ADDITIONS: Derek Anderson (Portland), Lonny Baxter (Panathinaikos), Dion Glover (San Antonio), Chuck Hayes (Kentucky), Luther Head (Illinois), Keith Langford (Kansas) and Stromile Swift (Memphis). SUBTRACTIONS: Scott Padgett (New Jersey) and Clarence Weatherspoon. STRENGTHS: Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming ... Other than Miami, Houston is the only team in the NBA with dominant players in the paint and the perimeter ... They will draw constant double teams ... T-Mac is pretty much unstoppable one-on-one ... Yao is one of the top low-post scorers in the game ... Overall, the Rockets' frontcourt is just impressive ... Stromile Swift will bring the young legs and athleticism they lacked last season ... Juwan Howard and Dikembe Mutombo should still be quality backups ... They have pretty good three-point shooters in Jon Barry, Mike James and David Wesley ... Above average rebounding squad ... Jeff Van Gundy's teams always play good defense. WEAKNESSES: Guard play ... They don't have any great playmaker ... Tracy McGrady may be forced run the offense too often – which may wear on him ... The Rockets have a pretty veteran and unathletic backcourt ... Mike James, David Wesley, Derek Anderson, Bob Sura and Jon Barry are all older than 30 ... Sura, a key player for the Rockets last season, has hinted he may be forced to retire due to a knee injury ... Foul problems and stamina are issues for Yao Ming ... He rarely stays on the floor more than 35 minutes ... Will Jeff Van Gundy allow the team to run the fast break a little bit more? PROJECTION: 2nd in the Southwest Division / 4th in the Western Conference PROJECTED STARTERS: PG: Mike James - Plays good defense and can hit big shots. Not great vision of the court. Average playmaker at best SG: Derek Anderson - Comes off his worst season in the NBA. Might be able to contribute if he stays healthy. Can play some point. SF: Tracy McGrady - One of the most unstoppable players in the NBA. Scores in bunches. Has proved he can coexist with another star. PF: Could very well be the most athletic player at his position. Plays decent defense and has an emerging offensive game. C: Yao Ming - The Chinese center must be more dominant this year. He has all the tools. This should be his first 20 and 10 season. 6th MAN: David Wesley - Undersized shooting guard with a great shooting stroke. Will turn 35 next November. Will probably see his role reduced. ------------------------------------------ OK overall. Starting lineup they project (backcourt) doesn't seem to be what we'll see opening day, but who knows.
I would bet the starting lineup will be: Backcourt: Wesley and Anderson Frontcourt: Howard, McGrady and Ming Unless Swift has a super strong preseason and/or Howard falters or is unhealthy ........
i could see wesley and anderson starting.... but, i really dont think howard is going to start. we picked up stromile swift b/c we the organization belives he is the best complement to yao... what good would he do sitting on the bench? swift ought to start because he is the better athelete who can play stronger for a longer period of time than howard. having howard and james off the bench is great anyways b/c they provide scoring relief if yao or tmac are on teh bench.
I think Codell's going to be right. Stro's coming in to a new system and he's not known as a quick study. JVG's not going to play him until he has his assignments down. Plus I think it's kind of a nice gesture to have JHo start the season even though I assume Stro will be starting relatively soon.
Really. Sura said it might be a possibility but everyone else, CD et. al, were very optimistic about his recovery.
Projected lineups... Does this guy have no one playing the PF position ? lol. Getting pretty excited. getting closer...
Interesting that, from a team that was supposedly "almost there" last year, they are projecting three new starters... If Rafer isn't too much of a knucklehead Yao might finally have *two* teammates that can get him the ball...
Its not about who starts the game, but whose in the line-up at the crunch. STARTING LINE UP (OPENNING DAY) PG. R. Alston SG. D. Wesley SF. T. McGrady PF. J. Howard C. Y. Ming ___________-Bench pg. B.Sura(starts if healthy)/Moochie sg. D.Anderson/Barry sf. R.Bowen/ Barry pf. S.Swift/ Baxter c. D.Mutombo
