It looks like Rudy is going to give him more minutes. Cool. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1289486 HIS TIME IS NOW Collier figures to get a good look as Rockets wrap up lost season By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Rudy Tomjanovich wanted to see Jason Collier sooner. He had spent a first-round pick on Collier in 2000 and waited for most of two seasons to get him on the court. Tomjanovich could have yelled "Jason" to his left, and Collier would have rushed from his seat into any game. But the timing never seemed right. Either Collier wasn't healthy, or the Rockets were either looking for extra minutes for Eddie Griffin or calling on Kevin Willis for muscle. On Friday, Tomjanovich finally called on Collier. He said he plans to make the call again. Tomjanovich would not say if the decision signals the start of five weeks of experimenting with lineups. The Rockets face three consecutive teams battling for playoff position beginning this afternoon against the Jazz. Tomjanovich, like many coaches without playoff hopes, faces the difficult choice between developing winning habits and evaluating and developing younger players. Tomjanovich took a swing at the scorers' table Friday against the Warriors and unleashed a halftime tirade during Tuesday's comeback win over Toronto, indicating he has not given up on winning. But Collier got nearly as great a workout during the game as he takes before games, indicating the time might have come to adjust the rotation. Asked about Collier's extra action, Tomjanovich said, "It's time." Collier played 11 minutes in the loss to Golden State, had a season-high eight points and made three of four shots, including one on a fast break and another from 19 feet. "It's definitely an important time," Collier said Saturday. "It's important to break off a little bit of rust, but also to show what I can do. I haven't had significant minutes this year. I had injuries all of last year and a lot of this year. I have to get rid of some rust. But I felt a lot more comfortable last night. "The main thing for me is to get out there and run the floor and to try to do the intangible things, to tip the ball, beat my man down the floor, do the little things that help the team. I'm not Steve Francis. I'm not the most athletic guy in the world. But I think I can do some things to help this team win." Tomjanovich said he saw just what he hoped to see from Collier on Friday. The 7-foot center from Georgia Tech had played in only eight games this season and logged more than his 11 minutes just once. "It was great to see him out there," Tomjanovich said. "He did an outstanding job. "The major decision on that is I just wanted him to have a healthy body. I didn't want to rush things. Believe me, I was anxious to see him to. I just had to hold off. "He works so doggone hard, we had to send him home from the summer league because he wore himself down. It's probably overdue, but I wanted to be cautious." Although his two stints were little more than cameos, Collier was able to show the shooting range that attracted the Rockets to him in the first place. Collier offers an outside threat to keep teams from camping defenders inside and has a surprising ability to run. "I didn't see any (rust)," Tomjanovich said. "That's to be expected, but I thought he was sharp. He ran the floor. He made his shots. He was active. They fouled him on that play going across. It was a great, active pump-fake and aggressive move. I don't think the guy could have done any better. It was an outstanding performance after being out. "When we played L.A., we used the high pick-and-roll. Shaq took the penetrator and (Collier) popped out." Collier gives the Rockets a center that can spread the defense, Tomjanovich said. How much he plays remains to be seen. Whether the other young players will join Collier on the court is uncertain, too. But the time has come for Collier to show what he can do. "The end of the season and especially the summer," Tomjanovich said, "are very important for him."
Typical Rudy T. Collier has his best game but doesn't get off the bench in the next game. At least Moochie didn't finish this game.
At the beginning of the season, who would have thought they'd have been happy to see this article? Shoot, at this point in the season, I was hoping for a Johnny Feigan article entitled Rockets maintain 5th seed with win over Jazz.
It amazes me how much you guys can hate a player that hasn't been on the floor long enough to have a chance to establish his game yet. If you read the article, then you know that Rudy didn't say he would play in every game. This game was close most of the way & I doubt that Rudy is going to put someone in to work on their game, under those circumstances. Some of you people can't see beyond the tips of your noses. If Collier can rediscover his shooting touch, then he'll be the perfect compliment to Cato. Cato provides interior defense, while Collier can stretch the defense with his outside shooting, like LaFrentz does. By the way, as much as I dog Cato, I have to tip my hat to him. He was definitely a force down low today.
