So Juwon Howard is out cold like a south atlantic salmon. Who is relacing him as the power foward who will face the likes of Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Marion/Soudemire or Fortson/Evans in the elite western conference? Our three candidates are Scott Padgett, Clarence Weatherspoon, and Vin Baker. I personally would like to see Weatherspoon start, while an equal rotation between him and Padgett would be the best option. Padgett has alot of potential. He's a good hustle player and can knock down the outside shot. We have also seen what he can do under pressure during clutch situations. My beef with him is that he has not had much experience as a starter and is also too inconsistent to start in my opinion. Weatherspoon, on the other hand, has been around the league. He too is a good hustle player, and he palys exceptional defense for a person of his size. He is also a strong rebounder and could possibly be a better pure PF than Juwon Howard himself. He should be our starter because of the qualities he brings that a PF should possess. Then there Vinnie Baker who know one has any confidence in (neither do I). Although, I must say, he still has the potential to bring what he had early on in his career back in Milwaukee. He just has to stay fit. He should NEVER start for the Rockets, but he could be an influential factor in games where our other PF's may be having an off night. He can also provide a large inside presence on the floor for about 6 to 10 mins a game. So who do you think should start for us? Give us your reasons.
i really think that weatherspoon should start for us because we need more of a bigger player who can use his body more and can box out more scott padgett would be better backing him up along with james and barry because they could just score points off the bench. we have alot of people who can score on our team but we need someone who can help box out and get rebounds and weatherspoon can score some good points also so i really htink that weatherspoon and padgett backing him up as a better option
Weatherspoon would be the starting powerforward in my opinion. He has more size than Padgett guard the bigger powerforwards in the league such as Garnett and Nowitski while should be a force in rebounding. Padgett on the other hand, would be a better bench player. He has the shot to make the bench strong, its just that its way too streaky to be considered legit. Thats why he can change the pace of the game for Houston if he's in the bench lineup and therefore would thrive much better in that position. I really have no faith in Vin Baker. He can't be a starter because his body can't take that many minutes and he won't do much considering he isn't the greatest shooter and not in the best condition. Give him about ten minutes per game while split the rest between Weatherspoon and Padgett is my opinion.
is it possible to have Mutombo start in the PF? although its probably bad for rotation if both Yao and Mutombo get into foul trouble, but at least the rebounding issue is secured.. i don't know.. just some crazy opinion of mine.
Most people don't notice that Weatherspoon is just 6-5ish, very small to play the four. He is closer to a Charles Barkley than say, a Kevin Garnett. Weatherspoon doesn't have a lot of jumping ability, but his box outs are very good and he gets his rebounds courtesy of that skill. He also has a good mid range shot, but he's too stocky and slow to guard Garnett on the perimeter, and too short to guard Duncan in the post. Starting Mutombo at the four might seem wild and impossible, but I'm afriad that's our best situation now. He has length, rebounds better than anyone on the team, would help alleviate the pressure on Yao to defend the paint, and would form a formidable twin towers and be an offensive rebounder in case someone misses a shot.
I'm not suggesting he start, necessarily, but Ryan Bowen definitely needs to be considered in this conversation. Perhaps for games against teams like Phoenix and Dallas that have more perimeter oriented PF's in Marion and Nowitzki, I think Tracy would be the best option at the 4.
That would not be a good idea. He would slow us down a lot and just clog things up. Too bad no one goes for the two tower thing any more but fast and really quick PFs. JVG will probably switch the rotation around a whole lot until he can figure it out, and that wont be hard considering the next few games, like the cheeno said, he brings rebounding and we dont really need a scorer. Will we have to get a new PF over the offseason. A knee injury is never good and could really ruin his career. Guys are never the same after the knees gt busted. Thsi is going to ahead, but do yall think we will need a ne PF next season, like Shareef Abdur Raheem
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Thsi is going to ahead, but do yall think we will need a ne PF next season, like Shareef Abdur Raheem</div> We definitely need a powerforward, without a doubt. I'm hoping we can get it through the draft to add athleticism to the team, but most importantly, get a good defensive one. Abdur Rahim's contract would be way to expensive for this team, but year he would be a nice fit. Whether we can get him or not without killing the team, that remains in question.
I like the idea of Mutumbo to the 4 except for the fact that, like Spoon, has if not more of a quickness and speed disadvantage to the likes of the PF's we will soon face. And Yao's minutes would be harder to maintain without Mutumbo as his solid backup. But always with a injured player you have to sacrafice something, im confident JVG will get it right. *Edit* Is it possible to pick up a PF in the draft like Warrick or Simeon? or wuold they be gone by the time it got to us.
At the current pace the rockets are heading, I think Warrick is out of the question, Simien may be possible, but we may be too far down to grab him. Simien has had injury problems though, so that may cause his stock to drop. All depends on the tournament. Weatherspoon, Padgett, Bowen. I have no confidence in Vin Baker at all. After seeing him in garbage minutes, against garbage players and being completely ineffective, I cant see him playing significant minutes.
Vin Baker is not the answer, from what little I've seen of him in garbage time. Padgett and Spoon aren't exactly the answer either. This is tragic for the Rockets... Juwan was playing well... We can't start Deke at 4! They are both susceptible to picking up fouls, it'd be a disaster for both to get into foul trouble early. I'd be interested to see how JVG juggles it... he'll probly share the minutes around the three aforementioned PFs, experimenting... Personally I'd like the Rox to go small ball... like the Suns in the mid 90's... Yao, TMac, Barry, Sura, James... rotate them around with Wesley, Bowen and Moochie... mismatches may occur on D, where Yao will have to be even more active with help... with the rules changes this year advantageous for guards, we can run and gun, as all those guys can turn up the offense...
I think Weatherspoon would do fine starting with Padgett backing up although we may slow down a little bit but we have no choice but to ride the 4 weeks absence of Juwan Howard and hopes everything will be fine and not as disastrous when we lost Sura prompting Strickland and Barrett to share the PG duties few weeks ago. JVG may also use Baker. I know many of us considers Baker to be done but given the chance and confidence he might surprise us and put up some good numbers and rebounds. Who knows.
Maybe starting Weatherspoon but putting Motumbo in the game along side Yao for at least 15 mins could help. Rotate between Spoon and Paggett for the rest. I haven't actually thoguht about Ryan Bowen yet. Its a good point to bring up. He is also a hustler and isn't as slow (I don't think). If you make him a 3rd or maybe even a 2nd option, he could do some good things for us.
Mutombo won't play along side Yao because that would require one of them playing more minutes and I don't think that's a good idea for either one. Right now, Yao plays around 32 minutes a game (usually by necessity, because of foul trouble), and Mutombo comes in for about 16, and that's about where it should be. If we need size at the four, than Van Gundy will probably turn to Baker before Mutombo. I think the adjustment will be Weatherspoon will get way more minutes, and Padgett and Bowen (and McGrady) will probably also see more time at the four. Let's hope Spoon can hit still hit that mid-range jumper.
I was just kidding about the Baker thing. That alchohol really got to him. He looks confused even in garbage minutes.
I think the rockets best bet would be to play small ball. They're starting lineup being: PG - Bob Sura SG - Mike James SF - David Wesley PF - T-Mac C - Yao
I belive that the Rockets need to attempt to draft a solid PF and rotate around with Padgett and Weatherspoon.. The likes of Simein form Kansas and also Turiaff from Gonzaga will be available...
Tracy at the 4? I don't know. Tracy is kind of at a disadvantage. He is playing in the west and has PF with some real muscle. At 6'8 he is already at somewhat of a disadvantage and 210 pounds doesn't make up for it. I say play Weatherspoon there.
