8-man rotation? 9-man rotation? 10-man rotation? Predict the minutes distribution

We are stacked at the guard position and I'd expect Thornton and Terry (IF resigned) would sit on the bench. We have a lot of money invested now at the guard spot to not let KJ McDaniels get some burn initially unless he just stinks up camp.

Bev may become very tradable and increase in value (due to his contract) if KJ can earn playing time over Bev. I love Bev, but I'd rather someone with KJ's talents become our defensive stopper on the wing, if he can earn it.

 

Lawson (34) / Bev (14)
Harden (36) / Brewer (26)
Ariza (34) / Brewer (26)
DMo (30) / TJ (18)
Howard (30) / Capela (18)

Spot minute shooters: Terry, Thorton
Spot minute post defender: Hayes if we get him
Garbage Time Specialists: KJ.
D-League: Dekker, Harrell

 

All deez Brewers baby

 

Its dat beautiful 9-man rotation.

 

I'll go a little different route with this:

Primary Playmaker (48)
Harden - 34
Lawson - 14

Off Ball Guards (48)
Lawson - 14
Beverley - 20
Thornton - 10
McDaniels - 4

Small Forward (56)
Ariza - 30
Brewer - 20
McDaniels - 6

Big Forwards (40)
DMo - 24
TJones - 16

Rim Protector (48)
Dwight - 28
Capela - 20

Totals
Harden - 34
Ariza - 30
Dwight - 28
Lawson - 28
DMo - 24
Capela - 20
Brewer - 20
Beverley - 20
TJones - 16
Thornton - 10
McDaniels - 10

Positional Breakdown
Lawson (28) / Beverley (20)
Harden (34) / Thornton (10) / McDaniels (4)
Ariza (30) / Brewer (20) / McDaniels (6)
DMo (24) / TJones (16)
Dwight (28) / Capela (20)

I expect significantly more small ball with this team. I took 8 minutes from the big forwards and gave it to small forwards and guards, i.e. small ball. I'd expect us to be "big" when Harden and Lawson are on the floor together (to help on penetration D), and small with the bench unit.

 

If KJ can show promise then I can't wait to see this lineup off the bench

Harden
KJ
Brewer
DMo
Capela

 

For a Harden Blow lineup, I like the following similar lineup,
Lawson
KJ
Brewer
Ariza
Capela

A lot of open court options.

 

By the playoffs I expect to see:

Lawson/Bev
Harden/Lawson/Jet
Ariza/Brewer
DMo/Hayes
Howard/DMo/Hayes

Assuming Chuch Wagon signs with us and can still hold his own on defense against non-Stretch 4s.

 

Man, we are going to have great depth. I predict many threads about why so and so isn't getting many minutes.

And I would be really surprised to see Harden average fewer than 34 minutes. Harden, like most superstars, decides how many minutes he plays. He will want to play at least 34 minutes.

 

10 man line-up

Lawson(30)/Bev(18)
Harden(33)/Brewer(11)/Bev(4)
Ariza(28)/McDaniels(13)/Brewer(7)
DMo(24)/Jones(20)/Ariza(4)
Howard(33)/Capela(12)/DMo(3)

Towards the beginning of the season i think Thornton will get KJs minutes but in the end of the season (if everyone is still here) I think KJ joins the rotation.

 

I love the fact that Dekker isn't apart of almost all of the rotations you guys have posted. This is a guy who many expected to be a lottery pick, someone who was considered a steal at #18 for us. Yet our depth is so impressive that Dekker has become an afterthought.

I don't expect Dekker to be some sort of ROY candidate for us, not by a longshot. But I do expect to see him get some burn with the big club as the season goes on.

If there's one hole on the roster right now, it's the fact that we don't have an ideal small-ball PF.

DMo ----- .368 3P% --- .602 FT%
TJones -- .351 3P% --- .606 FT%

Yes, both DMo and Jones have shown an ability to hit the 3. But they are mediocre shooting talents in general, which can be seen in their FT% and FG% in the mid-range. The Rockets have developed these guys to hit 3s at a respectable rate, but I still have trouble trusting TJones and DMo to be legitimate threats that scare teams from beyond the arc when they both struggle to top 60% at the line.

Plus, these 2 are natural PFs who are best left guarding PFs. If the other team goes small and puts a great wing athlete at the PF position, it's going to cause us trouble on D because those 2 will be out of their element on D.

Ariza would be our best option, but you don't want to use him too much at the 4 position considering how valuable he is for us at the SF position. He might still get some burn as a smallball 4 in some lineups, but we need him to be a rock at the 3 spot again.

I think Dekker has the chance to be the smallball 4 that we could really use. At 6'9" and 220 with his athleticism, he could be an ideal small-ball 4 once he gains some strength through NBA weight training.

I'm not saying you guys are wrong about Dekker's minutes. In fact, you guys are probably right and Dekker might get the KJ treatment and park himself on the bench all year. But I really feel like Dekker has potential as the smallball 4 that this team could really use. I still think DMo and Jones will get a TON more minutes than Dekker but Dekker has the type of skillset that could really prove useful for this team in certain matchups and situations. I love how deep this team is.

 

Great post Dekker isn't idea at PF, but you understand the need for a shooter at PF

Maybe Dekker can be that guy one day, but plug any guy who's a respected 3 point shooter at PF, don't care about their D, this team will be unstoppable and will just out score anybody

 

This is about what I would like to see, possibly with Thornton taking a couple more minutes out of Harden's.

I don't know if Capela is quite ready to be the dedicated center back up, I would bet DMo will also get minutes at the position.

 

I'd like to see a lot of situational line-ups, mixing things up.

Now with the depth on this team you can throw in some crazy line ups that can really frustrating for opposing teams.

 

Nobody's mentioned Terry at all. I think he's more likely to get minutes than Thornton. McHale loves his vets and Terry provides a steadying hand and also tries to get the crowd going

 

Someone on the bench may be unhappy.....KJ or Marcus......

 

So you let Smoove go so you can sign KJ "rising star" McDaniels just to sit him on the bench?

 

What is our small ball lineup to match up the chumps, I mean champs.

 

Being deep enough to worry about rotation minutes is a good problem to have.

But, this being the Rockets, we should factor injuries into the equation as if they are a given, I think. At any given time two of those guys in the 10-man rotation are gonna be injured. Dwight will sit on the second night of B2B. Stuff like that.

 

There's a long thread about resigning KJ but he's not getting time in people's rotation. How can he develop/show his athletic 3 and D abilities he supposedly has if he doesnt get minutes?? And if he really did have them i see no reason Mchale can't play him this season. No more of this stashing him on the bench so teams wont know how good he is.

Mchale just needs to play him. Heck i'll just post my rotation.