This from the Rockets e-blastoff list. The following are Rockets Head Coach Rudy Tomjanovich and vice president of basketball operations Carroll Dawson's comments regarding the Rockets' first-round selection of Jason Collier. Carroll Dawson: We have traded the rights to the ninth pick, which was Joel Pryzbilla, to Milwaukee for the 15th pick, which is Jason Collier. We also got a future first, which could be next year. It will be Milwaukee's pick. That's important in today's economy because there are so many picks floating around. This will be Milwaukee's pick next year. It's protected up to ten, if it's outside that (number ten), then it belongs to us. How the trade came down... CD: This is a situation that was developed over the last month, which we've been in here trying to decide what's best for the team. Rudy and the coaching staff and myself and all the scouts, we get fixed on a certain group of people that we think is the best for us. If those people do not drop into the area where we are, then we always have a back door, an out where we can go get the person in the position we need to. Collier is a guy that we felt comfortable with. Rudy and the coaches love him and so do we, so it's worked out really well. On what team liked in Collier... Rudy Tomjanovich: In Collier, I think we have a two-position player. This is really a chemistry pick. We looked at players that we hoped would be there. They got picked before we picked, so we had a parachute. So we go out and get another player and get another first-round pick, and we feel real good about that. In Collier, we feel he can play center, and all of our players can play with him in our style of basketball. He can move to forward and he still fits. The way we've played, we've always had one of our big guys spacing the floor, and now I can see lineups where Collier and (Kelvin) Cato can be on the floor at the same time. We think with our offensive players, Steve (Francis), Cuttino (Mobley) and Shandon (Anderson) who can penetrate, to have another guy who spaces the floor helps them. I'm not going to say he's like Sam Perkins, but sort of playing that role Perkins plays when we're playing against these big centers that are just zoning up. Now we've got a guy who is hanging around the three-point line, and our primary offensive players are going in there and the big guy's got to make a decision. On how well Collier runs... RT: He works hard and for a 7-foot guy he runs well. CD: That was a surprising thing. We brought him in twice, and the very first thing we noticed was how mobile he was and how surprising that part was. It was an immediate liking to that because we knew he could shoot before he got here, and that's one of the mains reasons that we bring these people in. And we liked him so well we brought him in twice. On the selection of Pryzbilla... RT: We didn't know who they (Milwaukee) were going to pick. Our guy wasn't there and we traded the pick and they could have picked anybody. CD: They (Milwaukee) told us who to pick. (Was the trade in place?) Yes, when it was our pick I was on the line to Ernie and he said this is who we want, and I told him who we wanted." On Collier's shot or comparison to another player... CD: One of the real interesting things about this guy is that he has both the inside and outside game. He's very comfortable on the three-point line. He's very comfortable mid-range. He's good on the pick-and-rolls. You can use him at a post-up. He goes to the open spot and he can knock down the jumper. Just like Rudy says, if the big guy who is guarding him is a shot-blocker and stays in the lane, he's got a big decision to make. This is a guy that you can't really leave. When Rudy says this is a guy who spaces the floor, that's what it means because he's got to pull a man on him. If he doesn't, he's going to score a lot of points. On if he will move into starting spot... RT: I just think he's an asset and that's up to the players. We hope all our players do as well as they can. But he's flexible. He can play center or the big forward. And what I really like about it, is the combination of other guys that can play with him. Carlos (Rogers) can fit with him. Just name any big guy on our team and they can both be on the floor because he's not only an outside guy, he's an inside guy. And what I like about him, a lot of college big men don't have what we call a basic. A basic is a shot you shoot over another person when you're defended. He can make a shot over somebody. He has a jump hook. He has a step hook. He has turnarounds. He is a well-rounded offensive player. On fitting with other players... RT: One position that we were not going to take a player was at the "2" because we've got really good "2's" on our team. We had to go through all of the discussion on that, and the staff did a tremendous job. We talked about a lot of things, being ready for that big decision. But the draft took care of that for us, those guys were gone. So the next thing we had to do was say who fits with this team. We could have just taken this guy (Collier) at nine, but we felt that he was projected later in the first round. So we then pick up another first-round pick. You know, maybe I'm wrong, but I'm starting to like the pickup of Collier. Sure, he isn't worth the #9 pick, but he fits this team very well. He's also a very hard worker that you know will improve. And like people have said, we are building for the future here. We now have 4 picks that I know of in the first round in a very deep draft next year. Rudy knows what he's doing. ------------------ Cheaters never win. Unless you play for LA that is. [This message has been edited by The Cat (edited June 29, 2000).]
I was really high on having another shotblocker, but the rockets do need some size that can score and play D. Looks to be a decent rebounder. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
