Which pick up was better, Barry or Wesley. I am for Barry, but if DW finds his shot? Which pg p/u was worse, Ward or Strickland? I lean towards RS as Ward is at least unable to play FROM THE IL. Which PF should start, Mo or Ho? Ho has proved to be at least modestly useful and Mo is lost in JVG purgatory. Trick question, tho: the real answer is Scottie the Body. Which suspended player should Rox pursue, Miles or Alston? Tough one, but probably Miles. In 2003 there were several 'name' coaches available when Mr Mean finished Rox season. While JVG was 'all but' the coach for weeks, Brown threw a wrench. Dunleavy was a finalist. Silas was, apparently, not considered. Looking back, Dunleavy and Silas might have been excellent choices, and Brown? Well, he is Larry Brown. Today, support for JVG seems thin. So who should have been tabbed then? And what about summer (spring?) of '05? The Knicks Dream Job? A JVG return -- why not? Flip, Philip, Cheeks, and Harris available? Whom would you pick?
I think Barry has had more impact so far with his shooting and passing. If Wesley would start knocking down his shots, he would exceed Barry pretty quickly because his defense has been so good. But, when you can't shoot it... Ward. Signing him to a multi-year deal when other teams were only offering a 10-day contract was bizarre. Strickland is a smart guy and won't make dumb mistakes though he won't do anything spectacular either. Howard. I don't like either, but you don't start Padgett simply because his rebounding and defensive skills are meh. He's a specialty player. I wouldn't pursue ANY suspended players. At the time, if you can't get Brown, JVG was the logical choice. I didn't like the choice at the time and I'm not sure how long it will last now, but he was the best available. I think JVG stays unless the Rockets really go in the tank after the all star break. But, if they miss the playoffs, he will be on a VERY short leash next season.
Barry. Even if Wesley can finally find the ocean, I still love Barry's energy and his style of play. He's a good passer that's not afraid to drive to basket or just spot up for a 3---which I am sure we all know he is going to start hitting more consistently. Plus, we got him by trading away a freaking NBDL calibur PG. Only problem though is he's a FA at the end of the season, I would love to see him back. Ward. What Jeff said pretty much sums it all up. Nobody else wanted the guy, we offer him guarenteed money and a multi-year deal. Strickland is still garbage though. Howard should start. Taylor is a fat, worthless, overpaid, unmotivated, heartless, gutless, headache of a loser, Michigan scumbag PF that doesn't even want to be a Rocket. I wish at this point that he still had ANY trade value what-so-ever but I seriously doubt that at this point. Seeing his contract bought out would put a smile on my face. Start Howard, bring Padgett and Spoon off of the bench. I know it's not ideal, but what else can ya do? Just as long as Fat Mo doesn't sniff the floor i'm happy. Rafer Alston has a relatively bad contract for a 29 year old career journeyman living off of one year of decent play. He's certainly worth a look since he would obviously be an upgrade but I am very skeptical about his contract. Darius Miles is a waste of time, money and worst of all---talent. You would think after 5+ seasons of constantly being ridiculed for not having a jump shot that you would finally be willing to work to develop one. Plus, his contract runs through the end of the decade. Who knows if the guy will ever improve. If he doesn't improve, you have a $10 million dollar a year 13 PPG, 5 RPG player that can't shoot and carries baggage. [Sounds familar doesn't it? FAT MO I HATE YOU!!!! ]
Even though we have won more since Wesley has been here, he has been a big disspointment. We brought in the guy to shoot and to shoot well, but 32% from the field isn't going to cut it. As for JVG, no doubt that he finishes the season. However, if we fail to make the playoffs or just play bad the 2nd half of the season, I wouldn't be suprised if we canned him. PJ, Larry Brown, Donnie Nelson, Del Harris- all would be nice fits in Houston. And of course, JVG goes back to NYC and brings Ewing with him.
Jeff pretty much covered it. You did have the Knicks job coaching question : And what about summer (spring?) of '05? The Knicks Dream Job? A JVG return -- why not? Flip, Philip, Cheeks, and Harris available? Whom would you pick? I don't see JVG going back. He quit. He wouldn't get much love there. It's hard to see Zeke pulling for that. Funny, too, as he'd probably be a pretty good fit. Phil Jackson has to be the favorite for the Knicks job. He already said he would "consider it". Only question is money and power. NY has more money than any other club, so it's really about power. I'd love Phil Jackson here. We really have similar talent to the finesse Jordan Bulls teams that beat the bruiser Knicks teams. Phil could really make the most out of our two finesse stars, by giving them room to operate. Hard to see him passing on the Knicks, though. Can't see Les Alexander out-bidding Zeke, unless PJ asks for the GM power, and Zeke refuses. I'll bet Flip Saunders gets fired. Not sure who KG will get, but they are a dissapointment. I can see why you've got him in there. You've got Mo Cheeks and Del Harris in there, too - interesting. Nate Mc Millan is up for a new contract, too. The coach game will interesting. I'd personally like to steal McMillan and/or Sund if JVG gets the axe. I think they're a good, up-and-coming, coach-gm team. I'd probably rather get Sund, as CD is near the end of his career, anyway - he said he was, before JVG. Let him go ahead and retire. Del Harris would be a pretty good fit with Yao/Tmac, as another option. Don't know about Cheeks or Saunders, but not really impressed.
Scott Padgett..............seriously, outside the McGrady Miracle (which, we will likely not see anything like for years, I mean, whens the last time it happened?? Reggie Miller in the playoffs against the Knicks) who has been our most clutch player?? Don't murder me for this, but, why don't we start Padge at PF?? He is a very good shoot and so when Yao or T-Mac get doubled, he can knock it down. I'm sure this has been suggested before, but I'm throwing it out there again. Scott Padgett is our best pick up (whenever we got him)
Silas was headed to Cleveland to coach Lebron from the get go - he had no interest in this position. Brown CHOSE Detroit (and now wants to retire) it was a 2 horse race - Dunlevy wanted to coach here, the Rockets wanted JVG (I remember reading that CD was "jumping up and down" when JVG accepted the position). End of the day, people here like to think that every single player and every single coach WANTS to coach or play here and it is the Rockets who turn them away - when in reality, the ROX are competing with 29 other teams for talent in coaching and on the court.
Now exactly how does Ward's contract look like? I thought that we had a team option on him after this season. So it was a multi-year contract with only the first year guaranteed. Is that right? Can someone dig it up?
McGrady has had 3 or 4 other game winners in the final seconds this year aside from the San Antonio game.
I think its just a 3 year deal (but there may be a team option for year 3) http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/contracts
I am dumbfounded by the Ward deal. Rice, Norris, Taylor, Cato, Collier, Langhi, is there no end to the Rocket's capacity for a bad deal. What upsets me is that while the team is digging out of old bad deals, they are still making new bad deals? If these dumb attacks don't end soon, the Rockets will be lottery-bound for years to come. I seriously resent the Rockets becoming a retirement home for old Knicks. I like Barry the best, but I really like Sura's toughness. Wesley is obviously a good defender, but the Rocket's need his jumper to come around in the worst way.
there are worse deal out there see Jalen Rose see Tim Thomas see Alson see Mo Taylor.... OOPS, nevermind
And the scary thing is that both Rose and Thomas have been mentioned on this board as potential trades! Please guys, the Rocket's braintrust have enough bad ideas on their own, don't give them any more. Mo Taylor, funny.
I'm actually not so sure about this. Yes JVG quit, but from some of the NY posters here, New Yorkers still like JVG and I think they would welcome him back. I think it would be a good move by both parties to bring JVG back to the NYK. [/quote] Totally agree. PJ wants GM responsibilities and I'm not so sure Thomas would want to give that to him. But PJ would be a great fit here. I don't care what opposers say, you can't beat 9 championships. He's had Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq and they all had their best years under him. He got them to play championship basketball and brought them all to that "next" level. The potential of Yao/TMac under PJ would be too great to pass up. IF PJ wanted GM responsibilities or parital GM responsibilities, I would do it if I was Les. CD is nearing the end of his career and PJ is a proven winner.
