Great news. He was still very effective last year and his leadership is nothing to sneeze at. I hope they can keep Jackie Butler on the roster, though. It is nice to have a young big with potential backing up Yao.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7UbI1qQHKNs"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7UbI1qQHKNs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> welcome back big man!
I get the feeling that Socla and Yao/Tmac will work great together too.... Scola will work out great with all our players...he does so many things well on the court.
If we can get Francis, Wells, Scola and James fitting nicely with the team and playing to their potential (especially Steve), and the chemistry is at or near it's best, we can win the championship.
I'd rather have Bonzi coming off the bench with James. I like this starting five: Francis T-Mac Battier Scola Yao ... with James and Bonzi providing strong offense off the bench. Both of them excel in short spurts of time on the court and seem ideal as bench players. I would also play Snyder with them since he provides some defense and athleticism and doesn't mind being a role player. Chuck and Deke would also be ideal fits with alongside James and Bonzi for similar reasons. All of these players are most effective when playing 10-20 minutes per game. Imagine Snyder, Chuck and Deke grabbing boards and chasing down loose balls then kicking the ball back out to James or Bonzi for extra offensive possessions! Bonzi will grab more than his share of offensive boards, too (if he is in shape)! The Rockets would be most potent with this rotation, in my opinion. Plus, we should still get to see some of the younger guys like Brooks, Head and Butler in certain situations (foul trouble, inuries, blowouts etc...). Head will definitely see less time this year now that we have real depth but we will still be able to take advantage of both his and Novak's outside shooting proficiency from time to time.
It's a lock. Deke earned that honor with his legendary defensive abilities alone. Throw in his unparalleled humanitarian efforts and his future spot in the HOF is a foregone conclusion.
i would disagree that deke has the stats to get in, but if the nba hof select committee can put walton in, then deke may have a chance.
good post, but hate giving snyder luther's minutes. Luther impressed the hell out of me this season with his off-season improvements. If he improves his 3 point % half as much as he did last season he would be the best 3 point shooter in the league hands down. Adelman knows how to utilize shooters and will have to give luther minutes. Whose, I don't know. Also I want to see Brooks get 5-7 min a game. I think Brooks is way ahead of the other rooks and will blow us away
I agree that Bonzi and James should come off the bench....they can be great spark plugs off the bench.....plus they will get to be the "stars" on the second unit and get the touches they crave where they are more effective. Francis has the athleticism and talent to give starting point guards around the league a lot more trouble than James....but James is good enough to kill opposing second unit guys. I think one way for Head to come in is for him to substitute in for Battier and have: Yao Scola Tmac Head Francis That way, you have Yao (and Scola) who can dominate in the low post and 3 guys that can penetrate in Tmac, Francis and Scola.....leaving Head with a ton of wide open 3's because he's definitley the 5th Beattle in this bunch. I guess Head can also be in this 2nd unit lineup... Mutombo Socla/Hayes Bonzi Head James I think Head would actually feed off of Brooks and Francis really well, since they love to attack the basket and kick out. At this point, I think Head should be in the game more than Snyder because Head offers soemthing more valuable---his 3 point shooting. He was the most accurate 3 point shooter on the team and one of the top 4 in the league. There are so many more ways to attack this year.....I'm just wondering how Adelman is going to integrate Head.. Scola should also overlap with Hayes in both units so that Scola gives a post scoring punch in the second unit. Scola would add offense since Deke doesn't and they would work great together.
Bringing battier off the bench makes nosense whatsoever. he is best suited to being a starter who does the little things that count. he will start and bonzi will be providing the offense off the bench. The most interesting aspect of the training camp is gonna be the competition between, francis, james, alston and maybe even brooks for minutes. the extra competition will keep them all on toes and it will mean they will have to be at there best night in night out. thats great for us.
