Thanks for starting this thread heypartner! Deke can do it again like last year. He's tough. It's his last season and he said he would enjoy each moment. Now, he's got a chance to play his heart out. Go Deke! Go Rockets!
Right on dude! Deke has been doing his cheerleader thing on the sidelines all season. Now it's time for him to step in and finish his career as a leader on the court again. It's not over yet.
At one point (around the all-star break) I thought to myself the Rockets should take Deke off the roster to free a spot for a shooter/slasher type of wing. Now with the Yao injury, thank God the rox kept Deke. No doubt Morey is going to have to find a big man to replace Yao--Deke's only good for 20 min max. Rox will need a serviceable big to go up against Duncan, Shaq, etc for the Rox to have a chance. Sign up David Robinson (he still looked fit in the All-Star weekend) or better yet, how about the Dream?
If Deke will play the short minutes and play the same intensity he played tonight and with great cast of players we have this year. I think we can hold our own stretching to the playoffs.
How does Deke go from out of the rotation to being the starting center as soon as Yao goes down? That home game against the Jazz when Yao was out, Deke didn't play a second. Is this going to be a matchup thing, or is Deke the starter night in and night out?
I think (key word) that it was just because of the matchup against Haywood. I am assuming it will change on a game by game basis. EDIT: or were those rhetorical questions?
I think Deke should start the remainder of the season. He should be very fresh even into the playoffs given how much rest he's received. He may be old, but we should at least see a fresh and revitalized Deke for a good 20-30 games and even after be serviceable and highly productive once the bumps and bruises start to ache.
