Lowry is fine. I don't mind having him on the team, particularly when opposing point guards are giving Brooks fits on defense, but what I don't understand is why we would trade a starter "straight up" for a backup? Rafer ran the offense very well. As well as anyone we have had since Kenny Smith. Rafer was a very good, tough, defender. Rafer had the balls to stand up to guys that needed to be stood up against. He was the closest thing to a leader that this team had. Of all the numerous problems on this team, I can't help but think we just traded away the one who is the least to blame for this season. We still have McGrady. We still have Artest. For now. Until he bolts for nothing next year... Oh well. At least we have the Astros...
Man..you guys need to quit believing whatever comes out of Bill Worrell and Clyde Drexler's mouths. Running the offense? How hard is it to bring the ball up and toss it over to McGrady or Yao?
uh, lowry isn't necessarily a back up, he's only backed up all his career because Memhis can't decide which pg to develop and give the minutes to, they keep trading for or drafting pgs. He's a capable starter.
the point guard is like the quarterback. you dictate tempo, you reset if the play isn't going well, you create for your teammates, and you decide who gets the ball in crucial junctures of the game. point guard is the most important position in basketball. it's not as simple as you make it out to be.
We traded starter for unproven young poing guard and Orlando's contract dump. Orlando won massively. Memphis is always Memphis. We got screwed. Morey better get another starting PG in here, so he just killed this year.
People aren't looking at this deal the right way. It wasn't simply Rafer for Lowry. It was Rafer for Lowry and Brooks with an expanded role plus a strong vote of confidence from the team. Brooks as a starter and Brooks as a backup looking over his shoulder thinking he'll be taken out if he screws up are two different players this year. The Rockets want Brooks the 16 ppg scorer who'll can blow by anybody off the dribble as their PG. They're hoping that's what this trade will give them. Lowry is a bonus, but he's not the only PG the Rockets are hoping this trade adds.
Thank you very much...people don't realize they had to make a choice which PG they were going to develop and Lowry got screwed. Rick Adelman is pretty good at developing young talent...so have faith in our coach and Morey...because I'm pretty sure they get paid the big bucks b/c they know what they are doing.
Let's get this clear: The Rockets have always been the most successful Houston sports franchise. It's not even close.
this trade basically hands over the starting PG role to AB, it makes it easier when you trade the incumbent starter instead of demoting him
So you're saying that any PG could have ran the show for the Rockets during their '94 and '95 seasons? Because that's what you're saying when you say that the PG position isn't that important.
well... apparently, hard enough that most pgs we had through the recent years didn't do as well as rafer did in running the offense.
so... memphis had to choose between lowry and conley and that hurted him? I guess we won't have to choose between lowry and AB now? what has changed in Lowry's favor?
Kyle Lowry better make a huge impact. That, or the Rockets believe Brooks is ready to be a breakout star PG.
That's not a good way to develop a team IMO. Brooks goes from being a very good backup to a questionable starter, and we lose depth if Brooks doesn't flourish as a starter. In that case, we end up with two marginal starting PG's in Lowry and Brooks, yet both good backups. Of course there is the chance that Brooks does develop more and becomes the top 10 PG that we need, but I doubt it. Rafer wasn't a top ten PG either, so I don't know how much this trade would hurt us either way. But I do think we lost some depth.
Oh how I will long for the days when Alston beautifully set up the offense by coming down and bricking 3pter after 3pter with 20 seconds left on the clock.