This forum cracks me up. We have literally seen every single possibility, route, or avenue the Rockets could ever wish, think, or possibly utilize as a thread in this forum. There is nothing wrong with that; however, at this point we are talking for the sake of talking, but moreover forcing things to talk about that honestly have no possibility of coming to terms. 1. So far Artest out. No real suprise there. 2. Ariza in. Solid aquisition, nothing left to be said. 3. Chris Andersen. The perfect example of there being nothing left to talk about. Thats all. Just my two cents before class. Damn you summer school!
I don't think develop is what you mean - I think showcase is really what that's about. In other words, "you all know what Scola can do as a complementary player, but let's see how he responds as a "go to" guy." Teams showcase players they want to trade all the time...that being said, I don't think it's worth sacrificing competitiveness just to showcase these players. Scola or Landry or AB may have other talents but ultimately they will be playing complementary roles on the teams they will be moving too....plus I think it makes some sense for Houston to play as competitively as they can this year to make Houston look like an attractive team for young stars to play in - a "plug and play" championship contender if you will for the right all star. If I'm entering the prime of my life and wanted to win a ring, I would choose Houston because the coach, management, and role players are already set up there to make that happen. Few teams can make that claim and I think that's why you stay as competitive as possible this year to be able to present your team as such.
In the most general sense, Moneyball is about finding undervalued players. Application of the system is heavily dependent on the sport. Saying Morey's Moneyball is the complete opposite only fits if you completely ignore the differences in the sports. Baseball: -Almost completely an individual sport; stats can be attributed to one player so just find the best indicator of winning and acquire lots of those players who are paid cheaply. I.e. Billy Beane getting alot of high OPS players whose fundamentals may be lacking. -No salary cap. This means small market teams have to find undervalued players often just to match the talent of higher-salaried teams. -6 years of club control means you can really afford to develop talent. Basketball: -Salary cap/luxury tax. (Competitive) teams have to acquire the most talent relative to the same salary conditions. -Team sport. Indicators of success may not necessarily be in the box scores, thus fundamentals guys are undervalued: e.g. Battier. -Cost-controlled salaries only exist in rookie contracts, which are short compared to baseball. Its an apples/oranges comparison once you get into specifically apply moneyball principles to each sport.
well it looks like we might be trading battier and landry............. ... http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...mors-swirling-with-Miami-his-latest-love.html ..... i guess we'll find out when the deal is finalized but we would get tyrus thomas, fesenko, and jerome james.... if this deal happens look for us to trade jerome james for q-rich since he's being tossed around haha... well he does play decent defense and can shoot the 3 but won't replace battier..... this can also mean t-mac is returning earlier than expected or we got a bigger trade coming.....
well it looks like we might be trading battier and landry............. ... http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...mors-swirling-with-Miami-his-latest-love.html ..... i guess we'll find out when the deal is finalized but we would get tyrus thomas, fesenko, and jerome james.... if this deal happens look for us to trade jerome james for q-rich since he's being tossed around haha... well he does play decent defense and can shoot the 3 but won't replace battier..... this can also mean t-mac is returning earlier than expected or we got a bigger trade coming..... stay in tune clutchfans!!
Scola could be looking for 8-10M, and Bosh should be looking for 17-20M, who can produce more based on the salary? If we can not get Bosh, then we can get someone else, it is not like that Bosh can lead this team to the top, and Scola is just a old player ready to retire. "Scola is the one that would be hard not to trade. He is going on 30 and will be a coveted free agent next summer. Big men always get the attention and money in free agency. He could be looking at 8 to 10 mil a season and that would end any hope of getting a top flight free agent like Bosh or Johnson."
Stat pad sounds vaguely pornographic. Why don't you check the Urban Dictionary and see? Seems like you spend most of your time thinking about that kind of stuff anyway.
Yeah, I don't really see Scola having a huge jump in stats although I could be wrong. I just think we'll see more of the same from Scolandry, power forward is good. Aaron on the other hand if he is given the reigns a bit more, I could easily see averaging 16-18 ppg; I still believe he needs to finish at the rim better to be a truly effective player going forward. Ariza is the wild card, will he remain the player he is, which is great if were in a situation like he was in L.A. or will he elevate his game into the 16-20 ppg area? Admittedly, I don't know how well he plays off the dribble but if he wants to elevate his scoring he will have to do so with the ball in his hands by creating for himself instead of playing off of a guy like Kobe Bryant. These are the two players whom I will be most interested in seeing improve for the Rockets future. I don't mind the lowered expectations, it will be nice to root for a scrappy underdog type team that should for all intents and purposes still be a group of guys that remain easy to root for. With that said I'm sure Morey will be evaluating the players and what he thinks their ideal roles and value to the team in the future will be.
