Okay, okay. This is my desperation speaking, but I am going to propose something I just said I would never do. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and Shane Battier is the only player teams covet and who has enough contract dollars (unlike Head who is nice trade bait but who has no high dollar value). So, with fortitude I go before the firing squad: Chicago Trade Breakdown Outgoing Mike Sweetney 6-8 PF from Georgetown 8.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.9 apg in 18.6 minutes Ben Gordon 6-3 SG from Connecticut 16.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.0 apg in 31.1 minutes Incoming Chuck Hayes 6-6 SF from Kentucky 3.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.4 apg in 13.3 minutes Shane Battier 6-8 SF from Duke 10.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.7 apg in 35.1 minutes Change in team outlook: -11.2 ppg, +1.8 rpg, and -1.8 apg. Houston Trade Breakdown Outgoing Chuck Hayes 6-6 SF from Kentucky 3.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.4 apg in 13.3 minutes Shane Battier 6-8 SF from Duke 10.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.7 apg in 35.1 minutes Incoming Mike Sweetney 6-8 PF from Georgetown 8.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.9 apg in 18.6 minutes Ben Gordon 6-3 SG from Connecticut 16.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.0 apg in 31.1 minutes Change in team outlook: +11.2 ppg, -1.8 rpg, and +1.8 apg. Successful Scenario Due to Chicago and Houston being over the cap, the 25% trade rule is invoked. Chicago and Houston had to be no more than 125% plus $100,000 of the salary given out for the trade to be accepted, which did happen here. This trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
I can't believe some people are even thinking of tanking.I know Morale is low but geeez.....What will come from tanking the season?Getting a lottery pick so that coach Van Bonaparte can trade it,for a hustle player like Eduardo Najera?Tanking is not an option!
Are you drunk? LOL Of course you fight it out unless there happens to be a draft pick in next years lottery who is a can't miss ~cough~ Tim Duncan ~cough~
No tanking.. Even if we did tank, we would be a low lottery seed with virtually no chance to move up to a top 3 spot. Many are calling this upcoming draft the deepest in years, so we can still get a pretty good guy as a mid 1st rounder. If we can get everyone healthy for a stretch run in March and April, we could get the 7 or 8 spot, if things go really well, maybe even the 6....I doubt the Mavs, Spurs or Suns would like that as a 1st round present.. stay the course
They just got beat by a bad Pacer team. yeah, Tracy Mcgrady is back - and he's playing about as well as he did before he left: not very, by his standards. Tonight they'lll more than likely lose to an NJ Net team that is perhaps the only team in the NBA with worse healthy big men than the Rockets. They're just a few games away from slipping below .500. Yao is currently immobilized. If he rushes his way back to health (coming back from his 3rd significant injury in 3 months)...do you really think the Rockets will magically win a ton of games? The team lacks talent at lots of positions, the only way to get it is through the draft, and winning now looks unlikely at best. I don't see the point in rushing Yao back to win 39 games and miss the playoffs.
We will try to win... We will lose about as many as we win...(without Yao) We cannot expect to contend without a healthy Yao and TMac... We probably might want to reconsider how the team is currently put together since it is not likely we will get a full season with both Yao and TMac perfectly healthy and there is not enough talent to contend without those two at max performance- (at least come playoff time) I believe we have a short window with TMac considering his back I believe if Yao can stay healthy most of the time he will be effective for another 5 seasons. So think about replacing TMac over the next 2 offseasons and pray Yao doesn't continue to miss so many games each season. Think hard.
I agree with you Pacers are one of those teams Rockets should have beaten, given their top dog Jermaine O'neil is not playing. Last night's game was downright horrible to watch. Right now the Rockets are just entering one of the softest stretches of the season. So if you have some faith in the players and the coaching staff, you should reasonably expect them to win some even without Yao. Looking at the playoff picture of the WC, we can see the Rockets will be vying for the last two playoff spots along with their main competitors Warriors, T-Wolves, Kings, Trailblazers, Clippers, and Hornets. Each of those teams have their issues. Baron Davis' knee can go bad any time. KG is pretty much a lone wolf on his team, and he's not happy with his coach. We all know what a crappy player MJ is, so I am not going to waste time on him. Bibby has wrist injury. Artest is rumored to want to be out of Sac Town. Blazers barely beat us last time we played them and have since lost two in a row. Clippers without Cassell won't go anywhere. Chris Paul just got himself injured last night and Hornet's major acquisition Peja is undergoing a surgery. So all is not lost on the Rockets. By the end of the regular season, it's very likely that top 6 teams in the west all have very good W-L records, the next 4-5 teams are going to be a distant second, with only a couple of games seperating among themselves. I think the Rockets may still make the playoff, even if Yao comes back only very late in the season, as long as T-Mac's back holds up. It will be a painful struggle against any of the top teams in the 1st round playoff. So the excitement ends right there.
Man, none of the issues those teams are having is as big as ours. We were beaten by the bad clipper team, we were beaten the bad pacer team. Those teams are slightly better than us right now, and that's enough to put us at the bottom of WC.
Make that a font size +20 "IF". That back condition of Tmac's looks to be chronic and that means that it can go at anytime or not go at anytime. Far too much hinges on Tmac not only playing but playing like the Tmac of old. And Tmac has been in a slow decline for the past 5 years so the likelihood of that happening is very very slim. If JVG wants to save his job, perhaps he'd best rethink his attitude toward playing younger players because at this point with Tmac recovering, Yao out until February and Bonzi Wells playing like horse crap, young "unproven" players are all he has left.
Well, assuming T-Mac is going to be OK and not missing a game for the rest of the season, the 2 most recent losses by the Rockets should be considered atypical. After Yao went down, the team were playing with neither one of their leaders for much of the game vs the Clippers. The Indiana game was on the road and the first for T-Mac after 2+ weeks of rehab. But frankly, I don't regard 1st-round playoff exit a success for the Rockets, for the simple reasons that 1) T-Mac will most likely be a shell of his former self (we will be stuck with his monstrous contract for the next 3 years), 2) the Rockets will miss a good lottery pick in the draft, and 3) the Bonzi situation may again be in the air. To me just barely making playoffs is pretty horrow, a moral victory maybe, but not much else.
While I agree that getting Yao back in only 6 weeks would be more than a minor miracle, we really don't know how McGrady's going to hold up. If he can stay healthy, cut down his turnovers, shoot a decent percentage, and work with a hopefully in shape Bonzi, with everyone else staying healthy, we have a chance to play .500 ball while Yao is out. And if we do that, we can finish strong. Lots of ifs, but no way do you start thinking about tanking yet. Get a grip, Sam.
We are not nearly as bad as we played at Indiana. There will be games like that. There will be a very deep draft right now. Tanking now with still a month before the all-star game is absurd. If Yao comes back as scheduled and T-Mac stay healthy, we will win more than 39 games. I would be stunned if we don't finish above .500 Don't give up so easily
So, am I correct in deducing that the tankers in this post wish we would have lost the game against the Nets? You tanker guys are depressed by the Rox' win? Want to get JVG fired for insisting on winning some games without Yao eh?
No, I want JVG to stay. But ask me again later this season: if the Rox win 39 games and pick 15th, I'd rather they win 28 games and pick higher.
Well, sure. I would rather have the number one pick then miss the playoffs by one game, but the team is in much better shape than last year. I just think it's way to early to even think about tanking, Sam. I don't think the team is as devoid of talent as you do, anyway. They are simply built around Yao and McGrady. Battier, Head, Howard, Snyder, Wells and Hayes are all solid complimentary players who play good D and who can defer to others on the offensive side of the ball. I think the Battier and Wells can amp up their offensive games enough to keep the Rocket competitive with a reasonably productive and healthy McGrady. They are too good defensively and Van Gundy is too good a coach to just let them fall of the face of the earth enough to get a decent pick. Play on and see what happens.
