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Chronic: All eyes are on who'll be the No. 1 in NBA draft

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Rockets34Legend, Jun 28, 2006.

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  1. Rockets34Legend

    Rockets34Legend Contributing Member

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    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4008198.html

    Rockets will wait to see which player falls into their lap

    By JONATHAN FEIGEN
    Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

    With the entire NBA draft, or at least the top eight teams, waiting for something to come out of Toronto, a sign, a hint, a smoke signal, something to indicate what the Raptors would do with the first pick of the draft, general manager Bryan Colangelo said he narrowed his choice to two players.

    Now where have we heard that before?

    As all of Houston might have heard in April, professional drafts don't always follow a straight line of thinking. The intrigue is in the twists and turns.

    But when the Texans did not take Reggie Bush with the first pick of the NFL draft, there was no way he was going to last longer than the next pick.

    In an 11th-hour twist to typify today's wildly wide-open NBA draft — and send the Rockets' decision-makers to another marathon meeting — the player the Raptors don't take with the first pick could slide to eighth.

    "I don't know that, but here's the process," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "Normally every year, if you're at eight, you take the first seven and get the pool after that and study those guys real well. As it goes along, you hear somebody might be slipping so you study that guy with the pool after the first seven.

    "This year, we've studied, really studied, all of them. That's never been done that way. Normally, you hear who might slide. This year, most of them might get to eight."

    The Rockets have aggressively tried to move up in the draft but have not found any takers. Brandon Roy, the versatile Washington shooting guard, would be an ideal fit, but Dawson said last week if he had a deal, he would not wait for the draft to play out to make it. Adding to the intrigue, players worth moving up to get could move down to the Rockets, anyway.

    Bargnani likely will go No. 1

    The player long thought to be in the Raptors' sights, Italian forward Andrea Bargnani, is the front-runner to be the first pick of the draft. But he more than the Raptors' other top options — Connecticut's Rudy Gay or Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge — could fall to the Rockets.

    Gay would offer a different sort of frontcourt player, and Colangelo has a history of choosing the better athlete. But the thinking has been that he would happily put Bargnani's shooting range next to Chris Bosh to give Bosh space to work.

    If Aldridge is available, the Bulls could be tempted, but appear to favor Tyrus Thomas. The Bobcats have seemed to be targeting Gay, but there has been little indication what Michael Jordan thought about Gay's second workout in Charlotte.

    NCAA scoring leader Adam Morrison would seem a natural for Portland, and Atlanta has seemed sold on Duke forward Shelden Williams.

    If all that did not bring enough potential to send the draft flying in a variety of directions based on which player slipped, the Celtics were said to be willing to move the No. 7 pick for a more polished point guard than the point guards available. If they make that kind of trade, the player taken immediately before the Rockets' pick could change dramatically.

    If Roy, a shooting guard who would ideally fill the void in the Rockets' roster, slips to eight, the choice likely would be easy. But if Gay, more of a Tim Thomas style power forward than true small forward, slips, the Rockets would have to weigh his outstanding talent and physical abilities against his unreliable production, especially when Ronnie Brewer, J.J. Redick and Randy Foye offer the sort of drive that Gay seems to lack.

    Redick has the shooting range the Rockets would love, but he is not the long, quick athlete they have lacked. Also, there are questions about a back injury. Brewer is one of the top athletes and defenders in the draft with strong ball-handling skills but is a questionable catch-and-shoot option at best.


    What about second round?

    The Rockets also have the second pick in the second round, acquired last year from the Knicks. The Bucks have the Rockets' second-round pick.

    If the Rockets take a frontcourt player in the first round, they could look at Mardy Collins, Shannon Brown, Maurice Ager, Quincy Douby, Mike Gansy, Denham Brown, Dee Brown or Daniel Gibson, depending on who is available, in the second round. If they already grabbed a guard, they could look at P.J. Tucker, James White, Steve Novak or Kevin Pittsnogle in the second round. But on the eve of the draft, they were working on who would go first.

    "Who you talk to one through five, they can't tell you," Dawson said. "Granted the guys at two, three and four have a better idea than everybody else, but they don't really know. And their decisions affect everybody else. Until they give an indication who they're going to take, the people back as far as us don't have any idea."
     
    #1 Rockets34Legend, Jun 28, 2006
  2. The Hungarian Rocket

    The Hungarian Rocket Member

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    That's not a good news. :eek:
     
    #2 The Hungarian Rocket, Jun 28, 2006
  3. ClutchCityReturns

    ClutchCityReturns Contributing Member

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    My mock is shot to hell...I don't know what to think anymore! :(

    Luckily though, all the speculation will end tonight and I'll be able to stop obsessing over every damn rumor I hear or article I read.
     
    #3 ClutchCityReturns, Jun 28, 2006
  4. ClutchCityReturns

    ClutchCityReturns Contributing Member

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    Yep.

    Pretty much means that if the Celtics move it, whoever gets it won't be taking Marcus Williams in front of us...
     
    #4 ClutchCityReturns, Jun 28, 2006
  5. The Hungarian Rocket

    The Hungarian Rocket Member

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    That's the point.
     
    #5 The Hungarian Rocket, Jun 28, 2006
  6. krosfyah

    krosfyah Contributing Member

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    It's the Chronic ....WHAT ....cles of Houston!
     
    #6 krosfyah, Jun 28, 2006
  7. rhadamanthus

    rhadamanthus Contributing Member

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    Brewer still has my vote. Don't make silly trades for 2 or 3 stinkin' spots.

    Stay at 8 and 32 and draft the good available.
     
    #7 rhadamanthus, Jun 28, 2006
  8. DJ Naztorious

    DJ Naztorious Member

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    nice.
     
    #8 DJ Naztorious, Jun 28, 2006
  9. TIburon

    TIburon Member

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    Honestly guys...

    We all know JVG wants a veteran type player when ever he's looking at players so I always start there.

    #1He wants a hard working player first...
    #2He wants an experienced player/senior playerl...
    #3He wants a defensive player...
    #4He wants an offensive ability type player 3rd...

    Thats what we can conclude from watching him bring in veteran players and since he's been here he has not really put much into the draft as high expectations on players. Has come away with Luther Head an above avg. player that was a senior, hard worker, defensively good and offensively can shoot...

    That is what I look for in players that Houston is grading to choose:

    Now the one thing I don't know is how quickly they expect any player taken at #8 to make an impact. If a top 5 kids falls to Houston as some are suggesting (YEAH RIGHT???-that won't happen) then of course you expect them to take him and expect big things.

    So here goes my grading scale that I just put up above:Grading 1-10 scale

    Rudy Gay:
    #1 7 (being nice here)
    #2 7 (So.)
    #3 7
    #4 8
    Grade: 29

    Brandon Roy:
    #1 8
    #2 9 (Sr.)
    #3 7 (may not have the extraordinary defensive ability but puts effort)
    #4 7 (more of a creator in the lane but can score)
    Grade: 31

    Ronnie Brewer:
    #1 8
    #2 8 (Jr.)
    #3 9
    #4 7
    Grade: 32

    JJ Redick:
    #1 7
    #2 9 (Sr.)
    #3 7
    #4 9
    Grade: 32

    Randy Foye:(I'm really guessing on him)
    #1 8
    #2 9(Sr.)
    #3 8
    #4 7
    Grade: 32

    Rodney Carney:
    #1 7
    #2 9 (Sr.)
    #3 7
    #4 8
    Grade: 31


    I'm going by the article above on players we're interested in. Its a no brainer of Bargnani falls to Houston.

    So by those grades, of course we still can't discount who fits the need of the team more-all opinion by us, the highest grade is is tied b/t Brewer, Redick and Foye. I think we all assume w/ Reddick's back he's out at #8. So between Foye and Brewer, I'm assuming everyone is tired of the 6'3 combo guards (Another Head/Sura/retired Berry) would rather take Brewer.

    So thats my logical guess.

    My dark horse is Rodney Carney. I really feel Houston needs a 3rd option and I feel he is very similar talent wise to TMac. So with TMac bringing him along I feel he could turnout to be a steal for Houston in 2-3 years. Once again, Houston seems to want someone to step in NOW. Not sure Carney can on a regular basis. I'm also wary of TMac's back and would like to take the best athlete/player just in case TMac's back goes bad and we need more offensive boost. Hey after seeing the freaking league now, its all about athletes not about finding one player to fit a spot. This is why I hope for Carney. A backup plan for TMac if he gets hurt in the long term down the road and we are not here in the NBA draft this high again looking for someone to take TMac's spot (Meaning we had another horrible year).

    I don't think any of the other players have Carney's freakish talent to pull off taking over for TMac if injury becomes long term issue. Foye, Redick, Brewer doubt it... Maybe Gay and/or Roy...

    Bargnani, still would take above the rest with his ability to shoot from outside, not a big physical big man though...

    Oh well, there is my 2cents...
     
    #9 TIburon, Jun 28, 2006
  10. Vince86

    Vince86 Member

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    I think the best choice for the rockets is an offensive player with energy. We mostly have old people who can't bring that energy we need in the forth quarter. A defensive player would be nice but seeing how we only scored 89 ppg last season (last time i saw) we need a scorer. We need a shooting guard that is tall and athletic. I really like redick, but he is too short and we already have a bunch of short guards. I'm hoping on redick being #8. I think we need that realiable shooter outside that can score 10 to 17 ppg, and he has shown he can shoot it from anywhere on the court. So on a fast break we can do what the suns do, shoot the three in transition. The next guy i think the rockets could either trade down for is rodney carney, an all around player.
     
    #10 Vince86, Jun 28, 2006
  11. krosfyah

    krosfyah Contributing Member

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    The JVG defense myth perpetuated.

    JVG has said in a recent interview that they need to get more offense and that he'll teach defense when he gets here. JVG isn't consumed about the player's 1-on-1 defensive skills because team defense is more important.
     
    #11 krosfyah, Jun 28, 2006
  12. TIburon

    TIburon Member

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    Hey, I'm going by what he has always had/brought to his teams in NY and here.

    Wesley, Bowen, Swift was supposed to help defensively...

    Perpetuated maybe but what else do you go by JVG's words... Yeah thats worked so far...

    I"ve graded by the type of players he's had in the past. He's an old school coach not one that is going to run like Phoenix/Dallas.

    I'll be more than happy to see us take a kid with less defensive but high energy like a Carney than a Brewer...
     
    #12 TIburon, Jun 28, 2006
  13. krosfyah

    krosfyah Contributing Member

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    We know the Rockets had the 3rd best defense in the league last season. We didn't loose games because of defense ...we lost because we couldn't score buckets. I don't think that was lost on JVG ...or on Morey the stat boy.

    As another peice of evidence to address the JVG defense myth, everybody always thinks JVG wants to play slow-it-down offense. Of the games I attended, JVG is constantly waving his arms like a mad-man on the side line trying to get the guys to bring to ball down court faster. If you haven't been to a game, you probably wouldn't notice that.
     
    #13 krosfyah, Jun 28, 2006
  14. TIburon

    TIburon Member

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    I'll give you the fact that I don't attend many of the games because I'm in Lubbock... yeah just a little far...

    So because JVG is waving his arms like a mad man with lets see...a roster he put together of old players and he expects them to run... That leads to other questions about why he brought certain players in... Thats not the question.

    The reality of all this "JVG myth" is UNTIL he changes it is not a myth but what he has used in the path.

    Tell me the players he's added that don't fit the "JVG myth"? what Head/Alston... Anyone else... maybe Swift... So what is left buddy? The new JVG up and down the court players or JVG myth players?

    Like I posted last post, I'm all for taking the best offensive/athletically player instead of some Defensive minded player. I can deal with that. Once again, I'm going by what the Knicks and the Rockets during his time in Houston has brought into Houston. If that is part of the JVG myth then, tell me who doesn't fit his myth?
     
    #14 TIburon, Jun 28, 2006
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