Power Forward Carousel? Destroys confidence or make players work harder?

two of our players got jettisoned into the rotation without really having to work for it. Tjones and Smith have been putting in time for a while.

 

It doesn't bother me with rookies. Let them produce if they want to play. I bet they would say the same thing. It will only drive them harder during the offseason to improve even if they get down on themselves during regular season. And that's what you want out of your rookies, hungry and finally aware how much they need to improve to make it in the NBA.

 

I don't know what else you can do... Trob and Dmo weren't just playing poorly, they were literally hurting the team. It's tough to stick with that through trying to get W's.

Beside them we have 3 other viable big men, and one of them (G Smith) is in perpetual foul trouble. That leaves us with Omer and Tjones.

You have to have 4 bigs in an NBA rotation, and I think letting them all compete and play for minutes knowing that one of them will always be the odd man out. It's not as cutthroat as people make it sound... It's really 4 guys (Smith, Dmo, Jones, Trob) playing for 3 spots. Let 'em bang and adjust accordingly.

It would've been nice to have to have done this in November/December instead of March/April, but you play the cards you have, not the ones you want.

 

Makes NBA quality players work harder. If you lose confidence because you got replaced or have competition at your position, you are not mentally tough enough for the NBA.

 

Yea true. But also look at the fact that both rotational guys for this spot got shipped out. That leaves a lot of room for finding solid guys.

 

What the Rockets are doing is perfect. You have 4 really young, imperfect, developing players trying to earn minutes in 3 rotation spots (pf, backup pf, backup c) -- but, we are at the same time in a playoff race and a competitive team that needs to win every game. You have to develop your young talent and you have to try to win games. In the case of the Rockets though, no matter who you give minutes to will result in developing talent as well as slowing the development of a different young potential laden player.

So, the takeaway is that you play whoever is playing well and helps you win, and you let the pups battle for room at the almighty tit of playing time, with Darwin's Invisible Hand of God guiding the runt of the litter organically into the dust bin of history.

And yes, that last paragraph was facetious.

 

I love DMo and I still think he will be a great guy. He just needs to build some mass because he gets pushed easily.

TJones was fantastic tonight. Here is hoping he will repeat it in the next game.

TRob has the raw talent, I don't think anyone can deny that. An off season with our team will do him some good.

Smith is still my favorite because of his attitude. If he can just stop making fouls...

Isn't it exciting to watch all these good young players develop? McHale should award them based on their performance to promote some friendly competition.

 

Tough competition, even among friends, ups everyone's game. It only hurts confidence if your confidence was already shot to begin with

 

No one really stands out or is consistent enough to warrant them set minutes. T.Jones played well this one game so far, but T.Rob and D-mo had a few solid performances too while back only to fall into stretches of bad-to-mediocre play. I think the reward for merit system is the best way to go. But right now I think Greg Smith is pretty promising so far as the starter.

 

Pretty much this. Both D-Mo and Robinson were given an abundance of opportunity that they didn't really earn and they sucked. Keep the carousel rolling.

 

How can you say Motiejunas and Robinson didn't earn the minutes they got initially? Those 2 by all accounts worked their butts of in practice for the spot. Now that their on-court production is dipping they are losing minutes.

 

Who wouldn't want a player who embraces competition?
Not interested in the Royce White's of the world.

 

i would like to see more of tjones in the nba level. but i think if dmo works out some more; thus, allowing him to not get pushed around for rebounds, then i think he can be better.

i kind of like our pfs to also be shooting 3s, thus helping our slashers in the process. i think having 4 players cept the center, who can shoot 3s really defines rockets signature. statistically-wise as well.

 

Since they're all so young and level-headed, I don't think it's gonna negatively affect these guys.

 

obvious answer is obvious...

 

What else could the coaches say though? That I were forced to play him because the GM shipped out my guys and I was just running out of choices and that he really didn't deserve the minutes?

 

If a young player isn't willing to fight for their spot in the rotation, they probably aren't long for the NBA.

 

How could you say especially Robinson earn his initial minutes in practice when he immediately jumped ahead of Jones in rotation even without a full practice? Basically everyone knows he got it by because of his higher draft position status only, not exactly merit basis.