It's no secret this is the deepest team we've had in years and with that comes the problem of finding the right balance of minutes to keep the team healthy, fresh, and happy throughout the season. Typically, I'd like a 9-player rotation, but that means some players are just going to be left out like rookies Dekker and Harrell or projects like McDaniels. This team is too deep to give everyone a chance at quality minutes while keeping egos in check. In an ideal world every player would see some action, but again that's only wishful thinking. So this is my best attempt at finding a balanced minutes distribution, which still leaves out Harrell and McDaniels - guys I'd like to see in action. Starters: Lawson (32) Harden (34) Ariza (32) Jones (24) Howard (30) Bench: Beverley (20) Motiejunas (20) *if healthy Brewer (20) Capela (10) Terry (8) Thornton (6) McDaniels (4) Reserves: Dekker Harrell
I think you are right that Ariza + Brewer will get 52 mpg or a little more, and Lawson + Bev will get 52 mpg or more. My adjustments would be Harden will get 36+ mpg DMo + Jones will get > 44 mpg that you suggest. The only thing that will stop DMo/Jones from getting more minutes combined will be the growth of Capela.
Ariza as small ball 4 and Harrell (less likely) could have a huge impact as well on DMo/Jones. With any sort of health, Rockets are going to be able to rest Harden more during regular season against weaker opponents.
We've done this before, but it's a constantly updating topic. What we know now since the last time: 1)D-Mo "if healthy" is going to be "when healthy" So me and a lot of others saw some D-Mo minutes at back up C. Now it's 16 minutes minimum of Capela as back-up C. (refer to the amount of Joey freaking Dorsey minutes last year) 2) Capela worked out Mon-Sat in the summer and put on in his words "15 pounds" alluding to muscle. McHale said he came to the Rockets 1st at 222 lbs and now he is 246 lbs. 3) From all the great videos Clutch posted, KJ and Thornton look like their 3pt shot is on. Bev & Lawson too. But KJ & Thornton both look like they came to camp to get minutes. 4)McHale said he wanted to play (I think he said a lot of) Bev & Ty together Until D-Mo is back... PG: 32 Lawson / 16 Bev SG: 32 Harden / 8 'SG' Bev / 8 Brewer SF: 18 Ariza / 18 Brewer / 12 KJ McDaniels PF: 30 TJ / 18 Ariza / C: 32 Howard / 16 Capela
We will probably have a 9 or 10 man rotation. Lawson (32)/Beverley (16) Harden (36)/Beverley, Thornton or Terry (12) Ariza (30)/Brewer (18) Jones (26)/DMo (22) Howard (30)/Capela (10)/DMo (8) Switch the PF slot around if DMo gets healthy and surpasses Jones in the rotation, but DMo will still play some C as well.
Let me edumicate you some knowledge... If KJ is not getting minutes then our perimeter defense is a concern.
If we are resting Dwight on back-to-backs are we all happy spot-starting Capela? Also does this make D-Mo a neccesity at center at times when spelling Capela on those nights? and will we be using Harrell at times to back up Jones and D-Mo on nights Dwight sits? We are stacked but the nights Dwight sits are the ones that concern me slightly
OP already says Ariza + Brewer will get 52 mpg. I say a little more. OP also says Lawson + Bev will get 52 mpg. The reason for both is how we play when Harden sits. This isn't about us putting Ariza at the 4. That's complete, utter speculation, as he never plays the four in any significant time. The 4 and 5 are about Howard, DMo, Jones and Capela. Not rookies, and not Ariza, unless the "I" word happens.
While I agree, I am all about using this crazy as depth we have to ensure guys are fresh during the season. exciting time
Agree with you mostly. But I'm not sure Ariza will play 36 min with 18 at PF. I'd put TJ 34 at power forard. And Dekker (or Harrell if rebounding is a problem) might see some minutes there too. KJ won't play 12 min. What a deep roster. Very excited for the coming season.
I'll go with what I hope it is, at least to start the season (assuming Dmo is ready): Lawson (28) Harden (32) Ariza (32) Motiejunas (24) Howard (28) Jones (24) Beverley (20) Brewer (16) Capela (12) Terry (8) McDaniels (8) Dekker/Harrell (alternate who's active on a particular night) (8) I realize that this probably isn't going to happen, but I love the idea of being like the 13-14 Spurs and playing the entire roster while keeping our stars' minutes down. I also think that ~8 minutes is the minimum time someone needs on a given night to get a feel for the game and make an impact. I'd rather play the youngsters than Thornton, I just don't think he brings anything that we don't already have. As the season goes on, the rotation will shorten to 8 or 9 guys and whoever earns their spot early in the season will play.
We've had so many threads about this! LOL If everyone is healthy, I really hope no one goes over 34mpg for the season. There will be nights were the key guy might have to play 40+ but if we can do what GSW did and blow everyone out by the 3rd quarter to rest the main guys, the better we will be come the playoffs. Our 9-Man Rotation should look like this, I think: Beverley (26) Harden (34) Ariza (33) DMo (28) Howard (30) Lawson (30) Brewer (21) Jones (20) Capela (18) McDaniels/Thornton can get some time if we do a 10-man Terry will be on the shelf till playoff time, I hope. Dekker/Harrell/McDaniels to the D-League!
i think there is too much talent in the top 9 to find minutes for a 10th on a nightly basis. mchale spoke about the benefits of a reduction of 2mpg adding up over the whole season. i think thats a good indicator that harden and ariza might see that 2mpg reduction from 36mpg to 34mpg. i think dwight gets the tim duncan treatment - 30mpg or less. jones and dmo probably get the same (or very similar) minutes split as last year around 26-28 each. this plus dwight's minutes leave about 12mpg for capela. brewer also probably sees the same minutes as last year (24-25) with beverley seeing the same minutes as terry did last year as a backup PG/SG (20-21). that leaves about 32mpg for lawson. all together: dwight (30) - capela (12) dmo (28) - jones (26) ariza (34) - brewer (24) harden (34) lawson (32) - beverley (20) harrell and terry wont get minutes on a nightly basis, but will get minutes when dwight and pat inevitably miss some games. dekker will probably spend a lot of time with RGV. mcdaniels has a chance to steal minutes from bev playing the 2 if he can prove to be a reliable shooter, but its probably 4-6 minutes at most and wont be there in the playoffs.
*more*. You make it sound like Ariza played PF last year I'm down with anything Coach says. But I also know the media will phrase questions about GSW and whether Coach is willing to go small. Why would he say no Doesn't mean the combination of DMo's and Jones mpg are coming down to OPS 44 mpgs Do you agree?
