Juwan Howard: "I'm going to get plenty of playing time"

Well, that certainly killed my feel good buzz from the Bonzi signing...

 

Arghhh. What's worse than having someone that sucks on your team?

1) Someone who sucks BUT thinks that he is the saviour.

2) Someone who sucks AND knows that he sucks BUT still is arrogant enough to admit that he will get playing time.

So which one is it with Juwan? I am going to go with option 2. As long as JVG is the coach, I think Juwan knows that he is going to be stealing minutes from other more deserving players.

 

Nooooooooooo!!!!!

 

Can anyone post a reason why Juwan Howard (6'9" 230) should be the starting PF over a 6'8" 220lbs Shane Battier?

The reality is the only way Howard starts in my mind is if they move Battier to the 3, and Tmac to the 2 to 'start' the game.

I guess it comes down to... do we have a starting SG that can PUSH Howard out of the lineup? Clearly Bonzi could do that. But if they want him as a 6th man, then does Snyder, Head, Vspan push Howard out of the starting lineup? Sadly I dont know.

 

We'll know more about where they want Battier to play after the open practice. Whether or not they really do want him primarily at power forward will go a long way in determining Juwon's role.

If during the scrimmage they have Battier matching up against Juwon, then dollars to donuts Juwon ain't starting, 'cause there's almost no way Battier comes off the bench. If they've got Hayes matching up against Juwon and Battier is on T-Mac... well... all bets are off.

 

What game is JHo watching? He doesnt have much to offer...And he does look clueless on how to play against Yao

 

i'm sure he will get at least 24 MPG off the bench. shane can start at PF and play 24MPG there and another 12 backing up tmac at SF.

 

Deuce -
Suffice it to say that I'm not a Juwan Howard "hater". Some comments...

First, not sure where you got 230 but I've seen Howard listed at 260. That's why he is able to play some C in certain matchups.

Secondly, it doesn't matter who starts the game but who is there at crunch time. When you have an older player, you always start him while his muscles are still warmed up.

Third...it's about matchups. IMHO, ALL about matchups. Howard for most of his career has been $ with a foul line J. If he's on, that opens a lot of room for Yao in the low block. If he's not on, bringing in Wells automatically changes how the other team must matchup.

Fourth, the VG Rockets (even with last years poor record) have an amazing W-L record when ahead at the end of Q1. Starting Howard but not being afraid to sub Wells in as early as the 7 minute mark of Q1 definitely plays into this stat.

Last, re-emphasizing the matchup thing again. Nelson at GS is looking to move Troy Murphy to C and JRich to SF. Moving players up a position is an NBA trend. Over the season, there are going to be times when Howard is better off than Yao or Deke chasing players like Murphy around.

I just don't see "hating" on the guy...in fact, I'd love to see some other Rockets dumping champagne all over him.

 

I'm not a Howard-Hater either....but I would rather Battier play those PF minutes over Howard. Especially if more teams are moving up in their lineups which seems to be the trend. Howard at some backup C would be ok in a running lineup.

No question that matchups will dictate. At thet end of the game though I am sure you will see Yao/Battier/Tmac/Bonzi/{PG that's playing best at the time} as your crunchtime lineup.

 

I'm not a Juwan hater as well, and I totally agree with you on all points. I would like to see Yao surrounded with a better athlete at the PF to make up for his lack of speed on the defensive rotations. Howard and Yao is the slowest frontline in the league. Battier giving up 1 inch and 20 to 30 pounds is no big deal, the guy averaged almost 1.5 blocks a game last year and he is probably one of the best help defenders in the league. Let Juwan adapt to coming off the bench and let Battier set a defensive tone right out of the gates in the 1st quarter.

 

I think between you guys are close. I'd say in the mid 20s in MPG, and split between back-up C and PF.

We want to keep Yao fresh (maybe to 35MPG), and Deke probably can't handle 82 games and defintely not nearly 15MPG for those games. Howard, who does run 6'9" and probably close to 260, is the next closest thing we have to a center, and is most important role may be keeping both Deke and Yao fresh for the playoffs. Besides there are not too many back-up centers Howard can't handle defensively, and Howard is a decent offensive player--an option for when we have lots of subs. (In fact I'd rather have Howard play with todays NBA centers more than todays NBA power forwards for the most part). Also, even if Battier is the starter and leading minute guy at PF--which I want (say low 20s total at PF for Battier), we want to keep him fresh (say 33MPG) and he will pick up back-up SF minutes (10-12). That leaves lots of back-up PF minutes (say high 20s) for Howard to get a piece of. Probably both Hayes and Padgett (if he makes the team) are too 1 dimensional to outdraw Howard for back-up PF minutes, it is a lot easier for a guy like Hayes to do his thing for 10-15 minutes than 20+ minutes.

Thus Howard still has an important role for this team. A VERY important role if Yao or Deke miss games--very probable over the course of the season. He is probably right he will get his minutes, even if he doesn't start.

 

What ever happened to Juwan's shoplifting charge?

 

Yah Juwan will get loads of playing time... on a different team

 

Chuck Hayes > Juwan Howard - I dont know who Juwan thinks he is but he better start playin some D. I dont know how many times I just saw him watching a Big get a offensive rebound and put back in a easy shot. I would grind my teeth cuz J Ho would just stare at the guy w/o even trying. We have gotten rid of old trash such as Wesley and Moochie. Hopefully CD can get rid of this guy so he can play "plenty of minutes" somewhere else.

 

just another 2 seasons until we can trade his ending contract or buy him out...

make room for chuck hayes already!!

 

Yeah, that got eerily quiet. Did the shopkeeper mysteriously 'disappear' right before his deposition?

 

I agree with you except for Juwan's size. I thought he was significantly bigger than Battier.

Anyways, before we got Bonzi, the starting job was between Juwan and one of the SG (Snyder, Head, or even Spanoulis). Since none of the SG bunch was proven, it was kind of a toss up guess. I tended to think JVG would go with the safer choice of an more experienced veteran.

Now, we have Bonzi. The whole picture has changed. The odds are now swung toward starting Bonzi over Juwan. There is still a chance that Bonzi would be used as a 6th man and Juwan starts at 4. I won't complain about it if Juwan can still hit the open jumper mainly because I still think Battier should spend most of his time at 3.

As some people have already pointed out, Juwan is not a good bench player. If he doesn't start, he might as well not play. Start Battier and sub in Hayes, or one of the other "specialists" forwards.

 

I don't understand why so many people forget about Chuck Hayes. He was our best help defender and rebounder (outside of maybe Mutombo) last season. For a rookie, he was an outstanding defender. And because he rarely turned the ball over with his touches (an uncommon trait for that kind of player), was such an efficient scorer, and was so strong on the offensive boards, he was never much of an offensive liability either. Why does it have to be a given that Howard goes ahead of Hayes in the rotation? All Howard has going for him is an inconsistent 15-footer and post game, which will kill the offense as often as it helps it. And he's not getting any younger either, so it's pretty much assured that he'll only get worse (his PER has steadily declined the last 2 years, for instance).

 

There you have it in a nutshell. Easy come easy go.

 

Unlike the vast majority around here, I am not a huge Chuck Hayes fan. Nice role player off of the bench in certain circumstances. Too many posters go to the overall stat lines and use that as a justification for Hayes' abilities.

What I humbly submit to you is this...the largest portions of Hayes' stats were produced against the Mark Madsens of the NBA. I don't have the time or the inclination to go through the DVD's but I have distinct recollections of players like Eddie Griffin turning Hayes' offense into zippo.

Chuck's a 5-8 mpg borderline rotational player. Now, call me a "hater" but that's how I see it. A role player getting numbers versus role players. If the Rockets have to start him, they are in deep doo-doo.