I love reading you're posts COD! Glad you've been active tonight as well. I agree about Clint I think with his slender size, young age and his no physical demeanor he's best suited off the bench. I'm really wanting Tyson Chandler here. I think he would be a very solid pick up for the team. I catch quite a lot of Suns games living in valley and it seems like he's still got some juice left in those legs and I don't think he wants any part of a rebuild. Obviously there would be better choices but I just don't think they are obtainable. As far as Dwight goes we do miss his interior defense and rebounding but I'm glad he's gone. I don't miss the drama and it felt like half of the time he wasn't even putting any effort on th defensive end. I'm fully expecting his relationship with ATL to sour over time just like it has in Orlando, LA and here. Having an Amare for James would be th best thing that could possibly happen to James but I don't think there's anyone who's game resembles that who would even be obtainable? Blake comes to mind as a guy who could be the perfect Amare for James but that's not happening. Faried might be alright but I don't think he can shoot a lot but I don't catch many Nuggets games. Again thanks for you're posts hope you keep them coming.
The Sun did pretty well without amare during one of the Nash mvp season. Harden maybe racking up assists but he is not on Nash level when you talk about running the system.
The Rockets will have a better record this year without Dwight than last year with him healthy, guaranteed. Capela isn't as productive as him but he's far more cost effective. Hopefully our eventual answer to the starting C is neither Capela or Nene but someone who's actually compatible with Harden (i.e. someone that can stretch the floor). Obviously, Dwight was never the answer which is why the Rockets weren't shedding any tears when he opted out.
That's fair, but I think he's doing considerably well, when you take into account that this is the first season where he has been designated as our PG. In the past, he has handled the ball more than anyone, but he was still looked at as a scoring guard above everything else. Now, he's becoming more of a complete player on the offensive end. I have been impressed with the quality of a lot of his passes. His assists show a better court vision. But yes, to your point, he's not yet on Nashty's level of assists and seeing the court. Then again, does he have the same personnel that Nash did? I mean that in terms of shooters that can space the floor. We have a few, but as much as I love Trev, he's never going to be Joe Johnson. (Actually, I'm thankful for that. Trev shows each night that he still cares about defense even when the rest of the team has forgotten.) Fly Ry and EG are going to do well here in time, but James doesn't have the forwards/centers Nash did in PHX. It's not even close. MDA has always had bigs who can catch and finish around the rim, but he's also had bigs that can shoot the mid-range jumper. If you saw Clint take a 14 footer, I think all of us would close our eyes and pray for him to just hit the rim. Clint's shot is atrocious, and admittedly I'm frustrated with him tonight, but it has been awhile since I've seen a center airball layups and shots from close range in a long,long time. Hell, not even Stromile Swift, with his stone hands, had such an undeveloped game in the post. The sky is the limit for James in this offense, but for our team's record, we're going to be a disaster without some proven talent in the post and at the center position.
Dwight was mostly healthy last year and we were one loss away from a losing season, and the Rockets were undefeated in games where he was out. The best season Houston had when we got the 2 seed was also the year where Dwight MISSED HALF THE SEASON due to injury. How do you conveniently ignore that?
I like Capela, but I am going to like him even more in 3 years, thats how long is going to take him to be NBA starting center.But for now , o well....
That team that year was a gritty team. They had a lot of players who bought into defense and hustling. We haven't had that since. With a healthy Dwight that bought in to the system ( Running PNRs ) which he did when he came backthat team could have won 60+
Great post! However, to say that Capela is 2 steps to slow or doesnt have the mental capacity to rebound or play d is a bit of an overstatement in my opinion. The young fellas game has grown leaps and bounds since he was drafted. I think it will continue to as well. Like a previous poster stated, i also really enjoy your posts.
What the hell are you smoking? The Rockets didn't go "undefeated" without Dwight. They lost 5 games last season without him. That's 4 losses where he didn't suit up, plus another loss where he played just 1 minute. Dwight missed half the regular season games when the Rockets won the #2 seed. The team won 66% when Dwight didn't play. And.... that improved to 71% when Dwight did play. So that totally makes him a CANCER.... amirite?
You just cannot take away Dwight's power presence and his long time experience, being in more playoff games, Allstar games, Team US games......
No crap. Nash after Jason kidd was the best pure point guard of the 2000's.Harden is a elite combo guard.
Doc Rocket and Codman have both now verified that CC is very slow to process and respond to the action around him. I stated that was the case around a year ago now. You don't believe it. I also told you CC has stamina issues and teams have figured out to just drive straight into him because he's slow and he's weak. MDA himself verified the stamina issue. Codman is saying he's weak. We're all watching the same games. Yet you see something different. You think he's grown by leaps and bounds. Yet he still sucks at the FT line even with Lucas working with him all summer. He hasn't developed one offensive skill. And he's still a defensive sieve. What, pray tell, has CC gotten better at?
I agree. Just from watching the games it's obvious his bball iq and instict in D leaves a lot to be desired. More importantly and more alarming his progress in that area is also minimal. What I'm at this point perplexed about is how a lot of analysts - that you know watch the Rockets - still believe in his potential and are so high on him. Its one thing if it's the casual fans who are impressed by some blocks, but we are talking about legitimate analysts.
The Rockets fans said the team is automatically better by getting rid of the cancer Dwight. The same had been said by the Lakers and Magic fans. LOL
1. Rocket analysts are going to cover for Rocket players and pump Rocket players as much as possible. That's understandable. You just have to remember when Clyde says they're future all-stars to make sure you have a salt cube handy. Because you'll need more than just a grain to take his bs commentary with. 2. Many national commentators are in their position because of their popularity as former players and coaches. And the vast majority of them don't do their homework. They just skim through highlights and see a few dunks, blocked shots, and 3-balls and they develop their commentary from that. 3. The few guys that do study players and do know their stuff are very hesitant to ever speak out about players mental trajectory until it is overwhelmingly obvious. When they do, that label sticks and makes headlines. Case in point, Javale and Shaq. Javale has been a walking buffoon since he first stepped on court as a rookie. But it wasn't until midway through his big contract that Shaq started outing him. Everybody knows everybody in this business. They want to preserve relationships and increase their future earnings potential by being positive about the league and all the players. And they for sure don't want to hurt any of these young men's careers by being a harsh critic of their games. What happens here mostly is the casual fan hears Clyde bloviate a little bit then they see Morey tweet a dunk gif of Capela and in their mind they think CC is a real positive difference-maker. Then they get on the board and post away that he's better than Dwight. Remember, I told you in July that we needed to trade Capela. His trade value was at its max point. And I told you if we went into this season with him as the starter that he would be exposed and his trade value would start sliding downhill and never recover. You are witnessing the decline of an asset here. Gotta watch the games and do your own homework fellas.
