"For five years, the Rockets have rolled through summer leagues from Minneapolis to Las Vegas. This summer, they want to do something better. The Rockets have gone 22-3 over the past five summer schedules, but on Friday they will bring a very different sort of team to Las Vegas. This time, they will have a roster crowded with players they expect to be keys to their rotation and season. More than ever, performances in Las Vegas might offer clues of the play to come. With free agency looming over everything in the NBA, they might even influence upcoming roster decisions. "The summer league is for them, our guys," Rockets assistant coach and summer league head coach Elston Turner said. "It's for our rotation guys. We're going to play them minutes. Whether they are playing extremely well or stinking it up, they're going to be out there." Whether the Rockets land Chris Bosh or not, subsequent activity in free agency won't be determined by what they see from their young prospects over the next week. The play in Las Vegas cannot be ignored, however. It will become part of the data to consider as several players move into greater and different roles than before, from Jordan Hill working as a center to Chase Budinger keying much of the offense. "It's too much pressure to say (roster strategies will be) based on summer league results," Rockets vice president for player personnel Gersson Rosas said. "I think what we'll get a feel for is how far along our guys are in terms of their development, how much responsibility they can handle and, more importantly, how much confidence the coaches have in them in terms of how they can use them in different things we're trying to do." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/7096693.html
