If I could create a mold of a Power Forward to play along side of Yao Ming it would not look like Charles Barkley or Kevin McHale, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan or even Kevin Garnett. My mold for the perfect Power Forward to play with Yao Ming would look more like Tom Chambers than anyone else. Chambers was an all star player whose offence started from the outside and was a deadly shooter all the way out to three point land. It was Chambers shooting that turned around the Sonics in the 80's and Cotten Fitzhimons (sp?) credited his shooting for turning around the Suns as well prior to the arival of Barkley. Yao Ming's offensive game starts on the inside and most of his points come in the paint. JVG has stated he would like a long distance shooting power forward to stretch the floor. Theoretically someone that can pull their defender with him far enough out of the paint that when Yao gets the ball they don't have time to get back to double him or if they do Yao can kick it back out to the open PF for an easy basket. Of course the basket is only easy if we have a player capable of hitting the open 20 footer consistantly. In comes Steve Novak. Steve is almost identical to Chambers in size and his game is very similar. Novak is an offensive player that plays on a defensive oriented team. Chambers was an offensive player that played on one of the better defenses in the league with Seattle. Neither are or were great rebounders. Both are deadly accurate from the outside. Tom Chambers did it for years in the NBA and Novak has only done it in the NCAA. The biggest knock on Novak is that he is not a great rebounder and people are worried about his defense. I think both are fair concerns, but I don't know anyone that has had one negitive thing to say about his Basketball IQ, his work ethic, heart or hustle. That leads me to believe that he is very coachable and will learn how to play team defense. I think JVG can teach the guy positioning to make the most of his abilities and to not be a huge liability on defense. Don't think I am saying that Novak is going to step in and make the all star team and challenge for ROY or anything like that, but I do think he could be very effective on this team especially if his shot is consistant every game. If he hits those open shots he gets from Yao Ming then it will be hard for JVG to keep him on the bench. Just my two cents.
You never know, although Chambers was a lottery pick, he had a far better career than Al Wood and Vranes who were drafted ahead of him. Novaks athleticism will be the factor that holds him back from starting at the PF, guys like Brand, Nene, Duncan, Nowitski are either bigger or can jump out of the building so he will be overmatched against a lot of the PFs in the league. I even think JH at his advanced age is just as athletic as the stats I've seen from Novaks workouts, so no I don't think Novak will ever be the starting PF for the Rox.
He'll need to get a lot stronger. I'm more worried about his lack of bulk than his lack of athleticism.
Although JVG will never give a rookie (Novak) serious minutes over a veteran (Howard), I like your thinking, Crash5179. Novak looks to be at least a year away from real playing time, especially if JVG is still coaching. However, Novak is only 10 pounds or so lighter than Howard and is the same height barefoot. Even though Howard is a good shot, there is no comparison with Novak. Howard is easily the better defender but only by way of experience. The lateral movement and leaping ability is about the same. If, and only if, JVG relented on his "no rookies" mentality in deference to fan anger over the Rudy Gay trade, playing Novak would free Yao Ming under the boards or leave one of our shooters open. That's because it appears most other teams would slide a SF over to shut down Novak with their PF and C double-teaming Ming. That leaves T-Mac, Battier or (hopefully) Mike James open. On the other hand, if they guard Yao one-on-one, Ming will score 30+. That is why I like this thought process. Now all that's needed is to open JVG's closed mind.
Tom Chambers he may not ever be, but even if he turns out to be 3/4 as good as Matt Bullard he should be a great fit on this team and a very good second round draft pick! At the very least it would be nice to see Yao & TMac's job be made easier in the waning seconds of each quarter by having a dead eye shooter to take pressure off them? I like this draft pick!
No Crash or at least let's hope not. White men can't jump and in this case it's true. He has more athleticism than I first thought but he will never be Mchale. Mchale had a great wingspan and a more physical frame. He does seem like a dedicated person who will continue to work on his game and his frame but he will never become a good rebounder or defensive stopper which makes him a liability on the court against other PF. IMO he he is Shaqne Battier with a better shot and less athleticism. He has a better shot of being a starting SF but I don't even see that. Don't get me wrong I really Like Novak and think he is a great addition and exactly the type of player we need of the Bench. Just in vision Ming getting molested down low and he passes out to NOvak BAM!!! it's money!. He'll kill teams for double down on Yao strategy. And if they don't double down Yao will kill them. So he is a perfect addition to our team. Just what the doctor ordered but not as a starter against the likes of Duncan, Brand etc... So I see him as a great role player who could win 6th man awards for his scoring and hustle off the bench and that's my best case scenario for him. But who am I. edit: Okay I didn't read your post correctly... There is a chance he could be a chambers type player but still I don't think he should be our starting pf. I actually don't chamber would fair so well as a starting PF today. Everyone who doesn't a Brand type PF is going smaller and quicker rather than bigger and slower. So I still think he is a role player.
I'm going to shoot the next person I hear say "white men can't jump". What kind of racist crap is that? (I'm not white, but it still ticks me off.) I'm also getting really tired of this "JVG doesn't play rookies" cliche. Along with the "players hate JVG" cliche, the "Van Grumpy" cliche, the "JVG cannot run an uptempo offense" cliche, ad nauseum. They instantly destroy a poster's credibility for me the moment I see them, and that happens far too often.
No. Novak's slight build will prevent him from putting on much weight. He'll get pushed around pretty bad by any PF in the league. And he doesn't have the length or athleticism to compensate. His natural position is SF. But he might be able to guard standstill jumpshooting SG's like Bruce Bowen, or Raja Bell. If he could do that as well, it would go a long way to keeping him on the floor.
White men can't jump. I am waiting. Stupid a$$ if you read the post you would see I qualified it as a cliche by saying in this case it is true. Meaning it is a cliche that is not an absolute stupid moron. So when are you going to shoot me I am waiting you idiot. Oh by the way Van Grumpy is not a cliche it's a nickname just like I nicknamed you Jeopardick!
I dont think Novak will ever be a starter. I dont think he will have the athleticism or footspeed to keep up. If Novak becomes a quality bench rotational player then that's all we can ask for.
Fans' make their judgments based on what they see. What they are constantly seeing is JVG's distaste for rookies. Please do not refer to Luther Head's playing time -- JVG was forced into putting him on the court because of injuries. So, other than the Luther exception, what other rookies has he ever played consistently? I think you will be forced to go all the way back to Patrick Ewing.
If Novak can add a little muscle, I see his career mirroring that of Pat Garrity. A good shooting PF off the bench. That being said, that is something that the Rockets sorely missed last season, so I'm definitely glad they were able to address that need in the draft, getting a seasoned four-year player in the second round. Give him a year or so to bulk up, and I think we'll start to see his minutes steadily increase as Novak becomes a valuable player off the bench for the next several seasons.
Here's the problem with the argument: it focuses on JVG in attempt to berate him, since he is an easy target for fans to unload their frustration on. No coach in his right mind would give heavy minutes to a rookie over a veteran unless there was a significant talent advantage (like LeBron, for example). There are lots of rookies around the league who are more talented than ours and don't see as much playing time. That's just how it goes. If you don't have experience, more often than not you become a liability on the court. Very few players can come straight into the NBA and make huge contributions immediately, especially when many aspects of their game are still raw and need to be refined. That's why it's a cliche...it's just an easy way to disparage JVG's coaching ability, even though it is not valid. What would you think if Laker fans kept ragging on Phil Jackson because he won't give Andrew Bynum playing time?
Novak = Tom Chambers? Wow, I had not made that comparison, but I just don't see the athleticism in Novak that Chambers had. However, Novak is hardly unathletic, he moves very well for a big guy and his shot....oh man, it is beautiful. I think he is a rotation player for the next 10 years. DD
Matt Bullard and Scott Padget. Two non-typical PFs that had long NBA careers. In today's NBA, bulk isn't as important as it used to be. Bottom line, is if Novak can hit open shots consistently and can play decent TEAM defense, then he'll have a long NBA career. I doubt he'll be our starter but I can see the potential on THIS team that he can be an important rotation player.
Face it, not so many 2nd round picks can be a contender's starter. Novak will be not be our Future PF!!!
Since when is Phil Jackson sacred? Yes, there are lots of rookies who are projects. However, there are a great many (especially from the Top 10) who cracked their starting lineups from day one. JVG would rather have a mediocre, safe smart player like Shane Battier to "win now" than one with ability and upside like Rudy Gay (#8). The trouble is IMO Gay would have been just as good in the "win now" scenario and we would have had Swift as trade bait or depth. JVG needs to back to New York. I'm sick of his negativity and bad decisions.
