chuck will get his minutes. chuck is respected for what he does, that`s defense, hustle, and rebound. although he is a liability on the offensive side of the court, but so is dorsey and deke.
I guarantee you if Landry is healthy that Hayes will be out of the rotation. Landry stepping up was key for us last season, right behind Scola's improvement. Those two guys make us a LOT better than Hayes, who should only see situational minutes. Last season proved that. Before the season ends, Dorsey will get every opportunity to prove himself and he stands a very good chance of passing by Chuck, especially if he can defend well enough at the C position. Unless Brent Barry breaks down, I can't see how in the world Head is in front of him. The only time Luther should get on the floor is during blowout wins or losses. Remember that Adelman plays a tight 8 man rotation. Barry will see minutes but he likely won't be in the top 8. Either AB will pan out or the Rockets will get another backup PG. Deke will only be in the rotation if Yao gets hurt, unless you consider averaging 5-6 mins/game being in the rotation. Scola (and maybe Dorsey) will slide over when Yao sits down.
I like your rotation ! We just have to make sure that if Battier is playing the 2 we have Ron or Brent at the other wing or else we have no perimeter offense out their. That was one of our biggest problems last year, when t-mac went out we had no one on the wing who had size and could score and create shots for them self. Now we have that with Ron and Brent I am very excited!
You must remember there is a strong possibility that Mutombo will retire, he is at present unsigned. If last season was anything to go on Harris, Novac and Hayes were better for the team than 2007 Steve Francis. I do however see that S.Franchise, Head and Novac + the two boys coming from Sacramento might be traded away!
Well, I'm pretty sure theres gonna be a trade or two that makes the picture alot clearer before the season starts, but as is this is how I see things: Starters are pretty set, the one exception is working out how Battier/Artest works. It makes sense starting Ron, but he has said that he would be willing to come off the bench and it really doesn't matter who starts, its who finishes. PG Alston SG T-Mac SF Artest PF Scola C Yao Things get a little foggy here, but I think a lot of it is that fan's perception isn't the same as Morey's. Barry at least for now seems to be the back up point on offense but will likely guard the other teams "weakest" wing on defense, that means someone will have to guard the PG spot because Barry simply can not guard too many of the PGs in the west. Right now that probably means Head since neither Adelman or Morey are as down on him as the fans are. I remember Coach saying that Head was one of the best two players we have at passing into the post and cutting. Head has basically became the board's new Rafer. Backups PG Head (only defensively) SG Barry SF Battier PF Landry if he signs C Hayes/Dorsey A healthy Francis would likely push Head out of the rotation, but that would be a big assumption given SF3 recent history. Brooks is the third PG regardless. Mutombo will hopefully be back for one more year, in his typical spot duty unless theres an injury/mascot role. From theres its a matter of what the team feels like in needs to protect itself in case of injury.
yao (33) scola (27) ron (36) tmac (33) rafer (33) ------------ shane (30) landry (18) barry (15) brooks (15) ------------- deke (0) head (0) hayes (0) ------------- steve (ir) novak (ir) dorsey (ir)
what about mike harris the guy can play no doubt about it. i think hayes, luther and novak manbe the odd men out.
Right now I think you've got nine guys with the expectation of getting rotation minutes with 1. Yao 2. Tracy 3. Artest 4. Battier 5. Alston 6. Scola 7. Barry 8. Landry 9. Brooks In a real world I don't think this will be a problem since injuries will inevitably bring a player or two down at a time. But for the beginning of the season I see Adelman going with an 8-man rotation (20-35 minutes apiece) with a 9th man getting 8-10 minutes. The question then becomes, does he want depth at the forward spot or at the point guard? If it's forward, Landry will join Scola and Artest rotating at the 4, and Barry will be the primary backup to Rafer with Brooks coming in occasionally. If it's point, then Brooks will have more minutes as a backup and we'll play small ball at the four with Artest backing Scola (or Scola backing Artest if Hollinger is right). Of course, either case could occur on any given night depending on matchups. Landry could play 25 minutes against the bigger teams like the Lakers and Jazz, and Brooks could play 25 minutes against the smaller quicker teams like Golden State. That's what makes us scary. No matter what Scola will get minutes: in small-ball he will back up Yao and in big-ball he will start (and back up Yao I guess, but we also got Deke or Dorsey for that too). Other improbable but possible things that could happen in camp: 1. Francis supplants Brooks as the back-up point. All hell breaks loose in Houston. 2. Landry does not re-sign. Dorsey takes his place on the depth chart and sends our team FT%'s to new lows. 3. Hayes Harris Head poison their teammates' lunches and find ways to get spot starts in games.
If everyone is available, then I would expect on average this minutes distribution : PG: Alston (33), Brooks (12), Barry (3), Francis (0) SG: McGrady (30), Barry (15), Head (3) SF: Artest (20), Battier (25), McGrady (3) PF: Scola (15), Landry (20), Artest (10), Hayes (3) C: Yao (34), Scola (10), Mutombo (4)
If Hayes and Dorsey are so similar, why would you play 6'5 Hayes and not 6'7 solid muscle/10x more athletic, Dorsey? One of these days people will realize that Hayes is WORTHLESS now that we have Dorsey....hopefully thats sooner rather then later!
Last season, the only time when we had Yao, Scola, and Landry all in the rotation was late January / early February. Chuck was getting rotation minutes during that span (about 10-15). More than Landry, I think adding Artest to the PF slot will boot Chuck out of the regular rotation. Without Artest, Chuck brings a unique talent defensively we don't have otherwise (Dorsey is unproven). If Artest proves himself capable defensively and rebounding-wise at PF, then Chuck no longer owns that niche.
Artest is a situational PF at best and I don't think he will appreciably affect Chuck's minutes because their purposes on the floor are completely different. A healthy Landry and Scola will keep Chuck on the bench and out of the rotation. This talk about Artest at PF is overblown IMO. Against Shawn Marion, Dirk, Lamar Odom and a few other instances, Ron Ron will be OK at PF. But I don't think he rebounds well enough. He COULD, but that isn't what he's about.
the last 4 years of injury to Yao (and T-Mac) really has me all but cowed about giving him over 30 mpg for most of the regular season. if 3 broken legs/feet and an infected toenail (although that was preventable) aren't enough reason to seriously monitor Yao's minutes, i don't know what is. when the Rockets have so much offensive firepower even without Yao, and arguably play defense just as well if not better without Yao, there is no reason to risk injury on the seemingly fragile Yao. PG: Rafer (24), Brooks (12), Barry/SF3 (12) SG: T-Mac (24), Barry (10), Head/SF3 (10), Battier (4) SF: Battier (26), Artest (16), T-Mac (6) PF: Scola (24), Artest (14), Landry/Hayes (14) C: Yao (30), Scola (6), Deke/Dorsey/Hayes/Landry (12) that's actually 13 men in the rotation, with Novak and Harris on the injured list, but the actual rotation will be around 10. none of the 8 and 1/2 crap from Gundy's days. and no one with over 30 minutes per game. the Celtics weren't deep at all, but KG (who's generally very durable) only played around 32 minutes per game. to be fair, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen did play around 35 mpg each, but both of them have been virtual ironmen for most of their careers. Tim Duncan hasn't played over 34 minutes per game in 4 years. however, if Artest explodes (in a good way), i have no problem giving him 35+ minutes per game and giving Landry/Hayes less. if Scola has a breakout year, i also have no problem also giving him around 35 minutes too and Deke/Dorsey/Hayes/Landry less. the real question marks are SF3 and Brooks. if Stevie can come back at even 70% of what he was a few years ago, then Head never gets off the injured list, and Barry plays less minutes. if Brooks has a breakout year (Rondo+), then he seriously challenges Rafer for the starting job. but it looks like PG and PF will be a 3-4 headed monster.
pg: alston (34) / barry (14) sg: mcgrady (34) / artest (14) sf: battier (30) / artest (18) pf: scola (20) / landry (18) / hayes (10) c: yao (34) / scola (14) rafer still has to play many minutes because we don't have a real backup pg. barry is a not a real pg but capable of handling the duties. but only for about 10 - 15 minutes per game. brooks still hasn't convinced me at all. until now he's a 3rd string pg. the role of francis is unknown. t-mac finally has a reliable backup and doesn't need to play more than 34 mpg. artest and barry will be his main backups. head only plays in case of injuries. battier is better suited as the starter but he will definitely play fewer minutes than artest. scola is the undisputed starter at the 4 but we still need him as a backup center. if landry stays he's the main backup with hayes seeing some minutes here and there for defensive purposes. dorsey has to earn any minutes. novak will see some situational minutes as a 3 point specialist. i hope yao comes back fully healthy. if that's the case his minutes will be monitored closely. 34 mpg should be the upper limit. scola is the main backup center even if mutombo is re-signed. mutombo (if re-signed) will get limited minutes against real centers. dorsey and hayes might see some minutes here and there at the 5. overall, the main concept behind my rotation is to keep the offense going at all times and to play each player according to his strengths. last season's starting five has proven to be very effective when healthy. i wouldn't touch the chemistry and the offensive balance. rafer gets t-mac and yao his shots early on. if they're on fire we continue this way and substitute as usal. artest becomes the first option off the bench. playing him the majority of his minutes with yao and t-mac is actually not a good idea. we need role players on the court with them and not a player who wants his own share of the shots. artest will do wonders off the bench. he can be the energizer and jack as many shots up as he wants to (which he will do no matter what). if we struggle offensively early on we either substitute artest for battier or we go small with either artest or battier as the pf. i generally like the idea of playing small ball with this roster. scola, dorsey or chuck at center plus t-mac, artest and battier or barry together on the floor, this team could run with the best of them.
These studs will not be in our rotation! OSCAR TORRES CHRIS JENT CHUCKY BROWN SAM MACK BRENT PRICE ZAN TABACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DAN LANGHI PETE CHILCUIT
I don't see anyway we can count Hayes out right now. It's laughable how much you guys undervalue his pesty defense and hustle on the boards, just because his offense is limited. If he is not a Rocket next year I am not a happy camper.
