what is up w/ hilton armstrong i heard he is still working w/ the team &he was injured all of last year (walking wounded) he has the body&he did o.k against us when w/ n.o.! is the polish hammer made of glass is he more like scola or the many rocket euro mistakes(boki-v-span-the polish t-mac LOL) what happend too leuwan/bedein/newly.i know it is spelled wrong
We really need shot blocking. I really hope we make a run at Ben Wallace. He can be the next Deke for us.
I like fasenko,jordan,and maybe even hunter. If it were me, I would sign Fasenko and jordan just in case yao breaks down again. I would sign both to 3 yrs and 2m per and see what happens.
I think we'll be fine with Hill, Hayes, and Scola backing-up Yao. Hill has the length/height to play the 5-spot (at least as backup). He just needs to hit the weights. I actually like the idea of a second unit composed of Hill, Patterson, Budinger, Taylor, and Lowry - very fast and athletic.
First of all, Bosh isn't coming to Houston. Second, Bosh can't play Center. He even admits that he can't play center because he isn't strong enough to bang with the centers in the NBA. But anyway, having a good back up center is nice, but I much rather try to find a center that can be our starter instead of being a back up. The reason is because finding a center that is good enough to start for Houston over Yao is big just because Yao wouldn't play that many minutes. Its better for Yao to come off the bench anyway because he is limited right now. I don't even think Rick would start Yao the first few months of the season. I think Yao's situation would be similar to Tmac. Slowly work him into the rotation and then if he can log in about 25-30 minutes and actually playing very well, then he can be a starter again. But for now, no one knows how he would hold up in an NBA game. Even if he's somewhat healthy again, don't expect him to pick up where he left off because he has been out for so long and it would take a while for him to hang with the fast NBA pace. First, Yao needs to be 100% healthy. Second, he needs to get back into game shape again, and third, he needs to get back his rhythm again. All of that is a process and we can only take one step at a time. We cannot all of a sudden inject him into the starting lineup at the start of the season and expect him to play exceptionally well. Do expect him to struggle a lot. But that is just another painful step to get back into NBA shape. The process of him returning to his former self will take months, if not, the whole entire season or he may never be the same player again. It really depends on how much more his body can hold up his frame. As much as I love Yao to play at an all star level again, I know that isn't going to happen and Im not expecting much out of him this season. Many of you guys already projected that Yao will automatically be the starting center this season. But I highly doubt he would be. That is why I think it is so important that Morey can find a starting Center for us through Free Agency or through a trade instead of just going after back up centers who are going to log in tons of minutes just because Yao Ming minutes would be limited big time.
I completely agree about the need to find a starting quality center as Yao should be eased into the starting lineup as opposed to being pressured (self) to produce. After reading this thread, my hopes of finding a capable center have increased. Gortart, Biendrins, Mbenga, etc.., all could help protect the paint much better than what we had last year. Morey must be working the phones to pry a center now that the draft is over. BTW, I agree with you that Bosh may not be what we need at that position.
I think the Backup center happens IF the bosh signing doesn't happen. All these assets DM are saving up will start to depreciate in value if we keep them all. So, once the Bosh window closes its time to package some of the assets for a center, hopefully for cousins or Whiteside: Hill, 2011 pick (swappable with NY) for cousins or Hill, Kevin Martin, 2011 first round pick (swappable with NY), 2012 Knicks pick for Hasheem Thabeet, OJ Mayo Thoughts?
it didn't make a difference when hill played swat-away with perkins' shots in the paint at the end of last game against boston :grin:
