Extra Points on Rockets

Acutally I wouldn't mind T-Mac developing some upper body strength sorta like Lebron with tha huge chest and arms. T-Mac at time looks very skinny comared to othe player. This whle also help his conditioning he can gain more muscle weight.

 

Going by his slight legs I don't think T-Mac has the frame to carry the extra weight through a playing season.

 

Look for all the doubters in this thread just ask Clutch to settle it. All he has to do is next time he talks to T-Mac ask him how tall he really is in shoes.

I can remember seeing at least 3 different interviews (1 with T-Mac, 1 with T-Mac/KG/Duncan, 1 with JVG) where it was stated that T-Mac was actually 6-10, including from T-Mac's own mouth.

So I can tell you what the answer will be.

Then maybe all the doubters here will stop trusting the player listings that are often error filled and never updated or updated maybe once.

 

Lebron's upper body is nasty and gross
I wouldn't want Tmac to develop that..
Tmac is already athletic enough.

 

the only problem with JHo is that his range is not good out to three point range.

 

Coincidentally.... T-mac was at his bulkiest last season when his back wouldnt' stop flaring up on 'em....


Don't know if there's any correalation between the two....

 

But here's the thing: the three is not Battier's natural position, it's the position he was forced to play when coming into this league because he could not bang down in the paint with the bigs Memphis had. However, he is just fine defensively against the post. Sure, I would like to see a larger post player who can spell Yao at the five and defend larger fours against whom Battier might have problems, but the majority of fours we will face (Nowitzki, whoever SA sends now that Duncan is becoming a full-time five, Garnett, Gasol) play away from amd facing the basket and Battier has the length, quickness, and technique to defend them very well.

But I think the important point is that the Rox WANT versatility and that is why I think their remaining acquisitions will include not pure scorers or stat-producers, but multidimensional guys who can play multiple positions like Batter: a combo guard who can score and handle the ball (James) and a post defender who can spell Yao in uptempo games and Battier against bigger and more physical fours (someone like Lorenzen Wright), with the outside possibility of a longer wing defender that would rotate with Head at the two and allow McGrady to play some more three.

 

tmac with a fro would be sick. He'd be bringing it back oldschool.

 

With T-Mac being 6-10 and Battier being 6-9 then the Power Forward position can defend opposing Power Forwards. T-Mac can defend the athletic power forwards (like Nowitski and Garnett) and Battier who is a bit bulkier can defend against the more traditional post up power. T-Mac and Battier will have to rotate on and off. There will be matchup problems some nights, but every opposing team has a matchup problem with the Rockets when Yao ming is on the court.


At 7-6, 6-10, and 6-9 the center position and the forwards don't lack height. However they might lack strenght. But, with Jeff Van Gundy wanting a PF that can shoot 3's and defend well, Battier is just that guy.

It won't be a conventional lineup, but I'm sure the Rockets are looking to set up the best line up they can do.

The thing that concerns me a bit is James and Alston as the guards! Neither is tall by NBA Standards. With Alston you can probably get away with it fine, being that he has a height comperable to most NBA point guards; however James at the shooting guard might pose a problem when guarding those tall NBA 2 guards like Kobe etc.

However, with Battier's and McGrady's athleticism, Jeff Van Gundy is hoping that in those instances one or the other can be injected there to defend problematic matchups at the shooting guard position.


There are question marks in everyone's head, but it seems the Rockets are trying to set up a team that will support the dynamic McGrady/Yao team. Last year the team needed McGrady and Yao healthy first, then it needed the right mix of rotation players behind them. Everything broke down last season.

Yao / Mutumbo (I think a healthy Yao does inspire Mutumbo to play better)
Battier / Howard / Novak (3's ala Bullard, kind of like a mercenary!!!!)
McGrady / Bogans
James / Head
Alston / Sura (keep your fingers crossed)

May not seem terribly impressive since we are accustomed to Yao and McGrady (imagine if we had just acquired either one of those guys this summer --- with the same line up nobody would stop talking NBA Championships this entire summer and season); but if the rotation players play well, the sky is the limit for this team. Remember we are used to Yao and McGrady. Without the injury concern, McGrady is easily an MVP candiate and one of the top 5 players in the league, if not top 3. Let's not forget that he has looked to pass a lot more here with Houston than with his previous teams. He's looking to win championships not Scoring titles anymore!!!! And Yao is continuing to get better and better and better, soon we will be seeing a consistent 28 and 12 effort.


Ohhhh, by the way, in the Mug Shot Barkely looks to be slouching, I wouldn't be surprised if he is easily over 6-8. But, I just don't buy is because he visibly looked smaller than most of the power forwards he played against. But check it out once more.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/barkleymug1.html

 

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.

 

Against Kobe, you move Rafer out, slide James over, slide McGrady or Battier back and bring in Hayes or possibly Jared Jeffries if we can acquire him along with James. Worst case, you bring in Howard. Kobe is going to get his. It's a matter of what you do in crunch time that counts. And the one thing that Kobe doesn't want to see if McGrady defending him one on one and then if he gets around McGrady, he's got to go over Yao. McGrady is a very effective defender against Kobe for spot minutes.

 

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.

I agree with the panel. We do not have the depth to advance out of the 1st round. We are one bad fall for Mc Grady to reinjure his back and we will be in the lottery again next year. This is why the trade for Battier hurt so much. I feel like we are setteling for medioricity.

 

non stop comedy.

 

When you say a team can go [insert #] deep, it is referring to quality...

 

Out of your 12 men the following are either unproven or very likely not going to be in the NBA next year:

Novak
Lucas
Haryasz
Sura

Then there is:
Bogans
Bowen
They are just damn near useless and for them to get minutes then either their play would have to have a huge improvement or the team they are on has some huge holes.

Now your 12 man deep roster is only 6 men deep.

 

The Rockets are defintely not a deep team. Many of our starters like Howard, Alston, would be better suited as backups. A deep team would be a team like Dallas or San Antonio.

 

I have stood next to Barkley on a practice tee and he just wasn't very tall.
He must of had his high heel sneakers on in that mug shot.