Most likely this will be our lineup alston wells tmac battier Yao Howard is no where better shape than battier can with the pf role. battier can actually help keeping honest defense on Yao as battier can shoot the 3, it will also open up the lane for wells and tmac to drive. Howard may be a better rebounder and more traditional pf but he is clogging the lane and space of Yao. take a look at Shaq when he was with the lakers or even now with the heat. what type of pf did they surround shaq with? shaw needed the space and lane to operate, and not someone from his own team to clog up the space. I expect Yao to be the same. he needs a pf that can draw space for him and not collapse on him instead.
well...battier has a pretty % but just doesnt shoot enough. I think if Bonzi was an above average 3 point shooter, we'd be really set. i hope he works on that, if not, just open mid range jumpers or something.
I know that this lineup may have never been suggested on ClutchFans, so please dont shoot the wondering one... But what if we had a lineup like this? C - Yao PF - Howard SF - Battier or T-Mac SG - T-Mac or Battier PG - Wells <--- It would make much more sense, from a talent POV that Alston would be the 6th man, instead of Wells... Now I know Wells has never played PG before, and I hate to change subjects, as I know these are different sports, but I believe this is a great comparison. Look at Washington Nationals' Alfonso Soriano. All through his career he has played 2B... then he went to play in the outfield. Sure, he whined and complained about it, but after rounds of that, he's been in a comfort zone ever since. I believe that Wells, if he put his heart into it, could become a great formidible point guard for us. Then off the bench it would be: C - Mutombo PF - Hayes SF - Snyder SG - Head PG - Alston Thoughts?
I think if that was the starting 5, McGrady would be the point forward. Kind of like the Bulls of old. McGrady has pretty good handles, and in my opinion would be a better option to bring up the ball than Wells. But, that would be a heck of an intersting Tall line up!!! Teams would have a real tough time matching up with the size the Rockets put up there.
The only thing I wouldnt like is that with that height we would basically have to play in the paint, and that might mess up Yaos game with so many people in there with him. I think we will see a lineup of: Yao Howard Battier Tmac Alston With Tmac and Battier basically playing the same posistion, and assignments will be given so that Battier gets the tougher player. Then off the bench we have Deke Hayes/Battier Wells Snyder Vspan I would love to have Wells in the starting line up, but I don't see Van Gundy experimenting too much. Maybe the best thing that can happen for us is that Howard goes down at some point in the season, so Battier can hold onto the PF position with Hayes as the main backup.
ill show you.. jk i would rather have wells at 2 or coming off the bench...alston does a decent job passing..its just the lay ups and shooting that's difficult for him..
It would collectively very slow. Slow at C, PF and PG. But how about... C - Yao PF - Battier SF - Tmac SG - Wells PG - VSpan or Head This is still a fairly big and physical line-up, and really only slow at C.
that 5 does not have enough shooting for my liking. I'd rather play: Head Bonzi Tmac Battier Yao let Tmac create because he obviously does not have to carry such a high scoring load with Bonzi out there. Head gives shooting and can guard PG's. problems with my lineup: making Battier guard 4's instead the perimeter, which is his strength. Obviously the lack of a playmaking PG is also a problem, but I'd rather have a legit shooter out there and let Tmac run the offense. As you can tell, I don't care for Alston or Howard.
Alston is underrated. Last season was an anomaly. If he falters tho, I would not mind looking into acquiring either Steve Blake (40% plus 3 pt shooter last season) or Luke Ridnour, who appears unhappy with the Sonics. I would be more worried about the 3 pt abiliity from the SG spot. Not one of them has a career % over 36%. Even Jacobsen's 40 plus % was just that one year, in the PHX system no less. Snyder may end up being the best of the bunch - a hybrid of Bonzi & Jacobsen. We could only hope.
With the Wells addition, this team looks completely different. It is amazing how much difference a good veteran player can make. Now the pressure is off the youngsters. If Alston can be replaced with a better shooter/defender, hopefully VSpan, then the starting lineup becomes kind of scary. They would be a defensive nightmare for most teams in the league. Plus you have several aggressive rebounders and drivers. With Ming and TMac scoring, wow, this group could be special. If they double or triple Ming like they did last year, this year they will pay: stop and pop or drive and dish. On paper the Rockets have enough weapons to go to war, and win.
I think some of our posters are letting their emotions run away with things and they are getting mixed up with our better players and who will be starting and also I believe that you must consider Spanpoulis and Novac as players with potential to be considred in the list of our better players, even though at this point both are unproven on the NBA Court.
I'd like to start YAO Howard Battier T-MAC Alston in the beginning of new season. Bonzi's a good 6th man!
Hey what about this starting five: Yao JHo Battier Bonzi TMac (yes as PG) How's that? Haha we have 3 3-pt threats......
Alston is a career 39% shooter and 72% FT--both extremely poor for an NBA point. His 3s are not terrible, but not really a strength, 35.6%. Basically he is a very marginal starting PG over his career. Last year was a little worse (38%, 69%, 33%), but hardly a major anomaly. I would be inclined to give Head, JL3 (who tore it up in the summer from the NBA line), VSpan(?) all shots at the starting point if they shoot better than Rafer. If none is emerging maybe then consider a trade. Head, Snyder and Jacobson 3% are all about 36%, Head and Snyder are young, and have more off the ball games that can benefit off of our stars, so I would say there is a better chance they increase substantially than say Alston's. VSpan or Novak (play guard in the O, forward on D) can be in the mix as well. Even Wells, 33.5% career, is not atrocious at the 3 ball, only DW and Head were better off our team last year. Wells has been very variable in the 3 ball season to season, will he be a 25% shooter, or 38% shooter. I'd settle for about 34-35% as his last two years in Memphis were when he took a decent number of shots. Personally I am more concerned about Alston's 3 ball than say Wells, because if Alston is not efficient in the 3 ball he is just not an efficient offensive player, but Wells has other efficient areas. I do say having Alston and Wells on the same court with Yao/Tmac likely won't be the best line-up unless both shoot the 3 ball better than last year--but we have lots of other guys to throw in the mix.
These line-ups leave us slow footed relative to most competition at C, PF and in the latter one, PG. I still like Yao-Battier-Tmac-Bonzi-Head. They can totally bring it defensively and spread the floor. You can also mix in VSpan for Head or Snyder for Bonzi and get the same effect. Now we have two big guards (Bonzi & Snyder) to compensate for Battier as a little light for a PF we are better having them in there and Howard as a back-up. We gain much athleticism and shooting range for a very small sacrifice in boards (maybe none with Bonzi in there instead of Howard).
Agree with that lineup. I want to see a faster team this season around Yao and inserting Howard in the starting lineup just makes this team even slower. I will take Battier as a light 4 any day of the week, because he is a phenomanal help defender and I think he averaged almost 1.5 blocked shots a game last year. Bonzi will make up alot of the difference on the boards for Battier. With that lineup the speed and length on the defensive rotations is going to be something the rocket fans have not seen in quite awhile.
