I ran the Francis/Mobley/Cato for Tmac/Howard/DeClerq/Lue and here is the change for the Rockets.... Change in team outlook: +20.2 ppg, +3.2 rpg, and +1.9 apg. Those are pretty strong numbers. And yes I know we played JVG ball, they played changing coaches ball, but +20 points is huge. The rebounds and assists numbers are also big improvements.
There is a tear in my beer tonight. a moment of silence for Boki "5 minutes of fury" Nachbar. aka the Mal0wn3r.
With that said....David Aldridge on SportsCenter just reported that Derek Fisher is opting out of his LA contract and he WOULD have interest in the Rockets! So perhaps a potential PG option there with part of the MLE.
Howard's career average is about 18 ppg and about 7 rpg. Howard's worst season was 14.6 ppg and 7.6 rpg. And when he played for a winning team, Dallas, he put up about 18 and 7 per game How is that joke? I'd LOVE to have a "joke" of a basketball player that put up those numbers? People are quick to throw around the phrase "joke" and compare players to someone else but, my god, Howard consistently puts up strong numbers, soft or not. Looking at Howard's numbers doesn't tell me he should be a backup.
This is all great news for Rocket fans. I think many of us are also underestimating Juwan Howard. No, he is not a superstar, and his receipt of that monster contract several years ago painted him as an underachiever, but he has been a solid player. He has career stats of nearly 17 points, 8 boards and 3 assists per game (these may be off as I am going from memory). He plays smart, heady, fundamental ball, sees the court and passes well and does not make mistakes. I think he will be a major contributor and we will be pleasantly surprised by his contributions.
One thing the Negativators forget is that the magic would never have intentionally traded TMac. this is a desperation trade to save the franchise from years of losing from just letting him walk out at the end of his contract. on the other hand, the Rox were considering trading Francis at the first hint of capturing McGrady. that should tell us alot. As Matt mentioned on 610 tonight: Drexler, Barkley, Pippen , Francis, Yao and now TMac. cheers to Les. the guy knows how to make a deal.
So Howard has made a career of playing on mediocre to horrible teams with no potential for greatness and puts up good numbers. No, he's not a joke, it was over-compensation to the dreadful Lue/DeClerq more than Howard; I even said that he would be a good scoring option, but that's all he is. He's one dimensional. He's Maurice Taylor, atleast Maurice Taylor has a variety in which to get his points. Maurice Taylor isnt a starter on a championship team, and neither is J. Howard. Neither play defense, none of them are a force on the glass; they're a good scoring punch off the bench. Howard does not make us a better team, we have a logjam at PF (Taylor, Howard, Padgett, Weatherspoon, DeClerq) full of tweeners, or soft one-dimensional players who just arent well-rounded enough to be legitimate starters.
On one end, Rox loses Steve's heart, Cat's defense and Cato's toughness. On the another end, Rox sends out: don't want to pass don't know how to pass don't know how to shoot Their major defects are barriers that hinder Rox from playing team basket ball.
I don't see what the problem is. Noone is claiming that he's our savior at the power forward. But he's a decent basketball player that does have his virtues. Look. I can't sit here and tell you with a straight face that Juwon Howard is a great player. I'de be lying. But you make it sound like he's Andrew DeClerq here (future Rocket backup center). Juwon Howard has his virtues. He's a good scorer and has an above average postup game. Atleast we'll know that we'll have a capable scorer at the power forward spot at all times next year - something that was a problem last year. Dallas acquired Howard a few years ago strictly for the purpose of adding him as their big inside offensive presence for a championship push - he does have his virtues. I'm not going to tell you he's the ideal fit next to Yao because he isn't, he's the last thing from it. But why is this even an issue? He's just a throw in to the deal and can help in some areas. Kenny Smith or Vernon Maxwell weren't starters on championship teams. CBA refugee Mario Elie? 220 pound Robert Horry at power forward? 40 year old Horace Grant at power forward for the Lakers? Robert Horry too, especially with the likes of Rasheed Wallace, Tim Duncan, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Brian Grant all in the west. Who cares? I realize Juwon Howard isn't the ideal fit, but what's the problem? Our top competition next year will be LA, SA, Minnesota, Sacramento, and Dallas. The secondary big men on those teams are a hobbling Karl Malone, Rasho freaking Nesterovic, Micheal Olowokandi, a hobbling Webber, and Shawn Bradley. I'de say we're in pretty good shape with Taylor and Howard. Ideal fits? Hell no. But they'll do for now. The fact of the matter remains that unless Yao fulfills his potential, this is all a moot point. If he doesn't, we're not going anywhere no matter who our power forward is. If he does, we don't need a bona fide power forward. The point is that we just finished pairing two 25 year potential MVP candidates together. The throwins to the deal shouldn't matter.
That isn't even the arguement being discussed here. No one tried to make the arguement that he was the ideal fit at PF. But, there was no point in trying to overembellish his worth by using per 48 minute stats to convince us of that. He's a decent basketball player that has his virtues, but so are alot of players. My general point was that it's not worth stating about any of the other players on teh side of this deal, as obviously McGrady is the prize, the other players probably wont be on this team 3 years from now. Exactly, hes a throw-in. He doesnt factor to be in our long-term situation, and in fact the first opportunity to get rid of him I'm sure we will. He has a capable offensive game, but thats all, he's not a starter on a championship team. So I don't see what your point is here. You're saying that (hopefully) Yao Ming's greatness will cover up the faults of our PF, but at the same time we're alwayts screaming for us to get a legitimate PF to complement him. Kenny Smith .. Vernon Maxwell .. Robert Horry ... Mario Elie .. sure they're not protypical players at their respected positions, but they knew what they had to do, they played D and rebounded. They werent one-dimensional like Howard, they helped their teams in other ways besides scoring. Any one of those players could bust out for 20 pts, but if they werent scoring they were doing other things to help the team win. They werent excellent at any one thing, they were good at alot of different things -- their game was multi-faceted. There's a reason why Bruce Bowen plays 32 minutes on the best team in the league. You can't make the arguement that role players can just be found off the street, because at the same time other teams are always screaming that they can't find the right pieces to fit. I agree to an extent, that TRULY great players can cover up the faults of role players (as in the case of Kobe/Shaq-Horace Grant), but at the same time you cant discredit the worth of role players. I don't see what your point is in this post. First you claim that Howard is a good player and should be acknowledged as such, but then further on you discredit his worth on this team saying that any player can take his place.
Yao and McGrady's greatness. Something about a 25 year old, 4 time all-NBA 1st/2nd team player. No one's making the argument that role players can be found off the streets, but there is the argument that role players know their role- and look for the star players. Malone/Payton didn't sign in LA because it was LA- they signed because of Kobe and Shaq. You team up McGrady with Yao, and already we hear Fisher might be interested. TMac certainly makes the Houston starting PG job a lot more enticing for Fisher, Van Exel, Barry, or Payton. If Howard blows things, then next summer, we can look for a new PF. Fact is, Howard has posted all of TWO seasons with less than 17 ppg, and ONE season under 7 rebs. He's not going to dominate Western Conference 4s; but Yao and TMac will dominate the 2s and 5s. Francis was good; TMac is something else.
Has Juwan ever played with a dominate big man? I don't think so. You might be on to something. I don't think Howard would be a bad third choice at all.
