Post your Rockets rotation next year (Minutes Played)

[McGrady2Head]

Assuming we sign deke and landry.

PG: Rafer 31/Francis 15/Barry 2
SG: T-Mac 33/Barry 12/ Battier 3
SF: Artest 35/Battier13
PF: Scola 19/Landry 25/Battier 4
C: Yao 33/Scola 13/Mutombo 2

Rafer 31 Minutes
Francis 15 Minutes
Barry 14 minutes
T-Mac 33 minutes
Battier 20 Minutes
Artest 35 minutes
Scola 32 minutes
Landry 25 minutes
Yao 33 minutes
Mutombo 2 minutes

Dorsey garbage minutes
Hayes garbage minutes
Brooks sitting on the bench in a suit (worst pg in the league)
head sitting on the bench in a suit (worst player in the league)
Novak who cares

[PocketRockets]

I don't know man. JJ redick is pretty **** too. I would change Head's caption to tied for worse player in the league. Also, isn't Novak pretty **** too? I would put Novak ahead of Luther/Reddick for crappiest player.

[cbs134679]

pg francis 24min/alston 24min
sg mcgrady 30min/barry 18min
sf battier 18m/artest 30
pf scola 24m/landry 24m
c yao 30m/mutumbo 12min/dorsey 6min

Id use francis as to give us 3 scorers to start the game and artest as the sixth man to create shots for barry and alston off the bench, split scola and landry at the four, mutumbo or dorsey depending on the type of big man were facing.

[Optimism Prime]

I don't know man. JJ redick is pretty **** too. I would change Head's caption to tied for worse player in the league. Also, isn't Novak pretty **** too? I would put Novak ahead of Luther/Reddick for crappiest player.

Novak came through when it counted--otherwise the streak would've stopped at seven.

Okay, here's my ideal lineup:

PG - Alston (24)/Brooks (9)/McGrady(10)/Francis (5)
SG - McGrady (20)/Barry (10)/Battier (10)/Head (8)
SF - Battier (24)/Barry (6)/Artest (10)/Landry (8)
PF - Artest (18)/Scola (15)/Landry (12)/Dorsey (3)
C - Yao (30)/Scola (10)/Mutombo (5)/Dorsey (3)

Here's my reasoning.

PG ROTATION: In my mind, the starer's spot is Alston's to lose. He's not the best PG in the league, but he's done just fine the past couple years. Let him keep it for now. We need to give Brooks some minutes; let him develop. I don't really care if they're minutes where he's the primary option or the playmaker. Preferably, some of both. That way, we can see what his best fit is and learn to use him that way. I'd like to see McGrady be our ball-handler late in the game, or when things get too close. Then, we can go big (Mac-Battier-Artest-Scolandry-Yao).
SG ROTATION: McGrady starts here, naturally. Barry picks up a few minutes behind him. Nothing special, just go in and knock down a couple threes, make a couple passes, and I'm happy. Battier is in the "big lineup" mentioned above. Head gets a few minutes.
SF ROTATION: Battier starts, since he's one of the two best perimeter defenders on the team. He can guard the opponent's best wing player just fine--he's been doing it this long, right? If it doesn't work for some reason... switch and put Artest on him. Badda bing, badda bang, problem solved. Again, Barry gets a couple minutes to shoot. Artest is here in the big lineup. Finally, I'd give Landry a few minutes, just in case we want to go REALLY big (Mac-Artest-Landry-Scola-Yao), but really to see (like Brooks) what his best fit is.
PF ROTATION: Okay, here's the controversial part of my big plan. Start Artest at PF. "But Prime!" you say. "He's too small for power forward spot! We had enough of that with Hayes two years ago!" Okay, fine, my little ducklings, let me explain this. Artest is a MONSTER on the court. Hands down, one of the strongest guys in the league. Hands down, one of the most intimidating guys in the league. Do you REALLY think that many guys are going to successfully post him up? Besides that, how many post up PFs are out there? Shouldn't we be more worried about the mobile PFs like Amare, Dirk, KG, Bosh, etc etc etc? Fine--we'll put Artest on them, and their mobility is now zilch. Besides, even with Artest here, our PF/C starters still average over seven feet. I think we'd be the only team like that--correct me if I'm wrong. Look, Artest has the ability to play bigger than his size in the post. He's only an inch shorter and six pounds lighter than Elton Brand. He'll be fine. If not, switch him to PF and bring out the Scolandry (who will, combined, be playing the majority of the minutes at the 4). Dorsey gets a few minutes here and there.
C ROTATION: Yao starts. No explanation needed. Scola's the primary backup. Deke is in when we need a stop, or foul trouble hits the other guys. Dorsey gets a few minutes of burn.

Basically, I think our best lineups will have our best players on the floor at the same time--what a shock! Whether it's Alston-McGrady-Battier-Artest-Yao or McGrady-Battier-Artest-Scolandry-Yao, we are going to win more when we play Ron, Tracy, and Shane together. I'm in favor of cutting the minutes of our best players, so they have more gas for the NBA finals. I also think that we should give a few low-pressure minutes to our young guys, so we can see what they're made of. I feel like I'm in the minority on this, but PROVEN VETERANS (Barry) should get more playing time than SENTIMENTAL FAVORITES (Francis). Look, if Steve can turn into half the player that he used to be, it'll be a lot better than what we've seen out of him the last few years. And, should that miraculous event come to pass... he's still a backup at best. I would never start Steve Francis on this team. Capice?

Anyways, the MPG chart would look about like this:

Battier 34 (Down 2mpg. Not our best player, but one capable of playing the most minutes--as someone said in another post, having him out there is like having another coach on the floor. Completely agree.)
Yao 30 (Down from 37mpg)
McGrady 30 (Down from 37mpg. "Prime, you just gave our two best players seven more minutes per game to rest so they're fresh for the playoffs! You're my hero!")
Artest 28 (Down from 38 minutes. See above.)
Scola 25 (About the same; 24.7 last year)
Alston 24 (Down from 34 mpg last year--for all you Alston haters, you happy now? He's on the court 10 fewer minutes per game, and has a clear role when he's there: SET UP THE OTHER GUYS.)
Landry 20 (Up from 17 mpg last year)
Barry 16 (slightly fewer than last year; think he was at 17 or so)
Brooks 9 (Actually fewer than last year, when he played 12mpg. If the Francis experiment doesn't work out, Brooks gets all those minutes.)
Head 8 (11 fewer minutes per game)
Dorsey 6 (spot minutes)
Francis 5 (spot minutes, IF HEALTHY--see end of post)

pg francis 24min/alston 24min

There are so many things wrong there I can't even count them. But I'll try. First, Francis is no longer capable of being a third scorer. Second, even in his prime, he wouldn't have been the third scorer, he's always going to see himself as the primary option. Third, even in his prime, he over-dribbled and would KILL Adelman's offense. Fouth... he quite frankly sucks these days.

I'm all for giving him spot minutes--maybe 5-8 a game or so--until he EARNS his way back to the lineup. Hear that? He has to PROVE his worth, because he's hardly a shadow of a shell of an afterimage of his former self. HE IS NOT GOING TO BE THE DIFFERENCE MAKER THIS YEAR THAT HE WAS IN THE PAST.

..........

Okay guys, I just spent about an hour and a half working on this, so I expect you all to nod, smile, and not argue with me, because my fingers hurt from typing so much, and I'd hate to have to make an epic rebuttal from your counter-arguments.

Optimism Prime out.

[Optimism Prime]

Also, as I hope my post pointed out, our team is all sorts of versatile, and we can matchup with just about any kind of lineup. If the matchup dictated that Artest or Battier come off the bench--you won't hear a peep out of me--this is just a general guideline of what I would do, subject to change and open for modifications as needed.

[mackzone]

pg alston 28min/brooks 15min/mcgrady( or barry, it depends) 5min
sg mcgrady 27 min/battier 17min/barry 4min
sf artest 26/battier 17min/ mcgrady(or barry) 5min
pf scola 27m/landry 15m/ artest 6min
c yao 30m/mutumbo 10min/dorsey 8min

francis and head for garbage

i think t-mac shouldn't play more than 32 min per game, yao not more than 30 min per game, they're both injury prone. if possibile,everytime is possible( for example, when the result of the game is decided very early), i'd make them seat, as we absolutely need them to stay healthy. there shouldn't be any problem, because we really have depth

[batkins182]

Click Below...

[coolguy569]

PG: Rafer (33)/Francis(9)/Brooks(6)
SG: McGrady(38)/Barry(10)
SF: Artest(30)/Battier(18)
PF: Scola(26)/Landry(22)
C: Yao(30)/Mutombo(10)/Scola(8)

[MaxRider]

i know you guys are excited
but we don't even know our roster for preseason yet
you never know
i think we are going to make one more trade to create an extra roster spot

[DraftBoy10]

for the guys that put a player in the rotation that receives less than 8mpg lol that's not the rotation that's just spot minutes.

a rotation is like this, and i think is what we'll look like unless someone outta the blue comes in.

PG- Alston- 33/barry-15
Sg-Mcgrady-35/Battier-8/Barry-5
SF-Artest-28/battier-20
PF- Scola-16/Landry-24/Artest-8
C-Yao-35/Scola-13

[franchise73]

With Landry

PG: Rafer 30/Francis 18
SG: T-Mac 33/Barry 12/ Battier 3
SF: Artest 25/Battier 23
PF: Scola 27/Landry15/Artest 5
C: Yao 35/Landry11/Mutombo 2


Rafer 30 Minutes
Francis 18 Minutes
Barry 12 minutes
T-Mac 33 minutes
Battier 26 Minutes
Artest 30 minutes
Scola 27 minutes
Landry 26 minutes
Yao 35 minutes
Mutombo 2 minutes



Without Landry

PG: Rafer 30/Francis 18
SG: T-Mac 33/Barry 12/ Battier 3
SF: Artest 21/Battier 27
PF: Scola 27/ Artest 15/ Hayes 6
C: Yao 35/ Hayes 6/ Mutombo 7


Rafer 30 Minutes
Francis 18 Minutes
Barry 12 minutes
T-Mac 33 minutes
Battier 29 Minutes
Artest 36 minutes
Scola 27 minutes
Hayes 12 minutes
Yao 35 minutes
Mutombo 7 minutes

[hipmaster]

I hope Yao and T-Mac have limited minutes (under 32 min) especially early in the season so that they can make it through the playoffs. Should be easier to do this year.

[Young_Star11]

Starters:
Yao/TMac/Battier 32
Alston 30
Scola 28

Bench:
Artest 32
Landry/Dorsey get 18 combined
Barry/Head get 18 combined
Francis/Brooks get 18 combined

[Guy986]

Click Below...

I like it!

[YoungMoney23]

Novak deserves playing time, Now that we have Artest perhaps we can use him and Battier to try and hide Novak's defensive short comings

[Julio]

I don't know man. JJ redick is pretty **** too. I would change Head's caption to tied for worse player in the league. Also, isn't Novak pretty **** too? I would put Novak ahead of Luther/Reddick for crappiest player.

Novak came through when it counted--otherwise the streak would've stopped at seven.

Okay, here's my ideal lineup:

PG - Alston (24)/Brooks (9)/McGrady(10)/Francis (5)
SG - McGrady (20)/Barry (10)/Battier (10)/Head (8)
SF - Battier (24)/Barry (6)/Artest (10)/Landry (8)
PF - Artest (18)/Scola (15)/Landry (12)/Dorsey (3)
C - Yao (30)/Scola (10)/Mutombo (5)/Dorsey (3)

Here's my reasoning.

PG ROTATION: In my mind, the starer's spot is Alston's to lose. He's not the best PG in the league, but he's done just fine the past couple years. Let him keep it for now. We need to give Brooks some minutes; let him develop. I don't really care if they're minutes where he's the primary option or the playmaker. Preferably, some of both. That way, we can see what his best fit is and learn to use him that way. I'd like to see McGrady be our ball-handler late in the game, or when things get too close. Then, we can go big (Mac-Battier-Artest-Scolandry-Yao).
SG ROTATION: McGrady starts here, naturally. Barry picks up a few minutes behind him. Nothing special, just go in and knock down a couple threes, make a couple passes, and I'm happy. Battier is in the "big lineup" mentioned above. Head gets a few minutes.
SF ROTATION: Battier starts, since he's one of the two best perimeter defenders on the team. He can guard the opponent's best wing player just fine--he's been doing it this long, right? If it doesn't work for some reason... switch and put Artest on him. Badda bing, badda bang, problem solved. Again, Barry gets a couple minutes to shoot. Artest is here in the big lineup. Finally, I'd give Landry a few minutes, just in case we want to go REALLY big (Mac-Artest-Landry-Scola-Yao), but really to see (like Brooks) what his best fit is.
PF ROTATION: Okay, here's the controversial part of my big plan. Start Artest at PF. "But Prime!" you say. "He's too small for power forward spot! We had enough of that with Hayes two years ago!" Okay, fine, my little ducklings, let me explain this. Artest is a MONSTER on the court. Hands down, one of the strongest guys in the league. Hands down, one of the most intimidating guys in the league. Do you REALLY think that many guys are going to successfully post him up? Besides that, how many post up PFs are out there? Shouldn't we be more worried about the mobile PFs like Amare, Dirk, KG, Bosh, etc etc etc? Fine--we'll put Artest on them, and their mobility is now zilch. Besides, even with Artest here, our PF/C starters still average over seven feet. I think we'd be the only team like that--correct me if I'm wrong. Look, Artest has the ability to play bigger than his size in the post. He's only an inch shorter and six pounds lighter than Elton Brand. He'll be fine. If not, switch him to PF and bring out the Scolandry (who will, combined, be playing the majority of the minutes at the 4). Dorsey gets a few minutes here and there.
C ROTATION: Yao starts. No explanation needed. Scola's the primary backup. Deke is in when we need a stop, or foul trouble hits the other guys. Dorsey gets a few minutes of burn.

Basically, I think our best lineups will have our best players on the floor at the same time--what a shock! Whether it's Alston-McGrady-Battier-Artest-Yao or McGrady-Battier-Artest-Scolandry-Yao, we are going to win more when we play Ron, Tracy, and Shane together. I'm in favor of cutting the minutes of our best players, so they have more gas for the NBA finals. I also think that we should give a few low-pressure minutes to our young guys, so we can see what they're made of. I feel like I'm in the minority on this, but PROVEN VETERANS (Barry) should get more playing time than SENTIMENTAL FAVORITES (Francis). Look, if Steve can turn into half the player that he used to be, it'll be a lot better than what we've seen out of him the last few years. And, should that miraculous event come to pass... he's still a backup at best. I would never start Steve Francis on this team. Capice?

Anyways, the MPG chart would look about like this:

Battier 34 (Down 2mpg. Not our best player, but one capable of playing the most minutes--as someone said in another post, having him out there is like having another coach on the floor. Completely agree.)
Yao 30 (Down from 37mpg)
McGrady 30 (Down from 37mpg. "Prime, you just gave our two best players seven more minutes per game to rest so they're fresh for the playoffs! You're my hero!")
Artest 28 (Down from 38 minutes. See above.)
Scola 25 (About the same; 24.7 last year)
Alston 24 (Down from 34 mpg last year--for all you Alston haters, you happy now? He's on the court 10 fewer minutes per game, and has a clear role when he's there: SET UP THE OTHER GUYS.)
Landry 20 (Up from 17 mpg last year)
Barry 16 (slightly fewer than last year; think he was at 17 or so)
Brooks 9 (Actually fewer than last year, when he played 12mpg. If the Francis experiment doesn't work out, Brooks gets all those minutes.)
Head 8 (11 fewer minutes per game)
Dorsey 6 (spot minutes)
Francis 5 (spot minutes, IF HEALTHY--see end of post)

pg francis 24min/alston 24min

There are so many things wrong there I can't even count them. But I'll try. First, Francis is no longer capable of being a third scorer. Second, even in his prime, he wouldn't have been the third scorer, he's always going to see himself as the primary option. Third, even in his prime, he over-dribbled and would KILL Adelman's offense. Fouth... he quite frankly sucks these days.

I'm all for giving him spot minutes--maybe 5-8 a game or so--until he EARNS his way back to the lineup. Hear that? He has to PROVE his worth, because he's hardly a shadow of a shell of an afterimage of his former self. HE IS NOT GOING TO BE THE DIFFERENCE MAKER THIS YEAR THAT HE WAS IN THE PAST.

..........

Okay guys, I just spent about an hour and a half working on this, so I expect you all to nod, smile, and not argue with me, because my fingers hurt from typing so much, and I'd hate to have to make an epic rebuttal from your counter-arguments.

Optimism Prime out.

That was quite a post, man.
I'm not sure I agree about putting Artest at the 4; I would think putting Artest and, when Ron is out, Battier on the best scorer of the other team(ie Kobe, LeBron, Pierce) would be quite an idea.
But I'm 100 % with you on the "let's not get ahead of ourselves with the false ideas about SF3".

And, quite frankly, I'm tired about the things like Head: the worst backup in the league, and Brooks, the worst PG in the league..

[Alex_De_Large]

I don't know if i would start with Battier, Ron, Scola or Alston on the bench, sure starters are the 2 superstars only.

Alston (34) Barry (5) Tmac (9)
Tmac (25) Artest (18) Barry (5)
Battier (36) Artest (12)
Artest (8) Scola (16) Landry (24)
Yao (32) Scola (16)

Artest (38)
Battier (36)
Alston (34)
Tmac (34)
Scola (32)
Yao (32)
Landry (24)
Barry (10)

Also i would made 2 units for second and third quarter.

Alston-Artest-Battier-Landry-Yao a team
Barry-Tmac-Battier-Scola (and Landry or someone else) another team

Tmac leading a unit and Artest/Yao the other.

Reserves if someones of the 8 man-rotation gets injured + garbage minutes + depending on the rival.

Head
Dorsey
Hayes
Brooks
Francis

Novak

[tisbee]

Prime,
Adelman likes to ride his stars. No way does McGrady see that few minutes.
I've thought about this one since it first posted and started to reply several times. We don't know the final roster,and how the players fit w/each other. In general terms:

Alston,McGrady,Artest,Scola,Yao start. Battier is the 6th man. Barry is the back-up PG. If Adelman goes w/an 8 man rotation then it's Hayes/Dorsey competing for the back-up big spot. If he starts the 2Q,4Q w/a complete second unit like he did last yr,it'll prob be small team w/ Barry,Head/Brooks,Battier,Artest,Yao. We will see Artest pick up significant minutes at the 4,esp when other teams go small,or against agile,quick PFs(Dirk,Lamar,West,etc.). At least 1/3 of Scola's minutes will be at the C. Yao will prob have his minutes limited at begin of season to about 30-32,but they will increase as yr goes on to 34-36.
The roster allows tremendous flexability,esp if Dorsey can rebound and block shots. You can put together 1/2court units,running units,defensive units,3pt end of game units(choose from Alston,Head,Barry,McGrady,Battier,Artest,Novak/Maarty.)

There just aren't very minutes left for Landry if Artest(and Battier)spend significant-more than 10-minutes at the 4 and Dorsey carves out playing time. Between the C and the PF spots there are 96 minutes. If Yao gets just 30,Scola gets 30,and Artest(Battier) get another 10,that leaves just 26 minutes. If Dorsey can provide the Rockets the rebounding and defense they want,he'll easily get 10-15mpg. That leaves only 10-15 minutes for Landry.

[moofs]

The thing I keep looking at is: even if something doesn't work well, it's not like there won't be time to adjust or try out new things in practice/camp.

Edit: Good post nonetheless Optimism, I'm nodding and smiling.

[Julio]

The thing I keep looking at is: even if something doesn't work well, it's not like there won't be time to adjust or try out new things in practice/camp.

That and:
We had one year with our team adjusting to Adelman's gameplan, so on paper we will be better on that aspect, AND we just added a player who already knows this gameplan.