OK, there is a definite groundswell of opinion on the board about the playing time (or lack thereof) for a number of players on the roster. I'm going to try to play Devil's Advocate a little bit on this. It seems to me (and I am quite often wrong ) successful playoff teams have a fairly tight eight or nine man rotation. Also, the earlier in the season that a team can hit upon this, the more successful they will be. Now, a championship-calibre team also has players that can contribute on any given night, even if they're not in the normal rotation. The Rockets don't have those players right now, but are you prepared to sacrifice this season to improve these non-rotation players? If the Rockets are pushing for the playoffs (and Rudy's job is probably relying on making the playoff), then I can understand trying to tighten down the rotation. The coaching staff often seem to be erratic with their substitutions (which could be an attempt to look for good on-court combinations), but maybe they're hoping to bolt down their nine players in time for the All-Star break. Here's my nine rotation players: Yao Ming Eddie Griffin Glen Rice Cuttino Mobley Steve Francis Kelvin Cato Mo Taylor James Posey Moochie Norris As much as I'd love to see Nachbar on the court, I think it's going to take some injuries to the front court players for that to happen (and I certainly hope that doesn't com about!) Thoughts?
Rice should get the hell out of the starting line. He should only serve as the media relation for Rockets coz he is so good at commenting after the game. Look at his comments below after the previous 2 games and his score: Quote after Knick's game (scored 3 points in 0 to 3 FG, all scored in FT line): "It has to be embarrassing," Rockets forward Glen Rice said. "We didn't at any time in the game follow through with our game plan." "We did too many things wrong," Rice said. "We can't afford to keep saying (it can be fixed.) We've said that too many times already. If we keep on saying that, it's a crutch. We can't keep saying we just didn't execute. Quote after Hornet's game (scored 5 points in 2 to 7 FG): "A lot of times when a team comes out with a run like that, a team just tanks it," Rockets forward Glen Rice said. "We just went out there and fought even harder. Friday we didn't have that edge, that urgency."
I'm interested to see that people would not have Rice in the rotation at all. I mean, I could understand that you wouldn't want him to start, or that you want to get reduced minutes, but no minutes? I've got to disagree with you on that one.
Let him start. I just want to make sure he doesn't finish games. He has no defense. We need defense down the stretch, and Posey definitely gave us that last night by shutting down Mashburn.
It's all about matchups. If Rice is playing against a SF who is not a scorer, I see him playing more. Against Mashburn, that was disaster waiting to happen. As far as Tito and Nachbar. Tito is not ready to contribute. He is way too raw. He would be worse than Moochie (I know it sounds impossible). Nachbar should play some. if you look at Rudy's histroy, he has always played borderline CBA players to experiment with the lineup in the regular season. Heck, if Randy Livingston could get minutes, why can't Nachbar? Of course once playoff time rolls around, Rudy has stuck with mainstay starters. If Rudy found time to play Terrence Morris, giving Nachbar 15 minutes a night won't kill us.
But isn't that because Nachbar has no idea how to defend people off the dribble, which is how most players in the NBA try to score? I thought his defense was super-suspect. I would guess that Rudy thinks CBA and stateside college players would be more familiar with trying to stop someone in the American style of play. From what little I saw of Nachbar at the Knicks game, it looked like a player with good dribbling skills could easily take him after a couple of crossovers.
You can say that about 1/2 the Rockets starters. Like I said, it's all about matchups. When your opponent puts in a guy like Stacey Augman off the bench, do you really need a defensive stopper? Plus, there are opportunities where Posey can play the 2 and Nachbar at the 3. This will help compensate for some defensive laspes, especially if we play zone.
In 2-3 zone, we could put Yao in the middle. Have Cato on the right...and Griffin on the left! The Great Wall of the Rockets!!! Then we could have Posey and Hawkins in the front. That would be our defensive team. But then we wouldn't have any scoring. And about Steve Francis. I think he plays good defense when he feels like it. When he goes up against a player like a guy who was drafted right after him, Baron Davis, he plays better defense. Francis is not ALL offense. Mobley is also a good defensive player. You all may not think so, but he had 2 or 3 steals and THREE BLOCKS. He's just too short against some players. My nine players would be exactly like yours. That is what we play right now! Since Posey has been incorporated into our team, Terence Morris doesn't play at all! Yes! I think he's a good cheerleader though on the bench. Tito Maddox is just a rookie and has no experience. I wouldn't want him playing in the playoffs. Bostjan Nachbar...I like him, but we have too many small forwards. And Joaquin Hawkins, I would really like him to be the TENTH man in times of direness.
It really is about match-ups as someone has already mentioned. Rudy should be smart enough to realize that we should start Posey if the opposing SF is as talented as Mashburn. I'll respect Rudy's decisions for not playing certain players....somewhat, but why in the HELL do we play Moochie that many minutes? Even worse, those minutes with Moochie AND Stevie on the court at the same time?
Nachbar isn't playing much because he still is not in NBA game shape. Remember that Barkley missed most of an entire season with a hernia injury. Hakeem suffered through a lot of missed games due to a hernia. It is one of the most difficult injuries when it comes to recovery. In addition, when Barkley and Hakeem were injured, they were veterans in NBA game condition. Nachbar wasn't close to being in real NBA game condition and he basically missed all of training camp as well. The injuries and the lack of playing shape really set him back. Personally, I am really pulling for the guy and Rudy has said he figures heavily into their future. I just think he is like Sam Cassell in his rookie season. Cassell was behind Scottie Brooks and Kenny Smith until well after the all-star break. I could see Nachbar getting time by mid-season.
