I am dubious about the theory that one magical veteran would change everything around-- and so is Morey judging by his interviews. Mostly you just want guys who can play basketball at a high level. Experience matter only so long as it helps the player's ability to play ball. Guys like Billups and Fisher at their current state would matter little to this team if they can't play consistently better than the guys we already have.
Trade for Rondo! Don't care about his locker room reputation, all that matters is his on-court leadership and presence.
I totally agree that we need a veteran to make sure these players are disciplined. I do feel like Chandler has that mentality however some help would be appreciated. Maybe they could trade Asik for some savvy veterans.
That's why the Nets are so much better than the Rockets. Chock full of that veteran leadership. They would be challenging the Bulls 72 win season if Jason Kidd wasn't doing his Kevin McHale impersonation on the sidelines.
Is there a way for us to get Courtney Lee back? TJones and Parsons can handle the SFs and PFs. Courtney Lee can handle the quicker SGs and PGs that we find difficult to guard. Plus he's not an offensive liability. Of course, McHale hasn't tried Brewer yet. Maybe we can wait on Camby to get back so he can be our back-up center. We sorely need a perimeter defender.
We have a lot of leaders. McHale, Hakeem, Camby, Brooks, Howard, Garcia I think we need a winner like Deke around the team
I've been saying this for weeks, OP. The Rockets biggest issue is a lack of leadership, though some of the fault lies with the coaching staff. Damien Lillard is a leader, even at his young age. He's a guy who will take responsibility for W's and L's. Unfortunately, Rockets don't have a guy like that. We have a bunch of girls who don't want anything to do with leading a team.
Respected Rocket and member of that 22 winning streak. Played elite defense even at the Age of 50. That should be the soul of the Rockets----Defense and not Offense
won't matter.....Howard had Kobe who even lit a fire under Shaq and that didnt work. Harden won't even listen to Jeremy Lin call a play, now some vet is gonna tell him to get his head in the game and put forth more effort and he's going to take that to heart? Doubtful. This kind of stuff is either taught in their youth or college. It's too late now. I can see a 5-star recruit from Kentucky being lazy and not working as hard. But max player who are so called "superstars" have come too far to change their ways.
Sure. one glance into the steely glare of the battle hardened veteran and things would have been different yesterday...! For reals! You know what else they need? My extensive research has uncovered the following list: 1. A feisty rookie with contagious spirit. 2. A tough as nails coach who's a teddy bear on the inside. (Possibly a female here who first has to overcome a skeptical team and incessant undercutting prior to becoming beloved) 3. A dead or dying former teammate/team official to whom they can dedicate the season and give teary interviews about. 4. A hardcore fan who through a promo contest wins a spot on rockets bench and then through a crazy series of mixups, is called upon to make the big shot over Lebron In game 7. 5. A veteran cop just 2 days from retirement dragged into a dangerous car chase and shootout. 6. A gawky bookish friendless outsider who with a makeover becomes the most beautiful girl in the junior class. 7. A cliche because magic makes basketball better.
As Clutch pointed out on the Front Page, if ever a game showed how much we need Chandler Parsons on the court, it was this one. Want a veteran leader? A guy who leads on the court, on the bench, and in the locker room? The cat may be in his 3rd year, but in my opinion, he"s the nearest thing we have to a "veteran leader" on this team. Last night, McHale didn't have him in his toolbox, and it was the difference. Casspi is more of a 4 than a 3, unless the 3 he's guarding is slow as Christmas. Garcia couldn't keep up with Hayward. Not quick enough. Maybe it was the knee that was banged up in SA. McHale gave Brewer 4 early minutes, and he looked lost (maybe he's a good practice player, but he isn't the defensive wing we need... too many holes in his game). Harden's strong suit isn't his defense, but at the other end of the court, he was ridiculously good. I'm certainly not placing this loss on his shoulders. In other words, for the Rockets, Hayward picked the wrong night to bust out of his shooting slump, and we didn't have Chandler to pick us up with his offense, his defense, and his leadership. Wouldn't have hurt to have Mr. Lin back, either. Something to consider, though. It's always tough to win in Utah. For any team. And while Utah has been awful in the early going, to put it mildly, they do have some good young talent that needs experience, and a win like this will help them a lot. Getting Burke back from injury is huge for them. The guy's a talented rookie, and at least last night, he embarrassed our two remaining point guards. Two seasons ago, we shouldn't have been very good, at least on paper, but we won a lot of games anyway against good teams. Utah isn't as good as that Rockets team, but they are quite capable of winning a game against a superior team having an off night and a couple of key injuries. It happens. You know, every dog has his day, and every good team can look like a dog from time to time. Sadly, the reaction in the GARM to a loss like this was entirely predictable. Suddenly, the world is ending, right after we were sitting on top of the world.
