Larry Hughes gets most of his steals by playing the passing lanes, which is a bit of a gamble. Thats why he's ranked so high defensively.
Yeah, hes good defensively no doubt. But I think the only reason he made it into all first def team is because of his love to gamble in the passing lanes. I dont think JVG would like that very much. He wants someone who is a straight up defender like Bowen or Artest. Because if that gamble doesnt pay off....you got Yao switching to try to come block the shot....or take a charge.....and we all know what happens after that. So no, he is not a bad defender by any means. But a little overrated. And he would not fit in with the Rockets because if you havnt figured it out by now, we want to keep Yao out of foul trouble.
hughes would be sweet, but highly unrealistic. plus i'd really like to see us pick up more of a shooter; someone who can sit outside and hit the 18-20ft J while tracy and yao take it to the hoop. but i'd take him.
Christie didn't make the all-defensive first team when he was #4 in the voting for defensive player of the year, and it was obvious he deserved it. Hughes was selected because the voters saw that big steals number, not necessarily because he was a shutdown guy. All-defensive teams often don't tell the real story. I agree with YallMean that he's not a "defensive force," though he's definitely in the top 10 in defense among guards. Maybe top 5. There are a number of big positives for Hughes, namely that he's a good defender and that he can really create a shot. The big downside is that he's a very poor 3-point shooter. You guys think Sura "isn't a 3-point shooter?" Well I agree, I don't think he is either, but Hughes is much worse: 28% to Sura's 35%. We want someone who can play defense and shoot. Hughes fills one of those needs. Acquiring him would be too pricey, because we'd be paying for a guy who can create a shot, which we don't need. We have T-Mac and Yao to create shots, we don't need an inferior player to take away their opportunities. If he can be had cheap, great. But if not, I don't see why we would pay big for him. A guy like Walker, on the other hand, gives us shooting AND rebounding from the power forward spot (plus he can create a shot and give us a different look, unlike Hughes, who in terms of creating is simply a very poor man's McGrady). Daniels gives us defense AND shooting. Swift gives us defense AND rebounding. And I think all those guys should end up costing less or at worst about the same as Hughes.
Hughes to Cleveland Well I don't want to say, "I told you so." Well... Actually I do, but I'll wait until this story hits the AP.
