Mirotic wasn't a starter as a rookie, neither was Ginobili (who wasn't even all that good), Marc Gasol wasn't all that good as a rookie, Scola was only a part time starter (less than half the season).....so you have one legitimate example, that's not all that comforting.
I agree that it's rare. I think Llull is talented enough to pull it off. Gasol was amazing right off the bat, so I thought Luis was a better example. A highly successful Euro player with a long track record, who finally came over to the NBA and, after getting his bearings, became effective enough to start in his first season. That's what I remember, at any rate. ;-)-
I have always liked d-mo and will always like him. But in the back of my mind I have always felt like he was moreys biggest chip to acquire another player. I never got the feeling that d-mo was here for the long term.
Starter or not, they all played, and they all had a positive base plus minus which I would term as "good".
I have viewed D-Mo as Howard's replacement for five months or so. There is a significant possibility that Howard opts out of his player option next summer and goes after one last huge contract. And I do not foresee Morey matching a three year $28M/year contract for Howard. I think there was a point not long ago you were right. I do not believe it is the case anymore.
Mercy even if the rockets had won the championship (geeez they got to the western conference finals) people would still be saying McHale is a terrible coach, so you gotta ignore them IMO. McHale coached a team while losing two starters in Howard and Jones for half the season but he still won 56 games and took a team with two 37 year old PGs to the WCF and he's a terrible coach lol.
Hey there, xiki ! Good to see you, man. Yeah, it would have to be an out of this world...no brainer move.
And you certainly could be right. I have absolutely no facts to dispute your assessment. We will see soon enough.
That's moving the goalposts, we're talking about the prospect of Llull being a "good starter" in year one, not him playing and having a positive base plus minus. I see him as potentially a good backup PG, which there is some history of Euros coming over and fitting that role from year one, absolutely not much chance of him being a starter from day one and being very good though. It's just too unlikely.
Sir, I should follow your advice, I know that would be the wise thing to do. I will probably bang my head against that brick wall a few more times before I just give up. Thanks for the heads up. Intellectually I understand it, but perhaps emotionally I am not ready to accept it. But my head will only take so many bumps and bruises! LOL.
I agree with you about McHale, and this is coming from someone both shocked and upset when Morey and Alexander hired him. I harbored a strong dislike for the guy due to watching him play a key role in helping the Celtics beat us in both of our '80's Finals appearences. I also have been mystified by some of his moves (or lack of moves) as head coach of the Rockets, yet the fact remains that our record under his tenure has been outstanding, as much as that ticks off some folks around here. Last season more than ever. The Rockets had an incredible season. Just incredible, with the injuries we had both during the bulk of the season, and just prior to the playoffs. I'm still shaking my head at what we managed to accomplish.
I have no idea what you people are talking about. I moved here with my family to work for an oil major in March, escaping Saudi Arabia and an 80 hour a week job three months ago. Whatever.
