If that trade happens, you can bet that they came down with a foot injury that will cause them to miss the next the 1.5 seasons and limit them to 24 minutes for 5 games after they come back. It's either that or the Clippers front office staff gets admitted into the mental ward for insanity.
I can't believe we thought we could compete for anything starting this season with only Brad Miller and Yao, the perennial all star, Ming plus a few 6'10 guys. We should have known before the season started that we could work with Chuck Hayes starting at center. How will we survive without any big men? How will the Rockets win a championship this year without any length on the roster? We should trade KMart, ABrooks, and Lee to get Zyrunas, Oden, Milicic, and Thabeet. Sure fire Championship. Get it done Morey.
Right, will just have to trust that Morey chose right going with the availabe tweener with skill over a lengthy player who's a stiff. To be a bit of an apologist, I've looked at some of the past drafts of the "still on the board" bigs and the pickings really werent that good. The Deandre Jordan over Joey Dorsey examples are more rare instead of being right there for the taking. Things COULD have been worse going with the "best available" alternatives. What's Nick Fazekas up to now, would he have been better than Landry? Would Big Baby Davis be that "rim protector" with "upside"? What about instead of Aaron Brooks the Rockets got Sun Yue or Taurean Green, who've played a combined 100 minutes in the NBA. Aaron Afflalo is good NOW, but Rockets knew they could get players like him in Courtney Lee on the open market. And its not like the Rockets plain ignored the need, they did take a flyer on David Andersen (we had a premonition that wouldnt work. And have tried length + athletic Jordan Hill at the position. They did sign Brad Miller, and Miller HAS contributed to the team. STILL, those players dont meet the "size WITH DEFENSE" need and the Rockets have to keep trying harder.
I agree, it is extremely important the Rockets acquire some height or they'll be doomed to losses against bad teams with tall players... Wizards, Sixers, Kings come to mind.
You answered the question. Yao has always been great defending around the basket and struggle in space, but when he's in a pnr, what happens? I remember we discussed this a few years ago about the lack of defense at the rim. Scola and landry were great at the mid range jumper off a double when Yao was healthy, but both were equally poor in space as yao despite the size of yao. Yao is so unique and so limited at the same time that conventional makeup shouldnt be supplied. So when a playoof caliber team got into real time situational basketball,it was easy to attack the rockets frontline. Whether it was howard,scola,or landry.Teams know thats late in games and when the need a shot, they can put every rockets big into space. Thats majority if not 90% of the problem regarding the rockets.
Yes Size and length do matters and is a big part of any team trying to win it all. But that alone is not enough. A player that has size and length but no skills set nor talents will not be effective at all. I would love for the Rockets to add sizes to their roster and they do indeed need size, but that does not mean they should just go out and grab any big man. In order to be successful, the Rockets would have to find a player with not only size but can actually play and be productive as well. Like the Lakers, they had size before with Kwame Brown. He's long and big but he doesnt have the talents they need. So basically the Lakers didn't go nowhere. But since they got Pau Gasol who also has size and length just like Kwame Brown but his skills and talent level far exceeds Brown by galaxys, automatically made them contenders because he is a very good big man. Having size sure helps but that wouldn't take you far. You need a big man that is very talented. Trust me, we're not going to win anything or get very far with just by having a big man with size and length but with no game or maybe even average. Dalembert isn't gonig to put us over the top. He can defend well but he has to be our back up center if we're trying to contend. It takes many different recipe to win a championship. You would need a lethal go to scorer that you can heavily rely on throughout 48 mins, you would need a starting center and PF with size and length and both are very good players. You would need a couple of decent bigs that can block shots to back them up and a couple of long bombers and great leadership from your PG. Basically what Im trying to say is that in order to be good enough to contend, your big man has to be damn good. Gasol and Garnett are both very good players. Gasol has Bynum, a long Center that can play off really well off Gasol while Garnett has Perkins who is a great defensive player. Nene is a good big man but he isn't good enough to take you over the top. Look at the Nuggets, they have Nene at the Center and Melo as their lethal scorer and a great leader in Billups at the point, and they still were not good enough to contend. My point is, if the Rockets want to win it all, they have to get a big man that is playing at an All Star level, demands double teams and protect the rim. We had that in Yao but he wasn't as mobile like Gasol or Hakeem etc. In which case, that was one of our weaknesses. In the playoffs, team exploit Yao in that area and the Rockets could never counter because they rely too heavily on Yao's scoring. Right now, McGee looks to be that player one day if he set his mind straight and grow into that player we need but its nearly impossible to pry him from the Wizards.
Size and length can come later. Right now, lets focus on finding a player that the Rockets can build around first. Once we acquire a franchise player, then we can worry more about adding size and length along with talents to this team. Becaues you can add size and length all you want, you still need a superstar to win championships. Sure all the teams that won championship for the last 2 decades, the OP listed all the good big man with size and length. But the reason why all those team won it all is because they have a legit superstar that can carry the team all the way to the promise land with the help of their great big man. Some teams are different, like Houston whos big man is also their franchise player. Having size is very important but having the right type of superstar is the main key to winning it all. Not any superstar has what it takes to win it all. Like Jordan, Dream, Shaq, Duncan, Kobe etc. I think the 04 Pistons team won it all was because of their amazing team defense. They don't have a legit superstar but they sure have lots of firepower.
I blame Morey for the position were in he's had plenty of chances to draft a back-up center especially knowing yao's injury history, In 08 robin lopez, hibbert, and mcgee were available in the teens yet he was more set on trading up for nba ready courtney lee or brandon rush. Again past on the potential of d.jordan(projected lottery pick) for a 25 yr old 6'7 center in dorsey. And again this year passed on hassan whiteside(projected lottery pick) for another nba ready pf patrick patterson.
we need to win 16-9 to be in the playoff run to get 45 wins but i doubt it. Unless we get are roster together.
the celtics lost game 7 because the refs left pau jump in the air off 2 feet, land and then shoot, if the refs had called one of the single most obvious travels in the history of basketball, the celtics win game 7.
Morey has NEVER been the type to just grab an available player. He waits and waits and waits until he sees value, potential, and future flexibility. And then he moves. So, I'm not worried about him doing something stupid. The point remains, if you are going to win a championship you've got to have a couple legitimate big players that are either seven foot tall or very close to seven foot tall playing primary rotation minutes at the 4/5.
the seven footer in the NBA will soon be gone. all these guys get injured and never return to normal. give me blake griffin
I would love to know how getting the worst starting center, and possibly one of the worst defensive centers in the league is a must need for our team??
I don't think the point is you have to have all-star size and length. Of course, you take Blake Griffin over Emeka Okafor or Tyson Chandler. BUt you got to ALSO have Tyson Chandler. Which is probably somewhat obvious. To be a champion, championship contender or even perennial deep playoff team, you got to be stacked, at every position, which includes legitimate size and length in the frontcourt. 7 footers, even those with skill, will always be around. Truly dominant, HOF seven footers? Yep, a dying breed...but these things go in waves... and are rule impacted as well.
I don't know if that's true. See the Courtney Lee/Terrence Williams trades for example. After one of the trades (can't remember which), Morey stated something along the lines of grabbing a player you like while he's available, even if you don't have PT for him, because you don't know if you'll get a second chance. Now that I think about it, it had to be after the Terrence Williams trade. So no, he's not going to go after a player just because they're made available. But if there's a guy they've had their eye on for some time and he suddenly becomes available (Lee, Williams), I believe Morey will go after him -- regardless of position.
People have been saying that for years, since the rule changes to kill the big man's game, but the teams winning rings are still the ones with seven footers Gasol/Bynum/Garnett/Shaq/Duncan.
1) The OP's point is correct. No WC team will make the finals with a starting C/PF combo both 6'9" and under. A possibility in the EC. Same odds as winning the TX Lottery in the WC. 2) Up until the Rockets' current (and supposed) epiphany on the importance of front court height, two of the most important things to know about Morey's view.... * "Everyone wants Kevin Garnett—he's got the perfect height, body, mentality—but most times, you're going to have to do with less," Morey says. "Behind Yao and Tracy, we've been willing to give up an inch of height, let's say, for more skill, a person who plays harder and creates for others, who defends and rebounds well." Morey's "basketball players" don't pop off a stat sheet, but they give coach Rick Adelman interchangeable and versatile parts that are capable of creating offensive and defensive advantages. "Chuck can guard anyone from 1 to 5; Shane can play 2, 3 or 4; Luis Scola can play 3, 4 or 5; and Brent Barry can go 1, 2 or 3," Morey says. "We're limited only by our strategic insight." http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3658571 ** Because the current CBA includes four year rookie contracts with restriction rights in the 5th year, the player we draft in the 1st round will be one that will be with the Rockets his whole career (barring a trade). Because of this, going with the best player available is weighted higher and team fit (position, style, etc...) is weighted lower. http://www.clutchfans.net/news/1316/10_questions_with_daryl_morey/ The goal...collecting assets. The limit..."only by our strategy". The results...TBD.
