Offseason Team Reflection by the Bored Me

PG: Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, and Johnny Flynn

This is definitely our strongest link in our roster. Kyle Lowry emerged last season after showing significant improvement in both shooting ability and the ability to pace himself while controlling the offense through the course of an entire game after the baton was handed to him with AB's injury and subsequent trade to the Suns. His continued solid shooting for the remainder of the season and in both Impact the I-95 games show that as opposed to being a half season fluke, it appears that Lowry is well set in his ways of shooting well now.

The trade involving AB actually brought back far more value than anticipated. We picked up slightly struggling backup Goran Dragic from the Suns. We already know from the playoffs series against the Spurs that Dragic can easily slash and rain it in from downtime. He quickly picked up his talents again after a change in scenery (wish AB best of luck in that regards too) and is arguably the best backup PG in the league. The guy is fairly big for a PG, defends, takes it hard to the rack, and can shoot. He is also a fairly solid passer as well, though he plays far too recklessly sometimes.

Johnny Flynn is probably a player we will not be hearing too much from, though I hope I am wrong. However, when a guy's entire NBA career thus far hinges on the word potential, I unfortunately usually equate that to "bust." If what he says about injuries and rehab hindering his growth is true however, this may turn out to be a diamond in a rough. As of now though, he is not of any real importance to the team. His biggest contribution so far has been getting rid of Brad Miller.

SG: Kevin Martin, Courtney Lee, and Terrence Williams

This is actually a pretty good spot for the Rockets. Kevin Martin is undeniably an excellent scoring, able to get points from shooting, driving, and the charity stripe. In addition to being a dead on shot from the perimeter, Martin has no problem making contact for more points. This serves the purpose of forcing the opposing D to relax a bit when too many of their players start racking up those fouls. The downside is that in the 4th during crunch time or during playoff games, Martin will most likely not see ANY of those tick tack fouls he gets so easily and this diminishes a good chunk of his playing style.

Courtney Lee is IMHO one of the best backup SG's, behind Terry and Crawford. He is a good defender and shooter, decent passer, and very athletic. He seems a bit frail mentally during crunch time, but that is why he is a backup and not a legit starter at the 2 spot. I am looking for him to become much better though as he gains more experience. He will probably never be great, but if he develops his on the ball decisions a bit more, he could easily replace Martin if we should lose him in some sort of trade.

TWill "Squid" is one of those players that we all wish would shut his trap and get his act together. He talks a nice talk every now and then, but talk is cheap. It is time for him to put up or shut up. He fancies himself a PG, but honestly his build and game is more suited as a shooting guard. He is a bit too short to play the three full time IMHO and most likely too big to play PG full time. His court vision is pretty good, but his on the ball decisions really suck. The guy would definitely benefit from the film room instead of watching ESPN highlights, assuming he has the mental capacity for it of course. As far as his off the ball game goes though, as far as I can tell, he has none. If he can learn to play off the ball and be more patient with the ball, he may actually have a breakout season this year. Most likely not however. I see him as being traded after this or next season, depending on the lockout status.

SF: Chase Budinger, Marcus Morris, and Chandler Parsons

This can definitely be viewed as our 2nd weakest link currently. Chase Budinger started out as a rookie with so much promise, hitting 90% of his shots in the summer league. Unfortunately, he never got close to that accuracy again. I will be honest with you, I was a huge supporter of Budinger initially with his game looking like Barry's as a worst case scenario. This was before his D continued to not improve and his shot got lost over time. Maybe it is a really long shooting funk (the majority of his "good" shooting games came against poor defensive teams), but when you cannot defend at all and your only weapon is your shot, you cannot afford to blank wide open opportunities. He will start by default due to experience and seniority, but I would look for Morris to replace him fast.

Marcus Morris generated a lot of division when we drafted him. Some of us felt we should have gotten that big guy with cartoon hands that the Spurs picked up. Given their usual successes in drafting, I can understand that point. However, honestly I feel that Marcus is infinitely more skilled and talented now than Leonard will ever be. I could be wrong and it certainly won't be the first or last time, but I feel that Marcus will be really good. His dribble turn around is fast, creates almost instant space, and he seems to be money with that move. His post game is way more developed than most college players and he seems to have a really high BB IQ. If he can improve his jumper a bit more, I can honestly see him as a slightly worse off Paul Pierce. Now wouldn't that be sweet for us?

Chandler Parsons is very tall and has a sweet shot. He has always been very "clutch" in college and works hard. However, with his size and speed at his position, I really cannot imagine Parsons doing anything at the 3 spot. He could become a much better David Andersen at the 4 spot assuming he can bulk up a bit and take hits in that position. Hopefully he can develop more in Europe, which focuses more on team play as opposed to the garbage ISO people are so bent on in the NBA.

PF: Luis Scola, Patrick Patterson, Jordan Hill, and Donuts

While not exactly a strong point, we can easily call our 4 spot solid. Luis Scola is tough as nails endurance wise and gives his all every play of the game. However, it is a fact of life that his D sucks. Offensively, he is still a force to be reckoned with one on one, but he will never be the guy that opposing D plans double teams and schemes for. He should continue to be a great dump off for Lowry when he causes the D to collapse on him and Scola is never shy about taking off for a run and gun game. Oh yeah, learning to go from more than the same side every time may prove useful.

Patrick Patterson was definitely a gem we stole in the draft. I would not be surprised if he turns into a double double type player in the form of a more durable Emeka Okafor. The guy has a very high BB IQ, is mature, has a greatly refined skillset, a consummate professional and team player, plays good D, and has a solid jumper. I would not be surprised at all if he replaces Scola (either by trade or promotion) and turn into a Otis Thorpe type player for us.

Jordan Hill is similar to TWill in that things don't always seem to connect between the ears. He showed a lot of promise when first got him, but it always felt like he was taking steps backwards. We found out later that he has some personal issues to go through, so hopefully that was what was causing what could be generously described as de-evolution. He has definitely displayed fluidity in his movements, but resorts back to being an old school sci-fi robot the next play. It is still too early to label his as a bust, but he needs to get on track fast.

Donuts seem very talented and certainly has confidence to boot. While he did get cut by his national team, it is due more to inexperience than skill. At the very least, he couldn't be any worse than David Andersen, or could he?

C: Chuck Hayes and Hasheem Thabeet

This is by far our weakest link. Chuck Hayes is much better off served playing against PF's than bulking up so much to play the 5 and as much as I love him, the Rockets are the only team that he could start on. Chuck Hayes is much better served as a situation defender that we can move around as opposed to a permanent solution at the 5.

Hasheem Thabeet has been nothing but a big joke for every team he has been on so far. Seriously, has anyone seen this guy jump and land without falling over? Maybe he can prove me wrong. Maybe he is another Cinderella story waiting to happen. Maybe... who am I kidding? We need a real center, not another scrub who is only tall.

Offseason Targets:

Aside from pipe dream names like Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and others, we should be realistically looking for a serviceable big man first, unless Morey continues his undersized swapping and move 2Pat to 5, since Hill has done horribly there. We will never be able to draft high enough to get one through the draft, so that leaves us through trades. Realistic bigs that we can get would be:

Al Jefferson - I don't know if Jazz will ever trade him to a conference team, but he is under contract for a hefty $14 and 15 million until 2013. Meanwhile, they have promising bigs in Favors and Millsap as well as Okur coming back, so Jefferson could become the odd man out provided that Jazz FO is willing to deal with us.

Marc Gasol - Gay and Zandolph both have big contracts so look for Memphis will probably trade one of those two after a new CBA is worked out (most likely Gay) or Gasol will jump ship. Gasol is rapidly improving so it would hardly surprise me if Memphis does everything they can to keep him, including over paying him.

Robin Lopez - While clearly the less talented of the 2 brothers (man Suns are always getting the short end of the twins stick), he is still a high energy player who can get rebounds and at least dunk (bad Jeffries nightmares here) who can only get better. At the very least, we can rely on him to bring energy off the bench.

Brooks Lopez - Nets fans have become disillusioned to his nonexistent rebounding skills, though the new ownership will probably be more inclined to give him one more year.

Chris Kaman - He will become an UFA after this upcoming season and is still a force with his back to the basket. He is also a very good rebounder. He is old, yes, but he is still much more serviceable than most bigs in this league. With DeAndre Jordan on the rise, I can easily see the Clippers letting him go.

Andrew Bogut - He costs a lot and is paid way more than his worth, especially given his durability issues. That said, he is not a bust and is a solid player. Bucks are not exactly the most generous team in the league and while we missed out on the first shopping attempt, who knows if DM gives it a 2nd try?

 

That was a typo on my end. Meant to put 60%

1. You serious?
2. Name them

 

1. FT% =/= Shooting ability all the time. Guy was a 38% 3PT shooter his senior year. His shot got better EVERY year. There are tons of footage showcasing him as a knock down shooter once his feet are set. Here is the pre-draft video to start with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKIp11yzHc

There are also tons of footage in regards to his shooting in during his Gator days.

2. I am too lazy to argue with you on many of those so I will go with I politely disagree with your assessment. There is a reason the Rockets FO have always been looking to move up for a big man. Chuck is a great defender, but don't kid yourself that the FO won't replace him without a seconds thought.