I just heard this on 610. It appears the Rockets have signed Texas G Darren Kelly to a contract, with no details given. He should fight with Oscar Torres to be backup 2 guard.
Hey, I like this pick up. Kelly could be a good swing guard. He's athletic and he works hard. Good enough for me. Plus, he went to school at UT.
What are the Rockets going to do with all of these guys? Francis, Mobley, Rice, Griffin, Thomas, Cato, Collier, Moochie, Walt, Torres, Langhi, Morris Thats 12 right there... plus Taylor on the IR all season...plus Marc Jackson possibly...plus Kelly now...also qualifying offers to two other guys according to Oeilpere...
Uh, we need more than 12 guys to field a squad for the preseason. In other words, we need guys who can play games during the preseason, who we won't worry about losing to due to injury. We need to bring in 3209832409 backup SG's to find a backup to Mobley. I realize that we have our little 3-guard rotation with Francis, Mobley, and Mooch, but I don't want to overwork Francis and Mobley. After all, we are playoff-bound.
Don't discount the ever popular lower back strain that all the teams utilize to keep about 17 guys on the roster.
Darren Kelly, that name sounds familiar. I'm not a Texas fan, but I keep up with them. Was he on the Longhorns team at the same time that Chris Mihm was? If he is, I think I've seen him play.
Yeah, Kelly's been at Texas for at least 2 years after transferring from a JUCO in Maryland. I remember seeing Kelly at the PCL two years ago. He was with two fine sorority girls. The girls were trying to flirt with and impress DK by shooting baskets at a garbage can. I remember looking up after seeing one girl miss pretty bad, and DK and I had eye contact for like a second or two. I was shaking my head on the inside...DAMN! Make us proud DK!
Keep some perspective here. These guys are signed as training camp fodder. Sorry there is no other way to say it. They have been picked more for their style of play than their ability to unseat a ranking roster member of the team. Kelly and the others .. and there will be several others ... are used to tone the 12 roster players. Offer them challenges and to work the team up into playing flow. They are used to mimic specific styles and plays that the Rockets will see all year long in theior regular schedule. Every once in a long while some shirted training camp player will shine above the rest and the staff will reward him at some point. He may even move himself into a bench spot for a couple of games. This year CD will likely keep a couple of extras to be sent to the development league also. So there is hope, but please ... slow down all of this talk about these guys gaining so much talent, being allowed to display that talent, and then being miraculously elevated to some mythical vacant roster spot. Kelly is very talented. I mean he has the tools and he sure could use more exposure at this level ... but he is not ready to bump someout of place on the Rockets yet. Well, I take that back .... a bit .... Sean Colson lost all my support with his dismal, Junior High School display and poor fundamentals this summer. Colson will NOT be the first option from the red shirt squad (to fill a bench roster spot) this year as he was last year. He has lost that status.
For those who don't know Darren Kelly, he played for the University of Texas "LongHorns". I Saw a lot of their games, Kelly was great on all the games I saw. He would score 20+ points, about 5 reb. He is a good pick up, I'm sure you all will agree when he gets playing time.
I was wondering/hoping when this was going to happen. Having spoken with Darren frequently during the Revue, I totally love the guy and his attitude. Not to mention the fact that he was by far the most productive and active undrafted player on the court throughout the tournament for the Rockets. I was very impressed. Can he crack the roster? Naw... But keep him on the backburner, and understand that he outplayed Sean Colson by far, and outscored Eddie Griffin and Terrence Morris and pretty much everyone else most of the time during the Revue...
