You guys remember the way we felt exactly 365 days ago?

I always admire guys who can commit to a tattoo

As much as I love the Rockets.....I can see them changing the logo every couple of years, if I were you I might find myself a bit r****ded then.

 

I was okay with the Battier trade. I thought we could get more (maybe a future 1st or a couple of seconds) but I was happy to get Battier and to get rid of Swift (who I never wanted in the first place). Battier was a solid contributer for the ROX all season long and should continue to be the ROX starting SF for a while.
On the other hand, I am livid about this draft. We could have taken Splitter with the #26 pick. Who cares if he is stuck on his other team for another year, no one is expecting the guys we picked to contribute next year anyway. I was thrilled as the draft progressed and all 4 of the PF prospects that people were talking about as mid to late 1st round picks (Splitter, McRoberts, Fazekas, and Davis) were available when the Rockets went on the clock. Then Stern announced that the Rockets picked the Raiders QB, and Tirico quickly explained that he was a 5'somthing guard out of Oregon. WTF? Then Bilas (who can't seem to say anything negative about anyone) says he loves the pick, even though he had Brooks ranked somewhere in the 30s. Duh, that means the ROX reached 5 spots for him at the bare minimum. To add insult to injury, the ROX just traded a PF to get another PG, so Brooks is AT BEST the #3 pg on the team, taking the role that John ****ing Lucas III played last season.
All of that was bad enough, but then I am reading the draft chat and Jeff says that we traded for the 31st pick and got Landry. Now Splitter was off the board by this time (of course, San Antonio is not going to pass on him because of a stupid buyout problem) but McRoberts, Fazekas, and Davis were all still available. For some reason, the ROX decided that they would burn the 31st pick on a guy generally projected to go in the 50s, when we already had the #54 pick. Are the Rockets some kind of super genius organization when it comes to drafting that we should disregard all of the experts and pundits, and trust that Morey knows something that none of the other more experienced GMs could figure out (except I guess the ones drafting just behind us, according to Morey Brooks would have been taken 3 picks later by Phoenix at the latest ). Their drafting history would not give one that impression.
Maybe this all works out for the best, and Landry is the next Brand and Brooks is the second coming of Calvin Murphy. I wouldn't hold my breath though. I just hope that we can somehow abuse Brooks supposed freakish speed enough to make the NBA change the rules back to how they were in the '90s when basketball was great.

 

trust morey

 

How is S.B. a playoff choker? He scored 15+ points in each of last two home games by making more than half of his 3p.

 

with rudy gay, we were facing spurs/suns at first round at best. we prob wouldnt even get a game 7

 

shouldve gotten the old 94-95 logo...

that logo will be soon forgotten once we change colors again

 

Don't get me started on the Gay/Battier trade again. I never liked how the Rockets traded away a guy with so much potential and athleticism for an older and slower guy who has had a history of disappearing in the playoffs. Don't get me wrong, I think Battier is an ok player and a model citizen, but I always felt the Rockets gave up too much to get him. Considering the Rockets didn't make it past the first round last season, I think their future would have been much more bright knowing they have a young star in the making on their roster to go alongside the two superstars of Yao and TMac. Who knows, the Rockets would've still made the 5th seed this year with Gay and Swift on the team in place of Battier. Also, both Gay and Battier's stats were eerily similar but Gay played nearly ten minutes less per game.

Shane Battier
Houston Rockets
Position: F
Height: 6-8 Weight: 220
College : Duke
Player file | Team stats
2006-07 Statistics
PPG 10.1
RPG 4.1
APG 2.1
SPG .96
BPG .73
FG% .446
FT% .779
3P% .421
MPG 36.4

Rudy Gay
Memphis Grizzlies
Position: G
Height: 6-9 Weight: 220
College : Connecticut
Player file | Team stats
2006-07 Statistics
PPG 10.8
RPG 4.5
APG 1.3
SPG .91
BPG .95
FG% .422
FT% .727
3P% .364
MPG 27.0

 

Battier would have more steals if you counted all the charges he took. Not much in the big picture but still he still gets you extra possessions in the ball game.

 

I liked the trade. But if the Rockets are shopping Battier, I would have to think they would be better of if they had Gay. So many teams would be wanting to trade with us if we offered them Gay/Sura in a deal. We could probably get a very good player. And still have Stromile Swift.

 

that is a pretty nifty tattoo

 

I still don't like the Gay for Battier trade. I thought it was stupid then and I think it's stupid now. You trade a guy with Rudy Gay's upside potential for a guy with no upside potential. Getting Battier didn't get the Rox one step closer to a championship and now the Rox are thinking of possibly trading Battier anyway.

 

watch summer league Rudy is going to be unreal and it begins this weekend

 

John Lucas III was unreal in the summer league, too.

 

West screwed and tattooed the Rockets on the Rudy Gay for Shane Battier and Stromile Swift trade. All basketballdom knows it. It was the cold revenge for the Steve Francis trade where we profited from the dilemma of the Vancouver Grizzlies.

 

I wouldn't be so quick to suggest that the Rockets got screwed. If the trade was not made, by now Gay would have spent a rookie season festering on JVG's bench along with other rookies - Spanoulis, Novak, Lucas.
And let's not kid ourselves and suggest that keeping Swift and his half-ass performance would get better with time. In fact, our payroll would be skewed with such an awful contract for the next 4 years. I would take Chuck over Swift anytime.

The Rockets acquired one of the league's true lockdown defenders (they are rare) and a class act to boot. Shane gives this team heart and hustle as well as clutch shooting now and again. Expect the same from a rookie with a silly temperment and suspect motivation??

 

The biggest mistake last year was scratching and clawing for meaningless wins at the end of the season when we knew it would affect our draft position ... like those of us with some foresight were constantly bleating on about last spring. Brandon Roy would be a Rocket right now if not for some meaningless wins. So forget Battier for Gay and Swift, because that wasn't the real mistake.