Rick Adelman on why Terrence Williams isn't in the rotation

How about the reason that Rockets are already doing bad, so you might as well explore what additional options you have? How about, as much of a head case T-Will is, he is still better than mediocre players like CBud who (when hitting open shots) can be a decent scorer when streaking, but is total garbage otherwise in every aspect of the game. How about the fact that he can spell minutes across 3 positions? How about the fact that next to Ish and Miller, he seems to be our next best passer. Lowry is great at looking for open guys, but T-Will has better vision. To use soccer terms, there are two types of good passers; people who anticipate where others are based on the system they play (regista) and people who envision plays that could happen based on what they see and act accordingly (fantatista). Both are very viable and ultimately good passers. Both Ish and T-Will show great vision and with experience, will be able to harness it. They NEED playing time for experience.

 

Are you really serious? Bobby Jackson and Ron Artest BOTH played for him prior to joining the Rockets. He played Lowry because he was are only viable backup PG after we dumped Rafer for him and started AB. You think he's going to pay AB a full 48 minutes every game? We traded Jackson for Artest remember?

 

I think you guys are missing the main reasons why he is not in the rotation. Its mostly because of the player's ability to fit into Rick Adelman's system, consistency in his rotations, and loyalty to performing players.

Adelman has shown over the past two seasons that he will give young guys a chance when their number is called, but he will only play players that fit in with Adelman's system offensively. Of course unless you are a superstar which TWill is not. Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady did not fit in with Adelman's system necessarily, but those are the superstars that gave him the better chance at winning a title.

Which brings us to the conclusion that Terrence Williams has a different style of play that does not fit in well with Adelman's system and Adelman believes changing the style of play with him on the court will not affect this teams ability to win games here and now.

Im sure that TWill was scouted heavily by Morey and Adelman before they made the decision to trade for him and realized that he might have to sit till possibly even the summer when they could work him into Rick's system. A trade could force him into the rotation here in about three weeks, but there still might be a chance that he will be held out till the summer or traded.

 

This is all fine and dandy if we are going contending and sacrificing the system had genuine concerns. The problem is, this current Rockets team is slipping its wheels in mud and sliding backwards, looking more lottery than last seed playoffs. RA needs to recognize this, get his head out of his ass, and try something else.

 

STOP BEING LOGICAL

YOURE MAKING ADELMAN LOOK BAD

 

Your definition of 'total garbage' is a LOT different from mine.

Per 36 minutes for Chase, even when not "streaking":
~7 rebounds
~3 assists
~1 steal
~0.5 blocks
~1.5 TOs
~2.7 Fouls

Note: I left out his scoring per 36 because you're more concerned with what he does when he's not scoring.

I'd say those numbers are pretty decent for a backup small forward. For him to be "total garbage in ever aspect of the game", you'd have to think every stat above is garbage.

 

While stats are great and I am a huge supporter of them, they don't always tell the entire story. 7 rebounds for adjusted stats sounds good until you realize that our front court typically SUCKS at getting rebounds. Players are going to miss and we don't give up every rebounds, so they have to go some where. Thing about Budinger is aside from his misses, he doesn't make too many statistical blemishes, but if you watch Rockets games at all, you will immediately notice how pathetic he is on D, how timid he is on offense, and how generally inept he has become. He is about as intimidating as Doughboy. I would much rather see T-Will out there then Budinger. At least with T-Will I can count on slashing to the basket on one end and DEFENDING on the other.

 

It don't matter that Jackson or Artest played for him prior. He gave Jordan Hill some time last year didn't he? Since Rick has been with the Rockets he has plug and play most of the players the Rockets traded for. I don't get the reason why he's not playing Willams since he can play defense and create for others, something Bud can't do. Maybe if Bud was black then it would be a different story.

 

What do you mean it didn't matter if they played for him before? It absolutely does matter. These are players that he knows and trusts. This has ALWAYS been his MO; he players players he trusts and plays new players when he has to. He plays new players when he HAS to. He played Hill, because our alternatives for backup big sucked. We had Jeffries (guaranteed to miss layups), Armstrong (expected to be waived), and then Hill after the Artest trade. It is not until this year that we picked up Miller and 2Pat and as soon as we picked up Miller, guess who RA went back to? I will give you a hint; he kept playing his old center with heavy backup minutes and drove CF insane. Who was going to play PF/C after Hayes and Scola that was better than Hill?

 

You're right that stats do not always tell the whole story. In fact, they almost never do. But you were quite clear in your assertion that CBud is total garbage in every other aspect of the game outside of his hot shooting. And stats are a big part of 'every other aspect' of his game.

I'm not arguing that he doesn't have serious deficiencies on defense. He does. I do disagree with you about how timid he might be on offense, as I see that he drives and cuts to the basket as often as any of our 2nd unit. And he rarely passes up an open 3 point shot.

But you're going to honestly sit there and try to write off that no matter how 'crappy' the rest of our front court may be at rebounding, that 7 rebounds per 36 minutes for a backup small forward is still total garbage? Rebounds have to go somewhere? Yeah, they go into CBud's hands when he's playing. He doesn't just stand around as these mystical boards fall into his hands. He actively pursues them.

I do watch Rockets games. And though I agree with you that his defense is so bad that opponents draw straws to determine who gets to shoot over him each game, I strongly disagree that he is timid offensively, has become generally inept, and outside of his streaking shooting is 'total garbage'.

I understand trying to make a point by exaggerating some things, but you literally called his game 'total garbage' outside of shooting. Early in the season we were all very frustrated with his play. But right before he got out of his shooting slump, he began doing other things, like rebounding. Fortunately, he's still doing those other things, but your obsessed desire to see T-Will play has blinded you to the kind of game that CBud is actually playing.

Watch him next game and seriously consider that the guy is better than you give him credit for.

 

Yeah, I agree with chenjy9 on this one. In fact, RA even says as much in the video clip. That he mostly plays guys that know his system, that he's familiar with. And that usually players that fall outside that standard only get playing time if the need comes up. And unfortunately for T-Will, that need hasn't come up yet.

Look, I REALLY want to see more T-Will as well. But it just isn't likely to happen unless we have an injury at SG/SF or if a trade happens that clears up time at either position.

 

Well what probably happened was, when T-Will 1st arrived, the staff mentioned that he should go to the D-league for a while because of the shortage of playing time. T-Will declined and wanted nothing more to do with the D-league. If he would have gone to the D-league right off, he would have had at least 10 games of experience under the Adelman system. He would have been ready to contribute on a nightly basis instead of now being unable to get meaningful practices in because of the schedule.

 

Holy crap, I sort of agree with Hillboy.

Williams is interesting, and has the potential, but people are acting like if he plays instead of Budinger, this team will become magically a whole lot better. And I don't see it, and I don't see why people think that way. He's a thrown a couple nice passes in times when there's a lack of pressure, and people are hyping him up. Not to mention we have seen him act like an idiot in games, just like the New Jersey fans told us he would do. Combine that with questions regarding his work ethic and drive, and I'm not seeing the need to necessarily clamor for him instantly. I'm sure eventually he will have his chance if he is all he is to be, but he has to prove it. You don't just give players minute just because. You don't.

 

It sucks that our most talented player doesn't play.


Budinger, Martin, Battier, Lee may be better system players, but when it comes down to it you need elite talent to beat the best teams.

I would like to see Terrence and Budinger play together...

 

My point is that I feel he is garbage. What use is a guy who cannot defend and no longer slashes and as for this season, cannot hit an open shot. I use to be a pretty big fan of his as he was, from all evidence, a smart sharpshooter. I envisioned him as a young Brent Barry, which is a very good thing. He has shown that he is anything but a Brent Barry, unless it was a neutered Brent Barry whose brain rotted and fell out somewhere between HWY 90 and Downtown. I want T-Will to play, because a) he can actually defend and b) he can rebound too. I am hardly obsessed with T-Will. What I am obsessed about is the Rockets winning and when our HC sticks with broken parts and wistfully hopes Bud will magically become a better player, that pisses me off. It is not so much as thinking that he should play, but knowing that he will do a better job then the loser that is currently CBud, therefore increasing (even if marginally) our chances of winning.

 

Dude why are you arguing with me? Be both agree Williams should be ahead of Bud. Leave it at that.

 

And my point is that CBud's game isn't "total garbage", which is what you have consistently called him, even though I've shown you that he isn't. You're still blinded to CBud's actual value to the team because you're not opening your eyes.

You know what? Maybe TWill would be better suited to play CBud's minutes. I don't know one way or another. I'm not the head coach. I don't watch these guys in practice. I don't know what their limitations are as far as knowledge of the system or chemistry with the other players because I'm not there with them while they're training. So I don't pretend to know which player is better suited for those minutes. And I'm certainly not arguing with you about which player deserves to play, CBud or TWill.

But what I can say is that CBud's game is anything but garbage. You're just hatin' because you don't want to accept the idea that Bud's game might very well be better than you think it is.

Again, I challenge you to watch the next game with a focus on how Chase actually plays the game. Watch him move and jump to rebound the ball. Watch him at least try to rotate over on defense. Watch him shoot just about every open three pointer he has. Watch him drive and cut to the basket. And at the end of that game, if you honestly and actively watched how CBud plays, if you still think that he's total garbage, then I'll concede.

 

I watch every Rockets game despite how painful it is, even if it means downloading it through torrent trackers. I see Bud trying a lot, but I also see him failing a lot. Like I said, to me he is garbage. If you don't feel like it, then that's your opinion and your right to your opinion. To me, he is the single most worthless player on our team right now. There is not a single player on this roster that Budinger deserves minutes over.

 

This makes me laugh now that I read it again. I want the Rockets to win no matter what coach or player it takes. If a player helps us win, it makes me even happier. I WANT Bud to be a good player. I WANT Bud to improve, because the better he is, the better our team's chances of winning are. He is NOT improving however. He has regressed TREMENDOUSLY from last year and yet our dumbass coach continues to march him out there in front of the firing squad.

 

Let's be completely fair here. There's a reason why there was a substantial gap between Avery being fired by the Mavericks, and being hired by the Nets. A very good one. Avery's inability to get along drove him out of town in Dallas, and it'll be what drives him out of Jersey/Brooklyn. The guy just pisses people off. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how knowledgeable you are, or how well you scheme, or how disciplined your system is. You've got to manage the personalities and the egos on your team. If all you do is piss your players off, you're not a good coach. Avery pissed that entire Dallas roster off, and he's already getting started in Jersey. First it was Troy Murphy, then Terrence, then Devin Harris, and now Brook Lopez. Rick's ability to manage players is underrated, and the reason why he's such a good coach, and it's also the reason why Avery is such an overrated one.

So yes, I'm willing to give Terrence a bit of a pass for landing in Avery's doghouse, because it's really only a matter of time before the entire Nets squad is in the same position. If clashing with a coach with a dubious reputation of rubbing players the wrong way makes Terrence a head case, then the same thing could be said about just about anybody who's played under Avery, All-Star or otherwise.

Terrence has been good here. No arguments with teammates or coaches. No reports of him being late or absent to practices. The most controversial thing he's done since joining this team was twittering that he was anxious and hungry to play, and that he needed to keep working hard and staying patient. Pretty mild. He's immature, sure, but then, I'd guess that most 23 year old millionaire athletes are. Until he does something that actually warrants it, the "Headcase" label is inappropriate.