The Roster has 16 players and with Probably Casey Jacobson that will put it to 17 players. With only 15 roster spots available this is the way I sum it up. (Point Guards) Rafer Alston - Starter if Bob Sura is unable to go John Lucas III - If sura plays like before, Lucas rides the bench Bob Sura - Let's hope he can bring it for one more season!! (Shooting Guards) Kelenna Azubuike Luther Head - Likely fight it out for a primary SG of bench in training camp Kirk Snyder - Likely fith it out for a primary SG off bench in training camp Vassillis Spanoulis - My choice for starter, but to be disputed in training camp (probably) Casey Jacobson - 2nd 3 pt. specialist off the bechn (Power Forwards) Shane Battier - Starter Chuck Hayes - A big rebound guy Juwan Howard - Primary Power Forward backup Maciej Lampe (Small Forwards) Tracy McGrady - Starter Steve Novak - Primary 3 point specialist off the bench Ryan Bowen - Defenisve Substitution (Centers) Yao Ming - Starter Dikembe Mutombo - Primary Center backup I think that one of the battles for a spot will be Novak (220 lbs.) and Lampe (275lbs.) (I saw on Rockets.com that he is still with the Rockets). Both guys are supposed to be tall 3 point specialist forwards. One is a SF and the other is a PF. I think that Novak definatley has the edge here. Lampe is still young and could develop, but they might just let him go to Europe and learn his trade as a shooter better there, of course I think the Rockets lose all rights to him. Even though Lampe has been in the NBA 3 years he is still one year younger than Novak. So, there is still untapped potential there for Lampe. The other battle will likely be at the Shooting guard position. Depending where Spanoulis will be playing (pg or sg) there are a lot of shooting guard on this team. And to add a wrinkle to the matter, most of them have very little experience with very little success. Azubuike is a rookie, Head has only 1 year experience, Snyder has 2 years experience, Spanoulis is a Rookie, and Jacobson has 3 years experience. There is a lot of potential untapped talent there. With Spanoulis fueling our imagination in the World Championship games. But, I think that Azubike is the odd man out in the bunch. If not him then it likely will be Jacobson (assuming he signs with the Rockets)
By the way, I think that the team is definatley building an identity on paper. They have specialty players to go along with the key reserves. And the Role players are guys who know how to do the intangibles they need to for a team to be sucessful. If Sura can come back, I think that is a major plus for the Rockets. His play definatley inspired his teamates. But, Battier seems to be in the same type of mold. I think this looks like a playoff team right now and the season will determine if it can be a championship team.
I don't think PF is as set in stone, either. I find it probable that JVG will go to the Shane Battier as PF solution, but not set in stone (he played only 26% of his minutes at PF last year). Of course, I don't really see a way Shane doesn't start. This could be a line-up: Rafer, T-Mac, Shane, Juwan, Yao but for some reason people seem to think T-Mac at the 2-guard doesn't work - and I can never tell if it's just people on this board, or if the Rockets organization and T-Mac himself are also against that plan. If Snyder plays well in camp, the vibe I get is that he'll be the starting 2 guard, so the line-up is: Rafer, Snyder, T-Mac, Battier, Yao I think Head and V-Span will be the primary guards off the bench (still not confident in JLIII), Snyder and Battier will get some time backing up the SF position, with the frontcourt obviously being Yao, Juwan, Dikembe, Hayes.
I don't think Lampe has a future on this team. He and Azubuike probably don't make the 15-man roster. It cheers me up a lot that Kill Bill, Battier, and Yao had strong performances in the Worlds, but we've still got big holes in our lineup. Yao, Mutombo, and Howard are our only true frontcourt players, so we are going to have to field a lot of small lineups this year, with Battier rotating his defensive assignments according to situations. This roster actually looks more like a George Karl team than a Van Gundy team, but JVG is going to have to get real flexible if he wants to save his job. I don't see Kill Bill starting, at least at the beginning of the season. JVG felt that the Rocket's biggest need going into the offseason was size at the 2-guard spot, and at 185 lbs, he doesn't give us that. That being said, I think it's a long shot that Snyder is our long-term answer at the 2. He probably starts at the beginning of the season, and yields to Kill Bill when that doesn't work out.
I don't think Lampe is even here anymore, Sura is unlikely to play (I love his game), Alston was very unimpressive last season, Lucas is very small, Synder has had problems with his coaches (good luck with JVG), I love Hayes but he is undersized, Howard is in his twilight years, Mutombo is past his twilight years, Head started strong and finished weak, Bowen is a "church leaguer," and so on. Line-up set? I think not. At this point, Battier is the only solid role player (starting, I view Howard and Alston as "bench" players). Far too many unknowns. I am somewhat excited to see VSpan, and, maybe, Novak, but both are questionmarks. Keep it real.
Thanks for the update on that one. But, I saw on Rockets.com he is still on the Roster. It looked pretty up to date because it lists who the free agents are and even Azubeke. I just went with that Roster line up.
That is the glass is half empty view. But, I think we added to the glass; therefore making it half full Either way, as long as we realize that this is the best the Rockets could do. They couldn't go out and outbid for key free agents!! I'm sure that other trades that were examined didn't make much sense for the Rockets. Free Agents didn't want to give Houston a discount to sign here. The draft brought us Battier, a type of player the Rockets sorely needed. All in all, it looks like a sucessfull off season. Of course it isn't the revamped lineup all fantasy league players want, but it does have a purpose. Play around Yao and McGrady! Like I said the lineup is set until they add more Talent By the way I'm sure if Bowen was playing in a Church league he'd be scoring 40 points a game. He'd look like Hakeem. Church leagues haven't gotten as good as the NBA like the European team!
My projection: Yao/Mutombo Battier/Jho/Hayes Tmac/Snyder/Novak Span/Jacobsen/Head Alston/Sura/JL3 Thats 14 players. Fighting for roster spot would be Azubuike. I would have Azubuike rather than Bowen but most likely it wont happen. Overall the roster looks awesome. Rox management did so many changes and im am quite satisfied with it. I dont understand why so many of yall argue about PF spot. Battier is a good rebounder and defender and he can play PF well. JHO is a above average PF off the bench, not many teams have that. We have good defensive players in Yao, Battier, Tmac, Alston, Sura n Snyder....good shooters in Battier, Tmac, JAcobsen, Novak n Head and good pass first PGs in Alston, Sura, JL3. If Span turns out to be a diamond, this team will go deep into playoffs. Good job Rox management!!
Where did most of this board get the notion that Battier is and will be a starting PF? He has been a 2/3 his whole career with only spot minutes at the 4. Now, I'm not saign there is no way he starts there, he very well could be, but I'm shocked at how many have already penciled him in that spot especially after comments made by himself and others in the organization. I am one of those that was very adimant about TMac not playing 2-guard. Most of the wing scorers come from that position around the league and, even though TMac is a good defender, we can not allow him to have to use up energy and focus on that side of the court trying to slow these players down. But, in this situation with Battier, it realy does not matter. Ideally, Battier and TMac will start at the wings (not so much SG or SF). Battier will take the other teams' best perimeter scorer on defense, and the ball will go through Yao and McGrady on offense no matter what position they play. Battier will play some minutes at the 4, more against some teams than others, but he is not the starter. Whether people like it or not, Howard is the starting PF as of now. He plays better in that role than anything he does coming off the bench. Point Guard: Starter - Alston Bench - Spanoulis & Lucas (PT determined on who's playing well and matchups) Other Possibilities - Sura Shooting Guard: Starter - McGrady Bench - Snyder & Head (PT determined on who's playing well and matchups) Other Possibilities - Spanoulis, Sura Small Forward: Starter - Battier Bench - Bowen, Novak Other Possibilities - TMac, Novak, Snyder Power Forward: Starter - Howard Bench - Hayes Other Possibilities - Battier, TMac, Novak Center: Starter - Yao Bench - Deke
I seriously doubt Lampe would've played on another team's summer roster if he was still in our plans.
No doubt, both you and I are diehard fans, or we wouldn't be here. I truly want to be excited, optimistic, positive, BUT, my brain keeps telling me that this team is held together by threads, very fragile. Ming's foot and TMac's back are legitimate concerns. Past the stars, the talent level falls off precipitously. Granted, the Rockets didn't have much to work with moneywise, but I don't think they did enough given the resources they had to make this team better. Frankly, the Rockets need two more legit NBA starters and a better bench to be taken seriously by the league. That is unlikely to happen this year. The team might be entertaining though. Rock on, brother Zac!
Spanoulis is not a SG. He may play some in a small lineup if JVG decides to throw 2 small quick guards out there but he is essentially a PG.
Do you think JVG would be open to having a rotating starting lineup? Meaning, Battier at the 4 when we are against a smaller, quicker 4...and JHO at the 4 against more of a bruiser? This is not done often, but might make sense given the makeup of our roster. We still need to add another bruiser imo.
My prediction is that we don't even really play a true PF (aside from Howard as backup). We will go with 2 SFs in TMac and Battier. On the offensive end, here's how we will work: Rafer will be the distributor Yao will be in the paint TMac, Battier, and 1 other person will be the outside threats, with hopefully TMac and the 1 other also being threats to slash inside. This should spread out defenses. They need to put someone on Yao and someone on TMac, but they will also have to respect the 2 3-point options (Battier and ??). Rafer is the weak link, but he is capable of cutting in and dishing it to the open man. All of this will make it very hard to double-team on anyone, creating a lot of room for our guys to work. On defense, we have Yao clogging up the lane, and 2 great defenders in TMac and Battier. That should take the wind out of a lot of teams. Quick shooting guards will be our weakness, but JVG's defensive scheme, when it's working, is usually capable of switching up coverage. Like I said before, the ultimate key to our success now is for the new guys to step up. I.e., Hayes, Head, Novak, VSpan, JL3. If 2 or 3 guys can deliver results, we will be in great shape. I expect Hayes to continue his level of production from last year, i.e., collecting rebounds for about 10 minutes a game. The rest of them are question marks.. they will either be sparks or duds. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
Yes, I think JVG will probably do that, barring us acquiring a definitive starter. And if that is the case, then more often then not, Battier is going to play the 4. Because there are so few big post up power forwards left in this league. And even when you find one, a lot of times they are paired with a perimeter face up shooting center like Brad Miller or Okur. In those cases, I can even see the possibility of Battier and Yao switching off their assigments and letting Battier take the big centers out there and letting Yao work the defensive paint area against the posting PF.
I agree that Sura is done, despite that news conference he held a month back. My old boss, who is good friends with Sura, told me that Sura's knee was hurting after just a small pickup game with some kids. He told me he didn't think Sura was gonna make it next season. Too bad. I really liked Sura.
Too bad about Sura, he's one of those intangible tough guys you need. But with the addition of Battier and V-Span who seem to have that same type of intangibles, Sura being gone becomes less of a blow. Kelenna Azubuike - training camp fodder Novak and Jacobsen will be seeing inactive list alot barring an impressive camp and preseason, otherwise battling Rybo for 12th spot.
