Am I the only one who hopes the Rockets don't trade anybody this offseason unless they somehow miraculously offload the contracts of Rice/Cato/Taylor/Norris and manage to pick up a thug to be a bodyguard for Yao. We have the makings of a championship team. Our team leader is 27 years old. These guys were still learning and maturing last year. Yao will be twice as confident this year, Van Gundy will improve the defense, Cat is a great shooting guard who if he improves his defense would be the best dollar value player in the league, Boki will get playing time under Van Gundy and turn out to be a great sixth/seventh man a la Hedo...Steve is the best PG in the west....Cato is one of the best back up centers in the league although too expensive....EG is almost able to buy beer now and is obviously getting better every year and will be a 20/10 guy with two-three blocks a game. Posey is a great swing man. This team has talent to spare, we need to get some Utah Jazz like chemistry going and that comes from stability. Shandon Anderson,Cato,Taylor and Norris were some of the worst signings in recent years and that is what is really keeping the Rocks out of the Western elite. Once those contracts start to expire and we take care of our real talent core - Yao, SF, CM, EG, BN, JP - then we can pick up the couple of players that are complimentary and content to be subs we will win big games.
Agreed. Although it is fun to speculate about some wild blockbuster moves, it's not likely to happen. We should be content with our team because we should be a Western force in 3 years, if not this year.
I agree 100% let the team stay together but if somthing comes along thats to good to be true we should pull the trigger!! RICE,TAYLOR,NORRIS,CATO(even though he is the best backup center in the league)
<img src="http://65.57.229.29/bbs_images/smilies/redface.gif"> Well the rockets dont have to load off anyone, but the way its looking Cato/Griffin are going to Portland pretty soon. Look for Rasheed Wallace being a Rocket. Its just a matter of time. Portland was contacting Houston, and les is going to try to make a name out of Wallace in his prime, along side JVG And Ewing. From a badboy to a Good guy! They Blazers are dying to get rid of him and they will probably take glenn Rice too, just to get some cap space.
Good post There are a few players I agree worth trading, but unless the value is there, it's really not worth breaking up the team. This will be the first year I can remember where we haven't tampered with the starting lineup going into the next season.
Disaggreement: 1. Houston need a backup point/shooting guard a. moochie noris is not a type of player that spells stability in a offense or defense. b. Stevie and Cat are playing too many minutes at those positions c. a good veteran at this spot would be a tremendous upgrade (Rod Strickland) cheap contract, but moochie's contract must go 2. Power forward is weak. Mo Taylor was comming off a surgery returned season and should improve. Watch for him to regain his starting position. Unless EG comes to life, I see trouble at that spot. Need a so call veteran banger\defense player a. EG is good trade bate and has great value in the NBA market 3. Resigning Posey would be a start. Nachbar, still a rookie, Rice is Rice. 3. Center position is cover as long as the Rockets are willing to keep Cato. 4. Bench, well it looking pretty weak as of now, exception of Rice Look for some new player to arrive in houston and some to be shipped out. Moochie contract with EG for some needed help at different positions. NO disrespect to moochie, but it would be in the Rockets interest to move him else where and EG for some needed veteran leadership. How long is Houston willing to wait to make it to the promise land? The resignation of RudyT indicates that Les want more revenue for the up and comming arena. Peace
Lol, I guess we can pretty much bank on it now, eh? Thanks for the inside info and tell Les I said hey next time you see him.
Moochie has to go! He is not only overpaid but never plays well when he is in there. There are too many other veteran backups that we could have, I am not sure if anyone will take his contract but we have to try and get rid of him and EG. Also, it killls me that we could have Rchard Jefferson right now instead of Eddie "the kid". OUCH!
We will have veteran leadership when our young players become veterans. Before anyone compares EG to RJ they should give EG at least until the age of 21-22 when the body starts to harden. How well do you think RJ would have been in the NBA at 19? A lot of people are not taking this into consideration and this is a mistake. It is comparing apples and oranges. Three years is not a big deal from 25 to 28, but from 19 to 22 it is huge. Yes it would be nice to get rid of Mooch, but no one is going to take his contract barring a miracle. Steve and Cat are fine playing big minutes, they are supposed to, they are our teams leadership and need to be on the floor like Stockton and Malone were for the Jazz in the Nineties. A more defensive minded backup Guard would be nice but without a mirable all we can do is wait for contracts to expire. All I am saying is this team doesn't need a huge influx of talent, just a few tweaks on the bench and the clearing of terrible contracts.
Moochie played bad last year. And that was an understatment! But he did play well the year before. So I'm hoping he'll get back to form and be a contributor to this team. You know he's not going anywhere with that contract! Also, even if the Rockets "eat" Moochie's contract, it's not going to help the team any. The money is still on the books. So, let's hope a change of coach and another year will make Moochie the player that earned his long term contract. Not much else anyone can do...
Moochie didnt play poorly last year! He was dreadful because he didnt bother and that was dishonest of him. Why should he? He has the money and he knows he has duped the public into believing that he is a contributor to this team. Moochie Norris isnt a good enough a player to be in the NBA. Even if we improve a bit and the defences improves a lot,we make the playoffs; we might find that we are no better than #4 in the Mid-West! The reason is that both good and poor teams are making massive improvements in their rosters and we wont be! Of course we have JVG and he alone, might be our saving grace. Plus Steve Francis is going to play like never before, hes going to play the Team Game and all will benifit.
Steve and Cat are fine playing big minutes, they are supposed to, I guess you never play basketball before. Try running full court day in and day out. I play full court almost every day during my lunch breaks with the guys and fatigues is a major factor when you don't get a breather. When you are tired, you begin to slack off on defense and your shots are shorter due to fatigue in your legs. So, don't give me that hog wash that Stevie and Cat should play big minutes throughout the season.
<b>Betrayal</b> Please god no Rasheed in Houston. He plays soft and spends more time at the 3pt line that Griff does. We going to leave Yao inside to do all the work? Not to mention his on and off court troubles. He tried to beat up a ref in the freakin' parking lot! He will never be a good guy, because he just insn't one. Ref's are gunning for him as well. Even if he straightened his butt up, he would get T'd up every time he breathes wrong. If we want to take a gamble on someone with a troubled past, do a deal for Odom.
<b>LeGrouper</b> Steve and Cat played too many minutes last year. Cat has played on sprained ankles for the past two seasons. That can potentially take years off of his career. At times, both have played hurt. While this shows a lot of heart, it would be nice to have a back-up at both positions that can take some of the pressure to play off of our starters.
Why is everyone so fascinated with trading assets away? Here's the skinney, there is not one single "realistic" trade that makes the rockets contenders next year. Do any of you guys watch the nba? Name one cinderella story. The fact of the matter is that any trade you could legally make to get a player of the caliber to put you in IMMEDIATE contention would take you right back out of contention. The only way to get a shaq or Tim duncan ( the only instant title hopes guys in th league ) is to trade Yao who doesn't make enough, so you have to give up half the team and you're screwed. If you look back at most championship teams, they mature together and make longer and longer runs in the play-offs. do any of you truly think the rockets have a chance to win it all next year? Two years from now the rockets will be a solid top 3 to 4 seed in the west for years. Find a decent back up guard, sign Posey if it doesn't cost too much, and belay th rest of this crap.
rickn - I guess you never write correct sentence before. Anyway, I imagine Cat and Steve play a LITTLE too much but I just can't stand belly aching. You know the worst part about this thread is that somebody created one with the same topic about four hours before I started this one... so my bad Clutch for the server space.
