<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Somewhere between games and tape sessions, between nights chasing Dirk Nowitzki to the 3-point line and watching the Spurs surround Tim Duncan with the small and swift, Robert Horry let his mind wander. When Horry allows himself to think about glory days, there are many from which to choose. But in watching what has become of the NBA, rather than consider the Spurs and their defense of their championship, he drifted all the way back to the first time he was a part of a champion trying to remake itself to keep its title. "I was thinking, 'yeah, yeah we started it,' " Horry said of the 1995 Rockets and how far ahead of the times they were when they got rid of a broad-shouldered banger of a power forward to surround a low-post marvel with a team of shooters and slashers. "We started it, but we started it by mistake. It was by committee. "It was, 'OK, who's going to guard (Charles) Barkley? Pete Chilcutt, you do it. Uh, you can't do it. Chucky (Brown), you do it. Damn. Rob, what the hell, you try.' It worked. Once we started rolling like that, we kept it like that. "I was thinking about it the other day. They're weeding out the big man little by little. Pretty soon it's going to be all athletic guards. It reminds of when we used to just put Dream (Hakeem Olajuwon) on the block and everybody run around, slice-cut, spot-up, and it was up to you to try to (defend) Dream on your own." Athletic guards needed This is offered not just as a little reminiscence to help Rockets fans get through the interminably long offseason. This is to show what the offseason needs to be. If the evidence of the past two seasons is not clear enough, the playoffs going on without them has demonstrated to the Rockets where the league has gone. The Rockets have three power forwards under contract and just one shooting guard, the undersized Luther Head. Yet, a look at the playoffs has shown the Rockets need a change at power forward as much as additions at guard ? and as much as when they decided a skinny, 24-year-old Horry was the answer. "A lot of teams are now going with a big guy and four smalls, four perimeter players," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "That's the way the league is now." Johnson has the unusual option of using Nowitzki, "a 7-foot shooting guard" as Michael Finley called him. The Spurs have countered by benching all four of their centers and lately Horry, too, to surround Duncan with shooters and slashers. And with that mix, the Spurs and Mavericks have been spectacular. "There's a lot of good players in the league who are able to take advantage of the way the game is being called these days as far as fouls and what the defense is allowed to do and not allowed to do out on the court," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Attacking and driving and being in that mode has been a lot more beneficial than it was in the past, so attacking the bucket with smalls, it's tough for big guys to guard that." Big men must have range Rules changes that allow zones have required shooters. By preventing hand-checks and holds on the perimeter, quickness rather than strength is rewarded. With Yao Ming in the low post for the Rockets, forwards need to be somewhere else. The draft likely will not produce a Rasheed Wallace, unless LaMarcus Aldridge develops that kind of shooting range. Tim Thomas is about as close as free agency offers. The specialists are always out there. If Keith Van Horn can stay healthy, he might be between specialist and solution. The draft can offer specialists Kevin Pittsnogle and Steve Novak. Rudy Gay or perhaps Rodney Carney might fit the long, quick forward type in the Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw, Josh Howard mold. Check out almost any team on a level the Rockets seek and it is clear this is the way the league is going ? and as Horry remembered fondly ? where it has been.</div> Source Really good read on how the league is evolving, and what pieces the Rockets need in the offseason.
And boy, oh boy, do the Rockets need a lot. Of course, to start, they need to keep both their stars heathly.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Crossover:</div><div class="quote_post">And boy, oh boy, do the Rockets need a lot. Of course, to start, they need to keep both their stars heathly.</div> Another cameo! Good to see you around bro. Juwan Howard could probably provide the range, but I guess what the article suggests is to have a power forward who can take threes. I'm more of a fan of the traditional system of two post and three wing players, but the way the league is going, it doesn't look like that trend will continue for long. However, if we're going to drop Howard and start a guy (Scott Padgett) who can shoot threes, we're going to lose some defensively. Would Jeff Van Gundy be flexible enough to make that change?
