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CHRON: Just like that, Rockets get more mature

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by pcheung, Aug 10, 2004.

  1. pcheung

    pcheung Member

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    Some interesting quotes... who were we waiting on?

    Just like that, Rockets get more mature
    By RICHARD JUSTICE

    http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2727657

    You forget now that the Rockets made the playoffs last season, that they believed they were close to being really good and that they wanted you to give them one more chance to prove it.

    Their management could easily have bought into that kind of talk. They could have been cautious. They could have sold the sizzle of a 45-victory playoff team while talking about progress and development.

    Caution doesn't take guts.

    Instead, the Rockets did something bold and difficult and brilliant.

    Unhappy with the direction they were heading, they took their roster apart and pretty much started over.

    No matter how this all turns out, they deserve credit for being innovative and aggressive.


    Shopping list dwindles
    General manager Carroll Dawson joked Monday that he might yet get around to a vacation before training camp.

    He has earned it.

    In one whirlwind offseason, Dawson has dramatically reshaped the Rockets around coach Jeff Van Gundy's core beliefs of defense, rebounding and possession basketball.

    Once Dawson acquires the backup center he's shopping for, he'll be done. By then, seven of the Rockets' 12 players will be new. Only two starters — Yao Ming and Jim Jackson — will return from last season.

    They are the frisky, young Rockets no more. At least six players will have nine years or more of NBA experience. All of them will have celebrated a 30th birthday.

    Their foundation will be two youngsters — Yao and Tracy McGrady — but almost everyone else in the playing rotation will be an NBA elder statesman.

    Dawson refers to Yao and McGrady as "Batman and Robin" and knows they could be the cornerstones for a third championship team.

    He also knows Yao is 23 and McGrady is 25. Around all that raw and unpredictable talent, Dawson wanted some experience.


    Getting to the points
    Dawson got veteran power forward Juwan Howard in the McGrady trade and on Monday ended a two-month search for a point guard by signing Charlie Ward and Bob Sura.

    Dawson had inquired about a long list of others, including Brent Barry, Troy Hudson and Derek Fisher. He spoke to the Seattle Supersonics about a deal for Antonio Daniels.

    In every case, the price was either too high or the decisions too slow.

    Last weekend, with Sura considering an array of offers from other teams, Dawson decided he'd waited long enough.

    "We were at the point we were going to lose these guys," Dawson said. "I'm a patient person, but there's a limit."

    If you prefer point guards with flash, Ward is not your guy.

    Then again, the Rockets have reminded us again and again in recent years that flash doesn't translate into victories.

    Ward will be 34 years old and beginning his 11th NBA season by opening night. He's not a great slasher or scorer, but he knows Van Gundy's system as well as any player in the league thanks to their years together in New York.

    Ward understands what Van Gundy wants in terms of defense and working the clock. Because he played with Patrick Ewing, he knows how to get the ball to the big man.

    "Coach Van Gundy knows what I bring," Ward said. "My job won't be to dominate the ball, but to get it where it needs to be."

    In a league dotted with egomaniacs, Ward seems totally grounded and totally comfortable with the things he can — and can't — do. He could be a perfect calming agent for a combustible and brilliant young guy like McGrady.

    "Charlie is a quarterback," Dawson said. "Wait, is that a pun?"

    Ward was Florida State's quarterback as well as its point guard. Van Gundy wants a little of both in his point man.

    Sura and Ward were basketball teammates at Florida State, and they're an interesting fire-and-ice contrast. Sura is a bundle of energy and competitive fires. He can play either guard position or small forward and takes pride in his defensive work.

    "I've got a competitive nature," Sura said, "and that's something they kind of needed here."

    He took less money to come to the Rockets because he thinks McGrady and Yao can be the foundation of something special. In giving Sura a four-year contract, the Rockets think he can be part of that foundation.

    "He's as competitive as anyone you'll ever meet," Dawson said. "One of the things Cuttino (Mobley) did real well was defend the other team's two guard. Sura is going to be an option to do that kind of thing."

    On opening night, Ward likely will join Howard and Jackson in the starting lineup with Yao and McGrady.

    Ward, Howard and Jackson have 32 years of NBA experience among them.

    Seeing Dawson and Van Gundy put this roster together brings to mind a line Phil Jackson used again and again over the last decade.

    Whenever a scout or assistant coach would try to sell Jackson on some young hotshot, he'd say: "You win championships with men."

    After years of building around and counting on kids, the Rockets have added some men.

    Jackson would understand why Dawson wore such a wide smile on Monday.
     
  2. seclusion

    seclusion rip chadwick

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    amen, the rockets will destroy this year. I swear to you.
     
  3. dischead

    dischead Member

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    I predict Francis will score his first 50+ point game against Houston.
     
  4. seclusion

    seclusion rip chadwick

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    I wouldn't be shocked to see that either. I still <3 francis but, tmac is / will be more than worth it.
     
  5. Davidoff

    Davidoff Contributing Member

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    WHO could he be talking about???
     
  6. m_cable

    m_cable Contributing Member

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    Must be Cato. Yeah definitely Cato. Good riddance to that flashy b*stard.
     
  7. Parlett316

    Parlett316 Contributing Member

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    Leave the Hallucination alone :mad:
     
  8. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    Since the team is coming off two consecutive winning seasons, I have no idea who he's talking about.
     
  9. Willis25

    Willis25 Contributing Member

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    did anyone else think about last summer when JVG was talking about the key Rockets players NOT staying in town to work out over the summer... I don't think he interested in recreated the Knicks - I just think they want serious professionals who are a little humble and hungry (and according to the article on T-mac , he is included in that group)
     
  10. New Jack

    New Jack Member

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    I really don't like the idea of Ward guarding the likes of Tony Parker, Jason Terry, and Baron Davis. He's too old and slow. I was hoping they signed Ward only to use him sparingly in case Sura and Lue are both struggling.
     
  11. buddry

    buddry Member

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    Ward couldn't get off the bench with the Spurs but he is slotted to be our starter?
     
  12. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    See, this is what I'm talking about right here. You say that JVG complained about players not being here and then referring to the Orlando mewspaper article to make the point that McGrady is more what JVG wants. Well do you know where McGrady was when he gave that interview. IN ORLANDO.

    I'm not trying to take a shot at McGrady, but just making the point that taking shots at these guys is getting old. First Justice says that these guys we got are more mature. One of these guys is coming off a season in which he had a game where he missed a shot on purpose to pad his stats. Then he talks about how these guys games aren't flash but you don't need that to win. Well apparently Sura needs something to win being on losing teams much of his career.

    As far as you calling McGrady humble, you may be the first person in the history of message boards to associate humble and McGrady. I mean, what else is McGrady supposed to say in that article? I got no problem with the McGrady worship and the excitment for the up coming season. I'm pretty intrigued by the new team, and the more I think about the Sura signing the more I like it. But lets not take shots at the other guys on their way out to prop up these new players. It isn't neccessary.
     
  13. krosfyah

    krosfyah Contributing Member

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    Can you think of another reason to have three PGs competing for one spot?
     
  14. sjackson0

    sjackson0 Contributing Member

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    Are you gona start him over Tony Parker?

    He wouldn't in Houston either if we had someone like Parker, but we don't. But we do have JVG and he knows the "Pug's" system.....so there you have it
     
  15. JumpMan

    JumpMan Contributing Member
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    He couldn't take second string away from Jason Hart either...
     
  16. Willis25

    Willis25 Contributing Member

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    Parker can't shoot open jump shots (he a driver) Gary Payten even looked OK against him

    ... I am more worried about covering Duncan
     
  17. GATER

    GATER Contributing Member

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    Definitely not a Ward fan but ...

    IIRC, Tony Parker destroyed Payton and Fisher 1on1 in the first 2 playoffs games this past season. Then the Lakers changed their defense and ran Parker into double teams and he was pretty ineffective. I suspect the Rox will do something similar.

    I also look for the Rox to wear down the other teams' PG's with a 3 deep rotation. Especially since Sura is taller and stronger than the average PG. I like Sura and don't care much for Ward or Lue but at least they have complimentary skills and none of them will have to play major minutes.
     
  18. NewRoxFan

    NewRoxFan Contributing Member

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    I also get the sense that JVG and CD are looking at the age of Yao and McGrady and value age/experience from the 1 spot.
     
  19. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

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    Veterans to surround your 2 superstars.

    A great idea !!

    :)

    DD
     
  20. montevideo

    montevideo Contributing Member

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    I think Willis' point about the offseason effort is very valid - I didn't take it as a shot at any particular player(s) - if it was it wasn't a direct shot anyway.

    Whether the current crop of players makes a better effort remains to be seen - but it may be a good indicator for how the season will go. I haven't read that the coaching staff is planning extra/early workouts or that players have been reluctant to report.

    I recall reading the Boki was scheduled to be in town working out with the coaching staff. Everyone knows Yao's commitments will prohibit him from being here for most of the summer. There's been some written about how hard TM's working in Orlando - but nothing about him working with the staff here - that I recall.
     

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