Uh, Lowry actually contributed that year. And AB (you know, the guy we just traded for a bag of chips) shined. Dragic and Thabeet are paper weights. Rockets are winning despite Morey's panicked deadline moves.
I really thought Brooks would continue to improve, after all he was the MIP. That being said, Brooks shot us out of way too many games. I rarely point the finger at one person but Brooks killed us. I know he's not healthy but the season almost over. If Lowry had played starters minutes all season, I think he would be the MIP this year. I'm extremely excited right now. We could sneak into the playoffs, and get two decent picks. A very good mix for getting superstars.
I agree. But I was thinking more in terms of the defense, which has surprisingly looked better than it has all year.
I know we weren't able to make the moves and it was likely that Brooks and Battier would leave at seasons end but we still are in a play off race. Morey knew imo that our team would be stronger as the rotation was shortened and there was less drama at the PG spot. I'm just happy that the Rockets are back at .500, I really would love to see a playoff run this year.
I really think Morey gave up on the playoffs with these trades. The team's mindset is just a completely different story.
I think Morey forced Rick Adelman's hand and made him play some of our younger players. I think it is too early to say this but we may need to question Adelman's judgment on how he ranks his players.
Go to Wikipedia and check all the players that were awarded the MIP award; its something like a death blow, like the coach of the year award
Certainly not a fast one!! It was obvious that Battier had been going down hill for a couple of seasons. I love the playing speed and excitement now that Battier is not on our team!! I hope that Yao Ming is noticing our new team spirit!!
I think I'm the only one that liked these trades from the start. Here's my response to the trades reposted from page 18 of the Battier trade thread: I like both Battier and Brooks and I'm sorry to see them go. But both of these trades kind of remind me of the Alston trade in the way their departures make time for other players to step up. I don't think we've seen the best some of our players have to offer and that maybe that's because we haven't relied on them to produce. I don't remember anybody predicting with confidence the relative productivity and success that Brooks and Lowry would bring the day the Alston trade went down. And as valuable a player Battier in particular was to us, for whatever reason he just seemed to refuse to look to score. Even Hayes has significantly stepped up his offensive game this year and I've been waiting since we got him to see Shane do the same, at least as much as he had in Memphis but he just never seemed to want to do it for whatever reason. It reminded me of an old interview with Robert Horry where he said something like "I could go to the basket but that's not my game." At the time I thought, why not? It used to be. I know we'll pay dearly on defense but I'm excited to see the team start five guys who are regular threats to score.
Wow, I just did that and I was shocked by how accurate that statement was. MAYBE not Danny Granger but even he has taken a step back.
I was shocked myself. Tonight's defense can be described in one word, suffocating. Very JVGesque and a shot of testosterone for the offense. Tonight's game was good basketball. For once, we did not just try to outscore the opponent for the W.
No, he made the trade because we were not going to resign neither player. We got 3 players back and 2 1st round picks. I don't know why people think otherwise. Brooks sucks. If we didn't have him all year, we'd have at least 5 more wins.
There are a quite a few players on that list that actually continued to have success even after the award. Many of those players turn out to be all-star or near all star level player. I think the general rule is, if you win the MIP but you are not an all-star or near an all-star level player. Those players tend to fall back to Earth.
I don't credit Morey too much with deciding to let AB and Battier go, because those were no-brainers, considering their contracts. We'd have likely lost them or overpaid to keep them this summer (or whenever a new CBA is reached). But I do credit him with getting a little something in return. If Thabeet turns out to be any kind of rotation-worthy player at all, it'll be a win-win situation. I think AB's reluctance to be a backup was hovering over the team in the last few months, and was compounded by Lowry grabbing that starting spot and proving he deserved to keep it. Something had to give.
I hope they keep it up, but it's still not enough for me to believe it's significantly better than before. It's been 3 games. Yes, 2 were playoff teams, but were both changing up their rotation at the time. It'll be tough to evaluate since the competition is worse now, but we'll see how it goes. Having defense at the pg spot and giving more minutes to PP has definitely helped.
