ROSTER
C - Yao Ming, Brad Miller, Chuck Hayes
PF - Luis Scola, Jordan Hill, Patrick Patterson
SF - Shane Battier, Chase Budinger, Jared Jeffries
SG - Kevin Martin, Courtney Lee, Jermaine Taylor
PG - Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry
ANALYSIS
Brad: This is the deepest team in the West by far (and the deepest team in the league IMO with apologies to Orlando)... they have 14... (14!) guys that could play for just about anybody... Blessing or curse? A bit of both for me... they need Yao insurance (he's already limited to 24 min per and a crazy injury risk), and don't have the star power to bury the depth completely... but there are also alot of young guys, i.e. Hill, Patterson, Budinger, that need minutes to develop and it'll be difficult to get them minutes... the Brad Miller signing didn't make too much sense to me when they spent a lottery pick on Patterson, they love Hayes for his defense, and Hill is a former lottery pick that picked it up late last year... but he's there, and he'll play... the backcourt defense is pretty bad when Brooks and Martin play together, but the front-court is littered with guys who can defend... and btw... I love Luis Scola.. I think he's great... There's so much to get to here... help me out?
Ryan: Well you're right with pretty much everything you said:Deepest team,good young guys,nice vets,getting Yao back..but no one on this roster wows me.Every team has one guy who is the focal point and Houston doesn't really have that. Declaring Yao only playing 24 mins is crazy to me because injury-prone people(And Yao is that) will get hurt regardless..nothing really can be done to truly "prevent it" But the team is solid..very solid at every position..and for the most part they are efficient and can defend but....they aren't a sexy team to me and I'll overlook them..is it weird to admit i'll be overlooking them?
Brad: It's only weird because it's the public's sentiment as well and you are usually anti-public on these things lol... As far as on-court product, I don't think you can play 13-14 guys in the NBA... you need 9-10 for the regular season and a clear 8 (9 max) for the playoffs... how do they iron it out? That's the key for me... Don't count them out of a midseason deal too... they have the pieces... but if Yao is Yao pre-injury, this is a legit threat to LA simply because of the across-the-board matchups... but even without Yao, this is a middling West playoff team IMO... so they land here... Prediction: 5th in the West
Ryan: I guess you're right...I haven't heard anything from them at all this offseason in terms of being a serious playoff team... that would be my cue to start drumming but alas i've got nothing... Well its a little easier to sit the younger guys because they don't know any better but maybe they have too much talent and it'll hurt them a little bit...regardless.. Prediction: 6th in the West
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