[CHRONIC] Rockets battle for roster spot about performance, not need.

But for now, what do they need?

http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2010/09/rockets_battle_for_roster_spot.html

Rockets coach Rick Adelman said that it was still too early to cite trends of training camp, but as he addressed more specific questions, he was clearly pleased with the play of forward/center Alexander Johnson and impressed with point guard Ishmael Smith.

Johnson is filling in at center with Yao Ming's minutes limited and with Brad Miller out. Smith picked up a few extra reps with Kyle Lowry out of Tuesday's practice. Both are among the five players in camp with non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts likely fighting for a roster spot.

As the preseason moves on — from Austin, to McAllen, to Beijing, to Guangzhou, with an occasional pit stop in Houston squeezed in there somewhere — there will be plenty of more information to consider. Both will get playing time in preseason games. Others will no doubt have their moments too. And there is a chance that Erick Dampier will join the Rockets and give them 15 guaranteed contracts.

The mention of the play of a third point guard and third center did lead to the question of need. Would the Rockets be better off with a third point guard or extra center?

The question will change, of course. The decision will come down to the play of the players competing for the roster spot, rather than the positions they play. But until then, it does bring up something to at least consider.

Last season, the Rockets' season went south when Kyle Lowry was hurt. But last season, the Rockets did not have shooting guards in the rotation that could man the point. This season, Courtney Lee is the sort of two-guard that can fill in at the point, possibly improving the Rockets' depth at the position.

When Lowry was hurt last season, the Rockets called up Will Conroy, from the Valley to handle the fill-in role. That was the plan all along. Conroy, however, struggled. He always seemed more than qualified for the job. The Rockets saw plenty of him in camp and as a key to the Vipers' D-League championship team.

Would he have succeeded had he made the team and been on the roster all season and not felt the pressure to impress while on a 10-day contract? More to the point, would Smith be better served on the roster?

At center, the Rockets have Yao and Miller, giving them two more true centers than they had last season. (I still think David Andersen was more of a four.) But neither can be considered likely to play every game. We already know Yao will miss one game in each back-to-back at least for a while. A third center will often be the second center.

That would seem to make the center position the one of greater need. But in many match ups, Jordan Hill would seem to be likely to pick up minutes at the position, sometimes even when Yao and Miller are available. There has been a good deal of talk about how much more aggressive he has seemed in the first four days of camp than with the summer league team.

In the end, the decision will be about the player, rather than the position. The best idea is to keep the guy who eventually becomes the best player. That could be Antonio Anderson or Mike Harris. Since the 15th guy is not likely to play or make much of a bottom-line difference on the season, the spot might be best used to keep and develop someone for later.

With that in mind, the early (very, very early) guess here is that it will be Smith. But since it is too soon to really choose between the players, it might be worth weighing in on the choice of positions.