Novak has a real hard time with defensive assignments. In the short time that he has played, his defense was been atrocious. Against Dallas he left his man open quite a few times for easy baskets. It doesn’t take much time for an opposing coach to key in on a weak link, and try to swing the ball around to take advantage of certain players. The majority of basketball fans miss the subtitles of basketball that make it a great game. All they seem to notice is the offensive stats. Novak has a special talent that is better than the majority of players, but his deficiencies are plenty. It is going to take time and the fans need to be patient. There are going to be times when he will barely play. In New Orleans he only played for 2 minutes. This is because the game was being played at a very fast pace. He would have been lost out there if Van Gundy kept him in longer. There is a reason that Novak was a second round draft pick. Be patient.
Stop Playing Padgett. This guy has no guts to shoot. Put Novok in and license him to shoot when open.
I wonder how many of you actually watch games before you post stuff. Novak didn't play last night, but he has actually been playing this season and honestly, he hasn't been playing that well. JVG isn't sitting him because he's a rookie, he's bringing him along slowly. You'll see Novak more and more throughout the season. As for those calling for V-Span to play - I KNOW you haven't watched a game, he's not ready at all! It's nice to yell emotionally for players you like and feel invested in, but at least have some patience (something you are all accusing JVG of not having). Anyone who expected V-Span to come in an take Alston's job immediatly and expected Novak to be the most dominating player behind the arc needs to have a reality check. Calm down people...we're only 4 games into the season.
one more thing...Padgett doesn't have as nice a shot as Novak. BUT, he's a veteran, he knows what he's doing AND he can do other things besides shoot. I think Novak WILL BE a better overall player than Padgett - hopefully even before the end of this season. But, as of right now, I'd play Padgett over Novak.
Guys, Padgett has only played 6 minutes over the last 3 games. He has 2 DNPs. Remember, we are on a 4 games in 5 days stretch...I don't think we have even had a regular season practice yet. Novak needs practice to prevent looking lost out there. He'll be back out there soon; it's not like Padgett has gotten any minutes other than the first game.
Playing Novak means 10 less minutes for Hayes. Then you will have other posters start a new thread "Why is Hayes getting only 20 minutes! Play Chuck Hayes!". There is already a thread on Juwan Howard and why he needs more play time. A thread on Van Gundy not trusting Kirk Snyder with more minutes.
They do have this thing called PRACTICE.... Novak's been an inspiration, and everyone hopes he will play because he's a shooter. However, his production hasn't been great in the season and he's flat footed on defense. Padgett will get a few fouls, but he hasn't allowed the opposition to drive the baseline on him. There are more factors than 1 on 1 defense and rebounding to justify a shot. Padgett has a keen sense of spacing and knows when to cut and when not to. So far, Novak in the offensive set has him floating around the 3 point line. That makes it too easy to double team and keep an eye on a person. If Yao gets double teamed and they KNOW where your shooter is, it's actually not too hard to guard. If Novak would cut once in awhile, it could be a free layup. The other thing is help defense. So far, Novak has not shown a sense to help defensively; in fact, he has not been able to hold his own. When your guy gets loose, it's easy to get our big men into foul trouble. In addition, Novak seems to have trouble holding position for long rebounds as well as boxing out in the low post against taller 3s. At any rate, it's what I've seen so far. I'd love to have Novak play just because he's a threat to double teamers, but he needs to learn the system and have a sense of what's going on out there so he doesn't look lost all the time. As for Spanoulis... I would love to see him play too, but he needs to have control. Turnovers are killers. We barely beat Memphis because of it.
Novak is aspecialist role player. He spots up , shoots and makes threes. That is why we selected him, nothing to do with his defensive abilities or lack there of. JVG needs to change his tune and bring him in to bolster the score. Other things can develop later as he gains experience. Padgett is well past his best and is now a scrub, Novak is full of potential and has his career before him- who would you have on the court?
Precisely.........guys remember, back in the Utah game, the very first sub of the Rockets season was Steve Novak. He played and showed that he really wasn't ready for the NBA yet. Since then, aside from trying to get something out of Padgett in Utah (who was less inept than Novak that game because he brings a little bit more to the table, not much, mind you, but just a little bit) Padgett has been buried on the bench also. Hayes has been the man at the 4 spot and the results, IMO, have been pretty decent.
some people already explained why padgett is on the floor, van gundy is the coach and he would rather have padgett,
actually, padgett is really not getting that many minutes more than novak. p has 26 compared to 22 for novak. van gundy has stated in preseason that if novak wants to play he must improve in other areas.
Van Gundy is a bright guy. He knows Novak can shoot. He sees more than we see. Remember, just a week ago, he mused that starting Novak might be an option. So it's not like he's philosophically opposed to playing rooks. At this point, though, he feels that Novak is too much a liability. It'll happen. Give it time.
A great coach not only brings the best out of his players and maximize their strengths in the long run, but also knows how to tactically mask their weaknesses in any given game so that opponents don't have easy time taking full advantage. Novak is a specialist that was drafted for a purpose, that is, to shoot. So far, JVG has given the rookie little chance to play up to his full strength and to learn from his mistakes as he goes. Even if opponents do exploit Novak's poor defense, he can still return the favor by dropping long range bombers on them. Besides, Novak is not known as a liability on boards. I say if given sufficient playing time, he can be a valuable contributor from the bench.
Obviously this is the case. I am not debating this fact, I am just expressing what I would like to see. Y
But is his couple 3s during that span worth the risk of a foul or two on Yao? There are many sides to this. Van Gundy is definitely working on his weaknesses IN PRACTICE. Also, someone mentioned that Padgett had, what, 6 minutes with 2 DNPs in the last 3 games? It's not comparing Novak to Padgett, it' comparing Novak to Battier/ McGrady/Hayes's playing time. This team is built around 2 people, and we need those 2 players on the court. Now, don't go and assume that I rather have Padgett on the court, because I don't and I'm crazy about seeing Novak getting playing time as well, but I would rather see that the Rockets win and that Novak won't be counterproductive towards that.
Yeah, for a total of 5 minutes and 41 seconds against Memphis and didn't play against Dallas or NOK as one of the 3 inactives....
Guys, shooting is great but not if it cost you in other areas. Besides, it's a back to back and it's not a bad idea to give a rookie who has NEVER played in back to back situations to maybe have a day-off (like last night's DNP). It's likely he will play some today and Pagett will be on the bench. Besides, the way C Hayes is working out, he is becoming a better option in the PF spot for now.
How do you know? He hasn't played in the NBA. In college a lot of people are good rebounders. I'd like to think that Van Gundy knows a little more on how to win than people on this board. A lot of people can make open shots in the NBA. So far, that's all that Novak does. He has no ability to make plays or put the ball on the floor. Padgett knows the system better and I am more comfortable with Padgett out there. He doesn't screw up and he's a good offensive rebounder and creates putbacks on missed shots.
