The rookie forwards of the Rockets are doing a solid job so far this year. 23-year old Chandler Parsons has bumped Chase Budinger to the bench. Parsons has played in 9 games (3 starts) so far this year and he is averaging 19.3 minutes, 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 steal per game. 22-year old Marcus Morris hasn’t got much of a chance to show what he can do so far this year. He has played in 3 games (0 starts) and he is averaging 5.7 minutes, 1.7 points and 0.7 rebounds per game.

22-year old power forward Patrick Patterson turned in a solid rookie year for the Rockets. He played in 52 games (6 starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 16.7 minutes, 6.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Patterson shot 55.8% from the floor last year which was outstanding. The Rockets were very deep in the frontcourt which limited Patterson’s P.T. in 2010-11. But, I think it’s going to get harder to keep him on the bench, especially if he improves his game more.

21-year old rookie power forward Patrick Patterson hasn’t gotten a lot of P.T. this season but when he has got on the basketball court, he has looked good. Patterson ha played in 34 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 12.9 minutes, 4.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He is shooting 56.3% from the floor but most of his shots come from in close to the basket, as evidenced by the fact that he only shoots 63% from the free throw line. Patterson has a bright future for the Rockets but he’s not likely to get a lot of P.T. the rest of the year.

The Rockets have sent 22-year old undrafted point guard Ishmael Smith to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League. Smith has played in 26 games (3 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 12.0 minutes, 2.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. But, Smith wasn’t getting any P.T. lately as he is behind Kyle Lowry & Aaron Brooks on the Rockets’ depth chart. He only played in 4 games for the Rockets in January and he averaged 4.8 minutes, 1.5 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.5 assists per game. The Rockets will call Smith right back up if the need arises as they do like him, but they felt he would be better off getting P.T. in the D-League instead of sitting at the end of their bench.

21-year old power forward Patrick Patterson has really played well so far this month. He has played in 7 games so far in January and he is averaging 18.0 minutes, 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Patterson is shooting 20 of 29 (69%) from the floor so far this month which is outstanding! Patterson has now played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 15.0 minutes, 5.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Patterson is hitting a stunning 70% (28 of 40) of his shots from the floor so far this year. The Rockets will have no choice but to find more minutes for Patterson going forward if he continues to play like he is right now. 22-year old point guard Ishmael Smith has played in 24 games (3 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 12.9 minutes, 3.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. With Aaron Brooks & Kyle Lowry both healthy, I think Smith’s playing time is going to really be cut down going forward.