[ClutchFans] Notes/Buzz on Nene, Hayes, Motiejunas and Team Direction

Donuts playing live against Barcelona right now:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kimiki85

I betcha Morey is watching this

 

Chuck Hayes must not leave.

Morey, make that deal that clears up the logjam at 4 and the, er, un-jam at the 5. Gots to keep Chuck. GOTS to KEEP CHUCK!

 

When I talked to Morey, he said he thought Thabeet and Terrence were more likely to pan out than Flynn or Hill.

Flynn was just acquired for contract reasons but there is still hope he could pan out.

 

His team is pretty bad, not sure if it's because Barca is good but they look like they've never played together. Looks like donuts is being played as a SF. On a side note those euro cheerleaders are fantastic

 

As ever, great stuff.

It seems that Morey confirmed what most of us thought that the big picture is more important, and it now makes a ton more sense as to why Rick Adelman was not retained, Morey needs a coach that will work with him on the younger guys - and focus long term.

Clutch,

I know they said Thabeet was terrible, but do they harbor any hope at all for the guy? 7'3" athletic bigs do not come around very often and it would be great if he develops even into a lower tier shot blocker...

Thanks.

DD

 

Prokom has little chance. To win, they need to open the lane, and get the Barca bigs away from the defensive basket. They are using Donuts to pull out his man. Not to say any strategy can work, it isn't, but that's why he looks like a SF this game. This seems to be a different game plan than usual. So don't take this game as how they usually use him.

Oh, and the Prokom cheerleaders are well known. You can youtube them later tonight.

 

So, as I read this, Clutch:

No FAs, which I believe is a good thing.
No Chuck, which I believe is a bad thing. For apparently few, by NBA standards, Chuck will be allowed to leave even tho he would become a quality trade asset (I hate that word in Rocketville) at the deadline or June.
That the 'hope' is a quality trade finds its way to the Toy Shop or we can anticipate a 30-32 win season, and a #10 pick or so (gimme some of that ol' lotto magic).

If this is our 2011-12 season then why not give in to the Bulls' pleadings and send Scola/Martin for Boozer/Asik/#1 then find the deal for Boozer or amnesty the guy?

Thanks, Clutch, for the update.

 

My own personal rule of thumb: always go with the smartest and most motivated player. By all accounts, at least in my estimation, that's Flynn. He seems like a bright guy and I know he's a fiery competitor -- been watching him play since his days at Syracuse.

He was a poor fit in the triangle offense from the get-go. A fresh start in Houston is a good thing for him.

And honestly, I don't think the idea of him getting some burn is all that far-fetched. If Morris and T-Will aren't ready to contribute at the three, I'm sure McHale will simply slide Lee over just as Adelman did. That opens up minutes in the backcourt and with Dragic able to play both positions, the idea of Flynn being the back PG at times seems feasible.

 

Question is, where is DD and his optimism of Thabust?

Never mind, he did.

 

Heh, I just read somewhere that the light bulb had finally gone on for Thabeet and he was working hard with Kevin Martin.

He was actually pretty effective when he was getting normal burn in his rookie year.

I think he just needs a good dose of CD and playing time, which leads to confidence.

DD

 

This is all i am saying. Never in any of my posts did i say that Thabeet was going to break out and be an Olajuwan, Yao or Mutombo type player. All i expect for him to do is play good defense, stop some of the lay-up drills that have been happening for the past 2 seasons, stay out of foul trouble and avg. 6-8pts, 8+rbds and a couple of blocks. If he could just do this or somewhere close to it, it's on. Thats 20 minutes that Chuck doesn't have to play out of position. Now imagine he and Chuck out there together. Another reason, which is really an important one, is we have the veteran leadership in Lowry and Hayes to help and encourage Thabeet while he is on the floor. Even a person like Patterson can help.

As i posted yesterday in another thread, Williams had turned a corner in the last 2 months of his rookie season. During that time he was avg. 14pts, 7rbds, 5assts. a game. He had cut down on TO and PF, but was playing starters minutes.

Flynn had a pretty good rookie season as well and we all know Hill was not terrible. As a matter of fact, Hill is rumored to have gotten better.

 

I'll agree with this. Way I see it, a 5'11'' dude simply cannot make it into the NBA without an insane work ethic, as there are tons of people who are willing to take his place unlike a 7'3'' guy.

I'd go T-Will>Flynn>Thabeet> Hill, however.

 

In no way am I calling BS on this, but I would love to see this.. Link?

 

Too bad about D-Mo.

 

While this has not been definitively hashed out by the league and union yet, I would think the same rule would apply to amnesty cuts as it does to players whose rights are renounced to create cap room. Under the old CBA, if a team renounces its own free agent's rights in order to use the resulting cap room to sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet, but that RFA's old team later matches the offer sheet, the team losing out on the RFA can then "un-renounce" its rights to its own free agents. No word yet on how the timelines would work there (new rules give teams 3 days to match offer sheets; but the waiver wire usually lasts 2 days), but something can probably be done to make it work.

Another, even more complicated angle on this is: What happens if Team A amnesty cuts Player X in order to open cap room to make an amnesty waiver claim on Player Y, but ends up losing out on its waiver bid? Can Team A then "un-amnesty" Player X? What if another team has already put in a bid on Player X?


Clutch, on the subject of ranking the 2009 lottery disappointments, I'd actually rank Jordan Hill at the top. According to most players, he made the most drastic improvement from the end of the regular season up until the lockout and was apparently killing it in their informal practice sessions. Combine that with the fact that Hill will likely end up playing some substantial minutes at center for the Rockets next season, and I think you'll have the best combination of ability x opportunity.

Here's hoping all four guys improve, though.

 

The draft day rumors were that the Rockets were trying to trade Flynn before they had even got him.

 

Agree on this.

Hill is mostly likely to be a productive NBA player. Thabeet is almost guaranteed to be out of the league after this year.

 

I am not so sure about this one as to the reason he was not retained. What is he doing on the Timberwolves then where there are tons of younger players? He has to play them. I believe the main reasons were talked about. Beef with owner, he is not great with the media thing, new direction and the whole defense thing and of course Kmac's ability to draw interest from potential free agents
RA brought in too many specialists on O actually the way JVG brought in only D players

 

Kwame is still in the league, still getting rotation minutes.