http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Rockets_hope_improved_depth_wi-190957-34.html Rockets hope improved depth will curb any health issues Notes : McGrady impressed with Novak Damien Pierce Rockets.com Staff Writer AUSTIN -- Kirk Snyder still shakes his head in bewilderment when he thinks about a game he played against Houston last season. During a home game as a member of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in March, Snyder was stunned when he showed up for his pregame routine and discovered the team didn't have a complete scouting report on the Rockets. Names were missing in Houston's lineup. No one had been given defensive assignments. And, even crazier, no one in the organization seemed to know who the Rockets would put on the floor that night. Snyder had heard the Rockets were dealing with some injuries, but he couldn't believe Houston was that depleted because of them. "During pregame, we usually talked about what we needed to stop and who we needed to look out for," said Snyder, who joined the Rockets in a trade this offseason. "But no one -- not even the coaches -- knew who was going to be in Houston's lineup. I couldn't believe it." The Rockets are betting that doesn't happen again this season. After enduring a painful season filled with frequent visits to the training room, Houston enters the preseason with one of its deepest rosters since Jeff Van Gundy became the team's coach in 2003. The Rockets have added 10 new names since the offseason began in July and have so much depth that recent acquisition Bonzi Wells could wind up becoming the team's sixth man. Despite lingering health questions about their star players heading into the season, the Rockets appear to have a roster that can withstand the absence of a key figure over a short period of time. "If anything happens to anybody on this team right here, we're capable of carrying the team through it," Rockets forward Tracy McGrady said. "The organization went out and did what they're supposed to do." The Rockets, of course, weren't so fortunate last season. Just ask any Rockets fans and they'll recite the painful numbers. The team was 9-30 in games without McGrady and 8-19 when Yao Ming was out. Obviously, Houston was a completely different team when those two players were healthy, compiling a 21-10 record. Van Gundy certainly doesn't need any help in figuring out what was a major problem last season. "Just take the top two players off any team in the league -- (Dallas' Dirk) Nowitzki-(Jason) Terry, (San Antonio's Tony) Parker-(Tim) Duncan, (Miami's Dwayne) Wade-(Shaquille) O'Neal or whoever -- and you might win, but you're not going to win big," Van Gundy said. "We should have been able to win more when one of them was out, but we lost some close games because of some decision-making late in the game." The Rockets certainly can't afford to be missing the Big Two again. However, Houston is hoping improved depth will at least keep the team from sinking if one of those two names is out of the lineup again. Besides improving the team's overall defense with the acquisitions of Shane Battier and Bonzi Wells, both players are capable of shouldering the offensive load. The Rockets have also added more three-point specialists, such as Steve Novak and Scott Padgett, who can drain an open look on the perimeter to help spread the floor even when one of Houston's star players is out of the lineup. The team didn't have that luxury last season as the club finished next to last in the league in field-goal percentage. "We did add a lot of new faces," Rockets forward Chuck Hayes said. "We added some shooting. We added some talent and athleticism. It makes us a deeper team and you need that because the Western Conference is a hard conference to get out of as far as the NBA Finals." Since Houston loaded up on shooting guards in the off-season, the Rockets will have the ability to play either a small or big lineup. McGrady is expected to handle the ball more and play the guard positions, while Battier will see plenty of action at power forward. Wells will likely rotate everywhere between shooting guard and power forward. Ideally, Van Gundy would like a bench that goes about four deep. "We'd probably average playing between 8 1/2 and 9 (players per game)," the coach said. "I think you either play your way into that 8 1/2 and 9 or you don't. We won't play between 10 and 11. But I will say if you make the roster, you'll be given a chance to play depending on the matchup." The Rockets didn't have those sort of options last season. That's why McGrady believes the team can make a run at a Western Conference title. "I love the depth," McGrady said. "We have great talent and great shooting. We have what we need to get to the next level." i don't see anything about Novak from T-Mac. also, as deep as the Rockets are, Yao's current toe situation has me concerned about the Rockets lack of a big minute center. but anyway, JVG plans on using "only" 8-9 players in the regular rotation. that sounds like a lot, but if everyone's healthy (a very good thing), some of the players we were looking forward to seeing on the court may rarely ever see it. 1. TMac - must stay healthy 2. Yao - ditto 3. Battier - will be starting 4. Alston - ditto 5. Wells - should be starting 6. Snyder - per JVG will see court if he "conforms" 7. Deke - only true backup at C 8. Head - only other non-rookie guard and good shooter 9. Juhow - "i'm going to get plenty of playing time" the rest Hayes - i thought he was safe; turns out to safe on the end of the bench VSpan - JVG says he will be a good player, but is he going to play? Novak - impressive only in practice i guess JLIII - NBDL ? Padgett - bench decoration Jacobson - last roster space ? Sura - cut? Bowen - ditto?
Doesn't make any sense to have such a short rotation going into the regular season especially considering two of your best players went down to injuries last year. I would try to limit the wear and tear on Yao and T-Mac until we can get a better feel on how ready they are for longer minutes. Then you have a team with a lot of unknowns on it. I don't think you can tell everything about what a player can contribute just by how he practices. Teams have short rosters for the post season, but this is just rediculous. I try to support JVG and then he says things like that and I want him gone. The sooner the better.
I think your 9 is about right. Perhaps Deke won't play on any given night. I hope Hayes can outplay JHo, and VSpan can take some minutes from Rafer.
yes, Deke probably doesn't need to play every night (barring any injuries to ...), but who else is going to backup the center besides Juhow ? maybe Hayes. even if VSpan takes some minutes from Rafer, those minutes might just go right back to T-Mac, unless VSpan shows to be a better defender of PGs than Head.
If they win, I could care less if they play 6 guys per game. My guess is that it will be based on matchups. Deke isn't going to play every game, for example. Some games will need more guards for small lineups. It will vary.
Maybe Haryasz. If he doesnt make the team, we're definetely going to have to look at a trade to shore up our back up 5 spot.
I agree. Why have only an incredibly old back up for Yao as our only real big guy. Howard plays small. Yao's health is the key since we have no conceivable backup for him other than a 10 minute per game Motumbo. Yao is so big that we can play without a true power forward, but what happens if he is out for a few games. I guess the idea is that we go sort of like Phoenix with no real center if Yao goes down for a few games. It just seems like a needless risk not having another big man going into an 82 game season when we have a dozen backup guards. Maybe they are still waiting for one to be available.
i wouldnt be surprised if they play tmac at the point occasionally and let him control the ball and spread the floor with novak or someone like that
looking at my list of the nine players in the main rotation, i only see 2 real shooters: Battier and Head. Snyder's still suspect, and TMac is not going to be the open man that gets a pass kicked out to him. he's going to have to shoot his 3's the hard and ugly way. having said that, i don't know how useful a trade (2 for 1, or 3 for 1) for a big man will be. T-Mac and Yao are virtually "untouchable". Battier and Wells are also pretty close to untouchable; you just won't get anywhere close to equal value back. Alston's the only true PG on the entire team (i don't care what anyone says about Killbilly; he's no where near ready to start and run the Rockets offense) and he can't be traded unless a better PG is received back. Snyder is the main backup wing, unless Novak or Hayes unlikely kick him out. Deke's not going to be traded when that's the type of player (albeit much older) the Rockets need. Head's the only other shooter besides Battier in the rotation unless Novak and JLIII can get some minutes. and Juhow is simply untradeable because no one's going to want him for the next two years. so the likely players traded to shore up the depth at center are going to be players 10-15. in other words a meaningless trade for a number of reasons. first that type of trade doesn't clear any playing time for the young players with "potential". also none of those players except Sura make more than $2 million. heck even Luther (supposedly the most tradeable asset) barely makes more than a million a year. big men are so overpaid in this league, and it would take all of the bench warmers combined to get a decent big man. a big man that's just insurance and probably won't see many minutes unless he completely replaces Deke in which case Deke becomes the insurance. and finally the 4.2 trade exception can't be combined with a player. so what the Rockets have is what they have.
i wouldn't be surpised to see T-Mac at the point either, but if Novak is part of the rotation then it's becomes 10 deep instead of the 8 1/2 -9 that "straight shooter" Gundy says it will be. of course, i wouldn't complain about that, and if Gundy had half of a brain, he wouldn't either.
I really want VSpan, Novak, Snyder, and Head all in the rotation. It would be great if Hayes steals Howards spot.
First, pretty much EVERY NBA team runs an 8-9 man rotation. The only 10 or more man rotation I remember from recent years were Hubie's Grizzlies (when nobody avged more than 32 mpg) and the ultra deep Blazers from the late 90s. What Van Gundy has planned is simply par for the course in the NBA. You really can't shuffle too many guys into the game or else nobody gets enough minutes to develop rhythm and chemistry. Also, read what Van Gundy actually said-- If you make the team, you will get a chance to play depending on matchups. So, it's not like everyone outside of the top 8-9 guys will get DNP-CD every game. There will be matchup-specific minutes given to them... For example, I think Deke will only play certain matchups at his age (like he did last season), rather than 10-15 mpg every game. If Novak's D is too weak to play regularly, he'll still get some minutes matched up against weak offensive players or at the end of quarters.
those Blazers were from the early 00s and they weren't that deep as they were old and egotistical. only Rasheed ever made the All-Star game. as for Hubie's Grizzlies, there wasn't a single player truly deserving of 32+ mpg at one position except the young Gasol. as for the other players, the Rockets now have the two best former Grizzlies plus T-Mac, Yao, Rafer and Snyder. two former starters in Juwon and Head are likely to come off the bench. doesn't that make the Rockets deep? to be fair the Grizzlies did have 4 quality wings in Battier, Wells, Miller, and Posey. you forgot the Kings of the early 00s. they were 10-11 deep with CWebb, Peja, Bibby, Miller, Christie, Divac, Bobby Jackson, Jim Jackson, Turkeyglu, Wallace, Keon Clark and Pollard. in 04 they won 55 games with CWebb, Peja and Miller missing 85 games between them. for all their depth, key injuries (Peja, CWebb) kept them out of the finals and consecutive conference finals. the Pacers have been deep since the late 90s with some combination of Reggie Miller, Brad Miller, Mullin, Rose, Dale Davis, Antonio Davis, Smits, Derrick McKey, Mark Jackson, Stephen Jackson, Travis Best, Tinsley, Perkins, Croshere, Bender, Harrington, Jermaine O'neal, Artest, Foster, Pollard and Hoiburg. they've gone to numerous conference finals and one finals, but they ran into the Bulls and Lakers and Pistons, and last but not least Gundy's Knicks who were actually much stronger than their eight seed would have one believe not unlike the Rockets and their sixth seed in '95. how about championship teams? Lakers were never deep in the 00s. they had role players, but Rice and Harper were in their twilight years, and only Horry and maybe Fisher have amounted to anything outside LA. before them the Bulls had their starters and Kukoc and Kerr. they had Bison Dele and a Deke-like Parish too. Randy Brown, Caffey, Burrell, Wennington, and Buechler never did anything much outside Chicago. the Spurs were like the recent Pistons, very good starters, but not too much depth. but they were always HEALTHIER than the deeper teams (Kings, Pacers). which brings the current champions and championship contenders. Miami has a solid 5 and Payton, Walker and Mourning. not the deepest, but very well coached. the best coaches seem to know that depth is overrated and you can only put 5 players on the floor and you have to get the most out of those 5. in the 00-01 season, Miami actually once had on paper: Mourning, Hardaway, Eddie Jones, Brian Grant, Mason, Majerle, Bruce Bowen, Cedric Caballos, Ricky Davis, A.C. Green, and Anthony Carter. 4 years later they had none of those players until they signed Mourning. the Mavs have been 10+ deep for a while now although a little less now than a few years back. they once had the big 3 in Dirk, Nash and Finley as well as Jamison, Walker, Fortson, Bradley, Josh Howard, Travis Best, Tony Delk, Marquis Daniels, and Najera. they've also had Van Exel, Lafrentz, Dampier, Stackhouse, Terry, Harris, Diop, Christie and Adrian Griffin. San Antonio had their big 3 and Finley, Horry, Van Exel, Barry, Rasho, Nazr and Beno Udrih. Phoenix has Nash, Amare, Marion, Diaw, Bell, Barbosa, Kurt Thomas, Jumaine Jones, James Jones and Piatkowski. i'm sure that D'Antoni wished his "playoff" rotation was larger than 8 last season. these Rockets may not be quite as deep as the Mavs, or even the Spurs or Suns. but the only way the young players will ever be able to build up the Rockets' depth is to play. i'm hoping that the Rockets will finally be able to blow out many teams and actually give the bench some minutes if even garbage minutes.
8-9 players each game 1-2 for rubbish minutes I think it all depends on matchups, god we are soooo flexibile
Depth is overrated. Chemistry is far more important. Just ask Detroit and Miami. And if you don't believe them, ask last year's finals losers from up north on I-45.
i think if hairy ass doesn't make the team they are in trouble because they need a spare 4/5. hairy ass can't be much worse than stro was.
Both are vital But chemistry is probably a little more important. But thats not to say you cannot win with a lack of chemistry. Lakers were able to do it, but just couldnt get it done in the finals!
I keep seeing Head and Snyder in everyone's regular rotations, but it seemed to me that Head struggled when he tried to play point guard last year...and if he isn't playing backup point, then I don't think both Head AND Synder can make the regular rotation. It seems more likely that the 2-3 positions are covered by T-mac, Battier, Wells and (either Head or Snyder) with Battier spending some of his time at PF. Of course, I guess both could play regular minutes if we limit Howard's playing time and almost all of Battier's minutes come at the 4, but I somehow doubt it. Either way, I'll be shocked if we don't see eithr V-Span or J Lucas III playing regular rotation minutes as the back up point guard.
i think deke is #8 1/2 - #9 sometimes he will play against a team who has a real center and sometimes he won't when we have to go small. after the top 5 (yao, tmac, bonzi, shane, rafer) i think the other 3 bench players will be howard, snyder, and probably head.
