Plowman would you be able to tell us anything about where you are getting your info? Is it from the HOU/PHX org, or is it from the player/agent side? Or maybe another source.
Wow, Plowman and Cyberx here at the same time! ROUND 12: FIGHT OF THE CENTURY This would pertain to, say, if a Dragic deal fell through.... COMMENTATOR: It's confirmed, unofficially, Cyberx's ribs may be broken -- Cyberx unleashes a lethal blow to the side of the head that jolts Plowman's mouthpiece into the second row... Plowman sags against the ropes in a crucified position... The insane crowd leaps to their feet. Plowman waves at Cyberx to come ahead. The fighters stand toe to toe and drag every remaining bit of strength from their souls and beat each other without mercy. SIX FIVE FOUR THREE TWO ONE! The crowd goes wild. Cyberx and Plowman stagger toward each other in a weary embrace; Cyberx whispers in Plowman's ear: CYBERX: ... Ain't gonna be no rematch. PLOWMAN: ... Don't want one. ANNOUNCER: Attention, please!! Attention!! Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have had the rare privilege to have witnessed the greatest exhibitions of stamina and guts ever in the history of sports. Ladies and gentlemen -- We have a split decision! Judge Walker scores it eight-seven Cyberx... Judge Roseman scores it eight-seven Plowman. Cyberx is rigid. Fear radiates from his eyes. To lose the crown on this night after the fight he fought would kill him... A silence has blanketed the arena. ANNOUNCER: Judge Conners scores it nine-six Cyberx... Winner and still Heavyweight Champion of the World, Cyberx! Both Plowman and Cyberx are completely at the mercy of the crowd. The CHANTING IS DEAFENING. King Drew tries to move forward. Running headlong into the crowd, he angles through the mass to get to Plowman. He is manhandled and shoved in a multitude of directions, but he keeps his feet... King Drew sees Plowman. Drew screams Plowman's name... Somehow the voice knifes through the racket and reaches Plowman. Plowman frantically looks in all directions and barely manages to see King Drew jumping up and down waving. King Drew manages to reach Plowman. KING DREW: I love you! PLOWMAN: (stupefied) I love you! Plowman and King Drew lock in an embrace: ....cue Bill Conti music....
I was just kidding around lol. II have no clue what Dragic's price is, It might very well be possible that the Suns circumstances have significantly lowered his price beyond what I'm imagining it is. If we could get Dragic for even less, that'd would be very awesome. I'm just saying that it's funny to me people on here go full homer and say trading a couple of role players, a mid second, and a late lotto for an healthy all star caliber PG who's just now hitting his prime is entirely too much. Also, I hardly consider 2 role players, a mid second, and a future late lotto our kingdom lol. In my opinion, our current kingdom is definitely Harden, Howard and Ariza, I wouldn't blink if we traded anybody, and everybody outside of those 3, for an all star caliber player. Bledsoe would be awesome, he's in my eye an all star caliber PG as well and I wouldn't mind giving up the same hypothetical package for him either, but i'd definitely prefer Dragic due Bledsoe's to injury problems though.
The rockets have the best players at their position in Howard and Harden and were the 4th seed last season. We lost Parsons, Lin, and half a season of Asik but I think internal growth and Ariza makes up for a good chunk of that. We're incredibly underrated at this point.
This. And the team got even better as the year went along, which you'd expect with them adjusting to having Dwight Howard. They won at an almost 69% clip in calendar year 2014, which would translate to about a 57-win pace for the season as a whole. The idea that this team is going to slip below 50 wins is just bizarre. What blows me away is that so many folks (including national media types) are so fixated on the losses of average players (Lin/Asik) and acting as if they're irreplaceable. If there's one thing that Morey has shown more than anything else, it's that he can spot capable mid-tier talent, even with limited resources. He plucked Kyle Lowry for Rafer Alston. He got Goran Dragic for an injured and broken down Aaron Brooks. He bet correctly on Omer Asik. He found Pat Beverley in Russia. He drafted Chandler Parsons in the 2nd round. He took Carlos Delfino and Samuel Dalembert off the scrap heap deep in free agency. Morey has had an up-and-down track record in pursuing big fish, and it's fair to question if he'll ever find that ideal-3rd-star fit like he almost had before Bosh jilted him. But I'm baffled at how many people seem to be stressed out over whether the Rockets can replace perfectly average NBA role players. That's one thing I have complete and total confidence in DM to do.
Where did I say that past injury history is the ONLY factor?? Obviously there are a whole HOST of things that go into whether or not somebody is injury prone, which makes YOUR argument that it's a 50/50 proposition for every single team in the NBA THAT much more ridiculous. Are you being purposefully obtuse?
And I'd also love to know CyberX's thinking into how on Earth the Pelicans would pass up the Rockets in the standings. The national media sure has some folks convinced that we're a team collapsing from within. Harden, Howard, and Ariza are a FORMIDABLE trio, and when you add Beverley's perimeter defense to that mix, there are few teams that will be able to crack them. The Pelicans DEFINITELY won't be one of those teams.
The misuse of probability and statistics in this thread still amazes me a couple of hours after I read it the first time. lol
Easy. He's a Lakers fan. But I will say that most people generally speaking are showing their ignorance about how the the NBA works. The Rockets have two legit superstars. Not all-star caliber. Super.Star. We will be a great home team (30-34 wins at home). Playing 500 ball on the road gets us to 50 wins with ease. The East is still pathetic. Ariza is a great fit at the 3.
Great post. I think the issue right now is that we don't know who those emerging mid-level players are, or if there will be any. There are certainly several to choose from: Isaiah Canaan Donatas Motiejunas Kostas Papanikolaou Joey Dorsey Nick Johnson Clint Capela Robert Covington Jeff Adrien Ish Smith Beverley, Ariza, TJones, and yes even Troy Daniels have already proven to me that they are effective role players. If we can get 2, perhaps 3 from the list above to show that ability, then we should be fine. That said, the only way we can meaningfully improve this season is by acquiring a star. Morey won't be judged by his ability to add role players.....we need a 3rd great one to take a significant step forward. The only guys on the roster that have that potential IMO are Canaan, DMo, and Capela, and none are likely to become that good this season. It's Dragic, Bledsoe, Rondo, Millsap, or bust.
Absolutely. We don't know which ones yet, but I'd bet between that list and the BAE, the Rockets find themselves perfectly capable of replacing average production. The question, as you said, is how the team can take the significant step forward... and that depends on striking a "big fish" deal by the trade deadline. Regression shouldn't even be on the table, unless there's an unexpected and serious injury to one of Harden/Howard. The idea that Morey won't be able to find decent NBA role players is so silly that I can't believe some bright minds are actually falling for it.
