Seeing Griff get his first NBA start will be cool. Also we'll get a chance to see Kevin Willis and Morris a liitle more than we normaly would -- that'll be cool too. Anyways man were stacked this year at every position! We'll be competing for the best record in the league baby!.... and I dont give a jack what any fat no bball playing junkie journalists say!
Dr of dunk: "are you kidding" What the hell do you think? Do you think Im kidding? Was there a smiley face in my post? The comedy things your gig not mine. I dont kid about basketball man. Don't ask me stupid questions like that. Every team has 12 roster spots so therefore you can really expect every team in the league to pretty much be two deep at every positon, ok. But what i mean when i say were stacked at every position is we have so many interchangable players that Rudy has the luxury of being more than two deep at every position. Guys like Morris who can play the 4 and 3-- Rudy on 610 raved about him at the power foward, reminded him of Horry. Eddie Griffin -- rudy sees him at center and first power forward off the bench. Kevin Willis - he can play a legit 4 and 5. Then you know Mobley, Francis, and Norris are all interchangable at the guard positions along with Osacar Torres who can slide to three with his size as well. i shouldn't have to go through this with you because dammit man the seasons only a few days away and you need to get your ass in gear!
Actually I don't think he is totally off base. Think about it. 1. We start Cato at center and bring in someone that may actually be better off the bench in Willis and he is backed up by Griffin. 2. We start KT at PF and then bring in someone that may be better or at least should be better at some point in Griffin. Willis backs him up. 3. Rice starts at SF and Walt (when he is on he can change a game...but when he is not...) Williams and our future SF TMo backs him up. 4. Mobley starts at SG and it appears we have a compitent back up that can play some D and understands offense in Oscar Torres. 5. Francis starts at PF and Moochie (he could start for a lot of teams) Morris backs him up. The only real wild card in the bunch is Cato. If Cato continues to have a good attitude and plays close to his potential and stays out of foul trouble then his team is deep with quality players at every position. It certainly does not mean that they are all all star material but certainly some are and some will be in the future, but they all look solid.
Relying on only four players (Cato, Willis, Griffin, and Thomas) to play the center and power forward positions could eventually get us into trouble. I think we are thin at these positions, as a whole, based on the fact that if one of the four guys mentioned gets some sort of injury, we are automatically thin at both positions. Yeah, we could bring in Collier or Langhi, but they would not be able to provide the offense and defense that the Rockets are looking for. It would require Rudy to play the three remaining big men more minutes and have Collier/Langhi play minimal minutes in the center/power forward positions. We really need one more big forward to secure the center/power forward position for any potential problems. (If he was sane, Dennis Rodman would fit this role perfectly. Doesn't need to score...would do all the dirty work that needed down low.)
I think Tmo also can hold his own against some power forwards. It is where he's used to playing. Even though he's a little undersized (an inch shorter than griffin but a little thicker) I think he could be thrown in and use his quickness and leaping ability to make up for that.
Gosh, this lineup is beautiful... Cato, Willis Thomas, Griffin Rice, TMo, Walt Mobley, Torres Francis, Morris I'd rather Thomas sit behind Griffin, but I appreciate that Rudy will defer to the 'vet'. I also highly suspect that Walt will have back problems in the next day or so that permit TMo to get some minutes at the 3 early this season (mixed up w/ the three guard lineup I presume). Look at that lineup. I think Carroll and Rudy are offbase sometimes, but this time I'm impressed. The offseason could have been a disaster once Dream chickened out and headed east... but Carroll and Rudy turned it into a success story. They acquired Griffin, Rice, TMo, Morres and Willis, and reacquired Norris and Mo Taylor. And somewhere along the line, someone slipped Cato some Taurine. Things are going to be alllllllllllllright.
The PF spot is thin. The rockets have a lot off people that will see PF time, but they all have an achilles heal at the moment. Willis won't be able to play many minutes here as he'll need to play 15 minutes at center. Griffin is just plain thin. Against certain pFs he'll have problems playing man to man defense. When stronger, He'll be able to defend any PF. offensively, Could be near unstoppable soon with his ability to get separation on his shot. KT isn't a top 25 PF as a starter. Morris has a SF body, but may be able to body up with PFs better than Griffin now. Collier too slow. Cato will be at the five. Walt, Rice SF bodies, but can play PF Langhi too thin.
When will the injuries end? I don't think they will end until we have a new conditioning program instituted. And I'm not joking about this either. I think a lot of our players don't do the right type of conditioning to help prevent injuries. Take a look at this thread and tell me it's just a coincidence that 6 of the past 7 years we have been below the league average for players playing at least 78 games. What's even worse is the past 7 years we have been below the league average every year for players in 70 and 75 games. This is a serious issue the Rockets need to look at. I only think our backups have a good shot at playing every game this year, and that's just because they'll take less wear and tear. On to the power forward position. I think we will be okay if one of our power forwards goes down (as long as it isn't Willis), since we can just play small ball instead. Rice, Walt and TMo can all play the position well enough in when Steve, Cat and Moochie are on the floor. We can beat a lot of teams with our small ball lineup, and the new defensive rules will help that line up on D. B
