Kevin McHale: I'd like to get a rotation of 9, maybe 10 guys

That's mainly due to the rangy type fours being better players than the bruisers.

 

Scola, Landry, even Chuck Hayes played very hard.

 

I don't who the 10 man rotation should be. I was pretty high on Reggie Williams and pretty low on Omri Casspi just a couple weeks ago, so Williams' absence and Casspi's good all-around play (his offense can't be this good, but he's shown an ability to contribute elsewhere too, which is something I hadn't seen from him before) has clouded things up a bit for me.

If I had to guess, I'd say:

Lin/Bev
Harden/Garcia
Parsons/Brewer*
DMo/Casspi
Dwight**/Asik**

*Brewer being the "10th" guy.
**Dwight and Asik will fill in some minutes at the 4 as well, of course.

This leaves TJones, who I really like, as the odd man out. I think either he or Greg Smith are traded, and the one who isn't traded is slotted behind Casspi as the backup 4 and occasional 5.

So those 10 regular rotation guys plus either Smith or Jones gives us 11 on the roster. The remaining one will probably be Brooks even though he has looked bad this preseason.

This means we have to do something with:

Smith-or-Jones
Canaan
Covington
Williams
Camby

Like I said earlier, I expect Smith-or-Jones to be traded.

I think Canaan will go to the D-League for sure.

Covington will either accompany Canaan in the D-League or get cut.

Williams will get cut.

Camby... I have no idea.

 

I think you're seeing what you want to see. Dmo plays extremely hard for us so I don't know what you are looking at. Only thing I can say is that'd is suggest watching the games again.

There is a reason he was given the first shot at starting pf. He busts his ass.

 

No, it's because when we lost PatPat, we didn't have a forward that could shoot at all. Yes DMo can score at times, but he is not a starter. Not even close. Nor is TJones. Our PF depth is atrocious based on offensive ability. The only reason DMo is getting starting consideration is because he is the "best shooter" of a bad shooting group of forwards.

Every player plays "hard," but to suggest DMo plays harder than any other guy out there is false. Even with his deficiencies, JLin busts his ass out there way more than DMo.

 

Good point. THose guys were the definition of playing hard without plays being designed for them.

 

I think we see that Dmo busts his ass in training and drills but I dunno why he can't play consistently and bring it on the court.

Maybe as said before he is one year or more away from being a solid contributor.
Or he is limited to some offensive spurts against bench players and is not cut out to be a good starter. Who knows.

 

Fixed.

I think we'll see the bench pulled out a bit more often than you think. There's probably about 15-18 teams that are going to have a terrible time against our line ups.

Lots of teams are poor perimeter defenders, lots of teams can't stop fast guards like Harden and Lin, and lots of teams are small on the inside and won't have a chance slowing down Asik let alone Dwight due to size differentials.

As for the other 12 or 13 teams, those will likely be starter heavy since that's what you'll need to beat them.

 

A roster almost crying for a trade (or two).
If we only had a GM who was not afraid to make a trade.....

 

TJ is in the rotation, and he should continue to start. Greg Smith also proved (in real competition last year) that he's more than good enough to be in the rotation.

Preseason games are preseason games, and even then DMo struggled when he's in the starting lineup. DWH and TJ's performances are mostly due to Hibbert/West matchup.

I think we may not see backup SG any time soon in regular season, because Harden/Lin/Bev are going to take all the non-garbage minutes for the 1 and 2.

 

I'd go with Greg Smith over Jones.

 

Very simply...what this means is that no one is distinguishing themselves at the 4. McHale is going to use all the guy situationally (if there is such a word).

 

He won't get 36. Don't be delusional.

 

I disagree, I'm sure McHale will play Greg Smith over either T-Jones or D-Mo and one of those will be secluded to more of an last man on the bench role.

 

I wrote a few times already. It's one of DMo or Jones getting minutes at PF, then Dwight as PF with Asik at Center in a twin-tower line up, then Cassipi as stretch 4.

I think DMo will get the minutes as he keeps the ball moving (have we heard that from McHale some time last year) and Jones will sit.

And when necessary, ie blowouts or DMo injury, Jones will get some minutes.

 

This......

Would love to see a 10 man rotation, maybe someone surprises but I wouldn't count on it. Also have to consider that I wouldn't be surprised to see a trade or two where the Rockets deal rotation calibur players in bulk for an upgrade at a position of need.

 

Canaan and Covington to D-League, Brewer and Williams cut. Asik ends up beeing traded till second half of the season (maybe even with TJones or D-Mo in package for solid PF).

Lin/Bev
Harden/Garcia*
Parsons/Casspi
TJones/D-Mo**
Howard/Smith

As towers boy - Camby

* - also playing 3, and 4 spot smallball.
** - whatever who starts.

 

Garcia will be used throughout the entire year unless he gets hurt.

 

I'm hoping we're deep enough that neither of them need that many minutes on average. Lin around 30/31. Harden around 35.

 

Agreed. Though Jones is getting a very thorough look during this preseason. I think it's still up in the air, but if the season started tomorrow Jones would not be in the rotation.