That's the b**** of it. We already have gone through such a period. We've been in the lottery in 5 of the last 8 years. And what do we have to show for it? Yao who was handed to us when we lucked into the #1 pick and Battier who we traded our lottery pick for.
Right, I stated this very same thing 3 YEARS ago. Go for talent, be bold. The Phoenix Suns was not hesitant in trading Marbury and rebuilt the team. They were not hesitant in trading Joe Johnson and got talent back and so many first round picks.
NewYorker, I actually agree with your "building for the future" view; however, TMac is a short termer. He may be young in earth years, but he seems in his late thirties in NBA years. If you had gone into more draft, contract, and trade detail you could have really made yourself depressed. The CD era is not as rosey as everyone seems to believe. We have had a good deal of buy high, sell low going on for a long time. Every team makes mistakes, but the Rockets are not far behind the leaders. JVG has to bear some of the more recent blame. His handling of Novak, VSpan, Wells, and Synder get a D at best. They are not as bad as he has made them look by icing them. And the Rafer-love was undeserved.
You may be right - T-mac hasn't developed a really reliable jumper to transition into an effective 30-something scorer - when his ability to drive diminishes, he's value could decline porportionally. I reallly really like T-mac. But we have so little talent and tradeable assets - you have to wonder if we should consider trading away stars to build a team that can contend in years down the road. How do we acquire talent? How does GS find these young legs that actually perform. Where do the Barbosa's of the world come from? Is it scouting that's killing us? Where's the next Robert Horry, Sam Cassell's, Mario Elies. How did we find these guys and why can't we find them now?
Yeah, that's exactly what we need to do. First improve in one area that will be a solution for 3-5 years. They don't have to be a super-star today - but have some upside. They will have to be young. I think we have to put VSPAN in the line-up. I think we have to put novack in...i mean, Chuck Hayes and Juwon Howard are not the future of this club. I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather see potential play and we struggle then have a decent regular season record and bomb out in the first round. I mean - wow - look at Golden State! Look at them! They went from nothing to something big just like that - by focusing on getting better and not just winning. Don Nelson did it with Dallas, and now he's done it with G.S. Who ever thought that Don Nelson would be building contenders!
very good post! i agree with you. but in a way, we've made our bed, we might as well lie in it - at least until the yao tmac thing has run it's course... if we don't stay in "win now" mode we may possibly waste the best center in the league and tmac's last few years while we acquire younger developing talent. of course, this line of thinking got us ousted vs utah in the first round this year... so i guess what i'm saying is that i'm not sure what's better at this point... build for the future and possibly let this tmac and yao era end with no ring? or continue to look for the veteran talent or trade? at some point we would eventually "catch up" and have a lot of talent to work with if we do begin building for the future now... i love that idea. that's what the other teams you mentioned have done and it has proven to be successful. but i guess i would say that i would to see the yao and mcgrady experiment run it's course... by a hair. then after they retire and i know we're supposed to suck, i will be able to cope.
The real reason we don't have a strong playoff team? 2007 Playoffs: 44.1 MPG, Rafer Alston. I can't look at that stat without tearing up a little inside.
In Shaq and Kobe era, Lakers had, outside the two Fisher,Rick Fox, Devan George, Big shot bob, Rice/Samaki Walker/JR Rider(one year deal), and other scrubs That laker squad took home 3 rings in 4 years. It was a dynasty. Obviously we modeled after them. But the problem is Yao is far less dominant than Shaq and Tmac at best is push with Kobe. We dont have anybody that can match Horry, and most role players are one shade less than the lakers. Obviously, I dont see how this team is built to win. I can understand that we were stuck with bad contracts and all. But this isnt an championship team from get go. Outside Yao and Tmac who else on this team could reliably score much needed points in a row. If we had that guy, we would be talking about contending.
Now people are hating the Battier trade? Without Battier, this team doesn't make the playoffs with all the injuries.
1993-94 Houston Rockets (CHAMPS) Hakeem Olajuwon #1 pick 1984 Otis Thorpe - from Sacremento for Rodney McCray and Jim Petersen Vernon Maxwell - acquired from San Antonio for cash Kenny Smith - FA? or trade from Atlanta? Robert Horry -#11 1992 NBA Draft Mario Elie - Houston Rockets traded a 1995 second-round draft choice to the Portland Trail Blazers for Elie Sam Cassell -24th overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft. Scott Brooks -FA Carl Herrera -Selected by the Miami Heat in the second round (30th pick overall) of the 1990 NBA Draft. Draft rights traded by the Heat with draft rights to Dave Jamerson to the Houston Rockets for draft rights to Alec Kessler on 6/27/90 Matt Bullard -Not drafted by an NBA franchise ... Signed as a free agent by the Houston Rockets on 8/22/90 ..
I know many people are blaming Van Gundy as the reason why we can't win. I think the root of the problem is deeper. The root of our win now mentality starts and ends with Leslie Alexander, the owner. The last Rockets championship team (and the near champion team of Hakeem and Ralph) was built under Charlie Thomas. Les lucked out by buying a team that had matured to championship caliber. After that wave ran its course, he tried to duplicated the Clyde Drexler trade magic, again and again trying to make that one big draft that would win us the championship. The net result is we undermined our own foundation of building a pipeline filled with great young talent. As of today, the heart of the champion beats inside the San Antonio Spurs. Before our Elie went to them, Dave Robison and Tim Duncan were both viewed as soft, much like Yao and McGrady. Once Elie went over, they started winning championships. Then our Robert Horry signed with them and the Spurs won another championship. So I say Les has to go...and we should rename ourselves PopTheClutchCity and PopTheClutchFans.
Nice. You should continue extrapolating and show how quickly you can destroy a back to back championship team. Just trade two young proven starts for an old proven choker.
yah, no more Charlie Wards, Charles Oakley or JVG's wish to bring an old Scottie Pippen here. No more Knicks assistant coaches who are here only because of loyalty and on the payroll doing completely NOTHING!!
Besides the 2 championship years that Houston had, tell me a 4 year span by a Houston coach that were as successful as the 4 JVG gave us. Even if there were such periods, how could you say JVG is the worst mistake in Rockets history. Every single player on this team respect him (except for maybe Bonzi and VSpan). The season he gave us this year was nothing short of a miracle based on injuries and real lack of talent. Would you say the same thing if we had scored 6 more points in game 7 against Utah this year? Don't let your disappointment cloud your judgement. Appreciate what has come, and look for better times in the future, be it with/without JVG.
New Yorker. So true, New Yorker. What is with JVG. Insecurity? Old School to the point of nuttiness? Using Motumbo and aged veterans to beat if I recall Denvie's scrubs on the last day of the season to move down a couple of draft slots.? True, but as the other poster says T Mac in 3 yrs. Actually given his great court vision and distribution, I think T Mac will be very good in three IF HIS BODY cooperates a bit. If only after the T Mac trade we had had a three year plan?!?!
