5/4/2023 0 Comments 2014 houston rockets roster![]() The same goes for Francisco Garcia, a backup two-guard who hit 38.6 percent of his threes last year. If he can hit threes at his career rate of 36.4 percent, he should be able to find some minutes. They round out the bench with point guard Aaron Brooks, who looks to reignite his career after following his 19.1 points per game in 2010 with a few sub-par seasons. Ronnie Brewer, an effective wing defender, was brought in this summer by Morey along with 39-year-old center Marcus Camby. Parson's backup, Omri Casspi, is a career 35.3 percent shooter from downtown and should also help space the floor. He is a solid role player who took a huge leap from year-one to year-two, and could see his role on offense expand this year again as there should be plenty of looks from outside available as defenses collapse on Harden and Howard. ![]() He filled out the stat sheet, played hard defense and nailed 38.5 percent of his three-pointers. The starting position will most likely go to the the player who is most able to play off of Howard in the front court and as of now, it's unclear if it will be Motiejunas or Jones.Ĭhandler Parsons, the incumbent starting small forward, really came on strong last season. In one preseason game so far, both players got about the same amount of minutes, points and rebounds. Two second-year guys, Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones, will duke it out to see who starts. The other main position battle for the Rockets this preseason will be at starting power forward, assuming it's not Asik or Howard. If Lin struggles, Beverley will be prepared to play more minutes and take over the starting position if necessary. ![]() Patrick Beverley, the second-year point guard who infamously helped cause Russell Westbrook's knee injury in the 2013 playoffs, plays aggressive defense and shot three-pointers at a 37.5 clip last season. Jeremy Lin started at point guard last year and had a decent season, scoring 13.4 points a game to go with 6.1 assists, but he shot only 33.9 percent from outside. It remains to be seen how the two would play off each other down low, but Howard has not played well in the past while on the court with another center. Realizing that $8.3 million for a backup center is a bit overpriced, coach Kevin McHale has stated that he wants to experiment with both Asik and Howard in the same lineup together. Now all of a sudden, Asik finds himself on the bench backing up Howard, who has played 36.1 minutes a game in his nine-year career. He earned himself a $25 million, three-year deal with the Rockets last offseason and started all 82 games in 2013, averaging over 10 points a game to go with 11.7 rebounds. The status of center Omer Asik is the elephant in the room. He says he is now fully healthy and ready to go, and some Rockets fans think he'll help propel the team deep into the playoffs now that he's had a year to get back into game shape. If Howard has difficulty assimilating with Harden, this offense could stall at times as both players try to figure out how best to work with each other.Īlso, keep in mind that Howard is not that far removed from back surgery, and it showed last season with the Lakers. Last year, the Rockets had one of the highest-scoring, fastest teams in the NBA, while Howard has always loved operating in the post. Harden is not considered a selfish player, averaging 5.8 assists a game last season, but he likes to have the ball in his hands and often initiates the offense. The Rockets were clearly Harden's team last year, and he was top-15 in the league in both minutes played and usage rate (a stat that shows the percentage of offensive possessions used by a player while he's on the floor, via ). Howard wants to be featured on offense, but so far in his career hasn't shown much willingness to adapt to a coach's scheme that isn't built around him. Even though Morey has hit it out of the park the last few summers - first acquiring shooting guard James Harden from the Thunder in the summer of 2012 and signing Howard this past offseason - there are still a few unanswered questions remaining for the team. Houston GM Daryl Morey deserves a round of applause from Rockets fans for not only convincing superstar center Dwight Howard to come to town, but also for maintaining a solid base of talent around him. Roster subtractions: James Anderson, Carlos Delfino, Tim Ohlbrecht, Thomas Robinson 34 overall), Marcus Camby, Omri Casspi, Reggie Williams Roster additions: Ronnie Brewer, Isaiah Canaan (Rookie, No. All Chris' team previews can be found right here. Chris has been doing great work on these previews, so for your Friday post here's his look at the Houston Rockets. This important Western Conference preview got bumped off the cover by the national preview of the Blazers yesterday.
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