RealGM

It was reported that T. Jones went through full training with the team and might return as early as the next game vs Mavericks. He was original starting forward in Rockets all last season and at the begining of this one.
When D-Mo took over and used the given oppurtunity well proving he's worth that spot.
When J. Smith came along who was promissed the starting position according to the sources, which indeed he had for a few games, but D-Mo outshined him and got it back.

Now there is an interesting situation with the Rockets, having these three players whom each make a case of being the starter and none of whom would be happy to come off the bench. What do you think will happen now - who will be starter, who'll go from the bench and who will have to be the 3rd chain? Is there a way to split enough minutes for all of them or one likely to be traded? Who would that be?

I wanna hear whats the common opinion among the majority of Rockets fans, as I'm biased towards D-Mo (due nationality). Therefore I'm kinda hoping McHale won't rush the return of T. Jones and introduce him slowly to the rotation. However I really don't see how all of them could have enough playing time, so some kind of trade would be logical.

when brooks was injured and return he was playing behind lowry
when lowry was injured and return he was playing behind dragic
so the tradition live on
tjones coming off the bench

jones should be the starter if hes 100% healthy

000001 wrote:jones should be the starter if hes 100% healthy

dmo was playing pretty well as a starter
kind of suck again when he was back to the bench
i think tjones should come off the bench until he prove he can be the starter again

GoSu wrote:It was reported that T. Jones went through full training with the team and might return as early as the next game vs Mavericks. He was original starting forward in Rockets all last season and at the begining of this one.
When D-Mo took over and used the given oppurtunity well proving he's worth that spot.
When J. Smith came along who was promissed the starting position according to the sources, which indeed he had for a few games, but D-Mo outshined him and got it back.

Now there is an interesting situation with the Rockets, having these three players whom each make a case of being the starter and none of whom would be happy to come off the bench. What do you think will happen now - who will be starter, who'll go from the bench and who will have to be the 3rd chain? Is there a way to split enough minutes for all of them or one likely to be traded? Who would that be?

I wanna hear whats the common opinion among the majority of Rockets fans, as I'm biased towards D-Mo (due nationality). Therefore I'm kinda hoping McHale won't rush the return of T. Jones and introduce him slowly to the rotation. However I really don't see how all of them could have enough playing time, so some kind of trade would be logical.

Dwight injured his ankle in practice so he might be out for awhile so D-mo and Jones can both start for awhile.

MaxRider wrote:when brooks was injured and return he was playing behind lowry
when lowry was injured and return he was playing behind dragic
so the tradition live on
tjones coming off the bench

This.

Don't expect Tjones to start again with everyone healthy.

I don't expect Jones to be a starter immediately, he will be eased back into it. If he is available today, Id expect 10 mins only. Then over the next few games, increase by a few minutes. Id give him at least 10 games before he's 100% healthy (maybe after All Star break), and got his conditioning back and is then ready to start. DMO back to the bench only strengthens the 2nd unit - and I don't think he's the type of guy to sulk about it. Lets assume after the ASB, we have a full squad that are all healthy, I would think mins look like:

PG - Pat 28, Harden 10, Terry 10
SG - Harden 26, Terry 8, Brewer 14
SF - Ariza 32, Smith 10, Brewer 6
PF - Jones 28, Smith 12, DMO 8
C - Dwight 32, DMO 16

Bench made up of Pap, Shved, Johnson