Extra Points had a whole segment on the Rockets. Nothing new really. They interviewed TMac. His hair looked really cool. He said he's gotten up to 235 b/c he hasn't done anything until now physically. His back is feeling great. He said it was just a freak accident that happened last year (pinched nerve). One interesting thing TMac said was "Battier will probably be the starting 4. He's a Jeff Van Gundy player." This is what I thought all along. Then the panel talked about the Rox, and they don't really know anything about the Rockets (Ralph Cooper, Melton, Palillo); they said even if we get Mike James and Battier and Lucas and Novak, we still don't have a shot of making it out of the 1st round. BS if you ask me. They obviously don't know our depth. If Sura is healthy, and it is looking more and more like he will be, we can go 10 men deep, if we want, though 9 is more practical, and JL3 still wouldn't crack the 12 man active roster.
I don't know what it's called, but he has hair, he gelled it in beads, it looked good, but it wasn't too long.
T-Mac should probably get down to 225 or 220. He doesn't need to be as bulky as he was before, though this weight right now is probably all fat. I wouldn't hold my breath about Bobby Sura.
I hope he does grow a fro. Fros make players better! Even Moochie was servicable when he had a fro! Ben Wallace certainly wouldn't be a four time defensive player of the year without his and surely Dr. J couldn't have accomplished all that he did without his. I am pro-fro.
Compared to Memphis, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Dallas I wouldnt call us deep... People seem to be underestimating the 1-2 combo of Yao and Tmac though. When they are at 100% it has to be the best DUO in the west (except arguably PHX). And as Wade displayed, its still about impact star players.
Cause he will be logging most of his min as a wing player along side tmac. Someone posted in another thread that the terminolgy of pg,sg,sf,pf,c is kind of a moot point, as we (along with many other teams) have the following positions: guards, wings, pivot/post. The days of Tim Duncan as a power forward are over. Just look at the way the spurs are playing him: as pivot/post player. In today's NBA there just aren't true Centers and Power Forwards. Consequently, players that have traditionally play at the 4 (with a back to the basket mentality) are moving to the 5 (if they are 6'8" or 7'6). We have Yao in the middle, so we are pretty much covered there. Yao's presence opens the floor up a bit to allow for Shane to log some heavy mins as a wing player next to Tmac. Size doesn't really matter anyway. If you play hard, get rebounds, can stay infront of your man, and can make the shot . . . you will have a place on the floor. Our lineup, when it counts, will be as follows: Alston/Sura if healthy James Tmac Shane Yao
I am now very intrigued by TMac's new hairdo. Could someone post an image of a similar style on someone else? Is it something like this?
it would be awesome if Tmac got down to 215. He needs that quickness more than that strength. Not too many people post up nowadays.
Eww but I really want to know how his new hairsyle look like. If Battier really does play the 4 does that mean James is a 2 or we'll go after a 2 with or TE or MLE whichever one we used on James.
why in the the hell do people keep bringing up bob sura....like he is our magic wand to a playoff spot......HIS CAREER IS OVER
hmmm. shane at the 4? then who is at the 2...mike james (if/when we sign him)? yao-deke shane-jho-hayes tmac-novak-bowen james-head-sura (injured) rafer I'd love to see Jho traded for a 2 guard. or maybe the TE traded for one.
I don't understand how Shane Battier can be out starting 4 game in and game out. I thought he was supposed to be defending the opponents best wing player to take pressure off T-mac, but by playing the 4, he will be unable to do that. Also Mike James as our starting 2 is awful for the rockets from a defensive standpoint since he only 6'2. Not every team plays like the Suns and Mavs. Battier should be the rockets starting SF. C-Yao PF-Howard SF-Battier SG-Mcgrady PG-Alston
i'm guessing cd wants to use the 4.2 te to gey james and then sign a sg with the mle? james, skip, sura (mle), bogans, head t-mac, novak, rybo battier, jho, hayes yao, deke if they go the above that'll leave aroster spot open foe either jliii or carroll.
Dang, other than Yao, that is a small starting 5. Two seriously undersized starters at SG and PF. I don't buy this *^&$ about smallish backcourts (Dallas lost the finals), and I certainly don't think we should pattern ourselves after Phoenix's undersized frontcourt since Marion has a drastically different skill set than Battier.
What depth? I'm not sure that we have much depth as of yet. James (if he signs) Head TMac Battier Jho Yao Motumbo thats only seven IF James signs. JLIII and Novak are both unproven NBA players as is Hayes to a lesser degree. Sura is probably done. JVG sounds as if Sura will not be back just by his comment that JLIII might be a nice 3rd point guard if we sign James. To me that sounds like He is not counting Sura. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4032550.html If James signs then we need at least a couple of more off season signings after that to have any legit NBA experience depth.
If somehow the Rockets could pick up DeShawn Stevenson and Jarred Jeffries in this off season to go along with Mike James then I think it would be a very good off-season. Alston James JLIII Head Stevenson Pat Carroll(?) TMac Novak Battier JHo Hayes Motumbo Jeffries Yao That is a team with is a team with a lot of versitility. A lot of youth, athleticism, veteran leadership and a lot of good size with some players that they can develop in Novak, Carroll and JLIII.
We don't have any depth. Sura is done, JLIII is barely worth 5-10 minutes per night, we still need a SG.
