Forgiive the tinman-like poll - but I would like to hear how the BBS really feels about this Look I may be in the minority or the silent majority, but I think that while this Howard thing is NOT IDEAL, its not detrimental either (certainly better than losing any of the other four starters) The guy got some hustle points, but they came is spurts - he hit some big free throws, but Spoon and Padge are also good shooters ... and he has never been known for his defense (maybe that is why Spoon had to come in and play KG) bottom line, I think guys like spoon and Vinny will HAVE to step it up, so this will add some character to the squad ... and it wasn't a star (or star role player)
I'm not in the "Chicken Little" crowd, (I did choose the "win-streak" option in the poll) but I know the biggest hit will be to the team's on court chemistry and overall consistency. The "ability" of Howard to get a double-double on almost any night. That he is/was an offensive threat and at least adequate defender/rebounder is what we will miss most. No one else on the Rox bench presents the "complete" package that Howard does. And, before we all get set to go with the Padgett/Baker/Spoon recipe= "Better than Howard" argument, let's not dismiss the continuity issue. I suspect that Padgett will be the person who can immediately contribute the best overall combination of offense and defense and hustle, but it will be interesting to see if how much of a chance Baker actually gets from JVG.
You should have added a fifth option to your poll: I'm glad it wasn't Tmac that was hurt but I don't think the Rockets will continue unscathed even if the PF committee steps it up. The impact that Juwan had on the team cannot be stated through mere stats alone.
I think the main thing we're losing is decision making. Juwan's a pretty smart player. We'll lose his post game, too, but I think Padgett and Spoon can match his rebounding and scoring. I think the Committee will be able to hold **** down until the playoffs. Juwan should get back just in time to find his groove before the playoffs, and by then Sura will be back to his old self and the Rockets (and their power forwards) will be confident and ready.
I went with Option #3. It's an unfortunate injury, but the Rockets will do fine without him. Now, I'm basing all of this on the assumption that Juwan will be back in 4 weeks which gives him time to get back into shape for the playoffs. If he's out longer, all bets are off.
Silent majority... Yep....this is not the same as Sura going down...we didn't have much help at the PG spot once Sura got hurt. We have the luxury of having Padg and Spoon at PF. They can be very productive. They both can hit the open 10-15ft jumper. And Padge can hit the 3pt shot. This is *very* different than losing Sura when all we had was Rod Strickland and Andre Barrett. We didn't have anyone to fall back-on and step-up. This time, we have two guys that can put up decent numbers....Padge and Spoon. At least until Juwan comes back. Padgett and Spoon are our men; the 1st and 2nd PFs. Vin is our 3rd PF.
i would like to look for vin to get a legit chance and see if he has anything in the tank. otherwise hopefully padge will be able to sustain the 4.
The options weren't very good. But...duh. Ofcourse I would wrather it be him than TMAC, but I'm not happy it was Howard.
I sure hope you are right but i think the Rockets will miss him alot if he isnt there for the playoffs. Until then i think we will be ok but in the playoffs we need his rebounding and 10+ pts a game.
I think we can get by with our PFs. Spoon will provide the rebounding and should start, and Padgett should be used like before, for offense off the bench. Baker is the wild card, but he can at least hack and foul guys. Bowen will earn some spot minutes at PF as well. Here is rest of our schedule, so we can see which kind of matchups we might see, this assuming Howard doesn't return before playoffs: Wed 16 Portland W I think they play Abdul-Rahim at PF. Could Bowen guard him?. They suck so bad though that even if he lits us up for 30 i think we'll win. Fri 18 Boston W Hmm. Antoine Walker. T-Mac could play him some, if we go small. I don't think Spoon or Padgett can hang with him. They have been on a roll so a difficult game for sure. Sun 20 at Minnesota W Kevin Garnett gets 25-15-5 but he always does no matter who is guarding him. I expect a win here. Tue 22 Miami L They have Udonis Haslem at PF. Haven't seen him play much, but he isn't a major offensive threat, is he? Spoon could play well here and grab some boards. Thu 24 Cleveland W Gooden, Tractor Traylor and Varejao(if he is healthy). I would go with Spoon for the rebounding. Fri 25 at New Orleans W We have to win this one, i don't care who the PF is, loss would be inexcusable. Sun 27 at San Antonio L Twin Towers. Mutombo and Yao togehter for a little while? Baker and Spoon should play Duncan very physically, foul a lot and hope Duncan isn't hitting his free throws Mon 28 at Utah W Boozer? and Kirilenko. Spoon could play Boozer, I Think and maybe Baker. Bowen with Kirilenko. Wed 30 at Portland W Shareef again. Must win, Portland should be tanking anyway. APRIL Fri 1 New Orleans W Win. Nuff said. Sun 3 Phoenix W I Guess we'll see Bowen and T-Mac guarding Marion, for a little while anyways. Yao dominates the inside and makes Amare his b**** and we get the W. Tue 5 at Golden State W Spoon for the rebounding. Let their big man shoot the three, i dont think they can win us that way. Thu 7 at LA Lakers L Odom lits us up( If Kobe will pass to him). Lakers may need the victory here more than us, so difficult but entertaining game where we'll see a Kobe and T-Mac duel. Sat 9 at Phoenix L Same as before though on the road. Tough but winnable game. Mon 11 at Seattle W Spoon and Baker should beat Reggie Evans Up and let him brick his free throws. Fortson on the other hand can hit his so don't foul him. Wed 13 Memphis W If Gasol/Swift are still out, I expect a win here. They have to run out of fuel eventually, have they? Sat 16 Denver W K-mart is too quick for Spoon and Baker, and too strong for Padgett/Bowen. Yao/ Mutombo will have to help here. Mon 18 LA Clippers W Spoon could play Brand OK I guess, Clippers don't have really much to play for since they should be out of the playoff picture by then. Wed 20 Seattle W Spoon/Baker vs Evans/Fortson/Collison. Even matchups. Rebound well and we can win. So we'll go 15 - 4 and battle for the fourth seed for the playoffs.
I am taking a wait and see approach, but I am little bit worried. I really began to appreciate the scoring that Juwan provided and although not a great rebounder he did rebound more than Taylor. Padgett and Bowen are bench players. Weatherspoon is small. Vin Baker is the unknown but I am not convinced he can still play.
It's a tough call. Definitely we will miss him, but I don't know if it will be enough to seriously impact how the offense looks the majority of the time. I don't think we lose too much on the defensive side. Howard was merely adequate there, and his defensive rebounding wasn't stellar. We will miss his offensive rebounding, though. Weatherspoon will be able to help in that department. I predict the team will play about .500 bball for around 6-8 games and then hit their stride again. No big crisis.
I agree. Spoon is at least as good of a rebounder than Howard. We'll lose some offense but feel we might gain in rebounding, especially defensive. Spoon can also hit open jumpers, and he will get a ton of them. Defensively, yes, Spoon is undersized against taller power forwards but under the basket he can hold his own. The true test are the quicker, perimeter orientated forwards. Howard had enough mobility for them, but Spoon doesn't. We might want to use Bowen/Padgett on them. One thing I think we'll miss some from Howard, apart his post game and offensive rebounding, is his ability to handle the ball. What I have seen, Rockets have broken the opponents Press many times with Howard. When Sura has been pressed, Howard has come to get the ball and get it upcourt and many times he's gone straight to the basket for a easy two, or a foul. Although Howard's position is nowadays PF, he still has many skills of a small forward, something our other PFs don't necessarily have. We don't want to have Tracy bringing the ball up too much, so Mike James will help in this area also, since he seems to have no problem doing it while Sura has sometimes has struggled a little.
well... I did have a slight slant to the poll - but I wanted the Chicken Littles to see their position from the other thread restated (options 1 and 2) and decide if they reaaalllyyy thought things would be that bad as I suspected, as gripped as a lot of people seem to be, almost no one misses Mo and most people think that this is a position where the ROX had some wiggle room ...plus with Jo HO gone ... MOOCHE can come back after 5 games on the IR
How about some small-ball from time to time depending on the matchups? Yao-TMac-Sura-James and Wesley? Not a 48 minute solution but it would be interesting and fast. Sura can play PF and bring in 12-14 RB's a game.... (joke) I think we will be alright with the three PF's Padge, Spoon and Bowen. And if Vin can get some minutes in garbage time and a few practices - who knows what might happen. Sura's phone comment yesterday seemed to imply Vin was showing up in practice. I do look forward to JHow coming back and then being ready for the playoffs, but this can provide some valuable chemistry lessons for the rest of the team, and experience for the other PF's.
If ever a team had the unity and chemistry to deal with adversity it is this team. We will struggle, but eventually triumph
I think we'll survive, it's not Sura, I think we'll see if Vin, "The Body", and Spoon can step up when we need them.
I have learned this year that we the fans in genearl know nothing about basketball at least on the level that the coaches and GM's (Weisbrod not withstanding). I trust that VG and company will continue to get the most out of what he has and that after a week of games and practices will be at least as good team as we are now. They have earned that trust so far. VG has shown he is a basketball coach extaordinare. He will fill the gap with coaching and in game matchup savvy. Not a nutrider. I just trust what I have seen this year from the coaching staff. Great coaching always makes good players look good, rarely the other way around. If there is no game plan to execute then you just have abunch of talented athletes shooting the ball. (ala Stevie Franchise).
Let's remember that in Howard, we are replacing an average PF with little D, not Karl Malone in his prime.
