The departure of Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks are bittersweet for me. They were my favorite Rockets, and I wish them the best. I hope that maybe one day they could return to Houston, but that isn't likely in Brooks' case, and unnecessary in Battier's case. However I am EXCITED about this team. No, we are not playoff contenders. However, we have escaped the hell that is known as mediocrity. The team has direction now. We are in rebuilding mode, and if there was ever a time to be optimistic about the future, that would be now. Willy has been freed, and we can finally see what our young players can do with extensive minutes. Perhaps we can find a star among the players that we ALREADY have. Courtney Lee appears to be a star right now and I don't think this is just a hot streak. The guy can play, and he's exactly what we need. He's a two-way athletic player with upside and a good attitude. He isn't soft. He's hungry. I'm sure these young players have to be hungry, and as fans, we have to be hungry too. Houston has been in mediocrity since God knows how long, and while these trades do not bring us up to contending status, they do let us know what we should expect. There was another thread showing what draft picks we have and that absolutely blew my mind. I had no idea we had stockpiled THAT many picks. Hopefully Morey can package those for a superstar. In the meantime however, I look forward to watching our young players grow up right before our eyes, and perhaps we could become the next OKC. Seattle was terrible for a while IIRC, but look at OKC now. Yes there is reason to be sad, we probably wont be making the playoffs for a while, but you have to realize that this isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. And I'm ready.
Meh. I admit I'm excited since we have new players, but.. still gonna lose and drift around 10th place. also, Spoiler
IMHO it is just as much fun to watch a young team with a future as it was to watch the playoff bound teams of the last decades. Interest in your chosen team is generated by HOPE. Nothing could be as bad as the Purgatory we were headed for. Just watching young players meet your hopes and expectations is great. I hope that Thabeet meets the expectations that the FO has for him as the 2nd highest choice in his draft class. First of all it would give us the guy we need in the paint and secondly it would shut-up all the naysayers on this board. I just hope he works out for us.
We have only been mediocre for 1.6666666 years. That is hardly "since God knows when".We where a 50+ win team for the 3-4 previous years. Going to the playoffs regularly.
Did you call a radio talkshow this afternoon? I swear I heard the same sentiments about how we have escaped mediocrity and have direction on Matt Thomas' show. I wanted to ask him "what exactly is your definition of 'mediocrity' to believe we've escaped it?" I'm interested in seeing how we play these final few games and who steps up or changes their game up with the loss of Shane and Brooks.
We can still make a run at the 7th or 8th seed. Utah and Denver are gonna start to slide downhill fast and theres no telling with Memphis and Phoenix! We have an extremely easy schedule from here on... Im excited!!
Team is definately more excited to watch but Im scared that I might start watching the entire games and not have time to study for my exams, therefore turning me into a scrub for the rest of my life
Going to the playoffs regularly depending completely upon two extremely injury prone stars who end up having season-ending injuries every year in the first 30 games. Then, hovering between the best team not to make the playoffs and the worst team to make it. That is mediocrity. And we have been there for a while now.
you forgot Battier is going to turn the Memphis franchise around. They are going to get the 8th spot.
Excited Morey decided what direction this team was headed in, I would be beyond shocked if we aren't picking in the top 3 of this upcoming draft and it won't be because we won the lotto.
That;s exactly what I'm thinking too.. there's no way he was planning on building around Thabeet...that would just be asinine! But he can turn into a nice complementary player if the desire to get better is there. The key is, that we still have players that teams want... regardless of what happened a couple of days ago. I think Morey will be packaging the picks+players to either move up in the draft OR get that marquee player that we've been looking for. Perhaps CP3+Emeka to begin 2011-2012. Summer of 2012, extend CP3, lure Dwight Howard and send Emeka in a sign and trade. And if Thabeet can become Deke-LITE...holy crap @ the length of this team! :grin: The East is loaded now... superstars are BOUND to come to the West now..
