Is he going to stay? What you guys think? I think we should keep him as he has a great future. ------------------
I think we should keep him too - he's a solid (if unspectacular) SG who has the body size to match up against bigger SG's. As long as he's willing to start off the bench I'm happy to have Shandon back! ------------------
If Shandon doesn't mind coming off the bench and his asking price is decent, then by all means keep the guy. As others have mentioned, his play is unheralded. The guy does the dirty work, is by far our best perimeter defender, and is durable. If we lose him, who is going to guard the opposing team's best 2guard or 3? I wouldn't want an undersized Cuttino expending all that energy on the defensive end, while I doubt Griffin is ready to take on the Kobe's and Finley's at this point. I think if/once we start playing some games without him, fans will begin to realize how important he was to the team. And as great as Mobes is, something worries me about him playing 40+ minutes a game. Rudy can plug SA in there when Cuttino needs to cool off or settle down. Shandon is good for a solid 20 minutes a game, with maybe 5 of those coming at the 3 spot, when we go small. Speaking of Shandon, I just caught the ticker here on our Headline Sports channel, and it said both Mo and Shandon have declined to exercise their options this year. Meanwhile, the Rockets did not pick up the option on Carlos. I may have read wrong -- can anyone confirm? Azim da Dream ------------------ "Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." - Geroge W. Bush, commenting on the troubled continent, to reporters in Sweden [This message has been edited by Azim da Dream (edited July 02, 2001).]
NO! NO! NO! Shandon getting time at the 3 is exactly what I would hate to see happen. He was grossly overmatched by the bigger 3s in the game last year IMO. With Eddie, Morris and Langhi on the team I would be pulling my hair out if I saw Shandon come in the game as the 3. If he must come back make it as a defensive specialist at the 2 spot only and absolutely no minutes at the three unless Griffin, Morris and Langhi all sustain major injories. ------------------ [This message has been edited by crash5179 (edited July 02, 2001).]
I just don't see a logical reason why Shandon would want to come back or why the Rockets would want him back. Where is he going to get minutes on this team? Moochie deserves minutes, which means Francis will play more shooting guard this year I imagine, so paying Shandon 4 plus million dollars to be a 3rd string shooting guard doesn't make any sense. There's no point in talking about him as a small forward, because then you have 6 potential small forwards being on the roster which isn't going to happen. If Shandon's smart, he'll leave. He may not get more money elsewhere, but he'll certainly get more minutes. ------------------ The Smurfs were Communists
I agree $4 million is probably more than the Rockets should pay given that scenario, Tacoma. But then where does that leave them for guards? Only three on the roster, and no defensive stopper for bigger guards; seems a little thin. ------------------
He's a good player but is asking for starter money (at least that is what is rumored). Same as the Hakeem situation, I would love them to stay but it all depends on the money they are demanding. ------------------
