I am a huge Rox fan and all but if you take an OBJECTIVE look at our team, you can argue that many of these guys may not get picked up by ANYONE if they were on waivers! We essentially have 2 1/2 quality players on the Rox and a bunch of stragglers. I am not bashing these guys. Afterall, i like most of them but I am just being honest with myself and not letting my personal biases effect my views. Mo T- Having a good year but I dont think we can give him away for free. PFs that get paid his type of salary that dont rebound are not worth much in this league. Spoon- Hard worker but I dont think anyone would take him either. Adrian Griffen- He isn't horrible. Very marginal player but if he were a FA, I dont suspect too many GMs going wild for him. Pike- same as above Padgett- Waiver garbage MJ- ageless wonder Boki- his strongest attributes is that he is young and cheap. But i think even I can fall into this category Mike Wilks- 95% of NBA fans wont know who he is Cato- Huge contract for a backup type player with no real upside. May have some value to a team like Dallas that doesnt mind overspending but I think we as Rox fans rate him higher than most in this league. Jim Jackson- decent player. but still just a role player who is fortunate to get so many wide opened jumpers created by Yao.
Some objectivity I'd hate to see where the rockets would be without the excellent, not to mention consistent play of Jim Jackson.
those are 11 players on that list! i am not saying they are bad. but dont you think its kinda unusual for a team to have SO MANY of these marginal type guys? I mean, do you think people on other fan boards talk about how they wish they had Clarence Weatherspoon or Adrian Griffin? Again, I love these guys and I guess they play their role (some of them do at least) but it is alarming that almost our entire team consists of these types of players.
I disagree with much of your list, but what's wrong with having a team full of just "role players"? Hakeem had only role players around him in the first championship, Clyde and more role players in the 2nd championship. TD had basically only DRob by his side during his title runs. There's nothing wrong with just having 2 superstars take on the load and have other complementary pieces fill in the other roles.
have u even watched the Rockets this year?? Get a clue bro and actually watch how well JJ plays........he hits the opens shots and plays lockdown D.......wut else do you need......him n Yao are my MVP's this yr......
Hakeem and Clyde and a bunch of stragglers won it all. Oneal and Bryant and a bunch of stragglers threepeated. Duncan and Robinson and a bunch of stragglers have done it twice as well. Jordan and Pippen and the stragglers.... I could go on and on.
from hikano49: No offense, but I've seen you post some goofy stuff before, but is this for real? We've got the starting PG and center for the WC all-star team, and since Cat's not on your list you think he's pretty good, so your point is there's a drop off from there? Would you argue that the Lake Show that won three straight titles had a better overall roster? I'm guessing you would, but if you do you're really missing how absurd this thread is - even if your observations about those 11 guys were accurate.
Name a team in the league - other than the Lakers - that isn't made up of one or two great players, another one or two really good players and the rest average to below average. There isn't one.
I hear what your saying Jeff but lets just look at the top 4 teams in the West. Sac- Vlade, Cweb, Brad Miller, Stoj, Bibby, Bobby Jackson, Christie. Dallas- Dirk, Fin, Nash, Walker, Jamison Lakers- Shaq, Malone, Kobe, Payton Wolves- KG, Cassell, Spree, Szer My only point is that we being Rox fans are often blinded. Its kinda like all parents thinking their kids are handsome. I love players like Spoon, Mjackson, and Oakley to death but if you ask a non rox fan, they think much those guys and that they are purely waiver players. I agree with you that most teams only have 1 or 2 superstars but we have about 8 guys on our team that if they were cut, no one would take em! I still love this team and love the new NY pickups. But we have to be realistic too.
I give Jim Jackson all the credit in the world for hitting those open shots. he is very good at that. my point isnt to discredit him but its actually very comical how our team was formed. its essentially a group of waiver players that not many teams want as well as some underperforming highed salaried players that no one wants. does that mean that I dont like them? of course not. I love the rox and its players. but i still believe that if we put half of our players on waivers, no one would take them.
I love role players and personally, i would love to trade Mobeley for another role player (Brent Barry type). But there is a difference between a waiver type player and a role player. Just because a players isnt very good doesnt always mean their a good role player. I mean, i love the Robert Horry, Otis Thorpe, Kenny Smiths of the world but we have Clarence Weatherspoon, Oakley and Mark Jackson. This would have been wash match up between this trio in the late 80s but its 2004.
we all know that yao and steve are good. most people agree that cat and jj are soid scorers and defenders. mo is being talked about as 6th man... he has trade value every team has guys with no trade value like: mj, oak, boki, wilks, padgett even though they have little trade value every team neads solid role players like AG and pike. what shocked me most was people that i talk to, that arent rocket fans, think cato is 10x better than what we know him to be. forget about trading steve or cat. move this guy while people like him.