It is a long way before opening night, a lot is still up in the air. That said, if you have to guess now, how do you see minutes being divided for the beginning part of the season? Nothing else to talk about now anyways.
rafer-30 minutes v-span-10 lucas-5 snyder-20 head- 20 jacobson- 5 t-mac-40 novak/bowen- 5 minute battier-35 juan-10 yao-35 mutombo-10 only problem i have is back up center and sg. if bonzi comes our sg problem is fixed. last year we had swift that played center too, i don't trust chuck or juan to play center at all.
I hope so, but where? I'd be surprised if Van Gundy didn't give Juwan at least 20 minutes. And Battier will see a good chunk of minutes at PF as well. Maybe Juwan and Chuck will see court-time together in the second unit?
My guess Normal 9 man rotation Alston 28. Span 20. Snyder 20. Head 20. McG. 8 McG 27 Batt 21 Batt 15. Hayes 20. Howard. 13 Yao 35. Mutumbo/howard 13 (match up dependent-- like last season, some days Deke won't play) Lucas, Novak, Jacobsen active but pulls garbage/insurance duty Haryasz, Azubuike, Bowen inacitve Sura retires.
I'd be shocked if Rafer plays a minute less than the low 30's -- eternally grateful if he werent' -- but shocked nonetheless.
PG - Alston 28, Spanoulis 10, Lucas 10 SG - McGrady 20, Snyder 10, Head 15, Spanoulis 3 SF - Battier 20, McGrady 15, Novak 8, Snyder 5 PF - Howard 18, Battier 15, Hayes 12, Novak 3 C - Yao 35, Mutombo 10, Howard 3
I see the minutes about like this, but I feel that T-Mac will log more minutes at the two. I see a lot of T-Mac and Battier on the court together, with Juwan playing the bulk of the minutes at the four. Hopefully, Span will adjust well, but Head may log a few (7 or so) minutes at the point. Perhaps Novak gets on the floor with Hayes to help spread the floor, but not much else.
Another thread just posted said that Ric Bucher reports that Bonzi signed with us for a 2 year deal. If it's true, I could honestly see Bonzi being the first scoring option off of the bench
Actually, forget that....we've got one of the best starting 5's in the league now...I'm definitely waaaay too excited, cinsidering I should be in bed by now.
Modified guess now for the regular 9 man rotation now that Bonzi is on board: Alston 28 Span 20 Snyder/Head 20 Bonzi 28 (my guess is one of the gets shipped... both are too good for just garbage minutes) McGrady 35 Battier 13 Battier 20 Hayes 20 Howard 8 Yao 35 Howard/Mutombo 13 (again, match-up dependent, Mutombo doesn't play at all some nights).
All I know is that Well should come off the bench, let Battier gaurd the opposing teams best player as long as he can and when Bonzi slides into his spot, Battier will provide great help defense.
I think Howard and Head are on their way out. Makes too much sense. They go to LA for Chris Mihm and another expiring. We use the TE on Chris Mihm and acquire a new trade exception for the difference between Howard and Head's salaries minus the other player (probably McKie). We re-sign Mihm to backup Yao. And then we've got a TE that is the size of the MLE, maybe a little bit more to work a S&T for somebody next offseason, since we will probably have to use our MLE to re-sign Bonzi. You know, this deal with Bonzi gives us so much flexibilty with our roster now. If we come out gangbusters, we could actually use the TE to pick up one last piece. Or if we work the trade with the Lakers for a couple expiring deals, then we move Juwan's salary off the books basically. We could let the expirings we get for dealing Juwan and Head just expire or we could use them as trade bait for a huge addition midseason from a team looking to dump salary themselves. I still say, if we could add one more piece such as a player like Darius Miles, we could turn into a Chicago Bulls dynasty overnight. Even Bonzi can't screw up this deal. Bonzi won't screw up this deal. It's in Bonzi's best interest to play his .... off and help us win a championship. He can't risk riding the pine. I won't sleep 2 winks tonight. I think CD and Morey just handed us a championship. Just wait til Van Gundy gets Bonzi, Snyder, and Battier pumping the perimeter defense. The only defensive weakness we have is at the point. If I was Van Gundy I would tell Rafer and Kill Bill to faceguard the opposing point and force him to either pass or put the ball on the floor. Make him dribble and then attack his dribble. And let the rest of the guys do their thing. McGrady, Battier, Bonzi, all backed up by the Great Wall. Our defense wwill be ridiculous.
I will go ballistic if Howard starts over Battier at the '4'. Battier/Hayes/Novak should be the power forwards. Wells/Snyder/McGrady rotating between the '3' and '2'. Spanoulis and Alston at the '1'. Ming up front with Mutombo. Howard out of the picture.
Please say it is so my friend. I will absolutely vomit if we roll out with Juwan in the starting lineup this year. Don't even want to think about it.
A Guess, that could change if another BIG man is brought into the picture! First Half of Season Guards: Alston 24, Wells 24, V Span 22, Lucas 12, Head 12, Jacobson 2 Forwards: Battier 26, Mc Grady 24, Novac 12, Hayes 12 HOWARD 12,Snyder 10, BIGS: YM 32 HOWARD 10 Mutombo 6 Mc Grady will be well protected with limited playing time, especially in the first half of the season. The above suggests that JVG uses his head and his heart and in doing so uses a 14 man rotation in the first half and reduces it to 9 in the Second Half of Season as he hones his team into top form for the championship run! The big question is will Sura play this season? Mc Grady, Alston, V Span, Battier, Novac, Lucas, Wells YM, Howard[or other big]
5: Yao/Mutombo 4: Howard/Hayes 4-3: Battier/Novak 3-2: T-Mac/Wells 2: Synder/Jacobsen/Azubuike/Head 1: Alston/V-span/Lucas III As Wells picked up Rockets, the next deal must be done to trade Head and Jacobsen/Azubuike/Bowen/Sura with other team to acquire a tough inside player who can play both 5 and 4.
