Grant Hill has been amazing, but Orlando has been without Mobley for some time, another potential 15-20 point scorer. Battie and Garrity have had little to no impact, however Turkoglu has filled in Garrity's void and come up big when scoring has been hard on the team. Overall, I think it's alittle unfair to claim their sucess has been based on a coincidence of a few things happening. Now you talked about Orlando's sucess, what about Houston's failure? Wasn't getting T-Mac the answer to getting high in standings and getting through the first round of the play-offs? No one is talking about that now, making the play-offs sound more like a priority at the moment. Yao has been dismal especially on the boards which is really letting the team down. T-Mac's shooting has been poor and the team's PPG have been typical of JVG's scheme, but haven't been able to defend to the points put on the board. The point of the matter is, winning ball games speak much louder then words and you really have to give it up for Orlando for making a bad situation good.
a team of 1) Grant Hill (all star form) 2) #1 pick Dwight Howard 3) Jameer Nelson 4) Pat Garrity 5) Tony Battie 6) Hedo Turkgolu plus 7.tyrone lue 8.juwon howard 9.and recese gains is not a playoff team. i think stevie ,cat ,and cato mkes them a much better team .so you cant just give credit to everybody else and leave these three out.even with a all star in grant hill.
also that team would lack toughness,entertainment,and heart.grant hill would not be able to carry that team by hisself,probaly would hurt hisself agian trying to play to hard.
Its a playoff team once you add Tracy McGrady to the lineup. Perhaps not as high of a seed, but easily a playoff team nevertheless.
So youre saying that maybe our management that agreed to this idiotic trade may not have the basketball IQ of Orlando's management staff?
Ahh.. our "nucleus" has to include Yao. Depending on how you see is, we kept our #1 or 2 player and added T-Mac. Let's not forget, this is just thier first season together(no to mention it's still VERY early in the season) we really have the great potential of building around our all-stars. No (you idiot), they just made the best of what's available. All in due time, now move to Orlando !
before you guys forget a team made of steve,cat , and cato swept an entire division in the EC just 3 years ago.
Once again... when you are talking about who is closer to a championship rather than who looks good right now, you could say that both teams could get better or worse because of the trade. Obviously, Orlando is a stronger team right now, and only partially due to the trade. That doesn't justify belittling T-mac or the Rockets, especially because I could see A LOT of scenarios that involve the Rockets whipping their a** in the near future.... and vice versa. Orlando's future championship hopes rely on: 1- development of Howard 2- Hill's ankle Houston's future championship hopes rely on: 1- development of Yao 2- obtaining strong role players Congrats Weisbrod... Orlando took a big chance on Hill and it finally paid off. The Rockets took a much smaller chance on Griffin and were set back 2-3 years in the process. Will they be printing these same articles if Hill goes down again? Will the Chronicle be printing this crap to taunt them if it happens? If it weren't for the fact that I really like Hill, Francis, and Mobley, I would be rooting for horrible things to befall Weisbrod.
every team's hopes rely on player health, development and acquisition. those aint suddenly NEW variables arising from the TMac trade. TMac is a bonified talent but it seems silly to post these rambling rationalizations hoping to obscure the obvious. we took a step back to acquire TMac. we can prosper or perish depending on health, development, acquisition, adjustment, coaching, player evaluation ... blah! same variables apply to our adversaries.
I don't want to be an I told you so but I did say that the player you guys would miss most was Cato. T Mac more than makes up for what was losst with Francis and Mobely but Juwanna Man is not a top level NBA player and hasn't been for awhile.
Whatever... Orlando might be a great place to live offseason, but they seem to have a problem keeping their superstars. It starts with the media.
the only problem is . . .you seem to indicate that orlando will not improve in the same time period while u may hate weisbrod. . but he has done a great job so far FOR Orlando . . .. He is not there to be nice, to appease rocket fans to be classy . . . .. He is there to turn around Orlando . . and that is exactly what he has done Rocket River
I don't agree the the maonin' about this article. The MAgic have been exciting and successful, and Cat is back after a long stay on IR. The Rockets have been terrible. In many games,no offense, and worse, no heart. The Rockets are becoming a National joke and the poster boys for overmanaged, overpaid, weak willed athletes.
The player Houston miss most is Franchise because of his heart and talent. And if Tracy is so much more explosive than Steve why did Steve as a rookie beat him in the Dunk contest. If he's such a better passer why haven't he surpass Franchise in assist per game through the last 4 years; when he's handled the ball just as much as Francis if not more in Orlando. Some of you need to realize that the Rockets made a bad trade and Orlando made a wonderful one. Cat was on the injured list for 9 games and is still really hurting with his injury. Cato was out with an injury for a while. Battie has not been much of a factor, Nelson look like he should of fell farther than the 20, Garrity has been a non-factor and is back on the injured list. I've seen Orlando play this season and last season and the main difference is that they have Franchise to lead them. The Rockets desperately miss his leadership and are in for a long season without him.
