Hear me out, before you flame me, lol. By the way, I mean BENCH, as in not playing them at all this game, not bringing them on in the 2nd or something. Ron Artest: He is not at 100%. With the team sucking so bad, Ron will definitely try to take it upon himself to play harder and push his ankle to the limit. This, obviously, is not a good thing in the long run, for this season nor his career. Let him sit out. Rest that ankle, Big 96. Yao Ming: He also is not at 100%. I know he gives every game his all, but why risk a possible injury if the chemistry is already so bad, that we are not projected to win? Going on the floor with a sullen/angry mood is not going to help his basketball game. Let him sit out. Rest that big heart, Big 11. Tracy McGrady: He is not at 100%. Quitting on the team? Even more reason to sit him out of this one. Plus, it is all part of his master plan (to not play the 1st or second game of a back-to-back.) Let him sit out. Rest that knee, Big 1. Rick Adelman: Play your bench. One, it gives them NBA experience on another team's home court. Two, we aren't playing against the scrubs or the bottom feeders of the NBA. The Hawks have a legit chance of making it to the 'offs in the East. Give your bench experience, while letting your Big 3 sit out. Let them sit out. Rest that franchise of yours, Big RA. Starting lineup: Brooks/Alston Wafer/Barry Landry/Dorsey Scola/Dorsey Hayes/Mutumbo If we lose, we lose. What do we have to gain from my idea? Big 3 gets rest. Big 3 does soul searching. Let Tracy ponder what the team looks like if he doesn't play. Hell, let the other big 2 ponder. The bench gets to play 48 minutes of basketball against a legit team. Adelman gets to further evaluate the benchplay. Again, this is only for one game. I don't care if I get "one-star" threaded. So be it. The Rockets have to step up. They just have to.
Read my post before you post, please. I give reasons. Yao and Artest have been playing on Tracy's level lately. Should that trend continue, the Rockets' ship will continue to sink. (No pun intended.)
Sarcasm? Look it, Clutchfans posters. I'm not trying to say "tank;" the season is over. I'm just saying that, the Rockets need something to jump start them. Many threads say to bench the starters, or to bench people responsible. Just benching one of the big three is not enough. They ALL need to be taught something. Worst case scenario: We get blown out tonight. And? What happened in Toronto with ALL THREE playing? If we get blown out tonight, the big 3 will realize even more that we need them to play. McGrady will come out of his slump, hopefully, taking Yao and Artest with him. Best case scenario: We blow out the Hawks in their house with our bench. Again, our big 3 realize that this IS a team we can win the trophy with, so they play their hearts out (TM included).
I like the idea however, i don't think it will effect the team in a long run. Yao and Artest definately need to play and Grady at the best needs to come off the bench with the 2nd unit. He is complaining about shots let him carry the 2nd unit with Mutombo. Wafer has earned his starting spot imo but let that progress. Wafer is going to be a damn good player a poor mans Wade with a outside shot i'm telling you. He has enough in him to bog down the other teams starter.
Go ahead and berate me. I'm just offering an idea that isn't farfetched, like trading McGrady, or firing Rick Adelman. Artest and Yao were both far, FAR below average in Toronto.
I'm glad you are thinking about our team. But you do not catch the core of the problem. Unfortunately, rest is not a way to solve.
Everyone on this board is being way too "knee-jerk" about the situation we are in. Trade Tracy? Why the hell would management do that? No one that comes in will have equal trade value. AND he has 20 mill coming off the books in '10. If you were a GM, you would wait too. Fire RA? No! He took us to the playoffs last year. Did anyone forget that? You want us to get a new coach? Sure. Who? Avery Johnson? He couldn't keep it against the Heat in '06. Again, I am just offering up a simple suggestion to the posters on this board. If you say yes to the benching, great! If you say no to the benching, thats also great! But you have to explain yourself.
The funny thing is I offered a similar idea as hyperbole when some others said 'let Tmac do whatever he wants as long as he shows up in the playoffs.'
I have explained myself. What do you expect a guy to come around back to his 04-05 form consistently. Keeping 22 million on board for a year and a half is worth it to you? I think not unless your les who also benifits from having him around. Lets be realistic there is players to be had by the time 2010 comes around. The guy has been injured so many times in his career it's hard for me to even come remotely close to believe he can carry a team and 11 years he has been in the league and the injuries wear and tear you apart. Is this guy really worth keeping and paying extra load too seriously even if it's for 1 more season? Trust me there is guys to be had who are ready to play at Yao's age or before his age who is ready to compete. 4 real if the team has plans for 2010 why bother to wast time when Yao is older to get something going quickly? everybody in the 2010 year is a better player than Grady.
Yao is fighting, Artest is fighting, Scola is fighting, in fact, except T-mac, no one is inattentive. We have willing to win, but we just can't play well. Head and Barry shoot 0-11 over 3. What can you conclude from above facts? Bad chemistry. This makes our unconfident. When defending, we are not in a whole. When attacking, we don't know how to run tactics. But it should takes 5. I think T-mac is the source of the bad chemistry. We should find a way to solve. I think he is still telented, trade him is to say: "We just haven't the ability to use him." Unfortunately, I have no idea how to solve. But fans just need wait and see. That's why Morey and Adelman are hired. Then answer your question. Role players always expect your stars. We would lose by 40 without Yao and Artest last game. There is an Chinese saying: Failure is the mother of success. Win or not, if you want to improve, get off the court. -- Peak message.
