im pretty sure you're mistaken. adelman said he was interested in seeing T-Mac and Bonzi play together.
IIRC Stevie had a rather 'special' relationship with Yao. I think we will see TMac at the 3 with MJ, Bonzi and Stevie at the the 2, Maybe Brooks at PG by the break if he plays at the level he has played this summer. I can't see a place for Shane in opening line-up, but I think he will see a lot of time backing up Tmac who will be playing fewer minutes to preserve him. Our starting 5 might be more situational depending on the other team and the match-ups. We can use a rotation of 9 or 10 players without much skill level dropp-off this year. It is hard call.
I think Steve Francis is best suited to be our 6th man. He's at his best when he dominates the ball and is the number one option. I don't really see a point of trying to change his game, when he can play his natural game being the sixth man. I like a secondary lineup of Francis, Snyder/Head, Wells, Hayes, Mutombo/Butler. Francis and Wells as your 1 and 2 is as lethal as any bench in the league. Francis will get to be the main guy and floor general he always wanted to be with Wells abusing undersized wings in the high post.Then you have Snyder who's an athletic wing and one of our most underated finishers, which, in my opinion would be a perfect compliment to Francis and Wells in an uptempo style offense. You could rotate him with Head instead if you need an outside shooting presence to open up the lane for Francis and Wells. Hayes will be there to clean up the glass, which is always a good compliment for Francis. I like a starting lineup of James, Tmac, Battier, Scola, Yao. James isn't the best distributer, but is the best outside shooter out of alston and francis. When you have Tmac and Yao out there, i feel an outside shooter would mesh better than having a shot creater, which both tmac and yao will be under adelman. Bibby is not that great of a distributer himself, but he faired very well under adelman and i see james being in the same mold of player. So pretty much you have a continuous arsenal; Yao/tmac, then francis/bonzi then yao and tmac all over again. I also like the fact that francis and bonzi are both very good at drawing fouls and getting to the line, which would spell trouble for the defense as they probably already tacked on a few too many fouls trying to hold yao and mac. ....francis for 6th man of the year.
My hope is this..... Bonzi Wells.....will win most improved player & 6th man award. Im crossing my fingers now guys
I don't care who we got at 6th man as long as he can do for us what Ginobelli does for the Spurs or Barbosa for the Suns.
Maybe or maybe not...but if it's Bonzi, Scola, or Francis....I will venture to say that either one of those guys, except for maybe Scola (who is unproven) is equal to or better than their six men....Francis was 3x time all star and while Bonzi is much better defender and more well-rounded than player than both.
I think TMac is going to eventually go to small forward, which will significantly affect the starting lineup. I expect Francis to start at SG and MJ to start at PG. Battier might be coming off the bench. I have big expectations of Brooks. When he gets some court time, I think he is going to dazzle everyone and might turn out to be the "sleeper" for sixth man of the year for the Rockets. Bonzi may surprise as well. Don't forget Kirk Snyder or Luther Head. Both may become "break out" players this season. Folks, we got talent, finally. No excuses!
I would support this - if it meant we got something for Rafer & Luther package-a good player + second round pick
My first post but I think Bonzi will be our 6th man since he's playing for his last contract and I remember how well he played the last time he was in a real contract year vs the spurs. <object width="425" height="353"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uca66cK-WrA"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uca66cK-WrA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="353"></embed></object>
Yeah, that's video is great. I've already seen that and it just shows you what Bonzi can. He is really strong, he can be a great offensive rebounder and scorer inside. Maybe his shot isin't great but he can also make it from the outside. After videos like that I really belive in Bonzi and I'm sure he will really help us next season
If I were RA i'd start Mike James at the point and bring Francis off the bench to supplement both backcourt positions. Even though MJ suffered in a starting role in Minnesota I still think he could be effective at replacing Rafer. He's a better defender, better shooter and actually knows how to drive to the basket. Let MJ be the shooting point that plays with the first unit and let Francis be the athletic slasher and game changer that functions with the second unit whenever Yao and/or T-Mac are resting. As for Bonzi..... Bonzi is still a question in my book. If he shows up focused and in shape, great. That version of Bonzi I just mentioned could have won us that Utah series. His minutes would almost exclusively have to come at the three, though, as I fear he's nowhere quick enough to guard two's anymore. With Bonzi as our 6th man everything is up in the air. With Francis as our 6th man everything seems to make sense.
Bonzi will be fine...we got a lot of guys who could start on other teams. This is a good problem to have.
i'll be so disappointed if SF3 comes off the bench. (thats disappointment in Steve for not winning the starting job) unless Scola completely obliterates Chuck in training camp, he should at least be starting the season coming off the bench. best player without NBA experience notwithstanding. if memory serves, Chuck was part of our most effective starting five last year ... resist the dark side, fight the hype. (btw, i believe Scola's pedigree will eventually triumph, dude is tearing up FIBA making it hard to combat the dark side)
SF, Bonzi and Luther are playing for contracts after the season so I would expect big years from them. Right now I would say both Bonzi and James will be co-6th men, but Bonzi has the potential to beat out James for the top honor. I still see this starting lineup: Yao, Scola, Battier, Tmac and Francis with Bonzi first off the bench for Battier and either Butler or Hayes for Yao. Then James for Francis depending on the situation.
