare Boki to our other SF options: Rice is a veteran and is one of the best shooters of all time, further seems to be the "leader" of the team. Morris has a history with Francis, played 4 years in American college, and has a year of NBA experience. Posey plays with Francis/Mobley over the summer, and has a respectable tenure in the league, not to mention was the primary option in Denver. I think the time Boki missed early hurt his opportunity to develop chemistry with the first unit, and it's going to take some combination of injuries and/or terrible play by those in front of him and/or tremendous play in his limited minutes to justify getting him more minutes. rocketfat-Boki is a rookie, and thus can't rely on what he's done in is career. If Boki is playing poorly in practice, there simply isn't justification and putting him in situations that count.
bigboymumu, I have a feeling that you are right. But in the end, I think that Boki's total game will outweigh Posey's defense. What I mean is, Boki can shoot the 3, DUNK (and I mean hard!), he can rebound on the offensive side (and defensive too), he can run the fast-break. And, last but not least, he can PASS and find the open man on the inside (not just passing to the three point shooter). In my opinion, passing to the open cutter on drive shows much more skill than someone that drives and passes to the outside three point shooter (that doesn't require much vision). Anyways, I feel that what Boki will be more valuable to the Rockets than Rice (if he's not traded next year) or Posey. Don't get me wrong. I love Posey's game. But Bokie brings more to the table. I do feel that Boki is NOT ready yet. Raven Lunatic's comment about Rudy bringing Boki along slowly is I think the right thing to do. I would rather Boki sit out the whole year, just to make sure that he doesn't re-injure his hernia, and to gain toughness. Than for him to rush in an get some temporary success. All we need is Yao and Boki to get a full training camp next year (weights and conditioning).
Quote: I think Rudy knows how good he is, and we don't know how good he is. That's a pretty safe bet. Are you kidding? Well let's see, 1) Rudy scouted Boki. Went to Italy and personally observed him in his own enviornment. 2) Rudy spent an entire pre season with Boki. Saw what he can do, saw how he picked up plays, tried him in different combinations, ran drills, that type of stuff. 3) Rudy has seen Boki practice for what, two hours a day about 60 times now. 4) Rudy talks to Boki every day. 5) Rudy actually knows Boki's physical condition. Now, please list your qualifications here... I read a lot of people saying "play Boki", any of you, please tell us what you know that Rudy does not.
nobody is saying that they know what rudy doesn't about boki.....except for the fact that neither the fans nor rudy knows how he would play in real game situations. there is no disputing that. and one more time, if injury is the problem, why is he wasting a roster spot, and not on the injured list?
we already have posey,rice,boki at the 3 spot. i consider hawk a 2 but we are still a little crowded there if there is an injury i know he'll get some time. other than that i bet rudy doesnt do much with him just yes till he proves it in gaem time. notice he does not play hawk no mroe cuz he cut back on his defense
Of course no one knows how boki would play in game-time situations... but Rudy sees things that we don't and he can accurately predict whether Boki is ready or not for the big game situations.
Well do you think what he does in Practice Tells Rudy what he can do? I mean hell . .you admit you don't know his capabilities but willing to Kick Rice, morris, etc to the curb . . .based on MAYBE? If he does not work out. . how to your reInsert those other guys that are . .. to and extent. . . getting it done? Rocket River
If Glen Rice is indeed being showcased for a possible trade, then good. But with the size of his contract, and the years of experience he has, he should be producing more. As in more like a Glen Robinson. I just don't see why the Rockets draft a forward from Slovenia, and trade for James Posey, and then end up just starting a slow-moving and low percentage shooting Glen Rice. And if what others have said about Nachbar is true about his ability to pass, shoot outside, and dunk, then I'm really for B. Nachbar getting more playing time. What is Rudy Tomjanovich really doing with Glen Rice? I just don't get it.
ok. then what in hell is rice doing that warrants any playing time whatsoever? surely boki can play the same role on offense, and there is no way that his defense can be any worse. i don't understand you people who are POSITIVE that every decision that is made by rudy is the right one. all your argument is is that "rudy does it, so it is correct". how is that fun for you to come on these boards, and reply to everybody's criticisms of any aspect of the rockets with "i think rudy knows better than you"? people, it IS possible that Rudy can be wrong once in a while.
PHEW! Thank you dfbreyes. finally somebody who is just as lost as me, and doesn't subscribe to the "every decision rudy makes is gold, because he's the coach and we're not" philosophy.
Not me! I hate his lack of offensive plays and his ho-hum defensive discipline. But I do agree with his choice of keeping Boki on the bench regarding his injury. Plus, I don't think he's in shape yet. My point isn't that he plays well in practice or not. It's whether his ready physically to take on 30 min a game.
I don't know about others, but I'd be happy with him getting 10-15 mpg. I don't want him to start. Actually, as long as he played in every game, I would be a lot happier. I would just like to see him play and get used to the NBA game. In my ideal world, Posey would get 25-30 mpg, Boki 10-15 mpg, Rice/TMo get the rest. However, I do see some logic between what some of you have been saying. Rudy should know best. It is just that everything I've heard about Boki is positive, except maybe his D, and I expected him to produce immediately and possibly be a darkhorse for ROY, like Chad Ford said. (I think it was him who said that.) Plus, when I see him hit open shots in warmups and in the minutes he gets, I get more anxious to see him get PT. (doesn't help any with Rice bricking either.) I could go with the injury thing though its a bit strange. I guess they'd rather have an injured Boki on the bench than a healthy Collier or the other guys. (already forgot who's on IR. Although it wouldn't be bad to have Tito up here.) I really don't know. If Rice can hit open shots like yesterday and his man is too dumb to realize who's guarding him, I'll be ok for a while. JMO.
rocketfat Let me lay it out for you like this. It is not that those of us who are not clamoring for more Boki time feel Rudy is ALWAYS correct in all his decisions. In hindsight, I'm sure all of us could give you plenty of examples in which he was wrong. What I (and I think others) AM saying, is that based on the information you, I and other fans have compared to the information Rudy has, we have more reason to trust in what Rudy's decisions are than to doubt him. It is certainly possible that it will be in the team's best interest for Boki to be getting more minutes right now...but it is also certainly possible that Rudy is doing well in giving him garbage minutes. Other players, through various actions not privy to us as fans, might deserve that time more than Nachbar. We don't know. But Rudy is the one being paid to make these decisions, and since he is the one that has been paid to make these very decisions for many years, I trust his judgement in these situations where I don't have much information. If that makes me blind or naive by your definition, fine. I don't really care what your opinion of my fan interest is. One thing I do know is that I was very skeptical originally of how Rudy was managing Yao Ming's minutes. However, based on the results, I no longer feel I have any room to criticize his handling of that situation. Rudy handled it perfectly, and it is examples like that that make me believe Rudy is handling the Nachbar situation correctly as well. He has a good track record, so I trust him.
Rice is probably the only "leader" we have on our team. Also....there is a reason Rudy is coach and we talk on a message board. I think it's great to have all these arguments. It means we actually give a s@#%. We are in better shape than I could have hoped for. I thought we were 8 seed max. The rocks are doing a terrific job this year. Imagine being a Laker fan right now hehe.........
We have Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, and Glen Rice. They are captains. They have team meetings. They have worked so far. RUDY and his 5 or 6 assistant coaches? How many does he have?
Raven Lunatic....let me ask you this: You give credit to Rudy for the managing of Yao's minutes. I'm fine with that. But, hypothetically, say Boki starts playing 25 minutes/game, and averages 15 points/game. does that mean Rudy should be given credit for this production because of the way he handled his minutes?? or should rudy be to blame for not doing this 30+ games sooner? it seems like rudy is in a no lose situation in your eyes. DarrinLane, yes, I agree. it IS great to have these arguments. I like hearing everybody's point of view, and i like sharing mine. I'm not necessarily correct in my beliefs, but i like to hear reasons that people don't agree with me. my point is that "Rudy is right and you're not" or "He's the coach, so whatever he does is right" aren't good arguments or rebuttals, and that's the only thing that most of you guys have to say.
The one thing I wonder how Rudy will plan Yao (similar to Boki) minutes. We've heard about hitting the Rookie Wall, right? Well, I'm wondering how Rudy will plan this out. Because it will happen. We just don't know how bad. That's why I see Rudy taking it easy on Yao in the next few weeks before All-Star Weekend. Either Rudy will push Yao and then Yao will pay for it later in the season, or he will take it easy on Yao, and Yao's "Rookie Wall" wont be as severe. We'll see...I think that Rudy is taking the same approach to Boki in regards to his conditioning and healing (hernia).
rocketfat, I don't understand how a guy can had bad practices yet play like a superstar in a game situation. Practices are made to help the players in a "game situation". Otherwise practice would be a waste of time, duh!
