People say Howard is more effective as a starter than he is off the bench because we have seen him in both roles playing for the Rockets. He was terrible backing up Mo Taylor. Then, he was put into the starting lineup and he and the Rockets improved.
I'm not convinced of anything from that. At the beginning of last season, JVG was playing with the lineups a lot between Mo and Howard. He'd start Mo, or he'd start Howard. He'd have them split time, or lean towards one or the other. I think the bigger problem was that JVG didn't have a solid rotation set up, and Howard settled in when he got consistent minutes, not necessarily a starting role. At this point I wouldn't pull Juwan from the starting lineup, but I certainly would give Stro and Hayes some more minutes (especially next to Yao) and see what they can do.
i agree with jopatmc. i don't get why people are saying howard is less productive off the bench either.
Howard is at best a stop gap measure, and as was correctly pointed out, having him and Yao on the court at the same time causes us to be a very slow footspeed team. Juwan has been a productive player and still is, but I personally believe Yao needs Swift to help cover his deficiencies. DD
What happens when you pair a snail and a turtle in a 3-legged race? The foot work of Howard and Yao. We need a headless Rabbit to carry Yao's legs. Enter Swift.
Wait until he shows up every night and doesn't injure himself by a bus bump for the rest of the season.
