[Why teams win?]And why we cannot lose Battier/Hayes/Scola

Battier had a nice seasons here, but I think his time with the rockets is done.
the rockets can put him in a trade to bring another good player.

you cant trade Scola, he is playing amazing!

 

I agree that in the past Battier & Hayes have been leaders on this team on and off the court in mentality, demeanor and class. It has been very easy for them to do that effectively with the minutes they were playing.

However, with their decrease in minutes due to effectiveness, age, injury, or players with "more talent," I sort of feel that the intangibles of being a leader will fade to some extent. Especially, if you are keeping that player around solely for that purpose. At that level, I have a hard time thinking other players will truly listen to a leader if that player cannot perform at least at some level on the court.

While I'm not saying that Battier & Hayes are horrible on the court, you can see signs of them fading. And the loss for players is often very, very fast especially for players such as Battier & Hayes who have to maximize whatever speed, agility, quickness, and talent they do have with smarts, preparation, hardwork and energy. Even a little drop in their speed and agility would be hard to mask with the the best basketball IQ and preparation in clutch and playoff situations.

Given that, you have to expect (or rather hope) that one of your other players fills in that void and takes over that role. Just because they have not done so to date does not mean they well, they could have deferred to Battier, among others, out of respect.

Frankly, if no one other than Battier, Hayes, or Scola steps up to truly be a leader for this team on-or-off the court, there is no way the Rockets will truly be a contender with this squad. The mental toughness makes you a contender, and we would lack that.

 

I would not be surprised if we loose Battier and Hayes in the offseason. Those guys are perfect for a Van Gundy type team. In an Adelman team, I really don't know. There roles have been diminshed this year. If they leave, there will be a void in leadership and someone would have to step up. Morey knows more about whats going on in the locker room, if we do loose these guys I trust Morey knows what he is doing.

 

Id say your paper is flawed, all those teams downgraded.

Pau missed the start of the season and pretty much destroyed any hope they had of making a run, the supporting cast was different. If you look at the roster from the 2 years before they pretty much shipped their young talent for more veterans and were basically the same team. Then the next year those old guys got older.

The Billups situation, he was a vastly superior player and the better fit for both squads. AI may have been "thought" of in that light but the reality is that he shouldnt have been.

As for Tmac, DA was a huge loss, but more importantly was the fact that Tmac went from having a season in which he displayed a caliber of ball seen only from the games best, to something more in line with the rest of his career. Look up Tmacs stats from after the all-star break, what it took to will his team to the playoffs was unreal. The addition of Juwan accomplished 2 things, it gave them a defensive interior of pudding, and killed Goodens confidence.

 

I agree to the OP to a degree. You have to win with talent, not just glue guys. Glue guys make talented teams great. They can't make talentless teams win.

I love all those three guys and wish they all could retire as Rockets. But I know reality is not so.

Shane is most likely to go in a package for a star player. This is simply because we have a surplus of young wings. Shane's role will decrease and from the perspective of the big picture, it's just not feasible to pay so much for him.

Hayes is probably the most dispensable guy of these three. He is our best defender, but too short to guard 7-footers. Jeffries can do most of the things Hayes does except the nifty passes that come about once a game, and he is taller. If Morey let Hayes go, he will probably try to resign Jeffries for a smaller contract next year.

I still hope they can keep Scola even if they bring in a star forward like Bosh or Amare. A three-man front line rotation with Yao would be great to have.