then when we see a guy like wafer, everyone wants to proclaim him to be the best thing since sliced bread. Over the last few years, they have made a effort to get more athletic, but their best athletes are small guys. The don't have any big, multi tool players. I'm not sure if you have a reading problem or maybe you want to misread what I said. If you're going to pull a quote, pull the whole quote and not sound bites. Go re-read and if you need help, let me know. What I said is the rockets had a history of stockpiling 1 dimensional, spot up guys because they thought this is wha the team needed , but recently they have done a better job getting more athletic players. I also said murphy makes sense because of his ability, but his injury issues are a concern. I mentioned radman because he makes 6m less and is a good shooter from the 4 spot. Like I said, I don't mind you, cowboy bepop, and a few others chasing me trying to misinterpret my words, but in fairness sake, just quote the entire piece and not just a piece to make a useless point.
Radman can shoot, but he'll get killed on defense. And YM will be foul trouble all night now. There's a reason Lakers dumped him.
Someone brought up troy murphy. He is a good rebounder, good 3pt shooter from the 4 spot. His injuries are a concern considering this team has injury problems already. To get murphy and taking into account the pacers situation, I can't see a package in which scola isn't part of the package. In reality, money aside, murphy is probably the better or more talented player. I have some ideas in mind about how it could go down, but its really a matter of how strongly the team assumes murphy is better as a player.
Rockets never focused only on 1 dimensional players or spot up shooters, we can argue more ancient history if you want, but lets focus on the "Yao Era." I believe sine 2002, they've acquired (off the top of my head)Boki Nachbar (a pretty atheletic shooting 4), Jim Jackson, Tracy McGrady, Bob Sura, Mike James (twice), Steve Francis (again), Reece Gaines (recent mid first round pick, allegedly with atheleticsm and skills), Luther Head (tested well athelically-- too bad he has no handles), Spanoulis, Stromile Swift, Kirk Snyder, in addtion to the more recent Morey additions (don't think I mentiond Donte Greene, either). They've looked for guys who can penetrate and score and guys who are atheletic, just so happened a number of them didn't work out. Their problem was not a failure to look for the type of guys you are talking about, it's getting the wrong ones. Come to think of it, it's the same problem you have. Nice idea about big players or atheletic players or shooting 4s. Totally wrong guy to get when you are talking the like of Murphy, Radman, etc.
CH, Francis and mobley were here three and for yrs before yao got here. Their first draft with yao was nachbar. He was drafted ahead of a guy like prince because in workout he hit a high number of sstandstill 3's in a workout. Nevermind prince was a long,athletic,do it all 3 type. What you are failing to understand is some guys are linear athletes. Luther, joe alexander, and even boki, but non linear guys are just as fast and explosive vertically,horizontally, with and without the ball. When trying to get better athletes, you have to evaluate this and match it up with his work ethic. I guess steve novak was a attempt to get better athletically too, right? What about shane and barry? Back to murphy, his biggest detriment is his salary and injury history. He's a productive player and his skill level benefits a team with a low post guy moreso than a team that already has a perimeter player. I don't think he's a nba player, but its kinda like what the spurs are trying to do with bonner. They have a big who can shoot 3's which gives duncan and parker a lot of room to manuver. I can tell you a team could never front yao if murphy was the starting 4. If u watch basketball you would see that when teams front yao, its a man and a half principles. Since I'm in the teaching mood, I'll help u out. Strongside triangle with yao,brooks,and scola. The team is fronting yao and brooks is on the wing. The half man is scola's man. Because scola's comfort zone is about 16ft, his man is in position to defend a lob to yao and react to a drive by brooks. Why? The ft line is 15 ft from the rim, which puts it 12 ft from yao.The defender can split the difference,thus disrupting the offense. Take out scola and add murphy, now the defender is 19 ft from yao because murphy has 24 ft range. Now, the defender has 8 more ft of ground to cover on a lob or dribble drive. You have to look at how a player fits in with what you do. Like I said, I don't know if they would have the gall to do it, but i'm just showing people why it makes sense.
Were we not watching the same Rockets team this year? Shooting was NOT our problem. One of our strengths, actually. If you recall, we shot a franchise RECORD BEST 3 point percentage. Wafer, Barry, Brooks, Battier, Artest. All of them can shoot.
3 point shooting, but i think we can benefit from having a guy who has a good 3point shot AND mid range jumper. Our Fg% was still 22nd in the league.
i think the team has been looking for a 3pt shooting 4, like Novak, but he didnt work out, that's part of the reason why they welcomed having Cook in the Rafer deal, obviously he's not the guy, but i think they wanted to try it, i can see them doing it in the preseason or early in the season and not when the games are more important like they were this year when we got cook.
He would make a good Barry replacement.Don't see how Wafer and he could fit in together though. He is a UFA,but probably would cost more than Wafer. I would rather spend the MLE on a backup center like Zaza.
Nash and Mike Miller come to mind, they can both shoot lights out and can be had for the right package.
wait a minute...why aren't we going after Grant Hill?? I mean we should be trying to.. I know he's not a great 3pt shooter, but he's not horrible and we do need his mid range game in which he shoots 52%.
Boki is hardly unatheletic. But yes, he's mostly a "linear" guy. He's also more atheletic than he's skilled. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/N5QUbrk4oSk&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/N5QUbrk4oSk&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> In any case, the point is the Rockets have picked up quite a variety of guys-- some obviously didn't work out... penetrators (Brooks, McGrady, Snyder, Francis, James?), spot up guys (Barry, Battier, Novak), physical guys (Bonzi, Ron, Chuck), leapers (White, Swift). Yes, they have gotten spot up guys-- some played significant minutes (Shane, Jon Barry for that one year), others not (Novak, Barry), but it sure doesn't seem they are more focused on one-dimensional spot-up guys than any other kind of players. No one is disputing having a 3 point shooter at the 4 helps, so you can spare the "teaching." Yes, we all know that having a guy behind the arc makes it harder to help than having a guy near the FT line. People have recognzed it OVER and OVER again. Coaches like Sloan, JVG, Rudy T, George Karl have all used the "3 point shooting big man" to great effect. But let me help you understand the point here, since I am in a teaching mood: The guys you suggest suck and are unlikely to beat Scola or Landry out for minutes even if their 3 point shooting are useful.
I agree, size really hurt us in this post season, even again portland, our lack of size with our second unit was evident. What I really want is a three point shooting 7 footer. Someone like mike miller or alone that kind of lines. There bound to be someone in the Euro league that we could pick up. Imagine twin towers with Yao in the middle and another seven footer who can shoot the three (off-course for short spurts of time only as the speed factor would kill us)..
