Now that the Rockets are pretty much locked into the number 5 spot in the Western conference, is it time to give the starters a few more minutes off during the last 20 or so games in the regular season? IMHO, it would be prudent for 2 reasons. 1. Keep the key guys fresh - most importantly Yao, Tmac and Battier. 2. In case of injury it gives some of the lower end guys experience on the court and leaves the team less vulnerable because of it. I just believe that the playoffs are the important thing, and with roughly 20 games left and a 6 game lead on the Lakers and being 5 games behind the Jazz, we are set in our position. I would like to see an expanded rotation at least until the last week of the season where the team should shrink the rotation and get ready for the playoffs. What do you guys think? Is it time to expand the rotation or just play the 8+ man rotation until the end of the season? Please post your thoughts as to which way you voted. Thanks, DD
Absolutely. I know the experts on the board will disagree, but JVG drives me crazy with his paranoia, i.e. being afraid of pulling the starters early to mid-fourth quarter when we are 25 to 30 points ahead. Winning by 10 is just as good as winning by 20 in my book.
While I tend to agree with you, that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about resting the starters a bit more for the playoffs....keeping them fresh. Especially since it seems our playoff position is locked into place. DD
DD I think you are right on but I don't think JVG will coach that way. Just look at some minute distributions in the last blowouts well in control: Alston 40, Alston 41, Battier 39. I don't think it makes much sense but I think JVG feels it is more important to have continuity while reintegrating Yao than rest of vet role players. I think he is way off kilter with this, but I don't have my hopes high for change. His MO all year is run the vets into the ground if necc to get a win or have continuity.
Yes, but clearly with our playoff position locked into place, it is time to rest our starters some. Remember when Rudy gave Hakeem and Maxwell the last couple of weeks off for Anemia etc? And they came back in the playoffs stronger than ever. If we go into the playoffs rested - I think we have a great chance of upsetting Utah... And I am not talking necessarily about the end of our bench, but more along the lines of the top 10 or so....maybe 11 if you include Snyder and Bonzi. And for those of you voting no, please explain why you guys think we should keep playing our starters 35 mpg when a lot of the wins and loses will be irrelevant to playoff seeding. DD PS. I think they may already be doing it looking at last night's game against Orlando, which I hope is a trend and not an aberation.
i voted no on this. i would like as much rest as possible for yao and tmac, but expanding the rotation close to seasons end and then having to shorten it will not be good for chemistry in the playoffs. By knowing what the rotations are, who plays what,where and when it will help jvg improve on the teams weaknesses and have them more mentally prepared for the playoffs. last thing i would want to see is careless mistakes due to players not being familiar/comfortable with the situation they are put in during the playoffs
Given that the current nucleus has only played around 20 games together... and half of those games featured a sub-par T-mac... and even less than those games featured a bench that consisted of Snyder or Wells (or both)... this team still has some gelling to do. Mutombo had been overworked (and his fatigue was a major reason for our recent slump)... he needs to recharge his batteries. Howard needs to get his shot going to the point where he can be effective off the bench again. He also hit some fatigue, but I think he doesn't need as much time to re-charge as Mutombo does. Luther and Battier need to practice the open 3's now more than ever... now that Yao is back, teams have no choice but to leave them wiiiiide open. So basically, the only starter that may be afforded some extra rest is T-mac... but I also dont' want him to start getting too passive again. The last game featured 10 guys playing meaningful minutes (Mutombo, Howard, Luther, Snyder and big Jake off the bench)... I don't see JVG needing to go much more than that.
I agree. Keep the key people fresh and lessen burnout and injury probability. IMHO we could maintain continuity and give some guys rest.
Just because the Rox rotation is too short for your mascot to be playing, doesn't mean it's short overall.
I totally agree, maybe add Bonzi into the mix as well......but that is what I am hoping the team is doing. Don't sit the starters, that is not what I am saying....but play them 32 minutes instead of 36... Keep the roles the same, but just add a few minutes of extra rest for our key guys. DD
As usual, you miss the point, I am not even talking about V-Span or Novak...in fact, I would exclude them at this point.....just play the top 10 or 11 (Bonzi) and give some rest to the starters. Billy and Novak would play their normal mop up minutes..... DD
But the two guys that absolutely need the most rest right now are Mutombo and Howard... and they are no longer starting. Also, Rudy didn't voluntarily give Max and Hakeem the time off... they were mandated to do so because the anemia would simply get worse before it got better. We lucked out in the end (not really for Max, since he was kicked off the team by game 2), but it wasn't a brilliant coaching move. The only two guys that need to be at absolute full strength are T-mac and Yao... and Yao needs to work on his conditioning, and T-mac (who isn't being over-exerted, btw) is at his most highest comfort zone post-back issues.
Oh, so I am assuming you would start the regular rotation for the first quarter and for the rest of the way substitute V-Span/JL3 at PG; Bonzi at SG; Snyder at SF; Novak at PF and Tsak at C. If so, we would take a few losses but at least the back five would be "battle tested."
I agree Yao needs to work on his conditioning, but Tmac and Battier IMHO need to play a bit less..... Tmac because of his precarious back, and Battier because we need him FULLY healthy and energetic come playoff time. I would like to see both of them in the 32 mpg range....instead of 35 or 36 mpg. DD
Two weeks ago you were b****ing that Bonzi was in the rotation and Snyder wasn't. Bonzi is hurt anyway. Now he needs to play more? I'm going to let Mike D'Antoni respond for me:
**************************************8 Thank you for starting this thread. This is important down the stretch. I really think seeing Yao score 30 + against Orlando demonstrates he is with the flow quickly. I realize he may have some adjustments and chemistry issues, but no need to burn him up. Save those legs and keep them fresh should be the vision here. As for T-Mac his back is of primary concern and less minutes could help that. Giving Bonzi and Kirk some minutes helps chemistry and conditions Bonzi. It will be an uplift for both to get playing time. We sure coudl use some depth and they could help. This is a no- brainer-expand the rotation
Sort of, but I would not play Novak and V-Span.....they would continue in their mop up roles. The guys that played last night would be what I am talking about, with maybe adding Bonzi in as well. This is more about having a HEALTHY and rested Tmac and team for the start of the playoffs. Our position is locked in....we are not going to move up to 4 and not going to drop down to 6. It is about having a longer view...and realizing that some regular season games are not as important as others. You don't LOSE them on purpose, but don't burn the players out for a few meaningless regular season games. DD PS. This is NOT about V-Span and Novak (yes I know I like them) this thread is about getting ready for the playoffs and having the guys fresh when we get there.
If JVG started to rest TMAC, YAO, and the rest of the starters. I think ALL the fans would have a riot. Honestly, we just got a taste of MVP caliber Yao and MVP caliber TMAC. Now they are both healthy, you want to rest them? Last year was hell for us and no way would I want to see that type of play again.
OK....please understand this is NOT about resting them completely, it is about cutting back their minutes by 3 - 5 a game.....just to keep them a little bit fresher. They still play starters minutes, but just get an extra 3-5 minutes off each game. DD
