My guess: PG: Alston (20), Francis (14), James (14) SG: T-Mac (20), Head (14), Francis (8), James (6) SF: Battier (22), T-Mac (18), Wells (8) PF: Scola (24), Hayes (20), Battier (4) C: Yao Ming (38), Scola (10) Spot minutes/IR: Mutombo, Snyder, Novak, Brooks Cut/Traded: Reed, Harris, Butler, JL3, Sura When everyone is healthy, some people will NOT be happy...but who knows, there might still be a trade that will take care of the logjam? Also, injuries will happen, so even if we keep Alston, Francis, James, Head, Brooks, Wells, people will still get their chances... It would be a pity to trade Head because he is still improving and he might be the best three-point shooter among the guards, plus, he is getting paid less than he is worth. Seems to me like it would be tough to trade Wells, Francis or James, though, as all of them appear to have been signed/traded for based on some (explicit or implicit) promises made to them about how much they are needed in Houston.
While I like the idea of 20 minutes apiece for the PG triumvirate, Wells is NOT getting only 8MPG. Things will change significantly as the year goes on, due to injuries or performance or trades, so this is my guess for starting the year: 1: Alston (24), James (20), Brooks (4) 2: TMac (25), Head (10), Wells (7), James (6) 3: Battier (23), Wells (18), TMac (7) 4: Scola (26), Hayes (20), Battier (2) 5: Yao (34), Mutombo (5) Scola (4), Hayes (3), Butler (2)
PG: Alston (20), James (22), Francis (6), SG: T-Mac (20), Head (8), Francis (14), Wells (6) SF: Battier (18), T-Mac (14), Wells (16) PF: Scola (20), Hayes (20), Battier (8) C: Yao Ming (34), Scola (10) Mutombo (4) I don't think Head is going to get regular playing time but I included him because I don't see a 44% three point shooter not getting on the court every now and again. I really hope Harris makes the squad even if he doesn't see the court this season. I have a feeling this guy is going to be a very important piece of this team in 2-3 years. Possibly sooner depending on what happens with our guard situation.
With the depth we have, I want none of our players to get more than 30 minutes of action. Having Yao our there for 38 minutes is rediculous and it will not benefit the team. Remember how we cant get a rebound @ Game 7 when we need it the most? Quality minutes > Yao running on dead legs in 4th Quarter remember that one game vs Washington Wizards when Yao torch them by 23 pts in 4th quarter? This is because the Verizon Center had a black-out right before the 4th Quarter and Yao had a rest to catch his breath. I still trust Mutombo to get 8 minutes of PT and Hayes fill up 10 mins @ the center position. Nowadays, few centers in the NBA have offensive skills, so we dont have to worry that deke and chuck will get lit up
depends on the game and matchups. if we face a great scorer, battier will probably play 35-40 minutes. if not, he won't. if we play a great team, tmac will log around 38 mins and yao around 35. if not, they'll log around 32-33 mins. so it depends really.
Guards: T-MAC(20), Alston(25), James(20), Steve(20), Head(15), Wells (16) Forwards: T-Mac(13), Battier(25), Scola(24), Hayes(24), Wells(10) Center: Yao(34), Deke(14)
Here's my guess... I even made it a graphic (hope this works) broken down like this... I give everyone a +/- 3 to 5 minutes things like match ups and foul trouble... but I am guessing for the year this will be close to their averages. Also if I was going to increase one of our stars mpg.. it would be Yao's. The offense seems to run so much more smoothly with him on the court. This may change when we play different teams, but he's so tall pulled out to the top of the paint that it makes everything easier for the guards to move around him and to the basket. Edit.. if you reply please take out the graphics... it makes to page go over too far. I will try to make them smaller so this doesn't happen, but just in case Thanks!
Given that Wells and Francis are in their contract year, I'm guessing they'd be kinda pissed only getting 18-21 mpg. Head will not like getting 10 charity minutes, either... In any case... somebody has to be traded or get injured for the year, or else there just aren't enough minutes to go around.
This was a predict the minutes with the team we have right now. If a trade occurs of course it would change.
its really simple who does adelman play at the pg? he will have to pick 2 of the 3. all 3 will not be in the rotation even by shifting over to the 2 who does he pick between luther and bonzi? or does he like 2 pg's together. who backs up yao. if its scola or mutumbo. if its scola, will battier play some at 4 mac 36 yao 34 battier 32 2 pgs share 48 thats 5 players at 150 minutes and you have 90 minutes to split up. coach a wont play more than 9 in a rotation
The OP's predictions seem like the ideal here. Bonzi playing just 8 minutes per game isn't likely, but the minute distribution to the other guys seem sweet!
As I said many times, I think it was a mistake to sign Francis, and it's becoming more and more apparent to the coaching staff as they go along that this is also the case on the court. We're here to win now, and Adelman isn't going to like giving everybody besides Yao and Tracy 20-25 minutes apiece. Francis could end up getting the Bonzi "sit until you look awesome in practice or someone gets hurt" treatment. My rotation has 8 guys with good minutes, plus Head who could or could not wedge his way in there to make it 9, as well as the obligatory garbage time players like Brooks and Butler, because believe you me we will have TONS of garbage time if we're this good.
