What did Ford and Hollinger say about our moves / picks? And what about the guys we targeted but failed to acquire? http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draf...ist=hollinger_john&page=draftbreakdown-110624 http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draf...y?columnist=ford_chad&page=DraftGrades-110624 http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draf...y?columnist=ford_chad&page=DraftGrades-110624
From the couple of BS Report I've listened to, Chad Ford just seems like someone who just parrot GM/Scout stuff and regurgitate them. He gives a nice perspective and provide a lot of good info, but it's not like he actually knows the details since no team will ever show their own strategies. i.e. he may know that Kyle Irving is the consensu best player, but not the exact reasons why teams feel that way. So it's no surprise that he'd rate the Rockets low, since the Rockets generally draft undervalued players. If a player is undervalued, then obviously other teams would not like said player enough to draft them before the Rockets do.
HOUSTON ROCKETS GRADE: C+ Round 1: Marcus Morris (14), Donatas Motiejunas (20, obtained from Minnesota from Memphis via Utah). Round 2: Chandler Parsons (38, obtained from LA Clippers) Analysis: At some point, I'm going to learn that the harder I grade the Rockets, the more I get burned. Marcus Morris is solid at No. 14, but they passed on Kawhi Leonard to get him. I think the pick also implies (given the Rockets' current personnel) that they're projecting Morris as a 3. I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Donatas Motiejunas has potential as a big-time scorer, but with all the forwards already in Houston, he looks to be hopelessly buried. Chandler Parsons is one of the most intriguing players in the draft. If he ever lives up to his potential, he's a great pick in the second round. But after four years of not doing it at Florida, I'm not at all confident he'll do it at the NBA level.
Neither player is playing for the Rockets anymore. Morris is not a 3 in the NBA, and his leadership skills are horrible. He lead Kansas to back to back NCAA exits to a #9 and #11 seed respectively. I give them a F, because they are not better than they were yesterday at this time.
That fact that they did not address the center position yet again, leads me to believe that they feel Thabeet will finally become relevant. I mean they had 2 chances to grab centers yesterday( Vucevic #14, Tyler #38 ) and they decided not to.
i gave them a C as well. they took BPA at 14, and took high risk-high reward guys with the other two picks. thats about par for any draft, and pretty much every other team would have done the same. you cant afford to bust with your highest pick, so you take someone who you project to be a solid pro. i see morris as that. wish he had a better attitude though. the other two picks, you take high upside guys and see if they make it. cbud did, jermaine taylor didn't. the more picks you have, the better chance you'll find contributors.
If McHale and Morey see Marcus' talent as a 3, and that he said he modeled his game after Carmelo/Paul Pierce, then he's going to be a physical 3 who can play his back to the basket. He played out of position at Kansas, and so did his brother. Let's see if he can translate his post defense and perimeter shooting at SF. Just to look at your comparison that we didn't get better yesterday...do you really think Chase or Twill can do what Marcus can? And can Marcus do what Chase/Twill can? That alone is an upgrade at the 3. Your grade seems a bit harsh. I gave them a B-/C+ because we didn't consolidate our picks/assets to move up and get who we really wanted- jonas valanciunas, but I'll settle for who we got.
That's completely irrelevant. As skill relative to draft position goes pulling brooks and landry where we did is an A+
No. Neither player is with the Rockets anymore. That doesn't mean they weren't excellent picks. In fact, we're still reaping in the benefits of having drafted those guys! Carl Landry was flipped for Kevin Martin - who is on the Rockets and probably just had his best season ever for us. Certainly his healthiest. One would think his value is at an all-time high. Brooks turned into Dragic and the 23rd pick that just was used to acquire Montiejunas. Perhaps the verdict is still out on that - but I'm not upset about it. As for the rest of what you said - not worth commenting on.
I don't care about scoring at the 3, I care about a guy that can stop the other team from scoring on the perimeter. You just named to SFs that are horrible defenders. So yeah, the Rockets added maybe a little more scoring which they had in Buddinger, with a wing that will give up as much if not more than he puts in. Basically the Rockets got the same guy they already have in spades on the roster. The USC C or Leonard would have been the better picks.
Apparently not the Suns. Apparently, they themselves don't know why they pick the players they do, or how the draftees stack up against one another... This is their GM talking: http://arizona.sbnation.com/phoenix...8/2011-nba-draft-markieff-morris-phoenix-suns http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/130767
PP and Melo ARE terrible defenders, yes. But you're talking about upgrading at the 3spot. Which we did. Look man..I like Chase and think he's fine as a scorer, but I can promise you that once Morris plays the 3spot, he's going to be a better defender than Chase. So to say we didn't upgrade and to give us an F seems...rushed and not thought out. I was actually pulling for Leonard and his "cartoonish hands" to be a Rocket, but the Pacers picked him at #15 to get George Hill. He probably could've fallen farther if the Spurs weren't so high on him. Morey had a chance to get him at #14 but didn't. He probably knows more about Morris v Leonard straight up to pull the trigger and draft Morris. In my opinion, Morris may be an instant contributor to compete with Chase/Twill come training camp. It remains to be seen if he can hang with the 3s, but if he puts a body on them at his size...it'll be tough for Chase/Twill to get the starting nod.
