The Houston Rockets continue to be one of the most mysterious teams in the NBA as they are at .500 now but followed an extremely impressive win against the San Antonio Spurs with a disappointing loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. The uneven start to their season is obviously not something they were expecting but guard Marcus Thornton is unhappy about more than just the losing, he is also frustrated with his limited role, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Thornton signed with the Rockets this offseason on a one year deal for the league minimum and at the time it seemed like a curious move because the Rockets were also looking to bring back Jason Terry. It didn't seem like Houston would have enough minutes for both Thornton and Terry but former head coach Kevin McHale played Thornton a lot and he rewarded him as he played extremely well at the beginning of the season.
Thornton even started six games while McHale was the head coach but since he was fired and J.P. Bickerstaff took over Thornton has seen a lot less playing time. Thornton's time has been sporadic and he has even had two games in the past couple of weeks where he was a DNP- coaches decision and he is not exactly thrilled about it.
"It's very difficult, I have to keep myself in the game, see what's going on from afar from the bench. When I get in, keep doing what I've been doing my whole life, put the ball in the basket. I have no reason at all. You have to go with whatever is going on and be ready," said Thornton.
Thornton is the type of player throughout his career that has always been a streaky scorer so being in and out of the rotation has happened to him before but this season it doesn't make much sense. Thornton is tied for third on the team with his 18.1 PER, he is fourth on the team with his 10.9 points per game (in just 19.8 minutes per game no less) and he is shooting a respectable 43 percent from the field and 37 percent from three. Bickerstaff has recently decided to go with Ty Lawson instead of Thornton but, although Lawson has played better recently, Thornton has been the far better player all season.
The one area where you can defend Bickerstaff for sitting Thornton is on the defensive end as Thornton isn't a great defender and the Rockets have been trying to focus on that end of the floor. The Rockets have played better defense recently and it has led to an uptick in their play but Thornton's play on offense is reason enough to at least have consistent minutes off the bench especially when you consider that Lawson hasn't been good on defense this season either.
