# What does getting Bonzi mean? who starts



## debarge (Nov 13, 2005)

Now that we officially have Bonzi, I checked the Rockets website; do we now have an unbeatable core of guys to take us to the title? 
Short answer yes, long answer no with a maybe

Who starts for this team? Bonzi's agent said he doesn't care about starting:

IMO go with the theruobreads, Rafer, Bonzi, Mac, Bat, Yao

Since its only a 2yr 5mil, with a player opt out after one, can we resign him in FA?
Man I hope so...even if we can't it will give us NBA creditibility again as an elite contender

Do we now matchup better against the Elites: DAL, PHO, SA, LAC 
Heck freakin yeah :banana: We are now legititmately scary to everyone in the league now, Haters can now exit the door stage right, PUNKS! :biggrin: 

How is the chemistry going to be with former teammates Shane and Bonzi? Who knows and who cares, Shane isn't gonna rock the boat, he's not that guy at all. I think he makes Bonzi feel like part of the team.
InsideHoops.com: states Tmac, Yao, JVG, Keith Jones, and CD all pitched and called Bonzi personally to get him here! Yeaaaaahh, that's what I'm talking about. :biggrin: Let's hope we get to the Western Conf Finals so he will stay and resign with us.

What does this mean for our Youth? Head, Spanolis, Jacobsen, Snyder, Novak

Well I think it means less minutes for non-impactful players? Even if Bonzi doesn't start, he will soak up most of the mins at SG. Jeff is known for pulling that "you don't have to start to be a star" crap. So even if he goes with JHo at 4, putting Tmac at the 2 it really won't matter.
As for the young guys, they just better 'bring it' otherwise they'll be the Dan Langhi's of our new championship contender. 

I think Spanolis gets all the backup duties behind Rafer, allowing JLIII to develop more. So Spanoli will not Not get minutes since he's so aggressive.
For Luther: it might mean curtains for him, JVG really doesn't like him, and Lu hasn't made himself realiable consistently. Just make your 3s, and drive to the hole, you will get mins LU.
Snyder/Jacobsen/Novak: grunt duty. Sporadtic mins, during the 2nd/3rd qtrs for spot up shooting. If they take a 'bad attitude' towards this, they will be a sorry sorry bench.


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

I agree with everything you just said! LOL

I mentioned on the other thread that this is going to severely affect what minutes my boy was going to get. If Juwan stays the starting PF and Wells comes off the bench, there will be very few minutes where Chuck will be needed. 

For at least 1/2 of each game, I can see JVG going with a smaller lineup of shooters surrounding Yao.

But, it is definately going to be a fun team to watch this season!


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

Kirk Snyder will se minutes as the back-up SG. That wont be "grunt" work.


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

Hey, does this mean Chuck Hayes is expendable


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

HB said:


> Hey, does this mean Chuck Hayes is expendable


What do you mean by expendable?

Do you mean will the Rockets trade him or release him?


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

HayesFan said:


> What do you mean by expendable?
> 
> Do you mean will the Rockets trade him or release him?


Trade him


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

HB said:


> Trade him


I don't think so. He demonstrated that he is a stable sort of bench player. My guess is that they will keep him. Plus they aren't going to get much in trading him. 

Though its going to be really difficult to make a case for Azubuike to get a spot on the team post training camp.


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## debarge (Nov 13, 2005)

Well, depth won't be an issue this year I think? Jeff can't say he didn't have the players he wanted, he got everybody he wanted. To think, we were worried and down we didn't sign Mike Jame? And we end up with Bonzi Wells and V Span! WHOOYAAAAHHH. :clap: Rudy who? and Shane Battier? Plus the good luck charm of Tmac being the coverboy for NBALive 07':

*"This is some sort of basketball dream where we float back into prominence, no no don't wake me, I'm so happy here...."*all Houston Sports Fans will No Longer suffer the sting of not drafting Vince or Reggie, the anger we all feel the moment Albert Pulous dropped the bomb on Brad Lidge in the World Series ripping out the hearts of us all; We will now be Con-ten-daaassss :biggrin: 
Marlon Brando "I coulda been uh Contenndaaa"

ps. as for trades, I don't wanna trade anybody? Bowen is coming off Hip Surgery, so Chuck will get his minutes, plus mins behind Juwan. I really think the only time Shane is our 4, is deep into the 4th qtr in close games if the matchup dictates it. Hey, don't give up on Chuckie and Lu, they are still young, I think it would be stupid to trade two young players with legit skills (shooting, rebounding) when they make no real cap money. Keep em, groom them, then they can be our future.


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## K-Dub (Jun 26, 2005)

I'd love to see a big line-up sometime. T-Mac, Bonzi, Shane, J-Ho (Hayes, Novak), and Yao... :jump:


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

*Alston*
Azubuike
*Battier*
Bowen
Haryasz
*Hayes*
*Head*
*Howard*
Jacobsen
*Lucas*
*McGrady*
*Mutombo*
Novak
*Snyder*
*Spanoulis*
Sura
*Wells*
*Yao*

Who gets cut?


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

cornholio said:


> *Alston*
> Azubuike
> *Battier*
> Bowen
> ...


Goodbye Bowen. After Wells I would LOVE to see the Rockets sign Antonio Davis.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

XMATTHEWX said:


> Goodbye Bowen. After Wells I would LOVE to see the Rockets sign Antonio Davis.


Didn't he retire recently?


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

Luther will still find plenty of minutes.. we seem to have alot of versitalle players o i think jvg is going to have plenty of different rotations and im sure head will be on more than one of them. 

and i bet after we get a nice taste of VSPAN will start and many occasions.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

HB said:


> Hey, does this mean Chuck Hayes is expendable


nah, chuck is a hustle player that jvg will love to keep around, even if just for spot minutes.


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

You know me.. she who is still learning about the NBA and its various rules... has a couple of questions!

How many players can we take into training camp??

How many players can we have on the roster at the beginning of regular season?


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## K-Dub (Jun 26, 2005)

cornholio said:


> *Alston*
> _Azubuike_
> *Battier*
> Bowen
> ...


...


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

HayesFan said:


> How many players can we take into training camp??


I don't know if there's a limit



> How many players can we have on the roster at the beginning of regular season?


15.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Don't start Juwan. When you have T-Mac, Battier and Wells, you don't want to be starting Juwan Howard.


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

Thanks CH!

Armed with that knowledge, I would guess that Buike, Bowen, and Jacobsen will be the last three decisions. 

My guess is that Bowen will stay... because I think he's JVG's love child. Though in my unbiased opinion (yeah right!) Buike would give more hustle and excitement to the few minutes he is given more so than Bowen has... um ever.

Buike's only hope is if Sura can't make a comeback.


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

Your regular starting lineup will be:

PG - Rafer
SG - Tracy
SF - Battier
PF - JHo
C - Yao
1st Option of the Bench - Bonzi

Depending on match ups your other starting lineup will be:

PG - Rafer
SG - TMac/Wells
SF - TMac/Wells
PF - Battier
C - Yao

Everyday rotation guys will be: Snyder, VSpan, Deke, Wells (depending on if he starts)
Everyone else is pretty much going to be SOL. Sorry Luther!


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

WE have 18 players right? Id cut the following:

1 Matt Haryasz (lol sounds like hairy @ss)
2 Casey Jacobsen (come on we have Shane Bttier and Steve Novak)
3 Azubuike ( he came from the D-league and we have a lot of Shooting Guards.)

If I could Trade one person id trade Kirk snyder for Josh Childress and a 2nd round pick or something. But heres my starting line up now

PG: Alston (later in the season will probably be V-span)
SG: Wells (or McGrady)
SF: McGrady (or Wells)
PF: Battier (I beileve Battier can play PF and also id like to see Yao dominate the frontcourt) 
C: Yao

Yap I beileve now that we will go to the Western conference finals :clap:


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## 4ever_bball_fan (Aug 5, 2004)

Why are we even discussing Juwan Howard as a starter with the players on this roster???

I like the guy, and he has showed up clutch in tough situations over the last injury ladden seasons, but let's move on...


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Alston/VSpan/Lucas
Wells/Snyder/Head
TMac/Battier/Novak
Battier/JHo/Hayes
Yao/Mutumbo

Novak needs to gain some muscles before he can play PF.
Can that Magic Lamp dude play, or is he a lost cause?

I'm really excited to see VSpan play. He's gonna slam into someone every night, and probably get into fights.

I think this team will get into lots of fights. I hope Yao is prepared to do some fighting this season. I expect some more technicals from him this year :biggrin:


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

Since the Rockets do not have a very good bench, i think it would be great to have Wells as the sixth man.


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## SianTao (Jul 11, 2005)

Getting Bonzi means even less touches for Yao.


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## crazyfan (Dec 9, 2005)

I thought we just signed Jacobsen to a guaranteed deal? Cutting him is not wise yeah?


Azibuike Harsyaz and bowen should be dropped.


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

I think Bowen and Sura will be traded for cash &/or draft picks if any teams are interested in expiring contracts somewhere alone next month.


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## 9diamonds (Apr 12, 2006)

I see a very exciting year for the rockets


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## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

Dean the Master said:


> I think Bowen and Sura will be traded for cash &/or draft picks if any teams are interested in expiring contracts somewhere alone next month.



If for cash, it would be later and closer to the trade deadline. The problem is that we need to cut players to satisfy the maximum roster size before the start of the season. 

I anticipate Haryasz, Azubuike, and Bowen getting cut. Jacobsen is a shooter that we could use when our perimeter offense runs flat.

PG: Rafer Alston | Vassili Spanoulis | JLIII
SG: Bonzi Wells | Kirk Snyder | Luther Head
SF: Tracy McGrady | Steve Novak | Casey Jacobsen
PF: Shane Battier | Juwan Howard | Chuck Hayes
CN: Yao Ming | Dikembe Mutombo 

Reserve: Bobby Sura

I would then try and swing a trade with the Lakers, sending Bobby Sura and Juwan Howard for Aaron McKie, Brian Cook and Chris Mihm.


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## LamarButler (Apr 16, 2005)

I dont see any reason to start Howard over Wells. People are sayin that Battier is too small to play PF. On offense hes a mismatch because of his shooting. On defense I bet he can guard PF's betetr than Howard. I mean, Howard only has an inch on him.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

SianTao said:


> Getting Bonzi means even less touches for Yao.


That is what worries me...


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## 4ever_bball_fan (Aug 5, 2004)

If JVG and the players can't "get it" that the offense MUST run through Yao...

I can't even think about how ridiculous that is for people who are considered professionals in their field of endevour.

YOU DON'T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS, for Pete's sake!!!


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## TracywtFacy (Mar 29, 2005)

Actually I'm intrigued by the possiblility of this line up: Yao, Howard, Bat, Wells --- and *TMac* at the point! That would be a real cool starting lineup... 

imagine boykins trying to guard him...


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## TracywtFacy (Mar 29, 2005)

speak of the devil...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/lopez/4234722.html

Mismatches in mind
The big surprise and grand experiment as camp opened Tuesday? Giving McGrady, 6-8, more touches in the half-court as the point.

It's risky and cannot become an every-possession thing. But the possibilities are endless, considering all the offseason moves the Rockets made. And McGrady has run the offense on numerous occasions in the past, particularly at the end of a quarter or in game-deciding moments.

The key factor in becoming a 50-plus win team and earning home-court advantage with a No. 4 or higher seed in the Western Conference playoffs is giving division teams more mismatches than they give you. With McGrady at the point more often and for longer stretches when Alston is on the bench, those mismatches should favor the Rockets, even against division standard-bearers Dallas and San Antonio.

"I'm great with it, absolutely," McGrady said Tuesday at the Rockets' media day. "That's one of our best offenses because we have so many shooters now. And I'm going to attract a lot of attention if I have the ball."


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## crazyfan (Dec 9, 2005)

I remember TMac playing a defacto-point early in the 04-05 season, deferring to Yao more often than looking for his own shot. We had a terrible start to that season and it was only when TMac moved to the SG/SF positon and started to look for his own shot more often that the season started to get going. (aided by the arrival of Wesley as well).

Personally im not fond of playing Tmac at the point although he is fantastic playmaker.
Imagine him having to guard much smaller faster guards.


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## debarge (Nov 13, 2005)

Tmac orchaestrating the offense doesn't mean that he 's the Only PG on the floor? Remember how the MJ's Bulls were constructed. They went with the 'big lineup' most of the time, unless Paxson was playing, his job was just to bring up the ball, but Pippen did most of the Assisting, conducting.

Starting lineup: Rafer (the guy is a good passer!) Tmac SG on offense, Bonzi SF (better rebounder) JHo or Battier (if its Juwan, then his mins should decrease dramatically; Battier 1st off the bench) Yao of course.

When you look at the teams in the West, we really matchup so much better with (Raf, Tmac, Bonzi, Bat, Yao) playing to start? DAL, PHO, SA, MEM, LAC, DEN all have smaller lineups to start the game. I would be surprised if they don't play a whole lot together. Lets' be real, that's who's gonna be on the floor in the 4th during crucial moments anyway?

As far as Tmac pointing: Pippen did it well with the right guys around him; Lebron does it now, Melo does it too. Its just whose' distributing the ball, calling the play or set; We know Tracy will get the ball to who is best able to score at that moment in the game. If not, then he takes it himself after a big Yao pick! :biggrin: That sounds like a winning combo to me? :clap: :clap:


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## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

crazyfan said:


> I remember TMac playing a defacto-point early in the 04-05 season, deferring to Yao more often than looking for his own shot. We had a terrible start to that season and it was only when TMac moved to the SG/SF positon and started to look for his own shot more often that the season started to get going. (aided by the arrival of Wesley as well).
> 
> Personally im not fond of playing Tmac at the point although he is fantastic playmaker.
> Imagine him having to guard much smaller faster guards.


Doesnt mean he'll guard the PG on defense. I posted something some time ago about starting Luther Head as the PG.

PG: Luther Head
SG: Tracy McGrady
SF: Shane Battier
PF: Juwan Howard
CN: Yao Ming

On offense TMac would bring the ball up. Surrounding him with shooters is key. Luther may not be fit to bring the ball up, but he can certainly give the opposing PG a hard time on defense. As long as Ive watched TMac since the Orlando days, he's never really had a real PG to distribute the ball because TMac was so good playing point of offense. Darrell Armstrong is the closest to a distributor as TMac has had and the coaches realize with TMac handling the ball, they really didnt need a pure PG to be successful. Instead, the PG should be able to shoot and play defense.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

TManiAC said:


> On offense TMac would bring the ball up. Surrounding him with shooters is key. Luther may not be fit to bring the ball up but he can certainly give the opposing PG a hard time on defense


T-Mac is definitely our best passer, but I've always thought he looks awkward when bringing the ball up. Head looked more comfortable bringing it up last season, actually. Only he has absolutely no playmaking ability.

Also, if Head is starting for defensive reasons, I think we're in a bit of trouble.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

..


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