Im not 'trashing Andersen' as much as I am showing concern for the Rockets lack of a 5 man and NEED to sign or trade for someone better. Hence my priorities stand.
And it took Scola almost 10 games to get past 10 pts his first season. Didn't score at all in his first game.
It's not about the scoring. This seems too soon, and I'm usually one to avoid knee-jerk reactions, but I think I have to side with aussie on this one. He looks straight awful. Even if he would have hit his shots, the way he was getting abused on the boards was just pitiful.
I'm not piling **** on a guy after one game.. lets see how it goes in the next few games before passing the verdict. Aussie Rocket.. I know you have seen him play a number of times.. but lets see.. DM does not make too many mistakes..
I think the Rockets have been pretty open about what they expect out of him. A guy who'll play well in the pick-and-pop game. A player who can run down the floor in transition and get good open shots in early offense. A player who can play effectively in the high post. Not a strong rebounder or defender, but a player who's smart and can pick up team defensive concepts in time. I didn't like what I saw from Andersen in his first game, but the above possibilities have not been ruled out. It can take a long while for international players to adjust to the NBA. Scola, if you recall, was terrible early on his rookie season.
First - I am willing to wager that Aussie has seen more of Anderson than anyone else on this forum. Still - there were a couple of things that impressed me watching Anderson play. He can run the floor. He has some post moves but obviously has some issues. He will be a solid and cheap backup to Yao. I'm happy to have him on the team. Fortunately our guards are rebounding well because that is obviously a weakness. I was happy to see Landry showing some weak side shot blocking, even if one was a goaltend. Night in and night out Anderson will not be playing against top NBA talent. There are very few centers that are huge upgrades. That is reality and why Yao is such a huge loss. Remove your personal top 8 centers in the NBA and pick who you want on the Rockets from what is left over. It is a tough decision for me.
So it's okay for our PF and perennial all-star to have horrible 1st preseason games, but not our back up big?
Off Topic - But with the tales of Hakeem working out with NBA players over recent years I cannot help but wish that Landry can be one of those. Landry has serious potential to benefit from some Hakeem training.
That's BS man. Dorsey was a gimme from the Blazers for Batum. Andersen played one preseason game Taylor played one preseason game Barry was a role player for a contender that made 1.5 mil. Francis was a favor for Les Alexander.
He's better than a pf playing center all season. He's obviously not that great but I think he'll be good enough when its all said and done.