i see that this game 7 would decide so many factors. one. JVG losing this series(even tho not entirely his fault) would be his last series with the rockets. two. t-mac not getting out of the first round once again three. how will this affect t-mac with his passion to play ball because it is obvious that when he is down he stays down and becomes pessimistic. losing this game was huge. where will this team go now.. with 2 great stars and supporting cast maybe just enough to make a deep playoff run to fall short again.. i think this is the off season that will decide the future of the mcgrady-yao combo. either we pick up good FA or a great draft pick to help improve this team next season with a new coach, or its time to rebuild with a new nucleus. dont get me wrong I LOVE THE ROCKETS. and i love t-mac and yao.. but the question is.. where will we go from here?..
this team is good. it just needs a new coach ala Phil Jackson. Shaq and Kobe did nothing untill Phil Jackson taught them how to win championships. This team has the right players. I just think that if get a new coach will help. We do need a 3rd scorer. Kevin Garnett would be nice.
2 years from now, losing in the 1st round 3-4 against the Suns with a starting lineup of T-Mac, Yao, Rafer, Hayes, and Battier.
We could get G-Hill with what Bonzi would've gotten next season and wait for the Knicks to buy out Steve Francis and sign him for cheap, then trade Juwan Howard + Bob Sura for Marcus Camby (rumor has it the Nuggets are looking to disperse of him, Evans, and K-Mart for salary cap reasons). On top of that we could get a nice athletic PF in this draft who could either score or play D/rebound.
If the report that Les want team to play up tempo game is true, then I do see this is a possibility. Maybe trade Yao to Laker for Banum and Odom and Walton? Naaaa, I don't think either Yao or Tmac will be traded.
for starters. i like steve francis with us in a new offence with a new coach. we can still play the same defense that jvg installed but with new improved offence. we might be incredible. i think it is best that rafer would be our back-up pg. line-up: steve,t-mac,battier, another PF, yao not bad..
Sign Francis or Hill for the MLE. Trade Battier and Head for Rashard Lewis. If can't get Francis, acquire Mike James for Sura's expiring plus a pick. Try to pull some magic and get a quality PF.
I hope this post was sarcastic... b/c Juwon and Sura for Camby would be the robbery of the century. Plus G-Hill will make at least the MLE, even with his injury concerns.
Though Bynum could be had in a deal with the Lakers, they are clearly looking to package Bynum with someone else on their roster to get another key piece for their team to make a run now. The Rockets don't have any players outside of Yao/Tmac/Battier that would fit that.... In reality, the Rockets only have the assets to afford one bigger(for a rotation player but not an All-Star) splash and maybe a few other smaller moves this offseason. We would really need to decide what position we are most in need of - a PG who can shoot and doesn't turn the ball over, or a PF who can board and play a little defense. We likely won't get both. We also have to look at how much production we can continue to expect from Deke & Juwon into a playoff run next year. Hopefully whoever is the coach next year will actually be keen on developing a bench of some kind so our bench is deeper than one Guard, one Forward, and one Center(and two of those three are ancient). I think Bibby would be a good fit here and I know the Kings were entertaining a trade at the deadline this year from the Cavs for Gooden and some picks/expiring contracts. The Cavs didn't have enough juice to make it happen though. The Rockets do have the expiring contract of Snyder to use and they could throw a guy like Novak of Vspan in on the deal - someone younger as it sounds like the Petrie bros are looking to rebuild. Maybe they could work something out that way...the catch here is Western conference teams may prefer to deal with Eastern conference teams in a trade like that so they don't get burned years down the road in conference play. With a guy like Bibby, you figure there would be plenty of suitors and all things being equal, the Kings I am sure would much prefer to deal to another conference even if they are going into rebuild mode... I really wish the Rockets had gotten on the Mikey Moore tip when he was available but hindsight is 20/20... I also wonder if Houston could work out a sign & trade with Bonzi(extension since he holds a player option) to help him get where he wants to go while helping us land a missing piece in a trade...
what was NJ looking for in the kidd trade talks with LA? i doubt we have much that would interest them...
