Can someone tell me why Juwan Howard starts or even plays for that matter?

Are you kidding? Stro is a good help defender. He SUCKS one on one. If you recall, LaFrenze was Stro's man.

 

I'd like to relive the past and bust the people on this board who thought Juwan would have 17 pts 7 boards with the Rockets!

If Juwan Howard, David Wesley, Derrick Anderson and SkipToMyLou played H-O-R-S-E? who will win?
more importantly, how long will the game last?
how many houses can they build?

 

Another frustration thread after a loss.

Why does JH start or even play? Because right now he is better than Stro and Baxter. michecon, a chicken with his head off is a good description of Stro. Sometimes it's almost like Goofy is on the court. Way too many mistakes, turnovers, fouls and missed defensive assignments. JH is a steadier and more conisistent contributor than Stro right now. He can hit the 12-20 ft jumper when left open. He can hit the jump hook. He looks competent in our offense, unlike Stro who is on his own planet. When Stro comes down to planet Earth where the rest of the team is, then let's talk.

The call for putting Baxter in the game reminds me of the Vin Baker talk last year. Please get real. If the guy was good enough, JVG would put him in. The fact is Baxter is barely an NBA player with few skills who is too short to play an effective PF. On defense, he would be abused worse than both JH & Stro and on offense the other team wouldn't even need to guard him. Again, if he was good enough, JVG would use him. Period! I wish we had Padgett instead of Baxter because at least he was worth 10-12 minutes a game.

Bottom line: Stro just had his best game, even though a lot of his points came in the extended garbage time. If he keeps improving he will earn more minutes, either at PF or backup C (when we go small). But Goofy isn't ready to start yet. Maybe later. If JH wasn't on this team, we would be in a world of hurt. Your dislike of JH causes you to seriously overestimate Stro and Baxter.

You have it backwards. One on one Stro isn't very good at all. He is a very good help defender, which is why so many people say they want him to "protect" Yao from getting fouls.

 

itza?

 

You dont think we could of used Howard during the playoffs last year?

 

Hmm, why did you want to bench Howard, again?

 

If the fate of this team depends on howard, then the Rox are in trouble anyway. If Raef outscores our franchis center like he did tonight, its over. Speaking of Swift, i wasn't that high on him when the Rox targeted him and after 6 games nothing changes. I thought SAR was a better option, but that was just me. What has Swift done this season? Foul, dunk a couple of balls and underachieving as usual. Howard wasn't expected to save this team anyway and to make matters worse, Stro cant even beat him out.

 

JVG is not helping Howard, Swift or Yao out by trying to have them guard quicker players.

Mixing in an occasional zone defense would not hurt matters.

I like Baxter better than Howard too, he hustles and rebounds....and we need that more out of the PF spot than a semi-consistent 15 ft jumper.

DD

 

Here are a couple more stats you left out on Stro and JH: Stro is shooting 34% (killing us); JH is shooting 46% (good), even after going 0-9 against the Kings. Stro also averages 3.8 fouls in his 21 mpg (if this isn't a foul machine there is no such thing); JH averages 2.4 fouls in his 28 mpg. And stats don't even tell the whole story. Stro holds the ball way too long and disrupts the flow of the offense because he doesn't understand (yet) what is going on.

You can laugh all you want, but if all we had was Stro and Baxter at PF, you could kiss any talk of a top 4 record goodbye. To say JH never impacts a game is just plain wrong. Not even worth debating the point.

I'm not saying JH is an All-Star. But the fact is he is (right now) better than Stro and Baxter. From the preseason and from practice, Baxter apparently doesn't deserve any floor time. Fine with me. He's been in the NBA 5 years and played in a total of 121 games. Last year, he played in 4 games, all with the Hornets and scored a total of 6 points. If you think he has any shot of being a rotation player on any team, much less a contender, you need help. Get a grip on your frustrations. Take a deep breath because things aren't as bad as they seem.

Very well said.

 

We are trying to win now, this year. It's likely Stro won't be with us in 2 years if he doesn't play a lot better and I couldn't care less about his development if he isn't a Rocket. When we give up on this season, then we can start playing guys for the purpose of developing their careers. Sura, Barry, DA and Deke won't be with us in 2 years either, so should we avoid playing them also? Teams like the Hawks and Raptors are thinking about the "long term".

Stro will start when he deserves it. Right now we are trying to win games by playing the warmest hand. When Stro's brain comes down to planet Earth he will displace JH as the starter. Comparing him to a "prized rookie qb who really needs game experience" is quite pathetic. This is his 6th year in the NBA! C'mon. This offseason, he was "prized" only by the Rockets.

 

Agreed. We can't judge Stro this early. I'm sure he will improve. But he's been a huge disappointment based on most anyone's expectations when we signed him (even mine). If he's still playing like this in game 60, he won't be back next year.

 

Howard WOULDN'T have been the answer if we got passed Dallas but we sure could have used his shooting touch in there. I agree that Howard wouldn't been able to hang with Dirk but I doubt JVG would of left him guarding him all game long.

 

I TOTALLY agree with this with the exception of Stro. Stro looks like he has enough quickness to do this and doesn't look fatigued. Also I know JVG likes to use the entire clock on each posesion in the half court but why does Yao always have to repost on the opposite side on EVERY play? There are time when I see Yao with good position but because of the play he runs around to the left plock for the re-entry. It works but I know this has to wear him out too.

 

I can't wait to see Juwan "matador" howard waive on yet another fastbreak. He takes the easy way out on every defensive play. Which is why Raef was always open. Oops a pick, is that my guy. I'll stay here and double. Possible fast break, let me waive at the point guard before he can get the break started, oops, he went right by me.