Next time, just post the entire article in the thread so we won't have to click the link and get that turd any more hits.
Was david aldridge a rockets hater last year when he consistently backed and lauded James Harden as the MVP?
I usually change the channel when he is giggle like a school girl self shows up. His opinion is worth less than a grain of sand. Even a blind man can see Rockets improved tremendously with Lawson and Thornton and keeping it's core together. I bet you if he landed with the spurs or Lakers he would be prancing around like he is wearing a dress with pompoms declaring how this is the best deal ever.
One thing about the modern NBA media environment: when the Rockets hoist the trophy in upcoming seasons, all you youngsters will get to experience what we experienced in 94 and 95. The only thing better than winning as the media darling (Warriors), it's winning as the F-U hated team (Rockets).
As others have pointed out, what a strange analysis. He must believe losing Josh Smith will have that much of an impact, or if there are gaping holes in the roster, but he doesn't mention any of that.
Ty Lawson is an alcoholic. That is serious stuff. It's not the DUI's, it's the alcoholism. It's a serious condition and there is no guarantee he will recover. I hope he does. Probably discounting Lawson and considering we lost Josh Smith - which he said would "hurt" is why he ranked us so low. I could see how if you were not counting on Lawson and had a high opinion of Josh Smith then yes, it would seem we got worse. The truth is probably that no one will really know for another 7-8 months at least.
Sloppy, lazy, poorly written. It was more of a ticker of who moved where. How did he not mention how we got Lawson for a half-eaten bag of potato chips? And THEN got Lawson to give up his guaranteed contract in the 2nd, final year?! What about nailing down Brewer, and with a team-friendly contract? Also a strong criticism of a GM's moves in an offseason should look at each team's moves in previous years that led to their favorable or dis-favorable position. What does that team do next and do those moves make sense in the progression of what they're trying to achieve in the next season or near-future seasons. We developed 2 formidable PFs out of mid/late round 1st round picks. We developed them enough to prioritize Brewer over J Smoove. We developed a really exciting, impactful back-up C in Capela within 1 year. So Rockets were able to address their most glaring need in the point guard position. Frankly the Rockets were able to get to the WCF by rolling out the old folks home recess/rec hour at the PG (out of necessity.) Morey needed to upgrade the PG. That's mostly it. Daryl has taken some heat for blowing up rosters each year, but he was disciplined enough to trust that his ideal shot was nearly realized, and to make minor tweaks, valuing roster consistency over 'change for change-sake.' Back to the WCF, it seemed like David A. couldn't acknowledge how the Rockets got so far minus 2 injured starters, who are both very young in the NBA, already good with an even higher ceiling, and are both returning next year. If staying pat or not staying pat (no pun intended) was a factor plus or minus, in the Rockets situation they should have been given an A+. The best off season move was to pick up two major contributors off the injury list.
But he is somewhat lazy and unprofessional, based on past event, non related to DUIs. Being alcoholic is not the only problem he has. Other problems might prevent him from dealing with alcoholism successfully.
That is as narrow minded as us discounting Ty's problems. Same thing we believed about Eddie Griffin and Royce White.
Makes no sense. Even if you were confident 100% that Lawson wouldn't play, then you'd still have to put us in the middle and not the bottom, because we didn't lose any key players (aside from Smoove, I suppose). Counting the Lawson trade as a net neutral, than this offseason is pretty neutral, all things considered. Dallas should rank lower than us, because they lost a ton of talent while not bringing much in.
When someone is suffering from alcoholism, their actions are going to reflect that of an alcoholic. Ty is known as a great locker room guy and overall nice guy... he just hasn't been able to stop hitting the bottle. Many alcoholics have been drinking since a young age (pre or early teenage years) so it's unfair to call him lazy and unprofessional.
You don't think Marcus Thorton will get those minutes behind Harden? I would rather him get those than Brewer or Bev at the 2 guard.
Gotta say I was surprised he had us in his top 5 teams when he did the ESPN podcast with the Warriors guy a week or so ago. Think he had us 4th.
