Everyones heard it...Rebounding wins championships!!! LOL no, but really most times the team that wins the boards wins the games. As it stands now the Rox are a terrible rebounding team. JHO is worthless in this category as your PF, and Yao is good, but not exactly great. Alston is weak, hes no Francis on the boards, and Battier is a lifetime 5 boards - 35 mins a night player. Deke looked really really old last year and gasp does this mean that RyBo is our mop up guy. TMac as your SF is about average I guess. This team has ZERO toughness on the glass, and ZERO shot blocking presence outside of Yao under the basket. If we were a running team, I might not be so scared of these two GIANT ommisions in our team that CD and Van Stupid have put together. We picked up Swift to become more athletic last year. Yet in one year we dump athleticism for slower and older? Weather you want to see it this way or not, this team is in NO way a better team then the one that faced Dallas in the playoffs. And we lost in the first round that year. So we gotta hope that TMAC and YAO are that much more impoved to take up the slack. Is this the case?
Ranks #2 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds Per 48 Minutes(6.0) Ranks #10 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds Per 48 Minutes(10.0) Ranks #3 in the NBA in Rebounds Per 48 Minutes(16.1) Ranks #14 in the NBA in Steals Per 48 Minutes(2.33)
I'm guessing that those stats belong to Hayes. But only time will tell if his production translates with bigger minutes over the course of an entire season. As for the rebounding question, it seems like with all this talk about Battier playing the 4, that they are really relying on Yao stepping up his rebounding for good. He pretty much needs to pull down 11+ boards a game, like he did in the second half of last year, to hold our own on the glass. I think it's possible, since he's starting to play bigger minutes, and how much his hands have improved in the past year. Stamina is his biggest key for him. When he's fresh, he can play bigger minutes and with more energy. He was really starting to steal some rebounds away from other people last year, and I see it as a reflection of his increased stamina. Hopefully he just continues to make progress in that area, because it's probably the only thing holding him back from playing like an MVP-type player.
The Rockets won a championship in 95 near the bottom of RPG. Oh and who is going to man the boards for the Rockets this year? Duh... The same guy who has been manning them for the past 5 years. NOBODY
You can't say Zero toughness and Yao in the same sentence. He is arguably the most dominating big men offensively and Defensively in the league. IMO it's an easy argument in Yao's favor. He disrupts opposing teams offense more than any one single player. Yes I would like a stronger rebounding PF. But Chucky Hayes will bring some of that and Battier is not a push over. I would say wait to see what these guys can do on the court before we right them off.
ob Sura David Wesley Ryan Bowen Tracy McGrady Yao Ming Rafer Alston Shane Battier Juwan Howard Tracy McGrady Yao Ming You're telling me that the first group is better than the second? If T-Mac and Yao are healthy, the Rockets don't need to have a 3rd 20-point scorer in the starting lineup. What they do need is a player who can give them an occasional 20-point game, which Rafer and Juwan and Shane have all done in the past. Plus, they also need a bench of guys who can average 6-8 points per game, with someone that can come in and drop 25 once every 2 weeks (like a Luther Head or Kirk Snyder). Until the trend changes, this is what it takes to win the championship. If you look at the championship teams since 1989 (can't count the Lakers and Celtics pre-1988, they just had rare talent), almost all had a model similar to this. The Trail Blazers, Suns, Warriors, etc. all had a bunch of scorers up and down the lineup, but none ever took the championship. If it was just 1 or 2 years, I could understand, but we're talking about a 17-year trend. Even the Pistons in 2004, the one team that broke the mold of the 2-superstar, role player-driven teams that had won championships since 1989, their 3rd-leading scorer only averaged about 12 points per game. The glitzy, high-scoring teams will succeed in the regular season, and are more fun to watch, but until they prove it in the championship realm, I'll take a fundamentally sound, defensive-minded team any day of the week.
Let me make a further comparison. Kenny Smith Vernon Maxwell Otis Thorpe Robert Horry Hakeem Olajuwon The best all-time lineup for the Rockets, right? Or at least in the top 2-3? OK- Kenny Smith was an average guard. OK offensively and poor defensively. Great 3-point shooter, but definitely not a great playmaker and really could not be counted on to score more than 10-15 points unless he had a hot streak. Notoriously criticized by Rockets fans during the regular season for his shortcomings. Robert Horry? Where was he in the regular season? Took horrible shots and was OK on defense. Vernon Maxwell? Great clutch shooter and great defender. Great defender. But he could have cold, cold streaks as well. Otis? Excellent rebounder and defender. Couldn't shoot with two hands if his life depended on it. Definitely limited offensively. Hakeem? Nuff said. What made this team a championship team is the way they played together and did the little things to win. They didn't need Kenny to give them 20 points night in and night out, but he did need to be capable of this on occasion. Same with Maxwell, as well as the rest of the starters and the bench. Hakeem was counted on to be everything- scoring, rebounds, defense, etc. I watched all 82 games in 1994, and what struck me about them was the poise, the support, the calmness despite being down by 10-15 at the start of the 4th quarter (except for the Phoenix playoff series), and the key steals, the key blocks, the timely 3-pointers, etc. Plus- EVERYONE WAS HEALTHY!!! I do not have a doubt that a healthy T-Mac, Yao, Alston, Battier, and Howard can take it to the Finals- now, maybe to win we would need an upgrade over either Howard or Alston, but we're not that far away. Until Dallas or Phoenix prove it otherwise in the postseason, that's my opinion and I'm sticking with it.
Chuck Hayes' per minute performance should largely translate, at least up to maybe 25 mpg. Much above that, then the balance of aggresive play and staying away from fouls might become an issue. He is not that tall, but his standing reach is actually on par with that of Shelden Williams and Sean May, two PFs who ended up lotto picks in the last 2 years. The most important thing is that he has good rebounding instincts and technique. I trust Chuck to do a decent job with increased minutes. About Battier... he's already a good offensive rebounder (2.0 of his 5.0 rebounds are offensive, and this for a guy who floats around the court and sometimes spot up for 3s-- in contrast, Yao only averages 2.6 offensive boards a game being in the post all the time), his total rebounds will rise if he plays more PF minutes. For one thing, he'll line up to catch some missed free throws, and those help pad the rebounding stats of the 4/5s. Also, he'll be in better defensive rebouinding position when he isn't contesting 3s around the perimter. I remember K-Mart's total rebounds jumped a big deal between his 2nd and 3rd year because he switched from often guarding opposing SFs one season to mostly guarding PFs the next. Battier similarly can see more rebounds if he plays the 4 more, at least he can't be much worse than Juwan and Stro wre last season. There should help from the 1/2/3 spots, too... If TMac doesn't have to carry as much of the scoring/creating burden as Yao increases his responsiblity, perhaps he can return to spending more energy on the boards (the guy used to average 2.5 offensive boards and 7.8 total boards a game). Luther Head does a decent job snatching loose balls..
Chuck Hayes has the best rebouding insticts ever, Rodman included. He can easily get 10+ every game for 30 minutes playing time, Yao and Tracy are both good rebouders. Tracy is a better at board than you think. Only problem is chuck can't shoot and can't space the floor for us.
No you didn't say that. Rodman was a rebounding phenome. Never inthe history of the NBA had such a prolific rebounder come in such a small package. He was as tough as nails and had the instincts of a bat. Chucky is good maybe better than good but Rodman was a rebounding legend albeit a crazy one.
I firmly believe that, Hayes is better balanced and quicker to the ball. Also Rodman was reduced offensively by focusing too much on boards, he was a much better offensive player when he played for Detroit. Chuck can do more offensively, he has such good hands around the basket. Rodman is bigger than Hayes though, so it is a bit easier than Chuck. I think Chuck will produce similar kind of boards as Rodman in the same # of minutes.
Stop the hype, we're gunning for last place in the division again and JVG is gone once that happens. Two players will not get you into the playoffs in the playoffs in the Western Conference. It's wrap that we will suck until JHo's and Deke's $'s are off the books. However, I would still go for Deshawn and Trevor, which would give us 3 young guys to play D against quicker teams that give us fits.
You can forget a serious championship run if Juwan Howard starts at the 4. Why can't Rockets management figure this out????
"No team will win a championship with Avery Johnson as their point guard." Famous last words of a fool.
I have high hope for Hayes like you. But just a word of caution, these per 48 min just may not translate well for him, for one, he may collect 3 or 4 fouls easily in the 15-20 min day light he can see. Remember he will need to go against the elite PF of the west. Don't expect the refs to give him any prefrence what so ever...
I'll say it again, Howard starting will only hamper the Rockets chances. He provides zero toughness at the 4, and does not rebound or block shots. I'm no fool.
I do think they're going to use Hayes more extensively this year... yet another reason not signing Mike James was just such a massive blow. Hayes is an offensive liability... and folks, so is Rafer Alston. He can't hit an open jumper. His three-point shooting has gotten worse each of the last 4 seasons and he hit 37.9% from the field last season. You can maybe get away with one offensive liability in your lineup, but two? I don't think so. Dallas runs Dampier/Diop at center, with Dampier able to provide a little offense. But the other four? Terry, Stackhouse, Dirk and Howard. Three of those guys shoot over 40% from downtown. Sorry - I know I'm a broken record at this point.... but James was a much cheaper version of Terry. He would have provided so much for this team... we flat out needed Mike James, and the Rockets know it. Unfortunately, so did James. Anyhow, I'm way off course... but I think they're looking to use Hayes a lot more this year as the backup. With Morey on board, I'm sure he's preaching the on-court value of Hayes. I wouldn't be surprised though if they go for another four via trade. We'll see.
He averaged 1.90 fouls in the 14 mpg he does play. So, if he kept up that rate he'll be in foul trouble as a full time (35+mpg) player, but for about 20-25 mpg, he should still be OK. There are enough other guys on the team (and probably another FA big man to be added) to cover the rest of the minutes.
