I think this is the #1 reason we have under-performed this season. (Yes, even more critical than McHancock's funk, although said funk contributes heavily to the lineup uncertainty.) Put it this way: If McGrady had been out the entire year up to now, but we'd had a few more starts from both Artest and Battier, I'll bet we'd have a better record than we currently do. Guys would know their roles better and know what to expect from each other. Right now, we are sorely lacking in both of those departments. So this got me thinking about The Streak. Obviously, things shifted drastically during The Streak when Yao went down, but apart from that, did we have any lineup shifts at all? Does anyone know?
Landry missed a number of games, and we had that trade in the middle of it (Wells/James for Jackson).
bench players (landry) and inactive players really (wells/jackson) but outside of Yao going down the core starting lineup and bench was the same for most of the streak. and i do agree the juggling of lineups makes it really hard to get a good feel on the floor, coaches to game plan and roles for the bench to be defined. but there is nothing that can be done about it at this point
Battier also missed a couple games during the streak, as did Alston I think, and McGrady missed the first game or two of the streak.
(Actually, I could be wrong about Battier and Alston... maybe the games they missed were all after the streak, but I'm not positive)
Battier being in and out has been a killer and has shown us poor and inconsistent defense on the perimeter. He's usually the guy covering up for McGrady.
the constant ins and outs will bring problems for any coach. adelman was just stating the obvious (jvg has, too). the real question is, what has caused the ins and the outs? injuries? something else? or a combination? and how do we deal with it?
Considering we have now had 15 different starting line ups on the season, yeah I would say the fluctuation is a bad thing.
Start Artest as Sf. Play Battier as SG. Play Scola, Yao and Rafer. then bring the Brooks/TMac/Landry combo off the bench
I can't imagine if T-Mac comes off the bench,that ain't gonna work out at all I guess.Ron would be our best 6th man sparking off the bench,and he's starter caliber player,but he's willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to win games.I have a man-crush on him. And Fluctuating lineups have been bothering the Rockets since the beginning of this season,and our Medical Staff still can't figure out how and why they're so injury plagued.Damn,hope everyone will be okay and our starting lineups won't be streaky any more!
