I think everyone wants Rice to perform--no arguments here! Man, it is hard to imagine KT being traded when he puts up 20/10/6...wowsa.... What would be a possible return (player) for him if he keeps his average at 15/6 through the break?
Montgo, I agree, but KT can see the future, and being a contract year, he may want to go somewhere that he is guaranteed to start. It may be here...KT may be our SF of the future and the rest of them may not get to play causing us to trade Bostjan, or TMO, or Rice. You just never know. KT is a very good player who has improved every year...I would rather have him in the starting lineup then any of our other SF type players. If he proves he can match up quickness wise at SF, then keep him and play him 35+ a night. DaDakota
The SF logjam needs to be solved sooner or later. Right now, KT is the best and should start. Rice is not in our future. But this year if he's healthy, you've got to give him minutes or his attitude problem will flare. That leaves TMo and Nachbar firmly planted on the pine. Unless injuries occur, which might not be surprising with Rice, these two players will not see much PT. And don't forget Hawk is also a decent backup. TMo's status will totally depend on his ability to make shots. If he proves his preseason form was not a fluke, he and KT will be our future at the 3. I agree that we are at least 9 deep, maybe 10 or 11. Rudy shouldn't just stick to an 8-man rotation. Assuming the starting lineup to be Francis, Mobley, Thomas, Griffin, and Cato, I don't see Rudy wants to sit Moochie, Rice, and Taylor a lot. So that's 8 guys there. And I'm sure they want to ease Yao into the rotation too. That's 9. With Hawkins being the defensive specialist, that's 10. And if Morris is good, that's 11. The fact is, we have very good backup in every position who can contribute big time minutes. Francis 36, Moochie 12 Mobley 38, Hawk 10 KT 30, Rice 18 Griffin 24, MoT 24 (present) Cato 36, Ming 12; (future) Ming 30, Cato 18 Why play the starters so much when the bench is so capable?
Easy, I like that rotation. The only thing it needs is time to get the chemistry right with all those players. DaDakota
Easy we are on the same page. For the most part the team has been very aggressive defensively which of course takes a lot of energy. In an effort to even increase that intensity while not losing any on offense, we should keep the rotation longer rather than shorter. I have the highest regard for the effect we can have on an opponent when after struggling to keep up with EG and KT, they look at the scorer's table to see a fresh Rice and MoT to come in. Of course they are well aware that these fresh legs are not coming to spell anyone but are indeed coming into to put more hurt on you. Within the next ten games we are going to start ending the 3Q with big leads because of the pressure chamber we are systematically going to be putting opponents through. You cannot do that with a short rotation.
Easy, I agree with that rotation also except in cases like Seatle where we should have stuck Hawkins on Payton almost the whole game.
One of the few Rocket threads worth reading. My solution to the bad thread problem. Clutch, Jeff or someone similar should rate the threads. Those who value their ratings would then be spared the agony of the "Rudy, KT, Steve, Cuttino, Taylor, Cato suck and should be traded" threads. Oh I forgot to mention Rice and Moochie.
Codell, I was commenting on Dakota's cleverness. Never seen a person that was born an alcoholic. Drinking is a personal choice. Rudy is moronic enough to put lives in danger while driving drunk! I'm commenting on the coaching. If Ming was drafted #1, he should play. He won't get better on the bench. Rudy won't put Ming in the position to succeed. The sad part is the $4mil/yr coach doesn't know the game. I was in Indy for two weeks for WBC. Ming was incredible! They didn't have any guards and he still put up good numbers. I was afraid that SF and CM would not find him. He's 7-6! It is real simple, penetrate and dish to Ming for a dunk. Pete Newell ran the Big Man's Camp in Hawaii for 25 years. Rox should hire him or Dream to teach Ming. Ming wants Dream. User name doesn't denote title or age. If my user name was Billionaire!, that would not make it so. Please check my other posts. I've forgotten more NBA lockerooms than most have seen on TV! Just because I don't say doesn't mean I don't know! Please learn how to spell (criticize) before calling someone classless.
Its not that I was at all disagreeing with what you were saying. Its how you said it. If you wanna call Rudy a bad coach, no problem. I think its a cheap shot to bring up his problems with alcohol and blame the teams problems on that. Whether you were joking or not, I personally feel its not right. Im in the middle of reading "The Punch". This book lends some insight into why Rudy had the problem he did. I suggest you read it and I bet you will think twice before making such a reference again.