KJ's run from behind blocks and alley oop dunks look so effortless, that coach thinks he's not putting in any effort, so he gets benched. But seriously i wish he played more.
Harden, Bev Gordon, KJ Ariza, Dekker Anderson Capela, nene Spot minutes for brewer, Harrell. Is 9 really too many to fit into a regular rotation?
i would go 10 deep, with the 10th out there for spot minutes. that should be harrel or brewer. what i'd rather do is package a trade for a really godo bench player like gordon. any combo of dekker, kj, brew, harrel and a 2nd. since we have eg, it should be a sf to backup overplayed b2b in top 5 mintues playe ariza, or a combo big. harrel is too good for spot minutes, he can be a solid backup.
IF DMo comes back this week, you are probably looking at: Harden/Bev Bev/Gordon Ariza/Dekker Anderson/DMo Capela/Nene with MDA trying his best to find 10 minutes a game to put the Sewer greyhound in, although he shouldn't. No one else will probably get minutes outside of foul trouble, injuries, and/or blowouts.
Not to bring it back up, but per the below website Rudy Gay may be coming to Houston around the trade deadline. That would be the bench forward and with way KJ and Dekker are playing it may be a net gain. Going into the season no question it was better to see what we had, but now our younger players look good and both play really well with the starters. BTW would not mind getting Lawson back in the deal as well. it works salary-wise. http://www.hngn.com/articles/217469...the-houston-rockets-before-trade-deadline.htm
That's the dream scenario I think . That 9 man rotation is shallow on stars but when your best player is MVP caliber that helps a lot . Those 9 guys are versatile and all are NBA caliber rotation players . We can run and we can defend and we can shoot with that group . If the chemistry clicks there is a shot to make a little run .
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the 'obvious' scenario you lay out rarely ever happens. Unless you're Hinkie/Philly. It was pretty easy to predict who would lose minutes once PBev returned - KJM. JBB was under severe pressure to win, and he chose to play Brewer. MDA is probably under little pressure to get on board with whatever long term plan Daryl may have in mind, and he chooses to play Brewer. Daryl chose to sign Brewer to a multi-year contract. Considering all that, the 'obvious' explanation is that Brewer is only playing so he can be showcased? Sorry, not buying it.
Is DMo for sure coming back this week? I thought he was just sitting the year out.... If that's the case you've still listed 9 man rotation (and let's not forget looks like nene doesn't play back to backs). Without brewer Harrell or KJ. One of the biggest shortcomings last year was a failure to unleash the depth and youth of the team. Hopefully they find room, even if it's 5 minutes a game for KJ.
You just referenced Hinkie....a Morey disciple. My point is that what KJ provides vs Brewer is not enough to overcome the fact that Brewer's contract poses a long term issue, which would be prioritized over the better short term option. This is not some far out conspiracy theory. It's a rational decision to focus on the future. We already know that the front office was telling JB to play CC more minutes over Dwight. Perhaps MDA listens better.
I think this is a chemistry thing. KJ needs to be able to guard 1's and play offense like a 2. I'm not sure he does either. Harden goes out and they want Gordon taking his roll, but with a pg bringing the ball up. KJ doesn't bring the ball up. So, his best bet is to learn to play the defensive 1 and offensive 2 guard. Which in this group means spot up shooting mostly. It's just not his skill. He's a slasher. My guess: not in the doghouse, needs to adapt skill set to be more valuable to MDA.
Honestly I'm not sure what DMo plans to do, I was just saying that because of the faux deadline on the 23rd. But I do agree with you, I would like to see KJ getting minutes before Brewer, but if DMo does comes back, he will probably get all the PF minutes, thereby giving Dekker all of the SF backup minutes, and then pushing MDA to try to find minutes for Brewer at the SG position. I would give those to KJ instead of Brewer, but it seems MDA is set on getting Brewer in.....hopefully to trade him like Codman suggested in another thread. Harrell would probably only get minutes at the backup C on back to backs when Nene rests. This is not what I would do, just what I think MDA is going to do based on his history so far.
I would expect DMo might be picking up those nene minutes at the 5, keeps dekker as the 4 where he's succeeding. I guess keeping brewer at the 3, maybe opening up the 2 for KJ? That's what I would do, as someone who has never coached lol
Anybody else notice KJ paying more attention to his nails than the play during a time out huddle in the 4th?
Yeah, he did look very disinterested last night. I don;t even think he was paying attention to the game in some close ups.
I would rather be developing him like Capella and letting him get his feet wet for the long run rather then letting Brewers b**** ass play
I just don't know why Brewer's allowed to play through his mistakes and KJ can't. Especially when KJ has the better upside
So that, on those days when Brewer looks kinda like an NBA player, the GM of that other team (whatever team that might be?) will sigh and say, "All right, we'll take Brewer in the deal." Or KJ will be involved in an imminent trade and they don't want him hurt? Or they want KJ on ice because they don't want other teams asking about him? Or because if you can't shoot on this team, D'Antoni won't notice anything else you do right?
