In terms of scoring.... Eye test bro... look at how he is playing. Jordan played with a childhood friend of mine in Arizona with Chase, I've been watching them play for a long time. His game is getting better even if his spots aren't. If you've played ball then you know what I mean. Sometimes it takes weeks before your opportunities match up with your new skills, especially when you're changing units and minutes. He isn't a point guard, the spots don't translate like that. It even takes time for your teammates to know where to give the big man the ball. Defensive rebounding.... I agree with you 100%, doesn't need an eye test, he should be getting it in on that side of the court 24/7. If he was, we wouldn't be having much of a discussing on PatPat starting. I just think Hill has a lot of upside even though most posters on ClutchFans don't...
Very true! Let the 23 year old kid develop, I think everyone in the organization knows he needs time to develop. I think Morey's main man-crush is Courtney Lee, followed only by Jordan Hill, I really think they think they have something with this kid down the road. He is a great worker.
Well, I'm not sure how highly the organization thinks of him. What's obvious is that unlike us fans, the organization was well aware of the flaws in his game from the start, and so would not be too surprised by his current level of play. They've decided to give him time to develop, but whether he will overcome those flaws to reach the next level is up in the air IMO.
Its just that the Rockets right now needs more height at the center position and the fact that Jordan Hill is taller than Patterson is the reason Rick probably won't start him.
It was agonizing watching Whiteside and a couple of others pass by in the second round, knowing we could have picked them up.
I know what you're saying, but they have a roster full of guys who cant play multiple positions. Lowry,aaron,ish are all small pg's. Martin,courtney are sg's with chase being a tweener.Shane is a 3.Scola,patterson,hill,and hayes are all pf's. Miller is a 5. The only guy who can play multiple spots is williams. I dont mind the bpa because I dont think you can have too many good players,but when they said development player, somewhere get a big to develop. You stated they dont plan on being in the lotto, but this team is on the night train to lotto land again. It may not be high lotto,but its still the lotto. Starting patterson will only expose him as another out of position player.
Morey went on record as saying that they looked into buying an early second round pick but that the teams holding those picks didn't just want money but also future picks. This tells me two things: (1) The Rockets may have attempted to draft a guy like Whiteside as a low risk/high reward move. (2) The Rockets did not believe that Hassan Whiteside was worth their 2011 second rounder plus cash. Disagree with the organization's thinking all you like, but that's quite likely what the braintrust's mindset was. Heck, their #14 pick couldn't make the active roster for the first part of the season. Adding another rookie would have only further crowded the roster situation.
You may be right about Patterson, leebigez (he looks like he's a pure PF and not a C). But I have to disagree about some of the other players only having one position. Shane can play the 4 in a small-ball lineup. Heck, he played exclusively at the PF position in college. And he's not a terrible post-up threat. Sure, he's not a great PF option. But he IS an option there. Courtney Lee can play the 3 in spurts. He's thick and can hold his own against bigger players, as long as they aren't 6-11 Rashard Lewis-types. But, yes, we do have a lot of guys with only one position.
I was talking more about guys who can defend multiple positions -- versatility on the defensive end. No doubt, players like Shane and Chuck are pretty 1-dimensional on the offensive end, but they are very strong team defenders that can defend all over the floor and are comfortable picking up other players in switches. The much maligned Dorsey pick was an attempt to get a similar sort of player that didn't pan out. Patterson, I think, they hope to be that kind of player.
I'm not quite sure what you are complaining about in regards to Hill guarding Aldridge. The reason Hill was on LA wasnot because he was unable to guard their center, Camby, but because Scola was unable to guard their PF, Aldridge. And to be honest I thought Hill did an ok job, considering LA is a legit beast offensively.
They didn't draft a center because they were (stupidly) waiting for Yao to come back. That's why they only went after Miller in the off season. It's the same approach they used when MeMac was here and they didn't look for an adequate replacement once the injuries began. Now, they are right back at square one looking for a SF, PF and C. All I know is that the bodies they have on the roster named Budinger, Hill, Patterson Jeffries aren't the answer. For now I'm reserving judgement on Williams but he has to prove that he's nothing more than a D-League head case.
Bima, how come dallas can buy a late 1st,but houston cant buy a 2nd? Now before we go into this and I already know your canned message, let me say maybe none of the projects were worth it. This offseason, teams wanted the cap room, so in essence, 1st rd picks were cheaper than 2nd rd picks. We can both agree that from about 10-45 there isnt much difference. That being the thought, teams with the 2nds were looking at the same 1st rd talent without the 2 extra yrs. I know 100% joe was trying to sell the previous yrs first rd pick for the same price morey bought the chase pick with.Maybe he felt having those yrs or that almost 2m contract wasnt worth the risk,who knows? I've been on the lack of size for awhile now, so it doesnt make sense to get back into that. The rockets always look small on the court. Big doesnt spell man either, but look at a team like portland.They have pryz and oden on the shelf and they still have size with camby and lamarcus. We pub patterson and hill and they have a guy like cunningham who look like he has just as much talent as those 2.
It's way too soon for Patterson to go to the starting lineup. I don't know that it's really going to make that big of a difference overall, but it's entirely unneccessary for his development. On the downside, I think it's going to be a negative for Hill's confidence and trade value. Yes, Hill isn't getting the defensive rotations correct and generally isn't in the right spot on defense. I'd like to see him really work on that, but I'm really not sure he's going to improve that much. I also don't think that Morey or Adleman are that in love with him. He wasn't drafted by him nor was he someone they targeted in trade. He was just an asset they could get that they might be able to do something with. If Yao were fully healthy, he'd be riding the pine. I would not be surprised at all if he's gone by the trade deadline. I like the guy, but I don't think he's a big part of their plans. They aren't against him either, but he's not something they care that much about. As for Patterson, I do think he's a part of their future plans. I think they see him as they're back up PF and hopefully future starter. As for why we don't have that great C, as already stated, we thought we had Yao Ming (or gambled that way). Plus, it's tougher to find C's on the sales rack, and I don't think Morey has the stats for C's to help him find the diamond in the rough like the other positions. For a PG, thinks like getting the foul line and pushing the tempo are things Morey keeps track of that other GMs probably don't. For C's, rebounds and blocks and the like are well known stats that everyone watches. Everyone knows the real value of a C...you can't steal them.
OK, but it was STILL agonizing! And, Dorsey wasn't a bad pick for where he was selected. End-of-the-first-round picks have a high failure rate. At least he's still in the league.
Totally agree with everything you said. You pointed out a major reason why I am so cynical about this organization's competence in getting the right types of players. Look at where they play: the Western Conference. They have to compete against teams with size on their front lines - teams like Portland, Dallas, SA, LA. I simply fail to see how this roster as currently constructed will allow them to consistently compete at a high level.
Then please explain just how Dallas was able to go out and trade for Tyson Chandler. While Morey and the Rockets were out picking up other folks' draft mistakes, the Mavs were doing their homework and targeting a center who could make a difference. They can now roll out two seven footers in Chandler and Haywood while the Rockets counter with Hayes, Hill & Miller.
I didn't mind not going after Chandler, while he looks good now he won't look good later. Rockets know this and are hitting for a home run. They don't want to be stuck with someone like Chandler.
I clearly wanted Whiteside, but not at number 14, I think they should have paid the piper for a 2nd round pick and gotten him. Morey is a bit stingy in his dealings, which is great, but sometimes you need to take an even deal and get a young player at a position of need with large upside. Miller was never meant to replace Ming, and he isn't even starting now....which is pretty danged telling. And the project that is Jordan Hill will not provide a center either, he is just not strong enough down there.... We need size and ahtleticism...especially up front.....and even PPat was only an average size, remember Morey pointing out repeatedly that he was average height for his position? One year after saying they don't worry about size so much.....yeah, I think the tune has changed some now... Which is good for the Rox, albeit a little late. DD
