The possibility of the Rockets playing small ball with a lineup of Webber, Taylor, SF, Mobley, and Francis? While small frontline in height, this lineup would cause many matchup problems particulary if the SF is long and athletic(T Morris) and can shoot. All of these guys can hit the perimeter shot which will be at a premium with the zone next season. Also I would if possible trade 13,18, and Cato to Chicago for 4. Diop would then be the obvious pick for the center of the future. He could develop slowly coming in as a backup late in the game for defense. Roster would be: Centers: Diop, Collier, Taylor Forwards:Webber, Taylor, Williams, Langhi,Bullard,TMorris,Thomas Guards: Francis, Mobley, Norris All of thes guys with the exception of Moochie and Diop have above average jump shooting ability. Comments? Help me out HeyP. ------------------
The Rockets WILL play small ball next year, but with 3 guards. Moochie running the show with Cuttino and Francis on his wings will continue to get serious 4th Q minutes, especially when we are playing catch up. To me, this is without a doubt, and this is a tribute to how good Moochie is. Rudy most definitely does not want to play without a center, if he does not have to. My belief is that he will throw any beef out there to avoid having to make Mo' or Kenny play center again like last year. Only injuries will force that again. As for Webber, I am not the one to speculate on two hypotheticals at once (ie, Webber coming here and Webber playing center). Suffice it to say, that if Webber and Mo' are on the team together, I still believe Rudy will try his very, very best to start a center. He will find one, in the CBA or sumpin. In those terms, I could see us going centerless on when the other team does, too.
I like Cato in on the three guard set. His speed/wingspan at the center/PF spot will allow for some interesting zones. The problem is Cato needs someone next to him that can rebound. I think Cato is overpaid, but still think he brings a lot ot the rockets when he plays healthy with enthusiasm (me kant spel gud). I want the rockets to add a better third guard/SF to allow the rocket to wear down opposing teams. When Francis, Mobley, Moochie, and Anderson could play (because of mismatches) a lot of minutes together two years ago, they were nearly unstoppable. Last year, it seemed Anderson wasn't on the same page as the year before as opposing teams made adjustments. He doesn't have the three shot or the ballhandling to make them pay when his off the ball movement isn't getting him open close to the basket. To conclude, when Moochie pushes the ball up the court quickly...good things happen. ------------------
HeyP, I was thinking of Mo playing center as opposed to Webber. I thought that in light of the lesser guys playing center around the league, he would create a mismatch offensively because of his ballhandling and shooting ability. Defensively shouldn't be as much of an issue with the zone being played. ------------------
