Could Motiejunas and Jones both move out of the rotation?

Not going to happen. McHale seems very comfortable running with this nine man rotation that we've seen since Hamilton's emergence. Your suggested rotation means heavy minutes for seven players while TJ or whomever fills out the remaining minutes.

It's a radical change and one that, judging by our record as of late, is entirely unnecessary. You make radical changes to your rotation (i.e. severely demoting a starter) whenever something egregious happens or if that player is looking completely helpless. Not whenever that player is starting to show signs that they "get it".

 

I agree. Probably not going to happen. McHale has proven to me to have a case of #Kubiakitis when it comes to making mid-game and mid-season adjustments. So I doubt it happens. And I think it will be our undoing in the playoffs even though Jones' is showing some signs of "getting it" over the last couple games.


However your statements about heavy minutes...just watch. As we get into the playoffs, if Harden, Parsons, and Dwight are healthy...they are going to be pushing 40 minutes a game as long as the games are in doubt. Any games that are close down the stretch will have our big 3 plus Beverley at 40 minutes or more (as long as Bev hasn't fouled out) Now the odds are the way McHale manages the rotation that Jones will also be getting 36+ minutes along with the starters. But I maintain he should not. If we are in close, tight games in the playoffs the big 3 should and will get heavy minutes, followed by Bev getting heavy minutes, followed by Lin getting heavy minutes. Hamilton is probably going to get the leftover wing man minutes. And McHale will probably squeeze Asik's minutes down. But he shouldn't. He should increase Asik's minutes and decrease Jones' minutes.


Now in the games that are already decided going down the stretch the rotation minutes aren't critical. Those games mean we either blew the game open in the first 3 to 3 1/2 quarters....or....we got our butts kicked in the first 3 to 3 1/2 quarters.

The 4 spot is our achilles heal...still. It's our weakest link. Our playoff and championship success will come down to how well McHale manages the matchups at the 4 spot provided everybody else remains healthy.

 

Newsflash for you buddy.... THE ARE A CONTENDING TEAM. Did they already win the championship.... No, but they wouldn't have won it in October either with one of your favorite guys you like to tout that the Rockets should have acquired.

Its not the playoffs yet, but the Rockets have the best record in the league since January 1st, and are favored by pretty much any knowledgeable analyst would put them in the top 5 or 6 teams with the best chance to win the NBA title this year. Their odds of winning it would only be slightly affected if not affected at all if Jones or D-Mo were not in the rotation. Hell if the Rockets were banking on the guys YOU WANTED (Derrick Williams or Jason Smith) I would be willing to bet that the Rockets odds going into the playoffs would be less.

So I'm confused here, are the Rockets not competing for a title despite these AWFUL AWFUL players you want so badly out of Houston, or is the only way you will be wrong in this scenario is if the Rockets actually win the title this year? Is your definition of "rotation players on a championship team" only based off of actually winning a title, or are you saying the Rockets cannot be considered a contender with these rotation players? You are very vague with the term because if they dont win the title this year, they aren't championship rotation players. By that token Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker were not "Championship worthy" PF's or PG's rotation players by your guidelines. Hell Dirk must be D-League level since the Mavs didn't even make the playoffs last year.

You admitted yourself in your last post that you do in fact tailor your arguments to be able to back out and modulate whenever you are wrong about your predictions.... So I'm wondering to myself.... what good is it for anyone on the forum than to ever reply to one of your ridiculous long winded posts?

 

I have previously stated the second Dwight signed his contract the Rockets were going for a ring this season. And I think there is a possibility we could win one. But I believe (and have believed throughout) that if one or both of Jones/DMo were in the main rotation going into the playoffs that we will not win a ring. I do believe that their minutes are going to need to be severely cut (in DMo's case eliminated except for mop up) for us to win a ring this year.

 

Even if this is the case, how do you explain-

-Rondo on the 07 Celtics? Was he your definition of a championship caliber starting PG in 2007?

-How about Trevor Ariza with the 2009 Lakers... the guy who shot 31% from three that year?

-Mario Chalmers with the 2012-13 Heat?

-Kenny Smith with the 93-95 Rockets?

-Chucky Brown with the 95 Rockets?

-Udonis Haslem with the 2006 Miami Heat... who shot 0% from 3 point land???


Championship teams (whether they win or just compete for titles) ALWAYS have incomplete or imperfect players in their rotation. The Rockets cannot upgrade Jones and D-Mo at the moment to Dirk Nowitzki and Bernard King so they are just going to have to roll with the guys they have at the moment. You can keep whining and campaigning against Jones and D-Mo or you can accept the fact that imperfect players are more than capable of contributing to championship contending or championship winning teams.

 

I disagree. Just as all the players I listed before were more than capable of contributing to championships with their previous or current teams, there ZERO evidence you can state on here that will convince anyone that Jones and D-MO are not capable of contributing to a Rockets championship run or championship win. Imperfect teams win the championship every damn year. JJ Barea was a key factor in winning a championship against the Heat 3 years ago.... case closed.

 

You lost me here. Rondo was a playmaker surrounded by 3 hall-of-famers. Don't see the point here.

Ariza did get blistering hot in those playoffs. Similarly to how Danny Green did in the first few games of the Finals. Those are the extreme exceptions. I don't think Jones possesses anything close to those players' shooting mechanics in order for that to happen. I think putting Jones out there to take a ton of 3-point bombs is a recipe for disaster.

Mario Chalmers was and always has been a great shooter. You leave him open, he's gonna burn you.

Ummm, are we really comparing TJones to Chalmers and Smith here? And are the shooting police at the door to arrest you? LOL

Now there's an apt comparison. Plugged into the lineup out of necessity during the regular season due to injuries...he looked very good. But guess what? He started 1 game in the playoffs and averaged around 15 minutes a game.

Different system. Udonis was not asked nor expect to shoot the 3. He was a garbage man who had been in the league 4 or 5 years and was in his mid-20's. And previous to Shaq's arrival Udonis had started at the 5 for Miami. Much more experienced. Better defender. Garbage man.

Yes, all teams have imperfect and incomplete players on them. And no we can't upgrade right now unless magically a better big jumps out of FIBA and signs our Room MLE or for a minimum salary. I didn't say we could upgrade. Not promoting an upgrade. Not whining nor campaigning. I am stating my opinion...jsut as you are. In my opinion for the Rockets to win a championship this year they need to run Asik and Harden in at the 4 spot and limit Jones' minutes in the playoffs in undecided games. In my opinion if we don't do that Jones will get exploited by opposing coaches in the playoffs and it will ultimately be the undoing of this team.

 

I've heard and seen it all now. Lin for 30mins and asik for 28mins,lol. Haven't we tried this already? As good a defender asik is,he's a center. Guess what? He has a centers mentality. That why the rockets defense sucked even with "2 great" defender on the floor. His nature on simple things like pnr or pnp are different. Mchale ended that dumb experiment just as he ended the other dumb one with casspi as a stretch 4 when he's not even a stretch 3. For some reason,you act like some the coach is gonna go off balance. Asik had his chance and it didn't work just as lin had his chance when beverly was out and blew it. His slump,if that what you wanna call it is huge. Big pay day avg play and you want him playing 30 mins? Please tell me you're kidding.

 

Bballholic is just wrong and will not admit it, he has a problem.

DD

 

Nah I get what he is suggesting,Neither Jones or DMo can't handle the PF's of the Western conference forwards,we saw it against the clippers where Griffin beasted on both of them

So yeah it makes Sense to put Asik on those guys(Lee,Griffin,Duncan,LMA,Randolph)
But that will still be a Problem on offense

 

No, we haven't. What we tried was to put a disgruntled center in the lineup and the disgruntled center didn't play worth a hoot. The failed experiment was a failed experiment because Asik contaminated it. At this point, Asik knows he's here for at least the balance of the season...and he's getting healthy. Instead of trying it, we'll need to make it work.

Asik has probably the quickest feet for a big man in the NBA. You already seen him defend Blake and shut him down. The proof is on the video. When Asik wants to play...he can shut down guys. And yes that is guys like Blake and Marc Gasol who take it outside. The Rox defense did not suck with both bigs on the floor. Like I said above, Asik wasn't trying to make it work...but it worked anyways.

The challenge with the Twin Tower lineup is not defensively. It is offensively. I suggest you solve most of that problem by playing the Twin Towers in conjunction with 3 smalls....Bev at the 1, Lin at the 2, and then either Harden or Parsons or Hamilton at the 3. Why? So those guys can overplay the passing lanes on the perimeter, force quick shots, and force the ball to the opponent's bigs where we have the clear advantage defensively. Then getting out and running a 3-man break off turnovers and missed shots. In halfcourt, if we will use Asik up top setting multiple picks with Dwight weakside they can make it work. Nothing to it but to do it. Asik is a very, very good high post passer.

No, I don't act like the coach is gonna go off balance. He's already slightly off balance. (Haven't you seen him lurching around the sidelines? sarcasm) I don't think McHale will make the adjustments I am suggesting. McHale has shown me this season that he has a little case of Kubiakitis when it comes to making in-game and in-season adjustments. He's very slow to do so. Yes, Asik had a chance and he blew it. But he's still here, we didn't trade him and to win a championship we're gonna need him on the floor for more than 10 minutes a game.

Lin is one of the best 6 players on this team. And he's our only experienced playmaker besides Harden. Parsons is not in the same league as Lin and Harden as a playmaker. Sorry. Parsons is a secondary playmaker. We absolutely need Lin down the stretch and in the playoffs on the floor for significant minutes if we expect to win a ring. If you don't understand that and you are going to argue that Lin should only get scrap minutes then we probably are on different planets and it is probably pointless for us to continue to discuss the matter.

Lin is playing dinged right now. When your back hurts it affects your shot big time. You can see it when Lin is running up and down out there. He's stiff. He's not moving as well as he should. He needs to get healthy. Because if he doesn't and we have to go into the playoffs without him we are in trouble.

The only thing that changes anything I said about Lin is IF and only IF McHale decides to give significant rotation minutes to Canaan and Canaan literally explodes over the NBA landscape. While I am convinced that Canaan is the superior player to Lin and I did advocate bringing him up earlier and giving him a run in the rotation, McHale once again was slow to pull the trigger. I can't see McHale pulling the trigger at this stage and working Canaan into the rotation. With that being the case, we have to get Lin healthy. We need him in the playoffs to win a ring.

 

LOL.

Signed,

The guy who still thinks Aaron Brooks is better than Kyle Lowry.

:grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:

 

Actually, I do recall DD changing his opinion on this.

 

ROFL. He still believes Brooks is the better player.

 

The problem is there is no slight objectivity in his utterly subjective view on a very promising player.

 

Funny thing about this is that you are advocating 30 minutes for a guy who has not proven himself capable of anything, and nobody bats an eye. On what planet has Hamilton proven himself any more than Jones or even Dmo?

 

In 2012 when DD was still fighting the fight, it probably was still at the very least and "argument" as to who was the better PG at that time. I highly doubt 2014 DD has much of an argument today as to who is the better PG now.

 

Everyone's view is subjective including yours. And contrary to what many here believe I want Jones and DMo to succeed and help this team win a ring this year. I would be very happy to be wrong concerning how I feel about either or both of them contributing to a championship team this year.

In fact here's how happy I'll be.

If we win a ring this year I'm going to contribute $25 to the tip jar.
If we win a ring this year and Jones (or DMo) averages over 30 minutes a game in the playoffs and Finals while Asik averages less than 20 minutes a game in the playoffs and Finals, I will contribute the original $25 to the tip jar for winning a championship and and additional $10 to the tip jar for every minute over 30 minutes per game that Jones averages during the playoffs and Finals.

There's no one here that wants Jones to succeed in helping this team win a ring more than me.

There's also probably no one else as convinced as I am right now that he will get exposed in the playoffs and it will cost us a ring if McHale insists on running him out there for 30+minutes a game and doesn't pull down his minutes in favor of Asik in the Twin Towers or playing small ball around Dwight/Asik.

This is how strongly I believe what I'm saying right now. IF we lose in the playoffs/Finals I think it will be very clear that McHale mismanaged the rotation at the 4-spot. This is not a bet. It's what I'm going to do.

How strongly do you feel about Jones' ability to contribute to a championship team this season as a primary rotation player?

 

One thing I want to know is how this thread managed to be twisted into a Twin Tower's argument???

I thought the whole purpose was to evaluate as to whether Jones & D-Mo were rotation worthy or not. What the hell does that have to do with the Twin Towers discussion?

Fact is NOBODY on here wouldn't love to trot out a Twin Towers lineup if it would actually work. Having two dominant defensive bigs in the game at the same time is an advantage that is uncanny in modern day basketball.

However.... it doesn't work on both ends for various reasons, and it didn't work for the Rockets when they tried it early on in the season. And please dont bring up Asik's attitude as the reason why it didn't work. That is a piss poor pathetic excuse to use to suite your argument.

It didn't work because basketball is all about spacing on both ends. The spacing did not, and will not work to have a successful NBA team. I have yet to see otherwise in modern day basketball. Every Twin Towers lineup that has been rolled out by teams in the past works because you are able to have one of your two bigs work on the high post or beyond. If you think otherwise than you just really dont know basketball that much, and I can't help you much there.

I give them props for at least trying to see if Dwight is skilled enough to play away from the basket, and I still wouldn't might seeing the lineup when-

A. The team has a lead they want to sustain
B. They are facing a team like Memphis that will be dumping the ball in the paint.
and
C. Only for a small stretch during the game. Teams will eventually exploit the match-up so you cannot rely for long stretches.

So lets just drop the Asik should play over Jones argument please folks... we have much more relevant conversations to be had on the GARM right now than to bring up this age old argument that goes nowhere every time.

 

Everybody's got an argument. LOL But it may not be a strong one. Besides it's 2014. He'd tell you today that either Brooks is better or he is almost as good as Lowry. And it's not even close. Lowry is far better.