things I noticed in the first couple of Pre-Season games

In my opinion, Rafer's main issue last year was his inability to play well in an offense with himself as focal point. I think Rafer will be a perfectly competent PG as long as he is free to be a distributor and 4th/5th option on offense.

 

Totally agree. He is a distributor, and the fifth option. Last year, he was forced to be the first option.

 

Yeah, I don't know about V-Span. Boki is better, he has a better shot, size and to me more speed and athleticism than V-Span and Boki is a scrub. I don't think he is as good as you hear around here and its laughable when people mention Parker and Ginoboli in the same breath as V-Span. V-Span will never start for an NBA team at PG, I hope he proves me wrong but I don't see him being more than a third string player for the Rox.

 

Are you trying to suggest that Novak and JJ's accurate shooting ability come from the facts that they are virgins? You may have a good argument here. They must have worked very hard on their shootings.

 

Difference is that Boki always played tentative, whereas Vspan is too aggressive. That's a big difference. You'd much rather be over-aggressive than under. Milktoast players with no confidence never succeed in the league. But fiery wild men have a much better track record of toning themselves down.

And forget the talk about Ginobli or Parker. Spanoulis is a much different player. Like I've said before, his model should be more like Sura. Similar disposition and playing style. And if Vspan goes anywhere it will be due to his grit and determination, just like Sura. They even have similar sounding nicks; Bobby and Billy.

 

lollll i know you it means to say version.......but thats effin hilarious man! ahahahah

 

My conclusion from the first 2 preseason games:

We need to play the Hawks as often as possible.

Other than that, the relevant numbers are 27, 22, 19, and 8. Those are the minutes for Novak, Padgett, Lucas, and Spanoulis. The first three got major evaluations; the fourth was pulled before he could do himself any more damage.

If Jacobsen and Haryasz are DNP the next couple of games, somebody on this board should do the right thing and offer them a job selling real estate.

 

I think Alston is the best point guard Yao's played with. A great improvement in this respect over Bob Sura, who refuses to pass to Yao. Rafer's ability to feed Yao will not be a problem.

 

you making it sound like you have seen half of the season, when it's only been one PRESEASON game

 

I agree that it is hard to find virgins in NBA, but it is a stereotype to call white rookies who can shoot virgins.

 

I agree with most of the early observation, ie. Novak may help this season, Snyder's got game, and Vspan ain't so hot.

But I think its way too early to define proclaimations already, either positive or negative.
I definitely can't say Vspan is dissappointing. He suxed big time, yes, but I hardly think its reasonable to expect his game to translate so quickly. The game he excelled at overseas is a very different one, with very different teammates. I don't think his game is uncontrolled, but rather uncoordinated with his new Rox teammates. I believe thats the pace he excels at. Its that aspect of his game, similar to Ginobli's, that seems hectic and off the wall(even to teammates) that makes them good. So it'll take not just him to adjust but his new teammates also. remember Ginobli was not even in the league yet at KillBill's age, and his first season was not eyecatching either. Give KillBill time.

AND as for Novak, yeah he can shoot and space the floor, but his prolonged play today also exposed how overmatched he is with those athletic freaks Atlanta threw. They picked him apart defensively and beat him to the ball consistently, so its hard to expect too much other than as a specialist from Novak this season. He has lots to offer on the offensive end though, outside of spot-up 3's.

As for Snyder, he's got game alright, and tough too. just hope that he can keep his hothead from keeping him on the bench...notice he almost got in to a confrontation today, in a preseason game?

Head, yeah he just might be our backup to Rafer til KillBill and Bellaire Midget can get their TO's down, which I'm okay with as long as T-mac is on the court with him.

One more observation from today's experiment...can Battery really play signifigant minutes at PF, he seem to struggle on the defensive end today, and much like Novak, grabbed very few rebounds for the amount of time they played...anyone else worried? IS putting our best "wing" defender on the PF really a good plan, even if he does a better job than Juwana Man?

 

I thought he handled that rather well, actually. Snyder was playing fair, hard-nosed defense on Marvin Williams and Marvin decided to throw an off-arm at Kirk to free up space. Then Kirk got back up into Marvin and the foul was called. After that, Marvin decided to slap Kirk's hand away from him and Kirk took exception to that. I'm not exactly sure how else you would expect/want your player to react to that type of behavior from the opponent. All that happened was a stare down, and Kirk restrained himself very well I thought. No punches or even shoves...really didn't even look like there were any words exchanged.

Short of actually getting into a fight, I love it when a guy brings a mean streak to the game like that.

 

I love all those guys who are in the rockets uniform. everybody is good player.
V-span needs time, remember Yaoming's first year? Just trust him and give more support.

 

I remember a time when the need was to draft a shooter in the first round by the name Reddick. It looks like we got our shooter in the second round with out having to sign him to a first round rookie contract.

BillSpan will take a few games. Maybe a couple of months. I don't think he will get a lot of minutes during the start of the season. I think we will see more of BillSpan in mid December when he figures out the American Culture, and the NBA itself.

We played some scrubs in Atlanta, and Memphis. The Grizz did not have their best player out there.

 

My biggest concern is shoring up the back up point guard spot. I really hope Head can do that, but I'm not yet convinced he can run the team.

JVG is definitely running a lot more multiple screen sets for shooters in the half court. That's very new for him.

This team is simply quicker than last year's team. In fact, they are flat out faster down the floor as well. They just look 10 times more athletic.

Once they get comfortable with their rotations, this could be a seriously scary team defensively. They are so long at virtually every position and can run a wide range of line-ups out there. They still have to prove they can defend the four, but this is a rangey team that can really wreak havoc in the half court.

Novak will hit a wall at some point and when he does, I hope that the team continues to shoot well from other positions. This can be a good shooting team.

Besides the injury issue, I do worry about rebounding with this team. It will have to be a collective effort because there isn't one GREAT rebounder on the team outside of Hayes and, at 6'6", he is just not going to be as effecitve as someone four inches taller.

 

give vspan sometime, he will get it once he is there. lucas can shoot much better. there are way too many TOs. if i were CD, i would bring back lonny baxter.

 

but if a 5-year veteran in Shane with very high BB IQ, maybe even the highest on the team, feels lost then VSpan might be like a headless chicken out there. i'm not writing him off, although the Manu comparisons are ludicrous (anyone remember the Boki/dunking Peja comparisons?). but as Gundy has said, there just aren't too many opportunities in the NBA. VSpan still needs to work on skills he doesn't have right now like shooting and even rebounding let alone taking care of the ball. Yao took a long time to really develop true confidence, and even T-Mac doesn't always have it. what's 3 years warming the bench or even wearing street clothes going to do to VSpan? VSpan may become a good player in the NBA, but i doubt it happens with the Rockets. he's just not likely to get the opportunities.

 

I've been saying for a while that Luther's going to get lots of time, and it'll probably be backing up Rafer and of course some sg.

The overall team speed is amazing. They could be the best defensive team in the NBA.

When Bonzi comes back, it just gives the Rockets more versitality. If Battier is having trouble defending the star 4, then you could rotate Bonzi and T-Mac on the 4.

Because of the Rockets' speed, they've been rebounding really well these first 2 games. Everyone seems real passionate about getting to the ball.

Even if VSpan and Lucas play better, they're not going to be getting consistent heavy minutes. They'll only get playing time when injuries hit, or during blowout wins or losses. Novak will be like this too to a certain extent. While his shot is $, his str8 up D and rotations are weak.

That's why Mutumbo will get inconsistent time too. Deke's str8 up D is strong, and so is his weakside blocking help, but the Rockets are a trap and rotate team. They will get in your face all over the court. Mutumbo is not as good as Yao at this overall team concept. There were times today where Mutumbo's rotation mistakes left wide open jumpers.

So I'm seeing a linup of Alston, Wells, T-Mac, Battier, Yao, Head, Snyder, and JHo. That's your top 8. Novak and Deke will get 10-15 minutes depending on the night. And that's fine with me. So far Luther and Rafer and T-Mac have been shooting great from 3. Snyder has been competent and Battier has been okay. Novak's expertise is not needed yet and it looks like Padgett is expendable.

So overall it's been a great 2 games for the main guys. But as it has been said, this was against the freakin Grizzlies and Hawks. So let's hope things keep goin this well.

 

what about Hayes?

 

Nothing like two preseasons games against Tyronne Lue, Royal Ivey and Damon Stoudamire to get the Alston fans stirred up.