true but i think we will see SF and MJ play a lot at the 2 spot, which will allow those guys to do what they do best (focus on scoring) and rafer can controll the ball
So many guards i just dont get it how the roation is going to work. If alston stays then im guessing this could be the rotation n Francis might start at SG. My prediction: Yao Scola Tmac Francis Alston Bench: Mutombo/Butler Hayes/Landry Battier/Novak Wells/Head James/Brooks
Head and Snyder are keepers. Snyder because outside of Bonzi, we don't have another swingman off the bench. Head is a keeper because his outside shooting can really help in this offense.
A great formula for losing in the west is to have Luther Head 6-3, Mike James 6-2, Steve Francis 6-3 manning the two guard spot a bunch. There has to be someone other than T-Mac playing there with some decent size. Now if a PG gets hurt there are STILL two capable point guards even minus Rafer on the team, but if T-Mac gets hurt there are a bunch of MIDGET 2 guards along with Bonzi. What if Bonzi gets hurt? And what about when Bonzi is playing or T-Mac and the other is hurt and there's a bunch of midget 2 guards on defense? Is Adelman to also stubbornly just play a midegt two guard like Van Gundy did because of stupid things like can hit a wide open shot almost half the time or whatever? It just seems stupid to me to keep players at positions where they are expendable and that are not needed and discard players that may be needed at other spots. Same thing with Landry. Wouldn't the team need Landry if Scola or Hayes got hurt? Whereas the team can take Rafer off the team, plus suffer a point guard injury and STILL be fine. So again, what tactical advantage at all does keeping Rafer bring the team? I am sorry but I just do not get it at all.
who else is there? there really isnt anyone unless you play battier or bonzi there but you will be at a speed disadvantage. Snyder is a possible but i'd rather have a head out there than snyder. bobby jackson and bibby played a lot at the same time, no? Again, either rockets play a slower sg in bonzi/battier or undersized scorers/shooters in francis/MJ. we arent talking about this lineup going for 30+ minutes a night. Versatility. Im not sure if he is expendable, at least not just for the sake of getting rid of him. i think this team would need rafer if francis or james went down. You are concerned about "midgets" in the backcourt yet you are assuming that a sub 6 foot rookie will be able to handle major duties? Im optimistic about him, but im not ready to trust him for meaningful and significant time just yet. its simple. There is no true pg on this team. MJ and francis are not great ball handlers and are SGs in the body of a pg. Rafer just brings a completely different skillset...hence versatility and flexibility. And i'm just not going to rely on the rookie brooks with a potential championship run on the line. Bottom line...security. But hey, if he can be moved for a decent player...go for it. But dont just get rid of him to get rid of him.
Snyder will be the backup insurance. bonzi will see the majority of he's minutes at the 3. and no, we dont need landry at all. if hayes or scola do go down, we still have butler, novak or even battier who all can do a better job then what landry could do in he's rookie season. Yao/Deke Scola/Hayes (personally think hayes will start till scola gets adjusted) Battier/Bonzi McGrady/Francis Alston/James This leaves Head, Snyder,Brooks and butler fighting for the scraps. harris will probaly be waived once the training camp is done. same with lucas.either that or lucaswill be traded for some cash or a draft pick to a team that has the salary to obsorbe he's salary. Reed is the interesting one. he's salary is too high to just waive off. on the other hand we have zero use for him with snyder and bonzi.
Well Morey mentioned that Butler won't play this year as he expects unless there are some injuries. It seems to me Morey is definitely higher on Landry than Butler. In fact Morey basically implied Butler was nothing but a trash contract he had to take in oder to get Scola. Also the Spurs could not wait to get rid of him. So it seems that Landry is more important than Butler is.
hmm...Snow is injured for the Cavs...they'll need a playmaking PG..still hoping.. If it's not for Aaron Brooks, i would not be on the move Alston bandwagon..
Again, where or when did Morey mention that Butler won't play this year. I just have not read nor heard that anywhere except from you. Just wondering!
I know what you're talking about. But I never thought JVG waving his hands was directed solely at Rafer, or at all. That's why JVG used him so many minutes. No one else could get us into sets as quickly nor do anything uptempo. from my seats, Rafer always pushed the ball any chance he got. That's what he loves to do. Protect the ball and run. In other words, Rafer loves to use his dribbling skills to move the ball. If only he had a teardrop....sigh
yeah....it wasnt soley for rafer to run. And rafer did push the ball well, the rockets just didnt have anyone else that could run and finish. Tmacs doesnt really run the break all that well. battier doesnt finish well. yao is slow. chuck is chuck. luther doesnt finish that well. etc
Yes, that's why it doesn't make sense to trade James and Francis now. But if by mid-season any one of them doesn't fit or plain sucks and Rafer plays well, then it makes perfect sense to keep Rafer and trade whoever is not useful. Brooks won't be traded because you can't get equal value for a high potential rookie unless he's part of a larger deal. The 2 spot still has T-Mac and Bonzi, not to mention Head. I don't think T-Mac and Bonzi will play a lot of minutes at the 3 because Battier is there, and Battier won't have to play the 4 like he did in the past. So we got 7 guys at the guard positions. All of them are good enough to be rotation players, including a superstar guaranteed big minutes. It is definitely too crowded.
I will have to try to remember. It was an interview he gave with one of the basketball magazines. This combined with the Spurs being reported as having forced Butler in the deal because he was "useless" and also The Chronicle reported several times now that Butler and Reed were nothing but salary dumped bad contracts that the Rockets did not want and were forced to take in order to get James and Scola. Add all the three together along with the fact that the Spurs were furious with his horrible lazy attitude and well combine that with the Rockets having paid $1 million just to ge Landry, plus his salary it seems that Landry is held in much higher regard by the GM than Butler is. Of course Adelman could love him because Larry Brown was big on Butler so who knows. But then again Adelman listens to his GM's, so it isn't like with JVG where the coach decides who plays only and the GM has no say.
Rafer is lightyears better than Francis at pushing the ball. That's why I am very skeptical about starting Francis. Francis is going to bog down the offense. Mike James is another story. Yeah, if only Rafer had a teardrop... we wouldn't have to look for a better starting PG.
true. It amazes me how people seem to forget what its like when SF runs the offense (i.e. dribbles aronud for 23 seconds). And james isnt that much better. i personally think tmac should play most of his minutes at the 3...i just think its where he plays best. It gets complicated though and there will be some major jugging early in the season to figure out what works.
OK. I'll need the preseason look to judge it but I would bet he will be on the roster after preseason. Who knows after that, though. If Yao goes down to injury again this year Butler would be a handy.
Maybe you hit the wrong reply. No, I don't believe he will start just becasue of all the veteran's in front of him. But I would like to see him receive a lot of minutes this year.
