The starting lineup, IMO, is for JVG's defensive minded team, NOT for an offensive type of team. Since RA's been preaching offensive more, i think some changes are warranted for the starting lineup. Most of the season, we've trailed from the beginning with the starting line, and had to have the 2nd unit save us. I think rafer, and hayes, one of them has to be taken out of the starting lineup, preferably rafer, and add a scorer who can defend decently. Both francis and scola can do it. My lineup would be francis/tmac/battier/hayes/yao or rafer/tmac/battier/scola/yao. Francis would give us the energy from the start to possibly lead a game. I watched the game last night in which the game turned to 5-20 in like 6 minutes. We need someone to step up in the lineup when BOTH Tmac and Yao are being shut down. Something has to change for the starting lineup.
what a REVOLUTIONARY idea! i have never in my LIFE heard of this idea before. i nominate you to be rockets gm.
Maybe you would like a poll? I'm not posting a one sentence thread, i stated possible change suggestions and the reasons why. Seriously, why are people here so cynical? If you want to ridicule me at least try and post a construtive criticism, loser.
I'd rather start Wells than Battier at this point. Sure Wells isn't a great defender like Battier is and he's prone to having butterfingers, but we desperately need some offense in the starting lineup that doesn't include the words "Yao" or "McGrady". With Battier's shooting slump, I rather see Wells' inside game and mid-range shooting.
You have got a point to ponder. Let's look at the previous Sacramento under Adelman. Is there any players in starting line up who is a offensive liability. Bibby - can score a lot Peja - can score tons Webber - can score well Vlade - can flop and score also Doug - can definitely shoot and score Well all Sacramento starters can score. I am not sure about their bench players.
MOVE TMAC TO THE 3. maybe this will get tmac fired up and playing battier less might wake him up. battier has gotten too much "favorite player treatment" from the past coachs. (RA AND JVG) if Rick benches him, it'll show that his playing time is in jeapordy too. we have too many talent not to use for players that are in a slump. that's what depth is for. too still be ready when an injury/slump occurs. so far... tons of people were in slumps. head/battier/bonzi/rafer/james were all in/still in a slump
i agree more than ever now...i strongly used to believe that the starting 5 was great for us but after our recent slump of six stright games i can come to terms with myself that i was wrong...Steve Francis or Mike James really need to start sooner or later...i used to believe mike was good to come off for that spark but i just think we are loosing too many games for an "elite" team. Granted we have had the toughest schedule...i think now more then ever is the best time to find a trade offer out there...i dont know who is available but someone needs to go
Definitely Hayes should see his minutes reduced. Rick might agree, since he was benched to start the second half last night, although that was probably just because they were playing GS. Start Scola or move Battier to the 4 and start Francis at the other guard.
Bonzi fits horribly in the starting lineup, in my view. You lose on three pointing shooting and defense, and you get a player who's been terribly inefficient and turnover prone. Yeah, he's a good offensive rebounder. But we already get quality offensive rebounding from Yao-Hayes-Battier. You're just not adding as much as you'd be losing with that lineup. If you want to replace Battier in the starting lineup, I think the best move would be replacing him with Francis. I'm not endorsing that, but it makes more sense to me than replacing Battier with Bonzi. Scola appears to be getting more and more comfortable. I wouldn't object if he replaces Chuck in the starting lineup.
Fixed it. Nobody ever said this team was going to be the old Kings. Rick was brought in to maximize the offense of the team while keeping most of the defensive edge. I swear, some you act like Adelman is Mike D'Antoni. Rick is not a one dimensional coach. A problem on this board is that a lot of the members don't remember NBA ball before the 2000s. Rick Adelman took a Portland team to the Finals (twice) that was much more similar to this year's Rockets than his Kings teams were. Did you know Rick was not regarded as an "offensive coach" until recently. He used to be known simply as a "great coach."
Bonzi and Yao on the court at the same time is not good. They both play well in the post and don't complement each other at all. The starting lineup will change soon I hope. Playing 3 on 5 offense is not a fun thing to watch. Yao Scola Battier Tmac Francis Off the bench: Hayes Bonzi Mike James Reefer (till Aaron is ready to contribute)
I've been hoping the same thing for a longggg time. I'm not sure we've gotten to a hot start with our starting lineup ... but our surprise bench attack throws the opponent off guard sometimes. That's fun to see and pretty efficient as well. But I really don't like the Rockets having to play catch up basketball so early in the game.
I do not understand why everyone is targeting Rafer. To me the combination of Hayes/Battier is the real problem. At least Rafter is a streaky shooter and looks for his own shot when open. He sometimes drives and can create for himself. His shooting percentage was horrible for a few games and came back the last 2-3. Now lets look at Chuck/Shane. They completely rely on TMac and Yao to create for them. They do not even look for their shot. The presence of both on the court is killing the offense. One of them has to sit. I pick up Shane to sit because I really do not see what he is doing on the court other than flop/drawing charges. He is known as a great defender but his men almost always got his numbers. And his lack of offense is salt on the wound!
I agree that Bonzi is not a good fit for the starting lineup, but starting Francis will make the back court awfully small. Noticed Steven Jackson repeatedly posted up Francis? Why can't Kirk Snyder replace Shane Battier? The defense won't suffer too much and you have a slasher on court which adds more dimensions to the offense. The only drawback is 3-point shooting.
You know, I was going to bite my tongue and not say anything... but I can't Chuck is an offensive liability... we've heard it over and over again. But for some reason no one seems to be able to boot him out of the starting lineup. Juwan couldn't do it, Scola hasn't done it. And why is that? I'll tell you. What liability he is on offense he more than makes up for on defense. My proof... In our 8 losses... Chuck has averaged under 20 minutes... in fact if you take out the anomalies of the two Dallas games.. he isn't even averaging 15 minutes in those games (13). In our 9 wins.. Chuck is just under 25 minutes a game (24). Why does this matter? Think about it this way, Yao gets less fouls/or gets burned on interior defense because Chuck protects the paint much better than Scola or Bonzi. Tmac gets at least one or two assists when Chuck plays underneath and the defense slacks off of him. Scola doesn't get those easy shots because they are more likely to stay on him. Defensively, Chuck is quick enough to guard smaller players on the switch up top and strong enough to defend when the bigger guys post him up. I realize yall will say I am biased in my theory because of who I am. But there is a reason he has gotten playing time despite the fact he can't/won't shoot more than five feet from the basket. There is a reason he and Tmac are tied at the top of that Lenovo stat. There is a reason that Rudy T and all of the coaches are impressed by what he does. I just get sick of hearing the same thing over and over again. Last night I was honestly ticked that he was taken out of the game because the offense wasn't flowing. Because it was Adelman giving in to the perception that Chuck was the liability on the floor. Do you all know what was wrong at the beginning of the game last night? Here's our offensive sequences in the first six minutes when Chuck didn't touch the ball on that side of the court until he grabbed an offensive rebound (his third rebound in 4 minutes): Tmac turnover Yao turnover Rafer miss Yao miss Battier miss Tmac miss Rafer fouled on a miss Rafer 1-2 free throws Rafer made jumper Tmac miss Tmac miss Chuck's offensive rebound Yao turnover Battier miss Rafer miss Yao miss And then with his first foul, taken on Biedrins to protect Yao, Chuck was taken out of the game. Do you want to know how many points Chuck's man scored in that first six minutes... 2 - a tough fade away jump shot Doesn't look to me like Chuck was the reason they jumped out to an 18-3 lead. If they had passed it to him once or twice in the set offense maybe it would have loosened things up inside.
How come all you brainy guys think of all these moves and I just can't make even the simplest suggestion to improve our roster? Of course I don't even consider that Battier should be starting- three non offensive guys Battier , Hayes and Alston. Infact Battier needs to get a grip on himself at times he is looking nothing like his billing!!
