Jazzfan1971 and FloppyMoose's Season Preview - The Rockets

[jazzfan1971]

Houston Rockets

Projected Roster
-------------------------

PG - Patrick Beverly, Ish Smith, Isaiah Canaan
SG - James Harden, Troy Daniels, Nick Johnson
SF - Trevor Ariza, Francisco Garcia, Robert Covington
PF - Terrence Jones, Donatas Moteijunas, Jeff Adrien
C - Dwight Howard, Joey Dorsey, Josh Powell

Trading Block: With Morey at the helm I don't think anyone is safe from being on the block. That being said, nobody really jumps out as me as being on the block.

Position Battle: Isaiah Canaan could give Ish Smith a run for backup PG duties. Covington vs. Garcia is a bit up in the air. But, I think the starters are set.

Mystery Man: Patrick Beverly. Beverly is being thrust into a starting role due to the departure of Lin. I'm not sure he's either ready or capable. He got near starter minutes last year and in the post season and his numbers were pretty poor. In the neighborhood of 40% shooter, giving you less than 3 dimes a night and 10 points. Just not a lot about that screams starting PG to me. We'll have to see how long he can hang onto the position before Morey goes in a different direction.

Floppymusings:
Houston is going to miss Chandler Parsons. A lot. And this is coming from a big fan of Trevor Ariza. If you were going to let Chandler go, Ariza was a good pickup given the options. I also think Lin will be missed even though he did not play very well for Houston.

Houston has one of the few players whose rapm value I adjusted by hand: Patrick Beverley. If I leave Beverley's allstar-level valuation unadjusted, the Rockets get an extra win on their schedule.

Jazzfanramblings: I've been watching Garfunkel and Oates lately. I'd say more about the Rockets but the following video just sums up everything I have to say so much better than I could do it.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw2qEUwFbGM[/youtube]

Projected Record - 47/35

[jwise44]

Papa is gonna be the one battling with garcia for backup sf duty

And we also have Capela


And bev started last year too so he isn't being thrust into it

[giberish]

I don't see Beverly starting as an issue. He's a great defender, which matters even for PG's. With Harden, he's not really running the offense anyway. Lin's value was that he could run the offense when Harden sat

They've also lost Asik w/o getting much of a backup C or upgrading at PF, leaving them with a worse post rotation.

I don't think there's that much of a drop from Parsons to Ariza (Parsons is better on O, but gives back some on D), but. The big problem for Houston is that the seem to have gotten a bit worse in several places, without getting better anywhere.

[Zubby]

Position battle is Jones/Dmo.

Terry, Papa & Capela will push 3 of Cisco, Ish, Covington, Dorsey, Powell, Adrien out.
Ish & Cisco most likely gone(apparently Morey loves Covington) Powell should be gone.

The new players seem a lot more defensive oriented.

[floppymoose]

sorry to bump. just wanted a comment placeholder here so that I can find this thread later.

[SlovenianDragon]

No way Rockets make the playoffs.

[bondom34]

Yeah, Beverly started 55 games last year, so he's not being thrust into anything really. Main issue is in depth, with Ish Smith or Canaan as a backup PG and no real backup C to speak of.

[Young_Star11]

As a Houston fan I am very worried about the bench. But if that starting lineup stays together the whole season, Houston probably wins 45-50 anyway.

[Left Side Drive]

As a Houston fan I am very worried about the bench. But if that starting lineup stays together the whole season, Houston probably wins 45-50 anyway.

Didn't realize until now how bad the bench is. Starting roster is pretty good still.