And that's exactly what I think RA is doing...I think we're putting forth max effort with whoever's on the floor at the time. It seems that he's playing some of the younger guys a lot more than normal, and we're running some plays to practice execution, not necessarily to win it seems.
You don't tank on purpose, you play younger guys and let the chips fall where they may. That is what I am talking about, sometimes coaches will play guys that they think give them the best chance of winning that night......and it may not be the younger guys. This, IMO, is when the GM should step in and have a conversation about the long term benefits to the organization. It is how I look at it, from a management perspective, how can we get this team into a championship contender in the fastest manner possible. This year, it is not it.....what can we do to make NEXT year more successful. Playing Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier will not make next year any different......you know what they bring...try some of the other guys to see whether they fit. DD
Look, Until we are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, Rick Adelman is going to give Shane more minutes. When we are eliminated from contention, he might scale back the minutes he's doling out to the veterans. For the time being, Luis Scola needs to be happy and understand he's a major part of this team. More important, Shane Battier is going to get CBud's minutes, at least during this stretch of "let's pretend we're going to make the playoffs and that it isn't important to have the best 1st round pick possible because we do need to still sell tickets" games. If Shane has any more reason to gripe (he's already coming off the bench), who's the first person besides his wife who's gonna hear about it? His buddy Luis---and we need Luis to re-sign in the offseason.
He's already throwing Hill out there (including crunch time!), and there's just a logjam at the 3. I'd like to see Chase get some more burn, but as mentioned - he's already been getting good minutes this year. I DON'T want Jermaine Taylor to get wedged into the rotation for development reasons. Earn your PT. Better to let Martin continue to gel with the rotation members. I detest tanking - the effect it has on the locker room mindset isn't worth it, especially when we're this locked into the back of the lottery. Odds of making the playoffs are 10 times better than getting a top pick. Besides, look at how deep this team already is. Are we that hard up for a rookie that won't crack the rotation without a big 3-for-1 offseason deal to clear the way? Also, this is a draft deep on frontcourt players - I have a feeling we'll get some nice help even if we are at #14.
I suggested exactly this a week or two ago in a metaphorical Hayes=Rafer? thread. It's a perfect time to start Hill and give him 30+ minutes/game, and also give Bud extended minutes, as I don't think both Ariza and Battier will be here next year. It's called doing what's best for the franchise. Still my 2 cents.... DR
Your opinions have many holes. Everyone gets the point you are making, but like many have said Rockets still have a chance to make the playoffs. They might be very slim but what happens if Manu Ginobli gets hurt whenever the Spurs play their next game, what about Brandon Roy. Crazier things have happened in the NBA. If Lowry, Battier, Hayes, or anyone else dealing with injuries thought this season was over they would be resting on the bench. The Chicago Bulls were in the 7th seed but have now lost 8 or 9 games in a row. I don't know if you have season tickets or what but try selling tickets the rest of the season saying that we are not going to play a starter, and our 6th man to see what Chase Buddinger, Jermaine Taylor, and Jordan Hill can offer us next season.
the guy has only had a handful of solid games, he hasnt even had a great game yet. He could easily turn around and stink it up for 2-3 games and he'll be back where he was before coming here. He also still doesnt know all the plays, like worrell pointed out. Martin had the advantage of being familiar with the offense, but the other new guys need more time. You stick players out there for large minutes who dont know plays and you're gonna have trouble.
Right. But NBA experience will trump RGV experience. I suspect RA and DM the GM know what they have with JT. I don't, and I don't believe any of us do. The key in swapping TA and/or SB is to know what fills in for the missing guy when going forward.
next year's championship is going to involve a lot more of martin, battier, ariza, brooks, scola, lowry and possibly chuck, than jt, bud, and even hill. We're just a few weeks from a major trade, the starters still have their issues and aren't in complete sync yet and you want to skip their in-game "practice" to develop guys with minimal roles? I rather let the true core play it out, get more actual game under their belt and that way integrating yao will be a faster process next year. the team then can come completely together by about game 20 next season instead of by game 40, which is what would happen if we interrupted their growing process now. 15 games is too many to give to the younger guys. 5-6 is more reasonable. In this case it'll probably be closer to 7-8,w hich is more than enough.
. Something to also consider, althout not impossible, it's difficult to make any major changes or adjustments to your play during the season. Sometimes there isnt enough practices for it and sometimes it's more important to rest your body for the next game than put it to another workout or solo practice. Players pretty much go into a season knowing what they worked on during the summer and they implement that over the span of the season, until next summer when they'll start the process all over again. you're not going to see Budinger bring out anything he hasnt already. He's not going to pull out a dream shake out of nowhere because he's playing more minutes. Jermaine Taylor won't develop a pure jumper because of it either. Their not going to gain strength during games. They're not going to improve a first step by using it 3 or 4 times a game. They're not going to improve a jumper by a taking a few more while being contested by other teams. All the real improvements will come from hundreds of repetitions. Hundreds of jab steps, hundreds of jumpers taken, hundreds of workout reps. That is what they truly need and that's going to come in the summer for them. And by playing them more you may be taking away some of those opportunities now. If they know their mins will be limited then they can afford to take on an extra weight session or some extra individual basketball workouts in between games and practices. However, if they're planning on playing bigger mins then they'll skip the extra sessions so they can rest up.
Playoff experience is the best possible way to develop the rookies. I don't want Budinger to suddenly turn into Luther Head in the big games. Remember, we have had, what, two televised games this year? What happens when they know the entire world is watching their every move?
With only 15 games left you act like that's a bad thing.... I wouldn't mind getting the 11th pick in the draft(that could happen if we tank )
IMO teams that play games like that are ALWAYS in rebuilding mode. I say you instill a winning culture in our guys now.
Type it for what it is, DD. You're using fluffy language to hide your real opinion. There's a clear difference between including younger players more and tanking. When you play to win, you play your BEST players. CBud is not one of our best players yet. He still gets his minutes, and makes the most of them. You're proposing playing guys who already get minutes and develop, while sitting better players (at this point in their career) for the purpose of "next year." We all know where the "next year" thinking has gotten us. We know that we won't be winning a championship this year, but RA and DM aren't dumb enough to increase the playing time of Jordan Hill, C-Bud, JJ, Hilton and JT for the sake of development for "next year." There are 15 games left. Type this nonsense when the Rockets have the same record as the T-wolves or Warriors. We're above .500 and trying to finish strong, playoffs or not.
Man, you got to admit the competition we have is pretty stiff. We are talking about the premier organisations in this league. They have perfected their strategy with years of training. They can turn it on anytime and put the real game changers to the floor. Take for example Mark Madsen, there was a dude who could really take over in situations like this. When he was on his game, everybody was at his mercy, everybody. And these teams have great depth too. Golden State can throw ten grade-A chuckers to the floor in any game and they really have an eye for picking talent from the development leagues as they have been in this position for years. So in conclusion, I don't think this year we have the personnel to achieve the ultimate results in this. We probably should consider this next year though, but we have to make some trades in the offseason. In other words, if we are going to compete in tanking, we must rebuild our roster basically from a scratch. But it's not too bad really, when we are done we should in position to compete every year with the powerhouses like Warriors, Grizzlies, Wolves, Wizards and Nets. I'm a little bit skeptical about the Clippers though, they are a bad matchup for us and they almost always seem to find a way to suck.
