Now that all the D-Mo nonsense is out of the way, lets talk about real Rockets stuff, like how awesome our role player potential is. To begin, we drop the outliers of the talent pool; Harden, Wiljter, KJ, Ennis, and Brown (outside of Harden, the rest all belong to the Poo Crew, though Wiljter shows promise). We are left with Ego, Ariza, Beverley, Ryno, Capela, Dekker, Trez, Nene, and Sewer (yuck, but at least he keeps Ennis and Brown on the bench... I can live with that). So popular opinions about this group: 1. EGo - #$#%@! Injuries! Why not Durant?!? 2. Ariza - Old, lost a step, streaky shooter, solid vet... let's trade him! 3. Beverley - Injury prone, lost a step, overrated (in one case, fraud!) 4. Ryno - Basically same reaction as Ego with $$$ tacked onto the end of it 5. Capela - At least he's not Howard, but damn... eat some BBQ! 6. Dekker - Reactions ranged from let's see how's he recovered as he's basically a rookie to OMG! SCRUB! 7. Trez - Stop fighting refs damn it! 8. Nene - Old, but cheap... which in termed made people go from Sweet! to Meh... 9. Sewer - You think anyone would actually want this guy and take him off our hands? 26 games later at 19-7... 1. EGo - Top contender for 6MOY and elite sniper. Harden can finally rest without worrying about leads! 2. Ariza - "Please don't ever get injured, we freaking need you!" type glue guy and defensive leader 3. Beverley - #wolverine #notfraud #ultimatelroleplayer #angrymidgetbattier 'nuff said 4. Ryno - Pure stretch 4 whose reactions divided from "His spacing is amazing!" to "Overpaid!" 5. Capela - Potential top 5 center talent who sets picks without b****ing, but still gets pushed around too much 6. Dekker - New rookie Parsons! ...albeit not as good looking or as good at passing 7. Trez - Go Trez! I love this kid. Not overly talented, but has a lot of heart and passion 8. Nene - You wily vet you... still rather not see you play unless you have to though... 9. Sewer - At least he keeps KJ, Ennis, and Brown on the bench right? I'd say they are not only fulfilling their roles, but have turned into diamonds under the increased pressure to amount to something this season!
So goes the Clutchfans, the team's vibe determines the polarity of the posts. However, we don't see the good times as often, when people are giddy and over-enthusiastic about our role players. I can dig it.
As far as Dekker: 6. Dekker - New rookie Parsons! ...albeit not as good looking or as good at passing He seems to have a better nose for rebounds, hard work, and loose balls than Parsons, although Parsons did look like a scrappy, tip-dunk type player his first two seasons before he became an A&F model who occasionally has good basketball games.
It's crazy , looking back at parsons first few seasons here it's incredible he lasted to the second round. He could do it all , shoot , defend , pass . He never put all 3 together for an entire season but those skills at that height ... Man what a steal
5) Capela: is a work in progress. Started season struggling to give the team 18 mins. Then banged 34 mins w/ Drummond in Detroit; but then was flat vs Valanciunas the next game. Allowed Brooke Lopez to get prime real estate near the rim recently. Still learning. 9) Brewer: Sixers have been welcoming any team salary dump for years now. It's the island of misfit toys 4-5 yrs running. As long as you have 1st or 2nd rd picks......they have a payroll to accommodate (currently $77 mil). Jerryd Bayless (starting PG) is now out for the season. You need Tyler Ennis and his expiring contract.
Never thought I would ever see a rotation that goes 10 deep with Rockets. MDA has em ballin and believin - now Morey just needs to upgrade KJ, Ennis, Nanu and Brown. Don't trust any of them if injuries start happening.
I think McDaniels is up there with them role players. He just needs those minutes. I get the 9 players rotation D'antoni is doing there, by giving the bench players time and confidence to shine. When McDaniels will get his steady minutes he'll be good. Just hope he works hard and practice hard and takes his opportunity when it shows.
Ennis and our 2017 very-late-2nd-rounder for someone we can cut and Philly's 2017 very-early-2nd-rounder would do it for me.
A steal up until he decided he was worth super max money. The opposite of a steal now. I hope at some point he goes back to Ariza level value, where he belongs.
It's pretty remarkable for a second-round pick with Parsons good-but-not-spectacular talent level to earn $150M in his career. And who knows, if he plays half a season in year 4 for Memphis, someone else might be dumb enough to max him again.
Parsons is probably going to be worth more than Ariza for the time being because overall ( I think still) the ability to create offense is valued > than defense . It's just a rarer skill . Plus Ariza's contract is a bargain , the new cap makes everything look a bit weird until we get used to it . Parsons without injury is worth 10+ mil , but if he stays a bit banged up then I think he could see his value be like Ariza's current contract .
Not only that, could the two have more different shots? Parsons shoots line drives, and Dekker shoots shots that you feel might hit the roof.
As for Ariza, I'll be the first to admit I get a bit frustrated at times with him. However all it takes is a game against a Durant or Lebron etc, and then I'm like "Please, don't ever leave us."
