[CBS Sports] Howard no lock for Lakers; interested in Rockets

WOWEEeee!

Thanks for posting that. If you believe J.Rudolph is an insider in the Dwight camp then this interview had some bombs even though he was just trying to tow the line and not make any headlines.

Just paraphrasing...

1) "Of course he is serious about Houston... just like ... LA ...

and um ...

...

Dallas...

and...

Atlanta (in a softer voice... trailing off)

2) D'Antoni's system is of let the ball find the energy is crap! Doesn't fit Dwight... doesn't even suit Kobe who just runs to the wings and lets Nash probe. Dwight wants to go to a system where he can make a positive impact within the system, where he doesn't have to demand touches but they come naturally.

3) Is Howard aware of the reports of the extra money from no tax in texas?
Yes, he's aware. He's aware. He's aware.... HE IS AWARE.

4) Howard didn't leak anything.

Are you suggesting Mitch Kupchak did? There were only two people in the room.

I can't speak to that. Maybe they were trying to cause a stir and put pressure on Dwight to come back after what happened in Orlando.

_____________

Houston 60%
Lakers 30%
Others 10%

 

Haha. I totally agree and that is why the Clippers are a nice complement to the Lakers here in LA. The Lakers usually are the stable team when it comes to the offseason and then the playoffs are when the season really begins for them. With the Clippers, as an NBA junkie, I get to experience draft lotteries, tons of trades, all sorts of theoretical plans on how they will build a great team with a young core, etc...

The Kyrie Irving pick is interesting on a few levels. First, the Clippers did it as a salary dump for Baron Davis, but if they knew that there was a new amnesty rule coming along, they wouldn't have done it. On top of which, conspiracy theorists would say that the pick was only #1 for the Cavs (David Stern fix) because they lost Lebron. What makes the Kyrie Irving thing interesting also is that the Clippers would not have traded for CP3 if they had Kyrie Irving. So they would actually have a backcourt of Irving and Eric Gordon instead of CP3. Arguable which would have been better going forward.

As far as Aminu, every draft board had him higher than Paul George so you can't really blame the Clippers on that one. In fact, admittedly, I was telling people on Clippers boards that they are crazy if they think we should draft George over Aminu. That said, the Clippers also took a Russian named Yaroslav Koralev over Danny Granger which nobody in the ESPN coverage could figure out. Right now, Donald Sterling is doing everything short of blowing CP3 to make him happy. We will probably be bringing Chauncey Billups back for another season so he can sit on the bench and tell CP3 that the coach is wrong.

Speaking of draft blunders, what about the Rockets trading draft rights to Rudy Gay for role player Shane Battier? I was watching that draft and thought the Rockets were crazy. But I guess it seems that Rudy Gay is not the player that he could have been. In a sort of stupid humor, wouldn't it be awesome if Rudy Gay was the first player to announce that he was coming out of the closet instead of Jason Collins?

 

Only part I will comment on: I am sort of glad we got Battier instead of Rudy Gay. Great role player who had a good head on his shoulders. Gay is a volume shooter who just isn't that good (but is paid like a max star). Imagine if we had signed him to his onerous deal. Ugh the inflexibility for a player who pretty much takes a bunch of inefficient shots and still misses them! The guy is like a poor man's Melo, except he isn't really for the poor haha.

Guy takes a THIRD of his non-3 pt shots from 16-23 ft (inefficient) and only makes 27% of them lol. 33% from 3 pt range, and 41.5% FG% overall on almost 17 FGAs a game! He only scored 18 PPG this season lol jeez. He's about to have more FGAs a game than PPG

 

@pwnyxpress: You really love your efficiency stats huh? Because NBA games really don't start until the 4th quarter, these stats are somewhat deceptive in my opinion. In other words, the first three quarters in NBA are all about show and the 4th quarter is about dough. As I said in our debate about Durant and Blake Griffin earlier, I don't care if they shoot at lower percentage as long as they don't shy away from tough shots they need to take in crunch time.

I remember playing high school basketball and had a game where I threw up a ton of garbage all game, but then made a key shot in the 4th quarter and my coach said I won the game for us. In some respects, that is sort of why basketball is a dumb game compared to baseball and football, but it's designed for entertainment (playing and watching) first and foremost. I don't even know what kind of percentages I would have had if I calculated that for myself in high school ball, but nowhere near the 50/40/90 you seem to be obsessed with. Even the assist category is a bit deceptive. I was a point guard and was always surprised how many assists I logged each night. I think if I passed the ball to someone and they dribbled up and down and then scored, I got an assist. And I don't think most NBA players think about their efficiency stats when they are out there playing. Just think this one can fall under the old Mark Twain statement about statistics: "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics."

 

so you're trying to say that stats aren't important and that the first three quarters of a game are meaningless? okay cool, LA troll boy

 

Oh, and what do you think about Rockets paying James Harden max when they could pay a guy like Monta Ellis for $11 mil per season and get relatively the same stats if given a similar role. Look at his 2009-2011 numbers when he was on the Warriors run and gun lineup. Ellis not much of a defender, but Harden doesn't play any defense either.

 

guys he's right, Monta Ellis have it all

 

I'm just saying, especially in the NBA, the first three quarters of regular season games are loose and easy...almost street ball mentality to show off skills and dunks. Teams bear down and start playing to win in the 4th quarter. Have you watched an NBA regular season game before?

 

He gets straight to James Harden in the start of this interview

 

Monta Ellis is a joke and so are you

 

Monta's most efficient shooting season in his entire career is only better than ONE of Hardens.... Hardens rookie year.

Unreal how some people think Monta is that good at all.

 

There was nothing wrong with that, Houston figured it had 3 or 4 years max to win with Yao and Tracy (in reality injuries meant there was only one more playoff series together), after that they were doing what they did this year, blow it up, rebuild. Gay wouldn't have produced at a valuable enough level in the last few years and he didn't fill the role they needed filling.

We had the best team in 09, we got derailed by injuries (both stars and our backup C by the end), we lost in 7, **** happens.

 

Guys, slestack thinks Bron is going to come to LA. No point in trying to reason with him.

 

Monta Ellis is not nearly the caliber of player that James Harden is. In fact, Monta Ellis wasn't even as good as Jeremy Lin last year (gasp, horror).

A) 26.3 USG% | 16.2 PER | .493 TS% | 100 ORtg | 105 DRtg | 1.2 OWS | 3.3 DWS | 4.6 WS | .071 WS/48
B) 20.8 USG% | 14.9 PER | .538 TS% | 106 ORtg | 107 DRtg | 3.0 OWS | 2.5 DWS | 5.4 WS | .099 WS/48
C) 29.0 USG% | 23.0 PER | .600 TS% | 116 ORtg | 106 DRtg | 9.8 OWS | 3.0 DWS | 12.8 WS | .206 WS/48

One of these players is not like the others. Guess which is which?


Player A = Monta Ellis
Player B = Jeremy Lin
Player C = James Harden

In addition: he has a worse FG%, worse TS%, lower AST%, worse AST/TOV rate, and worse 3PT% than both Jeremy Lin and James Harden. In many cases, those figures are significantly, tremendously worse. The guy is barely above 40% shooting (.416 FG%) and is under 30% at the 3-point line (.287 3p%). The only thing you can say about him that is comparable is that he turns over the ball just as much as Lin and not as much as Harden.



In layman's terms, Monta Ellis is a ball hog. That's how he gets his numbers, and that's how he sees himself, because in repeated interviews he says "I put up X points get Y assists and Z steals so I'm helping the team why does everyone hate me?", clearly showing he doesn't understand the concept of a team. If you look at how much he actually produces and how much he actually helps his team win games, it's clear that he is deficient in a lot of ways. If Jeremy Lin handled the ball as much as Ellis did last year, he would be blowing him out of the water in terms of production. I mean, come on - Ellis attempts more than 4 more shots per 38 minutes and manages only 4 more points in doing so.

If Ellis doesn't even compare to Lin, he probably shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Harden.

 

Slestack....

You funny!

 

Rudolph CLEARLY thinks Houston is the best situation, just looking at his tweets and listening to his interviews. Can't be more direct.

Let's just hope Dwight thinks the same.

 

GTFO. James Harden had identical production as Kobe, so go ahead, if James Harden=Monta, then so does your beloved Kobe.
Harden is 10x more efficient, more clutch, and way smarter than Monta Ellis. You just wait, Harden is going to take the league by an even bigger storm next year and many, many years after.
Meanwhile, the Lakers cling on to a plan that they likely won't execute, and an aging roster many Lakers fans feel they can throw away for really good pieces, as they are spoiled.
Just get out of here. Face it, the Rockets are a far better option for Dwight. I'm man enough to admit he probably will not come here. Now its your turn to admit that the Rockets are the best option for Dwight.
Come on buddy, let out the truth.
You can do it.

 

Last year, this early on it was all about the NETS. Eventually, it was all LAKERS when the NETS window closed. So yes, his info is valuable but the variance is large this far out from the free agency deadline. However, as we get closer to early/mid July he will hone in like a heat seeking missile.