I dont see Tmac coming back in the next 3 games and I dont want to see him back before new year. the reason is plain and simple and can be summed up in 2 words: LEATHER BALL!!! I am sure Tmac took Xtra time off to workout with the old ball to get used to it. I dont want him to touch a r****ded cheap MicroFiber ball (or whatever it is) again. he is probably working on his shot and he probably got it back and even better than before. I hope I am right.
No way Bonzi can carry the team. He's carrying enough weight as it is (tip your waitresses please). Right now I don't even know if Tmac can carry the team. I certainly think he's capable but there's so many question marks w/ his status. Yao played like an MVP and could barely carry them. All the role players need to step up (which they did in the 2nd half of the Spurs game and 3 quarters of the Clips game) and hopefully at least keep these games close to the last minute to give us a chance to win. If Bonzi can play consistently well (one solid Spurs game is not enough) and Tmac comes back, I think we're still mid-tier.
i'm thinking of those Memphis teams that won around 50 games for a couple seasons. who were the best players on those teams? Gasol (T-Mac), Battier (Battier), Bonzi (Bonzi), Mike Miller (Luther Head or Novak), Posey (Snyder), Jason Williams (Rafer), Stro (Chucky), Lorenzen Wright (Juwan), Earl Watson (JLIII). who am i missing? the overall talent level doesn't seem that different except that the youngins on the Rockets are going to have to learn quickly and contribute.
Sure, except Mike Miller is 100 times better than head and novak combined, Posey is better than snyder in every aspect of the game, williams is much better than rafer, and earl watson is much better than lucas. that memphis team was good because they were so deep.
Don't expect Bonzi to become someone he is not all of sudden. The guy is paid only 2.5 million for a reason
money shouldnt define how well he plays...he's a semi superstar and he knows it...he should have the brains to figure out if he doesnt do his job to fill in the offensive void...then no playoffs for him...which is the whole reason he came to houston...cos we are "championship contenders"...notice that's not in past tense...i'm expecting him to be a 15-5 type player from now on...and that's the least i hope for from him...
actually, they won around 50 games only once with that roster under Hubie Brown. last season, under Fratello, they won 49 games without Jason Williams, Bonzi, Posey, Stro, or Earl Watson. instead they had the midget Damon Stoudamire (for only 27 games) whose stats were worse than Rafer's, and the shell of himself Bobby Jackson (also with worse stats than Rafer). they had yet another shell of himself in Eddie Jones who had much worse stats than Bonzi, and even Luther this year so far has better stats. in the battle of rookies Hakeem Warrick played worse than Chucky. for being 100 times better than Head and Novak combined, Miller still had a worse season than Bonzi. Battier was Battier of course. their backcourt sucked, their front court was thin and offensively challenged outside Gasol, yet they managed 49 wins. hmmm... i don't think JVG could do that with those players.
Bonzi a semi-superstar? Hell no. He's at best a borderline all-star. AT BEST. On most days, he's just a good player who causes mismatches. Bonzi's offensive arsenal is limited, and he scores mainly due to his size at his position, and his athleticism at his size. Like it or not, teams are gonna adjust. You can only post Bonzi up so many times before they start denying him and double-teaming him. And his perimeter moves are iffy most of the time. Bonzi won't be a perennial 20-point scorer. I agree he played out of his mind in the Kings-Spurs series, but that's as much to do with matchups as his desire to get a big contract, which he never got. Having gotten the JVG treatment aside, do you seriously think he will give the same 110% effort that he gave in that Kings-Spurs series here? Hell no. Bonzi can, and most probably will, give us anything in the range of 15/5/3. And for the amount of money he's paid, that's very decent. But it's foolish to expect him to suddenly become a top 20 player.
I agree with A-3PO. There's no way this team is winning now if they don't do some serious teamwork. They must die in court for the team while he's away and use the more minutes to squeeze themselves every bit of fighting power. They still might not be able to make it. The lack of a substantial backup will prolly be evident now.
I think Bonzi can help carry the team in stretches during the rest of the season and thats probably it. The rockets got this guy as a hired gun for the playoffs, he is just a big time playoff player and creates matchup problems for teams like the Suns, Mavericks and especially the Spurs. Hope we can make the playoffs.
bonzi needs to start in order to carry the team we need to start the game with mutombo (this is the biggest question mark in my opinion) howard battier bonzi alston (i would rather JL III) and then come in with JL III Head (first off the bench, points off the bench) hayes (very limited mins, w/o t-mac and yao we need someone who can score) novak (need better def. from him but for this to work we need something from him)
