This is a great, great move for us. It will be much debated and ragged upon in the next month or so... but in the end... I feel like we have signed two tough, defensive minded guards that will complement our team really well. Good job CD!
Good signing by the Rockets. There are people whining that the Rockets "set back", obviously that wasn't the case. I really like these pick ups. I don't know how much of a chance the Rockets have of getting Mutombo, but if they can get him to come off the bench this Rockets team is going to be a serious force. They're going to be a good team right now!
what I like about this signing is I think it makes our team deeper. We have more people who can pick up the slack when something isnt going right. I was always worried about the depth of our bench but I feel better knowing that our 1 - 3 positions are locked up pretty tight. We still need another big man but were going in the right direction. J
Imho, these are two solid signings. I would rather have solid players with proven, predictable ability over the course of a career rather than guys like Damon Jones (who I like) who have only put together one or less productive seasons. Would I rather have another "star?" Sure, who wouldn't? Let's be realistic: Ward is tailor-made for JVG's system. Let's be optimistic: Sura could be the steal of the free agent season. Now let's get a serviceable backup center and go to war.
I LIKE THIS PICK UPS SO MUCH! that goes to show that patience will give you good things. hats off to cd and les for not jumpin into the free agency craze and givin millions of money to unworthy players.. all we need now is a back up center.. am i hearin clark or deke??? i guess we dont need mark jackson, mike wilks anymore.. time to sign padgett back... sura/ward/lue/gaines tmac/pike/jj/boki/gaines jj/boki/griffin/padgett howard//motay/spoon yao/??? that's a pretty good team depth right there..
personally i really dislike sura because he looks and plays like a jackass. not that he sucks or anything, it's just his demeaner and the way he passes/shoots/rebounds piss me off for one reason or another. I just sort of want to kick him, you know what I mean right? like those people you just hate and want to kick for some inexplicable reason. anyway, i hope he came in cheap because he's more of a combo backup for mcgrady and charlie ward. Also, I think the rockets tried to get as many bodies as possible to have them compete in training camp because most likely one of them will become a suitable point guard. All of the point guards have weaknesses, having this many point guards (gaines, lue, sura, ward) will help van gundy see each of their individualistic strengths so he knows when to use who in what situation. Overall this isn't a bad deal because Sura isn't a bad passer (doesn't TO much) and is probably the only FA left that will address the Rocket's need adequately. Not good enough of a spot up shooter but otherwise solid since he can rebound and pass. I personally like Ward a lot more, he passes like it's a football (he was a kickass QB) but he is getting pretty old. My best hope is that sura and ward can bring up gaines to become a good enough PG and not a bust that he's been since day one. I still worry over not having a backup C since Yao's going to be pretty damn tired after olympics and half way into the nba season. However, previously Cato (who's more of a PF than a C anyway) backed him up at both PF and C so I don't see why the rockets can't go with last season's configuration. Like maybe go small everytime Yao takes a rest. I still prefer Brent Barry or Eric Snow as PG but seriously, this off season has been good enough so I can't complain. Anyone here has details on the contracts that sura and ward signed? I think this can be a great deal as long as the contracts are small, like they split the mid level between them two or something like that. Also, about Sura not being a good locker room prescence, where'd you hear that? Things like that usually doesn't leak out and are mostly speculation anyway. I'm not denying it or contradicting it but I'd just like to know the sources. I just remembered, I saw him do a no look pass to behind through his legs on a fast break while he had this incredibly stupid look on his face... that also happened to be a turnover since the opposition had 3 guys racing after him and he thought they were his teammates... I guess his maturity can be debated since the attempt at a 3rd consecutive triple double against NJ during a blowout win was just sad and pathetic. Jason Kidd said it best in "I don't remember ever having to do that to get a triple double". Remember Anthony Bowie and Ricky Davis 2 years ago? Pulling something like that is just disgusting. Sura has talent in my opinion, he just isn't too bright...
nice work Rockets! We don't need any high priced players to play team defense and safely bring the ball up the court. This gets us through the season until we can take another look, check the bank account and do some more shopping. I think Pike is gone. Motumbo for back-up... man... that would be exactly what we need. That seems too good to be true. CD kept mentioning a shot blocker. He wants to get a bona-fide badass to be on the other side of YAO... Maybe after the season, but we are going to be freakin' dangerous! cheers everybody! Brock
I jst started reading this thread, so I'm sure this will already have been pointed out, but just in case, you can' t sign someone else's free agent and then trade him. If anyone is going, it would have to be Lue or Gaines. j
Just stop bit@@@@! If we should have learned anything else from the Astros disasterous season ... superstars are not necessarily the answer to all questions. We should have never lost James Posey. But then we never should have had the opportunity to sign Jim Jackson. I'm not a big Charlie Ward fan, but I love Bobby Sura. This Rocket team will score points. 25 from McGrady. 22 from Yao. 15 from Jackson. 15 from Howard/Taylor. 8 from Sura. The question wil be can we defend the middle ... and can Yao sustain excellence for 35+ minutes a game for 82 plus post season? I'd love for us to find a legitimate tough guy. Charles Oakley/Bo Outlaw type ... but with miles left on the tread. If we get that guy ... and if we stay healthy ... there is no reason to believe that this team can't contend ... Jordan ... Pippen ... Cartwright Shaq ... Kobe ... Horry Magic ... Kareem ... Silk TMac ... Yao ... Jackson. Time to have some faith.
Ward is definitely not being signed with the vet minimum. We used that on Griff last year and you can't use it two years in a row.
On whether is favorite synagogue is Beth Israel or Beth Yeshurun? Ward said, "my contract prohibits me from stating my religious beliefs...Beth Israel all the way BABY, it's not even close". Looks like Starburry got to him... edit: I made it up, come on.
It's the $1 million exception (It's actually $1.6 mill) that you can't use two years in a row. The minimum is just the minimum. You can always sign guys to the minimum.
I was doing a lil research on Coon's page for clarification purposes. Ward mentioned "3 years", although its not a lock that was indicative of the contract he just signed. Anyway, on both the $1 MIL exception and the minimum player salary exception, the contracts can't exceed two years in length. So if Ward's contract is for 3 years, then it must be for part of the MLE.
I'm fine with him signing part of the MLE, because that means we signed Sura for the other part and thus it would be pretty dirtcheap for the both of them. But i don't think Charlie Ward signed a multiyear deal and if he did then CD you just F'd up. It's not much money though so it wouldn't be too bad but hes already 33 years old.
I think JVG likes Sura for his relentless energy...he always seem to play with high energy. Not a good shooter i don't think.
The Rockets are a better team today than yesterday, and are not appreciably worse than if they'd sign one of the other marginal guards out there. So, what was needed to be done has been done. I prefer not to overanalyze the situation at this time.
Man, I thought I was the only one, even though I don't have a real problem with the signing. I think he brings most of what's needed to the position, and plus he's big enough to switch over to the two. I also have my reservations, but I would like to see how this team gels first. I do find it funny that a lot of people are like, yeah this is great, considering Sura was just brought up very little on this board when they started looking for a point guard.
If it means anything, HoopsHype has both guys salaries slotted in between Lue's $1.6 mil. and JJ's $2.5 mil. They don't have the amount actually shown, but they list each team's players' salaries from highest to lowest. So, if I were to venture a guess, I assume they split the MLE - Sura for 3 years (with an option for a 4th) and maybe Ward for 1 year (with an option for a 2nd). Just my guess. I still believe that these signings mean that Pike and maybe Lue and/or Gaines are out of here. Just seems like we conveniently have too many guards now. It is also funny how CD kept publicly saying that they are going after a PG via trade and now this. Was it a case of just not finding a trade partner or do we have something waiting in the weeds that would allow Ward to be our backup PG and Sura our backup SG?
