Go young; go small. Brooks for Rafer. Gerald Whathisname for Tracy. Landry for Yao. Novak for Battier. Let's go lottery. Is it still possible? Just kidding. I guess.
If we start to struggle and drop out of the playoff race......then it may be time to look at the future. Right now, we are only 3 games out of first. DD
I still think the rockets will make the playoffs if T-Mac stays healthy. We may really see Adelman at his best now.
T-mac better step his game up, MVP of this team. Making the Playoffs is a good goal to me, 2nd round used to be but now at least I wouldn't be pissed off if we got eliminated in the 1st anymore.
Can Scola and Landry handle the additional defensive pressure that other teams will invariably be heaping on them now? I felt like they were able to be effective up to this point partially because of the attention Yao gets on the offensive end. Now, the opposition will be able to more fully focus their defensive efforts towards those two. Just a though...
Its going to be on a game by game, series by series basis. I am more excited now on matching up with Utah, Dallas, Golden State, Denver and New Orleans. Utah - Scola v. Okur and Landry/Hayes v. Boozer Not so much against Phoenix or San Antonio. Duncan and a broken down O'Neal will cause problems if Scola/Landry/Hayes have to guard them.
Playing small ball requires that you get lots of points in an uptempo transition game. You're not doing that with Battier...the only Rocket without a 2007-08 slam dunk... running to his favorite corner and parking himself there.
The more I think about this, the worse it gets. Scola and Landry have been "feeding" off of Yao. His double teams have been giving them some open looks. With that gone, they may not match up too well against the bigs in the West. AND you have to have really good shooters to effectively go small. We may be seeing more of Green than we thought. Somebody is going to have to become an All Star player for the Rockets to keep their recently acquired "contender" status. I can't think of anybody on our roster off hand. Rookies? Seriously, that is alot to ask. Bonzi's big butt may have been an asset. (no pun intended)
Ah, I see. Well i'll be quiet on this one because this guy is one of the very few that I haven't seen play and am unfamilar with. Judging by his player profile, I like that he at least appears to be a solid rebounder that plays well around the basket. He's young and could be a nice option. I think I still prefer Fazekas if we're going for a young 4/5 though.
I think go small u guys mean a jump shooting team. Otherwise, please wake up, this team cant finish fast breaks with regularity. So many players dont finish good around the rim. If they can out run anybody, I will definitely be super surprised. Deke will be needed at least for his elbow in the paint.
Small Ball Official: Rockets Sign Bobby Jones Who the @#$! is Bobby Jones?! I figured it needed an official announcement (perhaps I missed it).
This team is going to score more without Yao. Remember how McGrady turned into Superman with Yao out last season. He did that while passing to guys named Mutombo, Juwan Howard and Chuck Hayes. Now he will be passing to Scola, Landry, Bobby Jackson...you get the idea. We are toast in the playoffs but I don't think our win percentage will suffer in the regular season. Maybe just maybe everyone comes back healthy next season and our young players will have had a crash course in playoff basketball and be ready to contribute like vets every night.
