All the whining around here is making me laugh! So all you arm chair general managers are sooo much smarter than CD or Rudy when it comes to picking talent. God, you all are amazing. Do none have any faith in Rudy anymore? (that's a rhetorical question, no need to answer). Can any of you stop and think that this might be the first step in a trading scenario that Rudy and Carroll are setting up? Does anyone realize that we now have 4 first round picks next year in a draft that is loaded? Gee, wouldn't it be nice to have a little faith. Or is that too much to ask? Go ahead slam me, because I know you're all smarter than Rudy and have sooo much more insight into what the Rockets might have in mind. I'll just sit back and watch it all unfold, because your all making me laugh. ------------------
Mark who is in next years draft? The only one you know for sure are next years Juniors. There is no way to say that next years draft will be deeper than this years. Sure you can assume this years frosh & sophs will be there, but one bad year and they become second round afterthoughts (see Chris Porter and Michael Redd). Also what's the difference between 3 picks and 4? Either way you are flexible enough to move into the top 3 picks and I don't think it is enough to get two in the top five unless one of our picks are really bad in the 1st place. Also 4 1st round picks will take a lot of caop space, so expect us to pull an Orlando if we do expect to find another star (CWebb) via FA. Yeah if Rudy has a deal in place then Rudy will make us all look bad, I'll admit that at that point. I see it more as giving up on a championship for 2 years (knowing it's going to take a young player 1 full year to adjust to the NBA). I see us maybe being a .500 team, assuming Dream is relatively healthy. Four potential draft picks in 2001 will help us a little the following year and maybe be ready in 2002? Long road home. I would much rather have kept Pryz, who will develop into an above average NBA player (I can't see Collier being above average) and let him play with Francis, Mobley, Anderson and then pick up 2-3 role players in the 2001 draft. I'm frustarted because we are still looking into the future rather than getting someone who could help us win next year, or at least by his 2nd year. ------------------
When do you want this championship team? Next year? The year after? Not going to happen. You sound as if you only have a 3-year Rocketfan plan. Picking up the role players is an important part of rebuilding. A superstar can be inserted at any time and make an impact. Be patient. ------------------ The Wizard when asked about his WWJD bracelet: "It's my good luck charm. It stands for 'Walt Williams Just Doin' it'."
mc mark, If this BBS is not for opinions and conjecture, what is it for? Do you think everyone should sit back and say "Well I don't really like the pick BUT Rudy & Carrol are really smart..." Maybe journalists should take that approach too. ------------------ http://rocketdavo.tripod.com
davo, I have no problem with people voicing thier opinion. Thats whats fun about this board. What I do have a problem with is people screaming Rudy sucks this or Rudy sucks that. Just because someone didn't get thier rocks off by being able to say "see, I'm so smart because the Rockets picked who I wanted". As for you statement "Well I don't really like the pick BUT Rudy & Carrol are really smart..." maybe they should. All I'm saying is I don't think the Rockets are done here. Remember last year? The Rocket's draft wasn't all that impressive. But look what happened and look who we ended up with. Stevie and Shandon. Nobody expected that huh? ------------------
Dogbelly, Realistically I would have liked to be a championship Caliber team in 2001. That gives Francis 3 years in the league and time to mature. Mobley would have 4 years. KT would be our backup PF with 3 years, Cato would have 3 years of starting, Anderson would be the vet on the team, Pryz would be the second year post player, and then pick 2-3 role players via FA and the draft. With that nucleous we should be able to attract another star FA. So are you saying if we're not planning on winning anytime soon that we should go ahead and package Franchise up and ship him off for some more picks in the next couple of years draft? I didn't think so. We have a nucleous of players that have potential. I hate to see our player moves slow them down. We had a good player in Pryz and we traded him for Collier, who was a reach at 15, and a 1st rounder next year. That is slowing down progress, IMO. ------------------
Kelvin Cato and Joel Przybilla could not play on the floor together. Neither can hit a shot outside 5 feet from the basket. Collier at least has some range. And if he gets us Croshere even better.
What I was saying is that if there aren't attainable impact players to be had in the draft this year (which there weren't), the Rockets have the option of trading down because they are not going to compete for the championship this year or next. Since we couldn't get into the top 3, trading away that pick + money would not have netted a player that would make much of am impact on this team. By trading the pick for Collier and another 1st rounder next year, they are in a much better position to get a bigtime player next year. Pryz is NOT a bigtime player. 4-5 years from ground level to a championship contender is realistic. Ground level was this past season. We still have 3 or 4 years to go. Francis, Mobley, Anderson, etc. will not be geezers by then. Think of this draft as a middle-relief pitcher setting up the closer. The set-up man doesn't show the stability of the starter, and isn't as flashy as the closer, but he still serves a very important purpose. ------------------ The Wizard when asked about his WWJD bracelet: "It's my good luck charm. It stands for 'Walt Williams Just Doin' it'."
Rudy uses spacing in his offense, which allows Francis and Mobley to penetrate the lane. Pryzbilla is not an outside threat and neither is Cato. Would you like to revert back to the old "Dump and Watch" offense? Collier can hit the outside shot, thus fitting perfectly into Rudy's offense. p.s. Now Rudy will trade Collier and my opinion will mean nothing ------------------
The Rockets didn't "have" Przybilla. They wanted Collier, so they asked the Bucks to draft him. The Bucks told the Rockets they wanted Przybilla. The Rockets preferred Collier to Przybilla because of his versatility. ------------------ Too-Rye-Aye!
Rember the fakers had Kobe & Shaq for 4 years before it paid off. ------------------ One minute ago you had 60 seconds longer to live then you have now. Did you enjoy the 60 seconds you just had?
And the Rockets (possibly) get a first round pick next year! Rudy the genius strikes again. ------------------
