A tremendous draft and a tremendous new coach. The young guys are cocky (which is good) and we have the coach to help them handle the transition. You can see McHale already communicating confidence and NBA life lessons to the guys. He defintely will keep up the fans spirits which does not hurt either. I expect that McHale will soon be the type of Rudy T player's coach that will help a bit in attracting free agents. The Johnny flynn stroy makes sense to me and I believe we added three new players who will be key players and the assets are about to turn into radically increased hope on the court and or veteran acquisitions. One final point for hope. We need to resign Yao and let him rehab all year. As shown by Grant Hill and Bill Walton there is sometimes nothing better than a complete year off to rehab.
Good post! If Marcus can play the three I give this draft a B+. Mchale sounds confident that he can. I also think DMO might even turn out to be a bigger steal than Marcus. He can definitely play the four. he has the quickness handles and the size to play there. And IMO he is tougher than Dirk. Yeah he has a lot to learn but the guy is already bigger and stronger than I imagined and that will only improve. And he has an attitude about him that gives me the impression that he is not going to take shiiit from anyone. You see that a little in his film and hear it in his voice in his interviews. He has a cockiness that is lacking on this team. So does Marcus Morris. If he can play the three and I don't see why not (He has a better all around three game than Battier) than we will have found a player that makes it easier to keep Scola and Martin on the court at the same time. That just didn't work with Bud. It was a fail. I actually see Chandler as a taller more confidnet version of Bud! Of course he has a lot to learn and he doesn't have the leaping ability and handles as bud but he is no slouch in those areas either. As Marcus Morris there is nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. My favorite thing about is he is cocky. He isn't going to back down from anyone and yet he isn't stupid whacko like Artest. We are lacking that on this team big time. If he can play the three and I think he can he is another steal. Yes I was guy who wanted Leonard. Because I saw Bud as not the answer at the 3. Not even close. I like bud but he doesn't have the physicality and on a team with Scola and Martin playing a lot of minutes that just doesn't work. So we needed a physical three to play with those guys. ANd I never once considered Marcus as that guy. And when Leonard drapped into our laps I was ecstatic. Ah but as we know that wasn't our guy. Morey knew something the average guy like me didn't and that is Marcus was a truly versatile man. So I rate this draft a B+ and it misses out on an A because we need a shotblocker and that is still our most glaring weakness.
OMR, I agree with your comments. I even think D-Mo can play some center. However I disagree with the OP. Until we solve our paint D, we haven't turned the corner.
What corner did we turn? There probably isn't a team in the league that isn't talking about how happy they are with their draft. Teams always draft the player they hoped would be there, just the guy they'd targeted, etc. We have the 14th and 20th pick in what is considered to be a very weak draft. Odds are these players don't amount to a hill of beans and if they do it may be years before they're even the caliber of the typical NBA starter.
I was happy with the Morris pick at #14 right when it happened and would have been happy with Leonard as well. But when the Spurs (R.C Buford and Popovich who are no idiots) turned around and gave up George Hill (25 yr. old core guy) for Leonard five minutes later, I got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I hope and pray that doesn't come back and haunt the rockets in years to come. I hope Morris turns into at minumum a rotation player or much better for being the last pick in the lottery. I'm not drinking the kool aid quite yet as it looks like other teams got better as well and the rockets have yet to feel that rim protector void they have been missing for 2 seasons. Still hoping Thabeet has a miraculous offseason, but I'm not holding my breath. All and all the Rockets picked up some very nice pieces for the future two nights ago. Job well done.
I think the success of the draft will be defined by Motiejunas. He is the one player on the team that has try super star talent but also the player with the most to prove. Marcus is going to be solid and a possible all star and Parson is not likely to make the roster IMO.
I don't want to hear about Biedrins. Let's contemplate Deandre or Demarcus... Is there any way we could acquire either of those fellas?
Great post. Glynch's visions sometimes come to fruition, see tmac/the iraq invasion, so i'm more optimistic towards the future after reading. Don't get me wrong, still miss our Fuhrer Rick. Just got to get a center that can walk, play defense and chew gum at the same time.
DeMarcus.... Hell no. No way Sacramento lets him go despite his craziness. DeAndre... Will be very difficult to outpay what LA is going to offer him. They are currently shopping Chris Kaman frantically to free up the cap space to sign him long term. Unless the Rockets overpay dramatically its going to be nearly impossible. And I hate to break it to you, he's a good athletic, shot blocking center, but he's really not that great. Right now Golden State would love to shop Biedrins if they could. However, they still would have a need in the middle like the Rockets do now so I think it would be more of a financial move than anything. Biedrins doesn't throw down power dunks and have the freakish athleticism of DeAndre but his starting center production is almost identical. If he can stay healthy, he would be a good pickup in trade if you could move one or two bad players like Jordan Hill, Thabeet, or Terrence Williams in the deal.
Actually I would argue, that from watching both play, Chandler has slightly better handles then Bud. What Bud has him beat at, are leaping ability and shooting. Everything else, Chandler is the superior talent. I do agree on D-Mo, the guy can definitely be the steal of the draft.
The Cavaliers are also confident that Kyrie is their next Lebron James during their press conference. Let's just calm down. McHale is our new coach, and those are our new players. Let's support them, but turning the corner is done on the court.
Was it also really good when the Collier/Langhi presser was filled with confidence and statements about the Rockets getting an "early Christmas present"? Or when Dorsey said he was Ray Lewis with a basketball and had way more skill than what he was able to show in college? Or when Jermaine Taylor said that he was a scorer and could score on any level? Or when Spanoulis said the Rockets didn't understand/let him use his strengths like running the offense and playing defense? Or when Francis and Mobley repeatedly said they were better than the Mavericks or Spurs and before and after getting blown out by them? Talk is cheap. Regardless of skill, taking shots at Dwight Howard or Carmelo is stupid if you have never played the game. Cockiness can be good but stupid cockiness is stupid. In recent years I can't think of any Rockets draft pick who came in to their press conference or rookie year openly cocky and actually played well.
How about Dwight? Would Orlando like a package highlighted by Scola, Budinger, and Hill? Maybe even Lee as well?
