Everything Novak does Shane does much better, including 3 point shooting. Shane's averaging 37.5 mins/game and he needs more rest. Plugging Novak in every game for a few minutes is the right thing to do, as long as he doesn't kill us. Hopefully he can work up to 10-12 mins until Bonzi and Snyder get back to full strength. The issue shouldn't be about developing Novak. It should be about relieving Shane and preserving him for later in the season. Novak's development can wait till next year. If he's a smart guy, he already has a good idea on what he needs to do to succeed at the NBA level. Don't be surprised if Novak is a brand new player new year.
nod, nod, not only Shane, primarily, for Juwan and Deke. Unfortunately, fans here more likely concern a player then this team.
If thats the case and your only motivation is resting mutombo and howard, I'm curious why you didnt list Padgett as an option?
simply, that is not the ONLY motivation. Why we signed Padgett as an unsecured contract? coz, after a losing season and a big move on roster, we need someone can give instant help at the beginning of this season, which is what Padgett did. After we finished chemistry, he is no longer needed, we would, now, put a hand on dig youth's potential. Put Padgett on floor after 35 games, is making no sense.
Novak should get 0 minutes this season because he's not ready to play NBA ball. He constantly gets raped under the basket, can't hold his postion for a rebound, is way overmatched playing D, and is shooting terrible to boot. Keep him around another year and put him on a lifting program. Right now he's just not an NBA quality player.
Then by this standard, Luther should have gotten zero minutes his rookie year, and Yao would not have played until the end of his rookie year. And....well....you get the idea. DD
Players can get injured at anytime. Maybe we should only play Yao four minutes a game cuz he has never injured himself after only four minutes. After all he did not break his leg until the 5th minute vs. the Clippers. This is basketball, he can play 40 min and not get hurt, or he could sprain his ankle on the opening tip. As for Novak, why are people so freaked out. He is a rookie drafted in the second round. If you want to know how he can improve, its called practice and a true NBA offseason working on strength. He doesnt have to have a huge impact this year, especially when Bonzi, and Kirk come back. Let him learn the NBA by just being in the NBA and getting spot minutes. Next year is when it matters. People will say that Luther is so improved this year because he played so much last year. That is true, but he only got to play because we only won 32 games. If we were terrible this year, then I say get Vspan and Novak experience. But we are turning into serious contenders and it is more important to win games and get the chemistry right on the court then it is to make sure two rookies play. Lastly, I know it is a different sport, but sitting on the bench can still help. Look at Phillip Rivers or Tony Romo. They learned on the bench and when needed, came in and did very well. Novak's time will come down the road. For now he just needs to be patient and get better.
What is the point of having a discussion when you "dont want to convince u(sic)"? what you REALLY mean is Im clueless about NBA basketball and just want to state what I want....but dont call me on it since I cant back up my assertions with facts. First ignore his height, he is NOT a PF You cant ignore his defensive shortcomings on this Rockets team, you just cant. IT is who they are and it is what they do better than anyone. The other guys are dead on Think Matt Bullard. which isnt bad, Matt was a great role player and a guy who you could depend on to come in and do his job to the best of his abilities. VG is handling Novak just fine, bring him in when you can afford to, and let him work his way into the rotation slowly but surely.
Honestly, I'm not in favor of this trade, but on TNT, David Aldridge reported that the Pistons are very interested and have been interested in Bonzi Wells for a while. Aldridge suggested a possible trade is: PISTONS GET: Bonzi Wells and Bobby Sura (to match salary) ROCKETS GET: Nazi Mohammed Remember, this is not a report. Just speculation on Aldridge's part. The only part that is true about what DA said is that the Pistons are interested in Wells. On an unrelated note, he said that there's a 97-98% chance that that the Pistons will get Chris Webber.
So let me get this right. JVG is dumb for not giving Novak minutes, yet every time he has given Novak minutes has been dumb. Let me guess, if JVG had played Novak in Milwaukee and he went 0-5 then JVG would have been dumb to play Novak when his emotions were so high. Novak is a shooter. He has to make shots to be useful to this team, which he will be one day. Novak has had his chances this season and has not produced in them. Plain and simple. Dont blame JVG for that.
The difference with Yao was he was the #1 pick in the draft, not a second round pick. If he completely failed, the Rox would have been set back for years. If Novak fails, the Rox will still be fine. You can not compare Yao to Novak. With Luther, his minutes came on a team with no shot at the playoffs and major injuries at his position. Novak is on a team 10 games over .500 less then half way into the season. If Juwan, Battier, and Hayes get hurt, then yest Novak should get major minutes.
Look at the first 5 picks of the second round in the past draft. James White, Novak, Soloman Jones, Paul Davis, and PJ Tucker. White got traded to the Pacers. Cut by the Pacers. Signed by the Spurs and sent to the D-league. Jones and Davis play minor minutes on the Hawks and Clippers. Tucker got sent to the D-league by the Raptors. Novak is on a very good team, so why does everyone feel he is entitled to minutes when the guys drafted near him havent gotten anything done. If you look at all the second round picks, only three are getting regular minutes. Craig Smith with Min, Paul Millsap with Utah, and Alexander Johnson with Memphis, and the difference with these three is they were more NBA ready cuz they are much stronger and more physical then Novak. He will get there, he just needs an offseason with Falsone and Macha.
I don't know what you're talking about. Luther and Yao, in their rookie years, were CLEARLY more NBA-ready than Novak is right now.
This is a very good post. Novak rebounded a lot better in the preseason than during the regular season, but he also got more minutes back then. JVG said Novak looked better at individual defense than team defense in the preseason. I haven't had the time to break down Novak's team defense lately, but his individual defense does not look good. Perhaps it was the scrubs he played against in the preseason...he also shut down Antoine Walker, but Walker has sucked against everyone all year. The Rockets are JVG's team, and JVG's priorities are 1)defense 2)defense 3)rebounding 4)defense 5)low turnovers 6)defense 7)get good shots 8)defense....somewhere down the list is actually making a shot...but we've seen many many many terrible offensive stretches where JVG will absolutely refuse to replace horrible shooters (not just Rafer) as long as the game is close. Only if like we're getting destroyed would JVG turn to the inexperienced players who aren't good in his system. JVG believes this team has strengths and he plays to them. It's a real testament that the Rocks are one of the top defensive teams in the league when they don't have that many talented individual defenders. I'm not a fan of JVG's system...I don't agree with it (I'm more a Suns guy in terms of how the game can best be won...but we don't have the Suns components), but I support JVG and the Rockets. Novak could get more playing time in another system, but he shouldn't get many minutes at all for the Rockets because his assets aren't good enough to overcome his deficiencies w/in the system.
I have nothing against Novak. He is a great shooter, but his lack of defense and athleticism is the main reason why he's not getting time. In retrospect, we might have been better off drafting Daniel Gibson from Texas. He's not a great shooter but a decent one. He's also capable of being a streaky shooter. He's a pretty decent ball-handler and plays decent D considering his size. I'd like to have Gibson just to prevent Alston from getting 35+ mins. I'm not a Rafer basher, in fact I've defended him on this board. But the fact is he's just not that great of a shooter, and he shouldn't be playing 40 minutes to begin with. Gibson adds speed and athleticism, something Novak does not give us. Novak is a better shooter, but that's about it. Ehem... plus Gibson is a Longhorn... and he's from Houston (Jones HS) But I totally understand why it was illogical to draft a guard, considering that we acquired V-Span, Lucas III, Snyder, and Bonzi. But when you see Rafer shooting this bad and perhaps fatiguing, V-Span not playing at all, and JL III playing limited minutes, you'd like to see another body to help Alston out. Gibson tried to play PG at UT and it didn't work as well as they thought it would, but he would still be able to initiate the offense here. JL III is now getting some playing time, but his defense is suspect to say the least.
I don't want to vote because my answer would be only let him in when we are up or down (although rarely) by a lot (> 15pts). It would be great if JVG can design and practice some plays for him to get a open shoot.
