Isn't he like an injury-prone, over-paid Novak? He gets more boards then Novak, but his salary is a gabajillion times more, and he's just as bad on defense as Novak as well. FYI, most analysts said the Pacers were bamboozled when GSW dumped Murphy and Dunleavy on them.
Haha....I don't care what he looks like. All I care about is that 25 PPG on 16 shots, 40%+ from 3-pt range and the fact that he gets to the line and makes more FT's (per game) than any other player in the NBA all packaged into a reasonable contract at only 26-years-old.
Very true... Still, he can't run a pick and roll which we desperately need, and his defense is awful as well as his playmaking (negative A/T). That said, for Tracy, why not? Only if we get Donte Greene back!!!!
I can see Landry complimenting Murphy with his ability to get to the line while Troy hits his long shots. I would hate to see Luis gone,but Murphy probably compliments Yao better than him.
Murphy might even help the entry pass problem...he'd be passing to yao in a more direct line than in an arc, resulting in a quicker pass, but still up high.
Ehh, his PnR ability isn't as bad as you make it sound. He has a good handle with good timing/instincts, he's just not a very good passer. All the same, he's still capable of running a PnR and uses a lot of screens in the games that i've seen him play the past two years. Defensively? Yeah, he's pretty average. He has the lateral quickness and body movement needed to stay in front of players he just lacks the strength/bulk to defend the elite wings in the league. Lucky for us, we have Shane (and hopefully Artest too) so we're covered in that department. Plus, not many teams start two elite wing players anyways so giving Martin the "T-Mac Treatment" (Battier covers the more difficult 2/3 match up) still works in this example. Regardless of Martin's shortcomings, I just cannot stress enough how invaluable his ability to get to the line consistency would help this team. Remember when Morey shocked us with the Lowry trade? What was the main reason Morey used for pulling the trigger on this deal? That Lowry's aggressive, attack-the-basket mentality would force teams to commit more fouls thereby forcing them into the bonus more frequently. If you want to talk about playmaking and creating opportunities for others, getting your teammates to the FT line off of touch fouls because you (and others) initiated so many fouls that you're in the bonus has to be right up there with the other aforementioned examples that people always harp on.
Its not really about the shooters, its more about the dual threat and shooting. If u look at orlando, lee,peitrus,hedo, and lewis can all put the ball down and get to the rim. Also, they don't need as much space as someone like shane. That space is created by the threat of dribble drive. When defenders close on shane, they're out of control because he can't or doesn't put the ball down and get to the rim. On the other hand,against orlando guys, they're under more control and slower on the close because of the dribble drive threat. If u don't believe me, watch teams close on wafer vs shane, its night and day. That's a reason why utah has had success against the rockets. They could stay focused on yao or tracy longer cuz they could be out of control and challenge rafer,luther,and shane without losing the integrity of their defense.
Keep in mind, I would only make the deal for Murphy if we kept Scola. At the 4/5 we would have Yao, Landry, Scola, Murphy and Hayes with Hayes only seeing situational minutes.
i dont know if we'd need landry in that case, or scola, we'd have actually too much depth, which sounds like a good thing, but not if we're basically wasting some of their talent by limiting minutes too much. I think yao and scola would still end up playing about 28 mins, leaving 40 backup mins. 20 mins for landry may be Ok, but i think 20 for murphy may be under using him, he may eventually earn 25 mins a game or so, and then it's going to be landry being under used. I just think it may be a waste when we can trade one of them to upgrade another position. Are we assuming tmac gets you Murphy?
DING DING DING DING We have a winner folks. No need for any further posting. The Rockets have already gone down that "let's surround Yao with one-dimensional spotup shooters" path...and frankly...it sucked. Head, Novak, Alston (who can't run a good break or finish a drive in traffic) are ALL thankfully gone. Time to focus the attention on what Battier does NOT bring to the offense as he's parked motionless at the short arc. It's more about creating matchup problems. Much more than acquiring just "a shooter".
Gater, I'm still trying to get people on board with the "greyhound theory", but they're still slow to it. You need to help me fight this fight.
Its downright racist to assume Troy Murphy is a slow, bad-defending white boy. He's one of the best rebounders in the league. I don't think theres much of a difference between him and Scola defensively. Nothing special, but nothing horrible.
http://www.82games.com/0809/08HOU12.HTM#onoff http://www.82games.com/0809/08IND9.HTM#onoff When Scola's on the court, opposing teams score 104.7 points per 100 possessions vs. 105.4 when he's off. When Murphy's on the court, opposing teams score 112.4 points per 100 possessions vs. 107.3 when he's off. To translate: When Scola's in, the Rockets' really good defense gets slightly better defensively. When Murphy's in, the Pacers' mediocre defense gets substantially worse defensively. So yes, Murphy is a slow, bad-defending white boy.
When the greyhounds consist of Tim Thomas and Ricky Davis. Is there any wonder people are "slow to it"? I'll take my chances with Morey getting his "greyhound" from the "Wafer-wire" for minimum over than getting the "greyhounds" you favor and hoping these career busts (whose sole achievement is occassionally putting up empty stats) to perform for the Rockets. What you don't realize is that Rockets have gone your route before, and spending resources on the likes of Stromile Swift and Mo Taylor during the lastter part of the CD era sure worked out, didn't it?
Nike, u know what's useless about the stas u posted? First, points per 100 possessions is a fraud. Secondly, the stats down show the difference between having yao with him than not. U have watched enough to know that when yao is out, its a layup line because of the smallish nature of the team. I think people are finally warming up to what I've said for a coouple of yrs now. The pf either needs to be a camby type or a tim thomas type.The horace grant/ac green type doesn't balance yao out. That's not to say scolandry aren't good players, but neither creates space for yao and neither can protect the rim. So basically, when teams front, neither 4 creates enough room or travel distance. If murphy didn't have injury issues, he kinda fits,but I think that guy needs to a hybrid tweener like odom,radman,villanueva type. A guy that's big enough to defend the 4's, but a good enough ball handler that can put the ball on the floor.Kinda a psuedo 3/4 guy.
CH, I never wanted swift or taylor. U keep bringing u those , but fail to bring up the other players suggested. Not only that, its not like I called for those guys to be anymore than bench players to divirsify the team. Davis signed for 2m and thomas makes 6m or so, but what he gives the rox is a big guy that can shoot with range and put the ball on the floor. Davis is a slasher with 3pt range. He was hurt this yr, but can still perform at a good level. For all the worship and praise, what have the rockets done? Taking a team like la to 7 games? So what? The hornets took Sa to 7 last yr and got smoked by denver this yr.
I'd rather have both types and put one at the sf and the other at the pf.. We probably do need both because we'd still get abused at the rim if our tweener was at the 4 spot.
Kevin Martin is good. Michael Redd is also good. We need a legitimate wing player,not someone contributes nothing other than shooting open 3s. Good players always fit.
