Yeah, I'm sure Shandon's 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds on 39% shooting would've gotten us several more wins. Shandon was a terrible fit in Houston, and so far in New York. When he isn't aggressive in taking the ball to the basket. he's practically worthless. There's not much he can do that Morris can't, and Morris is about a half a foot taller.
Cat! I'm surprised at you. You're the most statistically competent poster on the board and I always enjoy your posts, but Anderson is 6-6 and Morris is 6-9 -- that's only three inches, not six. Tsk. Tsk.
Shandon averaged 10 points and played great defense while never missing a game with Houston. I'd take him over Rice in a second.
Well, if we can use stats from the last two seasons, Rice averaged 14 points and provided a lethal threat from the outside, something sorely needed in this offense. Also, Shandon at 6'5 or 6'6 cannot consistently guard small forwards.
I'm talking about what Anderson and Rice did with the Rockets. Rice played only 20 games, averaged 8 points and shot horribly. At least Shandon hustles and attempts to play defense. The Rice trade was horrible.
Yeah, that's a fair comparison. Two years of Shandon to 20 games of Glen Rice. I can go back and find you a 20 game stretch where Shandon was downright awful. If you want to compare Shandon's Houston career with that of Glen Rice, wait until Rice has been here for the same amount of time. And by the way, if you think 20 games makes or breaks a trade, you're a bigger moron than anyone expected. Mo Taylor has been out this entire season... does that make his signing a horrible mistake? 20 games of Rice averaging 8 points is still better than no games at all.
Mo managed to get a full season in before going down with injury. No one expected him to tear his achilles. The Rockets knew they were trading for an older, more-injury prone player when they brought in Rice.
At least Shandon is actually playing. That's one thing you never had to worry about with him -- he was an iron man. He was the only Rocket to start all 82 games two seasons in a row. Actually Shandon's shooting closer to 40 percent. Glen Rice was shooting 39 percent for the Rockets. Shandon's shooting 30 percent from the 3-pt line, Rice shot 28 percent when he was healthy. So apparently Shandon is a better shooter than Rice this year. Plus, he's not hurt. Why not just use stats from this season? Shandon's shooting percentages are better. Glen Rice at 6'8" cannot consistently guard small forwards.
With his age, Rice's strength with us will be posting up more than 3-pointers. But Glen has shown a few flashes of brilliance posting up this year.
I think I'll declare TheFreak the winner of this thread (yeah, I have that kind of authority ). I still think Shandon looks damn funny when he runs and tries to dribble though.
The Freak-You make it sound like that playing Shandon Anderson is an asset as opposed to a liability. Shandon is best served on the bench, than on the court at least for the Rockets, or for now, the Knicks' case,
First off I'll say that the Rice trade was a bad one. I've said in past posts that the Rockets acquired Rice five years too late. However, I can see Rudy T working, and it the reason Rice was acquired was so that when Francis or Mobley slash in, and the defense collapses in, they kick the ball out to Rice and he swishes the trey. This is/was a good idea to keep the defense honest. But I put is/was only because Rice isn't playing the rest of the season, and I don't know if the same idea will work next year. As for Shandon Anderson, he was a great hustler that did the little things, the intangibles that didn't show up n the box score, and he would have been great with the Rockets championship teams and during the short Barkley era. He just didn't fit in with Francis and Cat. But at least Shandon had enough class to not cut down the Rockets organization like a certain someone wearing a Toronto jersey right now. I know Shandon made coments, but he simply said that he didn't fit the scheme, and that it was difficult to get shots, but he didn't call the organization classless.
If we had Anderson around, that would take minutes away from KT/Griffin. I'm no KT fan, but we're better off giving him minutes, and evaluating if he is a keeper or not. After 2 years of Shandon, it was obvious that he wasn't a keeper.
i said ZRB wins. Rice has done nothing for Rockets this season. Shandon got some credits for playing Defense... what has rice done for Rockets???
Just because he didn't score 20ppg, doesn't mean he wasn't a keeper. Shandon plays best when he's involved in the offense, and playing big minutes. Exactly like Cato. He needs to play, and get the ball where he likes it. His productivity goes WAY up when that happens, also like Cato. BUT, although the Rice trade didn't work out well, I still dont think Griffin, Taylor or KT can play the 3 well. NONE can guard perimeter players. I'm glad we have Rice rather than Shandon the SMALL FORWARD, not the 2-guard. I'm glad we have Rice to look forward to rather than alt, Langhi, and T-Mo. Maybe in the future, T-mo will improve, but if it does, it's takin ages. e're overcroded at the forward spots, need someone to play big minutes behind Rice next year. We also have too many draft picks. GET Odom, make him sixth man of the year next season, and the starter the next year when Rice retires. Cato/Griffin/Taylor/Odom Taylor/Griffin/Odom Rice/Odom Cat/Torres Francis/Dooling Trust me there's enough time to go around. Francis, odom, Taylor and Griffin are not selfish. Cato barely demands the ball. Rice won't play HUGE minutes, maybe something like 25 effective minutes. I can see rings.
Let's settle this, both Anderson and Rice suck. Anderson can't shoot and Rice can't guard his shadow. I think both of them are robbing their respective teams blind. Rice will never be the same player and is a liability on D, he almost fell when player crossed over on him.
I agree with man, both Shandon and Rice stink. Did it ever occur to the Rockets just to let Shandon go to the Knicks (or wherever) as a free agent and save the cash for a better player down the line? Now we have two or three years more of Rice (I try to forget the terms of his contract) which is really the Rice retirement plan.
Mo managed to get a full season in before going down with injury. No one expected him to tear his achilles. The Rockets knew they were trading for an older, more-injury prone player when they brought in Rice. Mo didn't play a game after getting the huge contract. And if Rice was so injury prone, how did he play 75 of 82 games last year with terrible foot problems? Actually Shandon's shooting closer to 40 percent. Glen Rice was shooting 39 percent for the Rockets. Shandon's shooting 30 percent from the 3-pt line, Rice shot 28 percent when he was healthy. So apparently Shandon is a better shooter than Rice this year. Plus, he's not hurt. Shandon's played more games, and he wasn't playing hurt. Why not just use stats from this season? Shandon's shooting percentages are better. Because Rice has only played a fourth of a season, and played hurt while doing so. If you think his injury will last the remainder of his career, then this is a valid argument. I, however, do not. Glen Rice at 6'8" cannot consistently guard small forwards. Rice brings other items to the table, such as shooting, a post up game, etc. Shandon's primary strength is defense, and since he really can't defend small forwards, he's practically useless at that position. Rice at least has some other strengths to fall back on. I agree with man, both Shandon and Rice stink. Did it ever occur to the Rockets just to let Shandon go to the Knicks (or wherever) as a free agent and save the cash for a better player down the line? Now we have two or three years more of Rice (I try to forget the terms of his contract) which is really the Rice retirement plan. If the Rockets had let Shandon walk for nothing, we'd be looking at about five million dollars in cap room this summer. Considering the mid level exception is 4.5 million, it's almost pointless to try and get under unless you'll have at least seven or so million to spend. And after next season, Steve gets his max extension, so it's all gone then.
