Not to sound overly excited, but Pike is back in uniform as of now. How ironic that his first game back is against the Clippers. But he'll probably not play too many minutes, and when he is on the court, he'll most likely be rusty. But he's back. We really need an outside shooting threat.
Rusty? Hell no.... all this time off has helped him hone in on his shot like no other. Plus, his legs won't be tired from all the early wear-and-tear of the season, that has somewhat been the reason for all of the Rockets' dwindling shooting percentages. Sure the sprained ankle will hurt his agility and defense, but when did Pike ever have those things to begin with?
I saw him in warm-ups back at the Dallas game... ...dude is "on" - no rust that I could see from the arch! (of course I saw Boki go 4-5 from the left wing, but that was warm-ups with no hand in his face or defenders.)
So where are his minutes going to come from? The obvious answer is Mobely of course but I can't see him giving up 20 minutes a game which is what Pike averaged in LA and for several games in the pre-season. Mobely is averaging 40 minutes at present which is tops on the team and probably won't be happy with less than 30.
His minutes will come easy from JJ, and Boki, also some time at 2 from Cat but suspect only a few will come from there. I predict 20 minutes for Pike.
This is great Finally he's back. I think he will be a real spark of the bench. He can be instant offense. He is a great spot shooter. This will help us a lot.
Some of his minutes will certainly come from Moochie. Expect to see Pike on the floor with JJ and Mobley at times.
Clearly Pike will bring needed improvement. Here are the numbers over the last 4 games. Boki - 15 minutes, 0-1 shooting, 2 boards 17 minutes, 1-5, 4 rb 18 minutes, 3-7, 3 rb 17 minutes, 1-5, 0 rb I believe boki will get much better as time goes on, but so far not much consistency or rythm. Pike has played much longer and is among the best shooters in the league. With 20 minutes I think pike will avg. about 8 or 9 points per game and 3 boards, more points if he gels. That means +5 points to the Rocks bottom line per game.
and rudy had the gaul to not play this obvious future superstar? oh, and if there is a God, then pike will take moochie's minutes. he is the one biggest weakness on the team. look at the portland game, we're leading by 11, moochie comes in to start the 2nd, 20-7 run, we're down like nothing. he is consistently terrible and should get as little time as possible now that we have a 3rd guy who can play guard before him. mobley's minutes before moochie's? are people crazy?! hopefully jvg isn't.
Those are Terrence Morris like numbers!!! I bet the Rocks are trying to showcase Boki to up his trade value.
true enough, but if he can help spread the floor and create more offensive balance then his return will be just what the doctor ordered.
Yes, he's back but give me a break. This is Piatkowski, and you're acting like he's God or something. He'll go 2-5 or 2-6 from 3pt range every game, but that's IT. woo.
We are relying on Pike to fill his role as an outside shooter. Once he starts burning defenses for sagging off of him, it will open the floor for SF, Cat, and Yao.
Man i noticed the same thing, the min mooch game in the game went down the drain . Y does JVG even play his sorry ass man? oo well
