Meet the New Rockets #1 – Will Conroy

Why did I choose Will Conroy for the 1st entry in this 6 part series after I blasted his effort after the Spurs a few weeks ago? Well, I wanted to pick someone who has a chance of making the team but probably won’t be on the court a lot even if he does make the team. Conroy is already a respectable defender and he has shown plenty of ability on the offensive end in the D-League, Summer League and preseason.

So far the Rockets’ 15 man roster is shaping up as follows:

1. Aaron Brooks

2. Trevor Ariza

3. Shane Battier

4. Luis Scola

5. Chuck Hayes

6. Kyle Lowry

7. Carl Landry

8. Joey Dorsey

9. Chase Budinger

10.  David Anderson

11. Jermaine Taylor

12. Brian Cook

13. Yao Ming

14. Tracy McGrady 

15. Open

Taylor and Budinger have already solidified their spots so that only left one more opening for 4 guys and, following Wednesday’s releases of Garrett Temple and Romel Beck, Will Conroy and Pops Mensah-Bonsu are the last 2 standing. It would be tragedy if Pops did not get that roster spot but Conroy looks to be neck-in-neck with him so he could go down to Rio Grande and get some time until there is an injury or failure by one of the other young guys.

That’s a gigantic pictures. Damn. Sorry.

Anyways, Conroy is a capable player who has been productive everywhere he has played, except for the NBA. He had a shot with the Grizzlies and Clippers in 2006 – 2007 but neither of those opportunities worked out. Will has only played a total of 51 NBA minutes though so the lack of success may be due more to the fact that he didn’t get a legitimate chance than to his inability to play at that level.  

In college at Washington Conroy was a good player:

Season	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	APG	RPG	BPG	SPG
2004-2005	34	30.8	9.4	45.6	30.3	76.1	6.4	3.3	0.1	0.8
2003-2004	31	26.9	12.3	45.0	31.6	71.2	4.6	2.6	0.0	0.6
2002-2003	27	28.7	12.7	45.6	39.7	75.7	4.0	3.6	0.0	1.2
2001-2002	29	12.5	2.5	34.3	33.3	63.6	1.6	1.6	0.0	0.8
Career	121	25.0	9.2	44.4	33.1	73.0	4.3	2.8	0.0	0.9

Though he didn’t show his ability to score too often, that is understandable on a team with Nate Robinson and Brandon Roy. He would showcase his point-scoring prowess in the Developmental League though scoring as many 53 in one game. He put up good numbers throughout the ’08 – ’09 season for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds.  

		G	GS	MPG	FG%	3p%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
		49	49	44.7	.481	.345	.702	0.8	3.9	4.8	8.0	2.0	0.0	4.20	2.00	26.5

In the 2009 Summer League Conroy averaged 19 minutes, 7.2 points, .52% FG, 3 asssists and .8 steals helping the Rockets to a 5 – 0 record in Vegas.

He may not be a very good shooter from the perimeter but he has a knack for getting into the lane and finishes well in traffic. He should be able to make a solid backup in the NBA soon, if not this year, but he just has the misfortune of being with the Rockets who already have 2 dynamic point guards.

We will see how everything unfolds Friday against the Mavs and over the weekend as the roster is cut down further to 15.    

 

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