[Game 43] Houston Rockets vs Utah Jazz Game Thread

[TMU]

While I don't like the idea of implementing a fixed rotation, but roughly speaking, I agree with Max and MVP. Judging from the way Wafer has been playing, I believe he should get around 20 minutes as well. That could possibly mean that Brooks and Barry will get less time than indicated.

I'm also not 100% convinced that Artest will be healthy throughout the rest of the season. I think he will be off and on, so that should give the other SG/SFs some flexibility in their minutes.

[jdiaz1978]

I'm glad the Rockets were able to pull this one out!!! I think the injuries are a blessing, we get to strengthen our bench. GO ROCKETS!!!

[moofs]

there's a rumor flopping around that we are shopping Artest
the only way i see us trading him is getting a better PG (i love Scola and Landry at PF)
Alston has been playing so great that it's hard to see us dealing him away
but we need a better PG for playoff

regular season
C: Yao 32, Scola 10, Hayes 6 (for matchup)
PF: Scola 20, Landry 20, Artest 8 (for matchup)
SF: Battier 30, Artest 18
SG: T-Mac 32, Wafer 12, Barry 4 (for matchup)
PG: Alston 33, Brooks 15

i'll like to limit Yao/T-Mac/Battier/Artest playing time to around 28-32 for regular season
so they can be fresh come playoff time

Wouldn't be too surprising, he's 8m of tradeable contract, disrupts the offense, and while his steals on defense have been nice, he hasn't looked particularly stellar there either. While I still would like to see healthy Artest and healthy Battier throw at a lot of teams, the truth is that most teams don't really have two solid sg/sf type players for it to be that effective. If we are, it's probably not aggressive, just seeing what we could get.

[jzmagik]

We shoudl really only play Battier 20 minutes, Wafer deserves 25+, and Brooks should get around 10 minutes.

[ShaY]

We shoudl really only play Battier 20 minutes, Wafer deserves 25+, and Brooks should get around 10 minutes.

20 minutes for Battier might be too little for me.

So if you play Brooks only 10 minutes Alston pretty much needs to play the rest of the 38 save for 2 or 3 minutes.

Mcgrady can easily be the pg , Barry too but the problem is that we won't have anybody to guard the opponet pg , Wafer can guards point guards imo so maybe play him with T-mac as the pg to get him more minutes.

I am curious to see how Adelman will work it out.

I have a feeling that if both Artest and Mcgrady come bacl like themselves , slowly Wafer will get pushed out of the rotation , Adelman really like Barry it's like Ryan Bowen with JVG.

[jzmagik]

We shoudl really only play Battier 20 minutes, Wafer deserves 25+, and Brooks should get around 10 minutes.

20 minutes for Battier might be too little for me.

So if you play Brooks only 10 minutes Alston pretty much needs to play the rest of the 38 save for 2 or 3 minutes.

Mcgrady can easily be the pg , Barry too but the problem is that we won't have anybody to guard the opponet pg , Wafer can guards point guards imo so maybe play him with T-mac as the pg to get him more minutes.

I am curious to see how Adelman will work it out.

I have a feeling that if both Artest and Mcgrady come bacl like themselves , slowly Wafer will get pushed out of the rotation , Adelman really like Barry it's like Ryan Bowen with JVG.

Yea I'm a little down on Battier right now with the emergence of Wafer and what he brings on offense. The thing with Wafer is, he's the only wing we have that really plays within the offense and brings something to the table. Artest and Tmac need the ball in their hands to be effective, while Wafer doesn't, which is why he should see consistent 6th man minutes.

As for pg minutes, we can definately try Wafer defending pgs, but yea I see the problem on the defensive end, its a tough call.

[Mike12345]

If were having trouble finding minutes for players once healthy thats more of a positive in my eyes. We could easily pull a 2 for 1 trade the rockets have shown this season they have a pretty deep bench, in my opinion a little too deep.

[HTown_TMac]

If were having trouble finding minutes for players once healthy thats more of a positive in my eyes. We could easily pull a 2 for 1 trade the rockets have shown this season they have a pretty deep bench, in my opinion a little too deep.

Too deep? Doubt it... Especially with our history of injuries.

Our other problem is inconsistency.

[TMU]

T-Mac and Ron return to practice, and more yapping from T-Mac.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spo ... 26149.html

Those Chron journalists must love T-Mac. He always gives them something to write about.

[moofs]

Yea I'm a little down on Battier right now with the emergence of Wafer and what he brings on offense. The thing with Wafer is, he's the only wing we have that really plays within the offense and brings something to the table. Artest and Tmac need the ball in their hands to be effective, while Wafer doesn't, which is why he should see consistent 6th man minutes.

? Battier, ordinarily when not injured, is an exceptional defender and efficient offensive player. If you're down on him right now it should only be because you're upset he got hurt, you don't think he will get healthy, or you just like seeing a wing who can athletically fill it up (since mcgrady retired from that). How is being down on Battier related to Wafer? Our team doesn't really fit the mold of a "6th man" team, but agreed with Wafer not needing the ball and eventually making a good second unit scorer.