Yes, Tmac and Yao are capable of taking us far when healthy Yes, Battier will bring intangibles and solidarity to our club My question is who is going to come to play when one of our superstars has an off night? Rafer Alston Rafer is an ongoing debate here on clutchfans. Until he proves he can have a better shot selection and make a defensive stop when it counts, he will always be on the bottom end of starting PGs John Lucas Played very well in Summer league. He's a short guard that will need to develop a Earl Boykins type midrange game to survive. V-Span We have all seen the videos and are hoping for some type of Ginobili breakout. At this point he could be anything. Luther Head This next year will determine if Luther will be a forever pine rider or not. He got all the minutes he could handle and got O.K production. He is not a natural scorer or point guard, How and Where will he fit in? Chuck Hayes Played decent last year with limited minutes. Has no offensive game, but has good hands and can really rebound.Is he a third string blue collar player or the next "non ball grabbing" Reggie Evans? Kirk Snyder Has talent, but so did Stromile. The big question is how will Jeff respond to Snyder. Steve Novak Has size and can shoot the rock. Does he have any hidden talents that will make him an option on this team? We can hope Sura is healthy but I think He,Tumbo,Juwan, and Bowen are all on there last lap with the Rox.We are putting alot of hope in unproven players at this point. So...... Who will it be?
I was going to say Battier and Howard, but you seem to have put Battier in the superstar list, and you left Howard off. That said, I think what we are truly relying on is if "one of our superstars has an off night" the other one will pick up the slack. I think that is the primary formula of a two-superstar team.
Well.......I really want Luther Head to step up big but I don't think he's there yet, so I'm thinking on Juwan Howard stepping up. After all, he did manage to score 31 points in a game this season and hopefully, if one of our stars have an off night, Howard might be able to put up points. but I think JVG will simply call a time out and tell the Rockets to run our offense through the star that's not having an offnight.
Who will it be? Virtually all teams, including championship teams, have weaknesses. We don't need one guy to play stellar. We need teamwork and chemistry that allows us to mask our weaknesses and play to our strengths. Rafer is a capable PG that can get guys involved. JL3 hopefully can do the same. Synder will be able to defensively matchup with anybody as will Battier. Juwan, Battier, Head, Novak can all space the floor. VSpan, Snyder, JL3 and even Rafer can penetrate and find seems. Battier, Hayes and hopefully Snyder can bring hustle and provide a spark. The question about our role players is will they have the poise to play their roles in crunch time ...when games are won and lost? And can they melt their strenghts together to build chemistry forcing teams to match-up with us rather than the other way around? That's a tall order for younger players but I like our bunch of young players. I remain hopeful. THE BIGGEST QUESTION is can TMac and Yao have MVP caliber seasons? If they can, I have faith our role players can find their spots. If both TMac and Yao have subpar seasons, it doesn't matter what our role players do ...it'll be irrelevant.
Even if our superstars are having an off-night they will still get double teamed, so a hot shooting Novak could easily carry the load. In terms of taking over a game, probably Lucas, just because he is quick and has developed an outside shot. If he got on a roll, few pt guards could shut him down. I see those two players as the best offensive weapons on this team outside of Tmac and Yao
With Yao and McGrady plus Battier, it is no brainer that someone is going to step up next season. I got the feeling it is going to be Novak or maybe, it will be someone else. Oh, damn. Who cares? Rockets will definitely be better than last season. I will not be surprised if Rockets goes all the way.
If we have to rely on lucas and novak to carry any type of load or taking over a game WE ARE IN FOR A LONG SEASON.
i think snyder is the biggest X factor. if he comes to play and steps up his game then the rockets would be an extremely dangerous team
If Wade and Shaq have a off night or goes down....WHO will step up? Or Dirk and Terry flop and hurt themselves...Whose gonna shoot the J's? Maybe if we have a coach who can emphasize the TEAM concept and get guys to buy into it, that will help us compete in times of distress. DARIUS MILES will NOT fit in any team that emphasizes TEAM UNITY....unless that team is structured around a Fonde concept.
No, unfortunately. I'm just dreaming. I personally salivate at the thought of Darius running the floor with TMac and Battier surrounding Yao with a mix match haven of 2,3,4 combinations that would cause everybody in the league trouble included the dreaded Suns, Spurs, and Mavs. Darius is the type of player that can defend against Duncan one night, Kobe the next, and then Dirk after that. I'd love to plug him into our starting lineup with those guys and let Van Gundy mix and match throughout the game. He could have Miles defending against Kobe or Lamar per se, and then put Battier on the other player and leave McGrady with a light night defensively on whoever. This would allow McGrady to cheat and help on either Lamar or Kobe. Or JVG could throw Miles or Battier out there on Nowitzki and put the other one on Josh Howard and leave McGrady to take Greg Buckner defensively. Or if Dallas went with Stack at the 2, then you could mix and match, say put Miles on Stack, McGrady on Howard, and Battier on Dirk. You could come at the opponent defensively in so many different ways. Duncan and Ginobilli. Battier and Miles with McGrady standing around on Bowen. Miles would give us so much more flexibility defensively, it would be crazy. Now, think about this? Amare is posting up Yao or slashing to the basket against Yao as Nash penetrates and throws up the lob. We will get infinitely more help defense from Miles than from Juwan. Wanna go big? How about Miles, Snyder, McGrady, Battier, and Yao? Wanna go small? How about Span Head Synder McGrady and Darius? And everything in between. I just think Miles would put us over the top. Van Gundy could motivate him to make a difference defensively, and by applying his athleticism the way that we all wanted to see Stromile do. Miles would make us a fast breaking team with much higher percentage shooting just based on Van Gundy getting him to dig it out defensively. Because of his abilities to handle the ball and run the wing in transition along with Battier and McGrady, and his defensive abilities, he would turn our defense into a high pressure, turnover creating unit with the ability to finish on the other end. Yeah I know, statistically he is awful right now. But you don't have to look at statistics to see that. You can see that his attitude on the court has been terrible. So, you really can't look at his numbers and give them a whole lot of statistical value. Even if you did, he still grades out better than Juwan with a rotten attitude. I think with the change of environment and with a core of professionals to be surrounded with in Yao, TMac, Shane, and JVG, that Darius would be in a situation here where he would be like Rodman in Chicago. Rodman had to yield to Jordan, Pippen, and PJ. Miles would realize that it is in his best interest if he wants to win and have fun to yield to TMac, JVG, Yao, and Shane. I would love to see a switch out of Juwan for Darius. But, once again....I'm dreaming.
I know this isn't a popular option, but it's still the most reliable option after the big (now) three. Juwan Howard will be the go-to guy when McGrady, Yao, and Battier are all off the floor. He did last year, and if the situation calls for it, he'll do it again. He's not the most efficient choice, but reliability is worth something, too.
I hope I don't get beat up over this response but back when I lived in Htown and would go see Akeem and the rest of the team, when players would have an off-night, the crowd stepped up and got rowdy and it seemed to help the team. I live in NY now and when I see the Rockets on tv, with the exception of a few fans (guys on this board most likely), it seems that the crowd is indifferent. I hope the new rowdy section I've heard about works out. This might help and maybe seem like a 6th man. I could be wrong but I say we need the rest of the crowd to step up.
When those guys are all off the floor, we are in trouble then. Juwan should only be getting spot minutes off the bench behind Yao in situations where the opponent has a very weak defensive player at the 5. To rely on Juwan as the go to option at any point in time means we are either taking on water or at the very best just treading water.
I personally salivate at the thought of Darius running the floor with TMac and Battier surrounding Yao i personally puke in my mouth a little. But really, the guy is talented but he has underachieved (IMO) thus far in his career. Although, maybe part of that is that he is still pretty young (25). maybe when he matures (mentally) he will put it all together
1. Miles is extremely overpaid for his skill level. 18 Million in his last two years. 2. Miles is a chemistry killer. 3. Miles can not defend or be a good matchup against the great power forwards in the West.
Here's a prediction. At no point in the season will there be a time when all three are off the floor...except maybe in garbage time. If TMac and Yao are injured, it makes absolutely no difference if Battier, Juwan or Two Sandwiches steps up ...it won't be enough.
