Rockets. Houston took pressure off Tracy McGrady by signing Derek Anderson, who can provide offensive support and is tall enough (6-5) to avoid being a defensive liability. Anderson, though, usually is hurt on days that end in "Y." Putting him on the same team as Juwan Howard -- who separated Anderson's shoulder on a hard foul during the 2001 playoffs -- could give Anderson night terrors. Still, the Rockets' biggest need was a quality backup forward, and they got one of the best by signing Stromile Swift.
the idea of what he was saying is good, but the content of this piece is trash. first of all, yes DA has been injured but he was not hurt last year he simply was not in the blazers plans. Juwon is a professional and there will be no hard feelings between the two thats a mute point really. last but not least, the rockets were not looking for a backup 4 thats not why they signed stro they signed him to be THE starting 4 on this team.
The Howard/Anderson thing is stupid because the two guys are good friends and Howard apologized to him THAT NIGHT and Anderson accepted it. The only people who refuse to accept it are some fans and the media.
Sean Deveney's TSN NBA predictions (you know, one of those preseason rags) really ticked me off. Which is to say, he doesn't flatter the Rockets in the least. So he fell a couple notches in my book. And I didn't waste any money on the TSN publication. Deveney needs to conduct a little more research. He has a plum job, and despite any deadlines, he should have time to read the various web sites and pubs to get an idea that Derek Anderson was not injured last year, and things of that nature.
I wouldn't bet on it. Unless SS comes into camp and is a beast on the floor I'm putting my $$ on Howard being the starting PF... now that doesn't mean that Stro won't get big minutes off the bench but JVG likes his savy vets who play consistently, and he's already said openly that Stro has to prove himself.
Wow, I never realized what a liability it was signing DA because Juwon hurt him so many years back. Maybe we should cut Deke because he elbowed Yao really hard a few years ago. Yes, let's cut them both.
The content of the joke didn't bother me as much as how shallow the analysis was. I guess it really doesn't take that much to become an 'analyst.'
Yeah, but don't forget Tmac said he's gonna turn Stromile Swift into an all star. I don't know many 4's off the bench playing in the all star game.
Gotta defend Sean here - he's one of my fav guys, including Bucher and Stein. 1. The Anderson comments are well earned. This site has put on blinders like only a fan site can. DA's had only one 82 game season in his career, and there's a reason Portland gave up on him. The guy still has lingering knee issues and last year aside, he's a 31 y/o, 14 PPG guy. He's so-so starting material, and I'd like to see some of you accept my $20-to-the-tipjar wager that he misses at least 10 games to injury this year. 2. Swift has started 70 out of a total 352 games (20%) in his career (14/60 last year). While most of us expect him to start (myself included), it's not official yet, so I think Deveney's justified in calling him a backup forward. Deveney's no Ford. Evan
Posting the whole article would be nice: A cruel, cruel summer? Not for every team By Sean Deveney - SportingNews If you live in San Antonio, just turn the page. Go on. Skip this; it doesn't apply to you. The Spurs are the defending NBA champs, and their biggest loss this offseason was local hero Devin Brown. They replaced him by signing -- ahem -- Michael Finley, a two-time All-Star. Kind of takes the sting out of losing Brown, don't you think? No other team had the summer the Spurs did, though. While they were dancing through the tulips with new signees Finley, Nick Van Exel and Fabricio Oberto, 29 other teams were high-stepping through a minefield. Every positive came with a negative. The Bucks signed Michael Redd and Bobby Simmons, but it cost them $138 million (to put that in perspective, that's 138 million hot dogs on $1 hot dog night). The Cavaliers got to keep Zydrunas Ilgauskas' offense, but they had to keep his defense, too. In Los Angeles, they're saying, "Welcome back, Phil. Good luck with Kwame." Even in Miami, which added bright-light names Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and James Posey, the over/under on when one Heat player attempts to remove the head from the shoulders of a teammate has settled around mid-January. Nearly every transaction this summer came with an asterisk. The negatives abound. But let's not allow the glass-half-empty folks to ruin things, shall we? Surely, some teams came out of the offseason looking better. Cavaliers: They didn't get Larry Brown, which was the first thing that went right for Cleveland. Let's be honest: New general manager Danny Ferry came into an idiot-proof situation -- $28 million in cap space and LeBron James on the roster. Ferry immediately addressed the team's needs -- playmaking, ballhandling and perimeter defense (Larry Hughes) and perimeter shooting (Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones). New coach Mike Brown is walking into a job where 45 to 50 wins seem guaranteed. Rockets: Houston took pressure off Tracy McGrady by signing Derek Anderson, who can provide offensive support and is tall enough (6-5) to avoid being a defensive liability. Anderson, though, usually is hurt on days that end in "Y." Putting him on the same team as Juwan Howard -- who separated Anderson's shoulder on a hard foul during the 2001 playoffs -- could give Anderson night terrors. Still, the Rockets' biggest need was a quality backup forward, and they got one of the best by signing Stromile Swift. Trail Blazers. It has been a while since there was something positive to say about Portland, but the franchise finally seems to have direction. Consider this a parole for the Jail Blazers. Sebastian Telfair, Travis Outlaw and Viktor Khryapa had good summers and will be expected to show significant improvement. Portland picked up Wizards reserve guard Juan Dixon and has signed Steve Blake to an offer sheet. Rookie guards Martell Webster and Jarrett Jack are on board. And though the Blazers gave up Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Damon Stoudamire for nothing in return, they got coach Nate McMillan free of charge (other than that $6 million annual salary, of course). Sean Deveney is a staff writer for Sporting News. Email him at sdeveney@sportingnews.com. Yahoo! Sports NBA
