Stop with the trade Kenny stuff. Kenny is awesome and he going to get better. Name one Rocket who made as much improvement as Kenny did last year. The man comes to camp in great shape, works hard, and you want to trade him. OK granted he did miss his share of layups but he still had one of the highest shooting percentages on the team this year. And stop with all the there's two many power forwards posts. Kenny's game is that of a small forward how many time did you see him beat his man off the dribble last year. Now do you really think that Rice or Morris has a quicker first step then him. What about range? Kenny had a very consistent outside jumper this year, second only to Francis, and that was only when Steve was on. Boards, what about when he ripped 19 against the Kings, he was sick. In Kenny we have a versatile player with a ton of desire. If you want to trade guys how about Taylor. Taylor has and great NBA body unlimited skill and as much desire to rebound as a quadriplegic . I'm sorry if my comment offend but the Rockets are in a great position to really have a completive squad check this out: PG Francis SG Mobley SF Thomas PF Griffin C Gooden (yeah he's the best prospect at center 6'10" 230 and heart. He is big enough for me)
You seem to be forgetting contract situations, age, injury situations, and team direction.... We will not play Gooden at C. We're not looking to get younger. We'd be happy to trade Mo if possible and keep Menny as the backup, everyone knows that. We're replacing Rice next year, and T-Mo is the backup. No, I don't think KT is a better SF than T-Mo.
Will not pay Gooden at Center? I might be wrong here but I thought that Rookie contracts were determined by the position drafted, maybe some of you "experts" can help me out with that one. Morris a better small forward than Thomas? Name one aspect of his game that is better than Kenny's. Maybe he fits the physical profile of a small forward, but that alone does not make him better. How many people do you think said that Magic was too big to be a point guard or that Barkley was too short to play power forward. Just because the announcer calls Kenny a power forward doesn't mean his skills are best utilized in that capacity.
T-Mo plays better D, mostly because of his longer arms. He's not too tall or too short for the position. As soon as he gains confidence in his shot, he'll have the undoubted edge. The reason we won't play Gooden is because Oeilpere said we're not getting younger. I believe him. We don't need any mroe youth. If Gooden was to play C, he'd take a long time to develop, coz he's never played anything like it before.
It is hard to ignore that KT has improved, however, his minutes and responsibilities jumped SUBSTANTIALLY this season. As compared to the 2000-2001 season, KT's minutes increased by 10 per game. His points went up by 7. However, none of his other stats went up measurably... Rebounding - from 5.6 to 7 Assists - from 1.04 to 1.90 Steals - from .6 to 1.2 Blocks - from .6 to .9 Turnovers - from 1.5 to 2.0 In addition, his FG% improved from 44% to 48% but his free throw shooting went down to 66% from 72%. It would have been difficult for him not to improve in the scoring column given that the number of shots he took doubled and the number of free throws he took nearly tripled. Yet, despite all the extra minutes, he posted only modest gains in most of the other categories, particularly in rebounding where I think most of us would have expected him to improve more than a board and a half given 10 extra minutes of time on the floor. I really like the guy as a player, but, other than scoring, his stats haven't really improved all that much considering the chances he's been given.
Oeilpere, who is that, did the Rockets get a new GM? The Rockets don't need the get older they need to get smarter and stop dribbling the shot clock away. Do you really think Gooden will take more time than anyone else in the draft to develop. It is commonly known that a big men adapt faster to the NBA game than any other position. He never played anything like that before. You mean Center, right just because he listed as something else doesn't mean he didn't put up center numbers. 25 double-doubles this season argue with that.
Jeff thanks for your en-lighting journey into stats 101, I hope a get credit for this class, but name another rocket forward who was more consistent, played harder, or got got the most out of his talents. Taylor never had or ever will have a year like Kenny. At 6'8'' 7 rips a game is a solid contribution. Imagine Thomas, Griffin, and Gooden crashing the boards together.
Kenny did make strides this year but, Dont forget his adaption to ISO's, slowing the game down & pratically refusing to give up the ball.
If I played with Cuttino and Steve, and I was some how fortunate enough to somehow get the rock I wouldn't give up the rock either.
KT is in trade discussions because after Francis, Mobley and Griffin he hold the most value. Not great value as we have discussed in another thread, but not bad (I say worth like a 14-16 pick in a typical draft or a comparably valued player). MoT can't be traded until he proves he is recovered and the other excess front court players still under contract (Collier, Morris) aren't worth a loaf of bread on the market or have trade killing contracts (Rice, Cato). I would rather keep and play KT anywhere over Morris in an ideal world, but Morris won't get you anything in a trade so you might as well see if he develops into a decent player. KT can play, he could a solid starter in the East, I think it is better for him and the Rockets to get him there in a fair exchange. In short, I see it as a numbers game--especially if we draft another forward (very likely). The only other situation we should try to keep KT is if we trully think EG isn't going to be as good a player as KT--then we trade EG while he has good value. Of course I really hope this isn't the case because it would be more of a reflection of EG than KT. BTW D-illest, I very much like your idea to draft Gooden--but not as a C except maybe using him or MoT for back-up minutes at that spot. I think him and EG would make a fine pair of book end forwards for many, many years.
I'm sorry, T-Mo hasn't shown me anything to prove that he's even a legitimate NBA player, much less better than KT at any position. The guy reached his ceiling his sophmore year in college, and he wasn't even that good then. If Terrence Morris is our 2nd string small forward, then we've got problems. I just wish the Rockets could have a veteran bench rather than all these young, unproven players. We wouldn't have had quite as bad of season if we had some veteran guys to help fill in for our injured players.
I'm sorry. I just see T-Mo as a better SF than KT. KT is not a SF, he can't be. Not a starter, at the very very least. It was my understanding that big men take time to develop? Right?
I think I'm going to be ill... nope, that spot's already taken! Oeilpere, come out of hibernation and enlighten us. Please!
JEFF: I CALL BULL**** Please take another look at the stats that you posted. No measurable improvement in other areas besides scoring? Try EVERY SINGLE AREA ON BOTH ABSOLUTE AND PER-MINUTE BASES, with the exception of rebounds, in which he only improved 29% over last year and happened to lead the team. MINUTES PER GAME 24.6 TO 34.5 UP 40.2% BLOCKS 0.6 TO 0.9 UP 50.0% STEALS 0.5 TO 1.2 UP 140.0% TURNOVERS 1.6 TO 2.0 UP 25.0% FOULS 2.4 TO 2.7 UP 12.5% REBOUNDING 5.6 TO 7.2 UP 28.6% ASSISTS 1.0 TO 1.9 UP 90.0% POINTS 7.1 TO 14.1 UP 98.6% in addition, KT improved his FG% from 44.3% to a very respectable 47.8%. Most players who get more minutes fail to maintain their previously impressive per-minute numbers; KT actually improved in ever single area other than rebounding, in which he still led the team. I'm left wondering if your post was meant as a joke. And I find it amazing that anyone can criticize one of the few players - and coaches, for that matter - on the team who never gave up on a crappy season. Yet "you really like the guy as a player." What a guy you are.
I agree with JR, not with the tone tho. Those kind of improvements on only an increase of 10mpg is pretty damn good imo. Esp blocks. He's in like the top 50 in blocks, and that's pretty good for a runt.
You do understand that when numbers like the two above go up it's not necessarily a good thing, right?
