Will Conroy Called Up To Rockets; Jermaine Taylor Sent to RGV

by Tom Martin on Jan 28, 2010 11:43 AM CST in News

Rookie Jermaine Taylor, limited to just 17½ minutes this season, likely will be sent to the Rockets’ NBA Development League affiliate today, a move considered the next step in getting him ready to play with the Rockets, confirmed Gersson Rosas, the Rockets’ vice president of player personnel and Rio Grande Valley Vipers general manager.

The Rockets likely will sign Vipers point guard Will Conroy, their final cut in the preseason, to a 10-day contract Friday.

"The coaching staff felt (Taylor) has really helped himself doing what he can off the floor," Rosas said. "We all as a group want to see him in a game setting to see what he can apply at this point and how he can handle big minutes and more opportunity in real game situations.

"One of the great things, the coaches and player development guys spent a lot of time with JT, preparing him for the opportunity to play. There is a good window of games and the opportunity to go to the Vipers and take advantage of it."

It's doubtful that Conroy will receive any more playing time than Taylor did. As Rosas said, this is a move geared towards grooming Jermaine. It's hard to improve if you're stuck on the bench.

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I just don't get the NBA

This just sounds really backwards to me. They sign a guy and put him on the NBA roster because they think he’s a good prospect. So he sits on the bench and gets a few garbage time minutes and the team likes what it sees from him. So as a reward he gets removed from the NBA roster and sent down to the D-League?

How does this plan make sense? If he’s not NBA-ready, why not just have him in the D-League in the first place so he can be developing rather than riding the pine?

by OremLK on Jan 28, 2010 12:00 PM CST reply actions

If you remember they sent down Brooks for a few games and called him up

It might be a similar situation, it might not be but his play isnt bad from what ive seen and this might be his chance to prove himself as a person who is able to play within our system for an extended period of time and be effective. I wish the best for JT.

by Rockets4LIFE on Jan 28, 2010 12:04 PM CST reply actions

I just don't get this at all

Adleman doesn’t do sh*t with anyone called up from the D-League as it is so why even bother? Just ask Dorsey. He yo-yos back and forth between the D-League and the NBA so much he’s having trouble keeping his balance.

I, for one, have absolutely zero faith that the RGV team will prove anything beyond what we already know about Taylor. And when he starts excelling in the D-League he’ll just get called back up to the Rockets where he’ll sit on the pine 48 minutes a night. F*cking waste.

Yes, I’m getting pissed off at the Rockets. Mostly at the coaching staff. If you’re going to have 40+ million out of commission for the year leaving you with 12 able-bodied players (I don’t count Cook as anything but a waste of space), why do you LIMIT yourself to only 7 or 8 of them, especially when players like Taylor and Dorsey have shown that they can do more than just be expensive cheerleaders? Yes Dorsey’s shooting sucks, so does Hayes’ over the long run. All he needs to do is rebound, something he’s shown he can do very effectively. As for Taylor? He can shoot, he’s quick and I personally think he would be very, very effective coming off of the bench to mix in with the ABZ / Lowry rotation.

I just do not get this.

Meanwhile, McGrady just sits at home, probably for the rest of the year. He could play, and he wants to play, but again the coaching staff has a different direction in which to take the team. So instead of utilizing what could be a very, very tangible threat on the court (fully healed and playing like it’s 2001 of course), we just simply put him aside as if he didn’t exist.

Frustrated beyond belief here…

by jasonmicron on Jan 28, 2010 1:25 PM CST reply actions 3 recs

Yep

Hilarious quote by Adelman after the game last night. Generated almost a 10 page thread on ClutchFans.

“We’re without our two best players”

I see we’re without Yao. Is the other player Tracy McGrady? You know, the player that YOU decided wasn’t worthy of playing on this team because “he didn’t fit” while deciding it was a great idea to give Ariza plenty of shots and playing time?

by goingforthecorner on Jan 28, 2010 1:29 PM CST up reply actions

I've never thought Adelman wanted to be without McGrady.

None of his remarks indicate that, quite the reverse. I DO think that Adelman was NEVER going to cede control of playing time decisions to McGrady.

Significant gravitas shortfall expected in 2010.

by Xiane on Jan 28, 2010 8:48 PM CST up reply actions

My take:

The D-League has a limited number of roster spots. They can have 12 players, and at least two have to be NBA players (according to Wiki). So let’s say that Houston sees value in having their young guys both getting playing time AND going through Rockets practices with the first team. If Taylor, Dorsey, Conroy, Harris, etc. are not cracking Adelman’s rotation, the only way they can get playing time is to be with RGV. But being with RGV means you aren’t practicing with Houston. Assigning all of Houston’s bench guys to RGV means that you knock a few potential prospects off the roster down there.

It seems like what they’re doing is rotating their players through: a few weeks/months in the Valley, a few days/weeks/months in Houston. Since there’s only a limited number of times you can assign a player to the D-League, I’m not surprised that they are waiting until the midpoint of the season to do their assignments: it’s nice to maintain the flexibility.

Of course, none of this justifies their refusal to showcase McGrady, but that’s a different bag of cats from their D-League moves.

by Moondebah on Jan 28, 2010 1:43 PM CST up reply actions

Rec'd for truth.

by DribbleHooper on Jan 28, 2010 7:00 PM CST up reply actions

This isn't a such a mystery.

The Rockets wanted Taylor around for a while when they (finally) got a chance to practice. They wanted to teach him the Rockets way, or at least what they expected. Now he can go do that with real minutes. I see this as positive rather than the reverse.

I’m really not being pollyanna here, I hope, in saying that getting minutes is better than NOT getting minutes for Taylor right now.

Significant gravitas shortfall expected in 2010.

by Xiane on Jan 28, 2010 8:51 PM CST up reply actions

OOOOOOOOHHHHHH...

I didn’t know Adelman said that , “without our 2 best players”?

Uuuuhhhhh, We still have one of them and he could play?? Somebody……Somebody?

by kmbrly429 on Jan 28, 2010 5:45 PM CST reply actions

If McGrady wanted to play, he could be playing now.

This is not a one way street. McGrady attempted to control playing time. Given that NBA players are, as a rule, millionaires with guaranteed deals, (and McGrady is the highest paid player in the NBA,) the only, only, control a coach has beyond sweet reason is playing time. If an NBA coach let’s a player dictate PT for him, he may as well call himself Jeff Bower and get a lobotomy.

Significant gravitas shortfall expected in 2010.

by Xiane on Jan 28, 2010 8:56 PM CST up reply actions

Taylor thoughts

First,if the Rockets intend to play Taylor it would be just kinda embarrassing saying he needs to play some games to get in shape :) So they send him to RGV to get “game experience” and have him ready to play significant minutes when he’s called back.

Second,check the schedules. RGV has about 8 games thru Feb 9. On Feb 9 the Rockets play their last game for a week. That gives the Rockets Wed,Thu and Mon to have practices and get Taylor practiced up w/the Rockets.

Third,Adelman w/the Rockets brought Brooks and Landry along slowly at first,then around mid-season,after proving themselves in practice,started giving them substantial minutes.

Fourth,if the Rockets do intend playing Taylor regular shifts,there are some big implications.
One being they don’t see a big trade happening that brings in a wing.(Of course it’s possible Taylor is the back-up plan.) After all,if the team gets Iggy or Caron or some other “name” wing,why would the team need to get Taylor ready to play this season?
Another is if he does get regular minutes it means a line-up change is going to happen.I find it hard to imagine Adelman playing Taylor and Budinger together. Far more likely is moving Budinger into starting line-up and bringing Battier off the bench. This provides more balance to second unit w/Lowry and Taylor attacking-and passing out-and Battier and Andersen spacing out at 3pt line. The starting unit gets a speed upgrade in Bud over Shane,hopefully getting more fast breaks. And Bud provides a better driving threat than Shane does.

by Tisbee on Jan 28, 2010 8:31 PM CST reply actions