Would you be happy or sad if the Rockets resemble the Pacers in a couple of years?

You hit the spot with this last line here. You can pretty much group the 76ers, Magic, and Hawks into this very special group. Good enough to make the playoffs, but everybody knows they'll be going fishing sooner or later.

All of these teams are examples of front offices over-committing to 2nd tier stars in hopes of building a championship contender. You avoid all band-aid solutions at all costs and you go "all-in" on TOP-SHELF talent. This means NO to Danny Granger, Joe Johnson, Rashard Lewis, and Andre Igoudala UNLESS you've got your Batman.

 

It would be a good thing. Of course Indy is not quite an elite team and lacks a superstar player. However, they are (1) pretty good, (2) young and (3) have salary flexibility. As such, they have room to improve either through internal development, free agency or trades.

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/pacers.jsp

Makes no sense to lump Indy with Hawks, Philly and Orlando, teams that little salary space. You don't want to become a 48-ish win team with no more flexibility to improve. However, it's a whole different matter to be such a team but still have substantial salary space, picks, etc.

 

You're right in your assessment that Indy is better than the other 3, but they are missing that true superstar that will put them over-the-top. I lump them in the group with the other 3 because honestly speaking, nobody in the East tops a LeBron-Wade-Bosh combo. The Heat and the Bulls (before Rose went down) were on another level. The Pacers will be a good quality playoff team for years to come, but Indiana is pretty tough draw for big-time free agents and that's probably more or less a result of their geographical location.

You're right though about the Pacers having a bit more flexibility than the other 3 teams, but I group all those teams in the same boat because they honestly don't stand a chance against the Heat for at least the next 3 years.

 

I guess my point is, if the Rockets are going to use a team as a measuring stick for success, you have to use the best teams in the league. There isn't a point in being the next Grizzlies or the next Pacers, when you have the Thunder and the Heat with their trios of top-shelf talent. The Rockets need to create a blueprint that will be able to compete with the Thunder and the Heat and not sell themselves short.

 

yep, very good example with the Pacers, look another Indy example:

last year they had a record of 37-45, and still got in the playoffs, if they lose 3 or 4 more they could have picked with the 8th or 9th pick, but no, they wanted to play the playoffs as an 8th spot, knowing they would get eliminated in the 1st round, so instead of getting the 8th or 9th pick, they went and got the 15th pick.

do you think Indy should tank to get a top 10 draft pick, or keep making the playoffs, with no real chance to the NBA finals?

 

Every single word is one hundred percent correct.

 

You know whats ****ing sad... Its that we are sitting here talking about resembling the Pacers. But reastically we know Stern wont let us win a ring without a Superstar player( that generates intrest in the NBA)


I almost feel bad for the Pacers, they dont have a shot in this series. Realistically them getting out of the first round againist the Orlando Magic was just to renew energy in their fanbase. Stern always does this crap


You know what would stop this BS, is if every player was REFFED the same way. im sick of seeing guys like Parsons, Scola, Lowry, C.Lee, and Dragic on our team constantly drive to the basket.. get hammered and no ****ING call. And then a guy like Lebron or Westbrick get touch fouls and go to the LINE. Im sick of it, this is how Stern develops stars, rarely can guys make a simple 15-17 footer anymore. Its either a layup or a 3 pointer.

I understand Wade is a GREAT player, but their should be no excuse for this guy to barely get touched, and start shooting free-throws on the littlest contact. Lebron as big as he is.. resorting to flopping.


This is why LeBron and Wade absoulety SUCK in FIBA. Those international refs call everything they see, no BS calls. I'm telling you something right now, the most important players for Team USA this year will be Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, and Chris Paul. With the injury bug happening around the NBA.. If 2 of those guys are gone, especially Durant and CP3, Team USA will get Bronze in London. Durant is the most important player on Team USA, because of solid fundamentals, and his game is best suited for either the NBA or FIBA



I have no figured out why these star players wanna join forces and play for big cities. Not only do they move to better cities, but they get BIG help from the refs. But whatever man


Im not saying the Pacers could beat the Heat. And im gonna concede that Pacers choked HARD in the closing minutes of Game 1. But thats usually what Stern does. He will give the underdog Game 1, to draw more viewers for Game 2.

Anyways im drunk, and im going to sleep

 

yup iam100% with u

 

Measuring stick obviously:
Thunder

Pacers are good....so I would be content

 

I wont be happy.
Current Pacer is not better than the Artest, Tracy, Yao Ming rockets

 

Front Office blew it.... They had the chance to get better teammates when JVG was here.

 

Would you be happy if the Rockets resemble the Grizzlies in 4 or 5 years?

They decided the Pau Gasol teams were not good enough and chose to tank. They have drafted at #2, #3 and #4.

 

Sadly, you are 100% correct with that assessment about the Heat blueprint being impossible to duplicate with the parameters set by new CBA agreement. However, people tend to forget that the Thunder were pretty abysmal for a few years before they lucked into Durant, Harden, Wesbrick (oops), and Ibaka. That's pretty much the blueprint that the Bobcats and several other teams are trying to imitate and I think that it's absolutely plausible for the Rockets to do the same. To be quite honest with you, it's the smartest thing to do while staying far enough under the cap to sign disgruntled superstars that might just turn up.

I've been saying it for years, but the Rockets should have started the tanking process (don't mean to start any new tanking threads, think we've beat this topic to a pulp) maybe as early as last season when they knew they weren't going to be able to rely on Yao Ming any longer due to his rather rich injury history. This "swimming in mediocrity" business obviously isn't working for the Rockets and more than likely is going to set us back a few years.

My parents always told me that if you were going to commit to something, you give it your all. In a league that only rewards the top teams and sadly, the worst teams (through the lottery), the Rockets should have went all-in for the Anthony Davis sweepstakes. If you've attended Rockets games recently, you've probably noticed the half-empty arena which pretty sums up the attitude of Rockets fans. They don't give a rat's ass about whether or not the Rockets will be able to make it to the playoffs--in the words of Beyonce (this is what the radio force feeds us), they want the Rockets to "Put a (damn) RING on it!"

So the question becomes, if the Rockets were as bad as the Bobcats in their attempt to obtain Anthony Davis would I be mad? No. For the sake of the betterment of the franchise, I understand that sometimes you have to take a step back to move two steps forward. As a true Rockets fan, you understand that you pay your dues before you see your plans come into fruition. Everybody is laughing at the Bobcats right now, but once they land their top-shelf talent through the draft, nobody's gonna be laughing at them anymore (eventually even the player formerly known as "His Airness" has to get those picks right).

 

Yes, hindsight is nice, but nobody hits 100% even with lotto picks. Joe Dumars used a #2 pick on Darko even while he assembled a title team.

The Rockets front office drafted Busty Morris this year, and might well **** another lotto pick. Who is to say they wouldn't have gone after the highly touted Mayo or have drafted someone other than Harden (like Tyreke Evans or Curry)?

 

I am confident we will be drafting better. Thabeet as the 2nd pick,
Mike Conley Jr. solid but not great, and took too long to develop 4th pick
Xavier Henry as the 12 pick and traded away Kevin Love the 5th pick

Out of 4 lottery picks only one turned out to be a solid starter
Sure does not look like Daryl