Why Juwan get a DNP? Been out of town, is he injured or still struggling. This may be sign he may be traded for a player like Antionio Davis or Big Dog.
Van Gundy is on record as saying that he's been experimenting with lineups and trying to find a group that is effective. Padgett earned time, and he wanted to mix up the team a little bit. Coaches often say this when they're trying to move a player, but it actually sounds credible in this situation.
thats what most of us thought was going on when JVG started mo. everyone was saying he was just trying to show him off or up his stats for a trade. in JH's case, DNP-CD's are not a way to trade him.
over their whole careers Mo has never shown anything close to what Juwan has delivered for multiple years.... admittedly none of us saw training camp but i for one can't work out for the life of me why Mo is ahead of Juwan on the depth chart I am fairly ambivelant on JVGs coaching strategy and rotations in general, but this one i don't agree with at all!
not only that but then to place him behind the likes of spoon and padgett. he is turning JH into a waste of cap and roster space.
I concur on all of your points plus the fact that we have trouble on the board. When u pair 2 average rebounders like Yao and MoT together, it's trouble. Last yr we got away with it because despite his many faults, Stevie was a good rebounder.
I hope that Juwan is simply trade bait. I don't know what management was thinking; maybe they couldn't get a decent deal for Mo or Juwan? They are, in effect, the same player, and having them both simply created yet another problem for the team. Juwan for a small forward or a point guard, I would imagine. But I've given up saying exactly which player out there would come to us.
i think gary payton is on the block. the c's aren't doing well at all, and GP's ending contract has them thinking that he will bolt at seasons end. if thier record doesn't improve they might move him before the deadline.
prior to his arrival in Houston Howard in comparison to Mo was always a much better defender and rebounder and also a better passer, which i thought would have been perfect for Yao's rebounding problems and also Howard could be used at the high post to help overcome and feed the ball to a fronted Yao, plus his mid range jumper was always gold... On offense in general it seemed in the past that Howard could score without the ball or quickly when he did have the ball, as opposed to Mo and his reliance on the multiple dribble back in from the low post. JVG also seems to only want Yao to play in the low post with only position outside of this the pick n roll.. so again not sure how that fits with Mo, who no matter how much JVG talks up his outside game does his best work in the low post.... For me i would have Howard working with Yao and then use Mo for a low post focus when Yao is off or use him with Yao if he decided to use Yao at the highpost it's amazing what a lack of confidence from your coach does to a player.. even a professional dedicated vet like Howard
BY THE NUMBERS • For what it's worth: Maurice Taylor has the highest plus/minus of any starter, with the Rockets scoring an average of 8.3 more points than they allow when he is on the court. Juwan Howard is last, with the Rockets giving up 15.8 points more than they score. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2922584
That statistic is mostly a product of starting and playing with Yao and TMac together more minutes. If you flip their minutes, this stat would reverse.
Juwan Howard I think Gundy should play Juwan more. This guy was a max player, a Fab Fiver, and an all around good guy who always puts in an effort, regardless if the team is winning or not. Howard should not be racking DNP-CD's. I know some of the skills might have diminished, and he might not have the mental makeup to help this team, but he needs to get out there. If not he needs to be dealt. He casn and should be moved for an all-hustle, pass first PG OR a legit defensive minded PF.
I think Orlando would have made such a trade were there such a trade out there. But, it's not happening. (And the true identity of cheaprings shall be revealed next time....nah....)
Yes! Think Positive! Hope the players can realize the current situation. Even though some of them might suck in personal Defense, but at least they can co-work on the Team Defense. JVG have to work it out, find out the way to make those new Rockets understand their role.
I honest can't see Juwon do any worse than Mo, who had a grand total of ZERO rebound tonight. I would rather see Howard in there than Spoon.
