1st analysis, right on, 2nd one, missed the point altogther... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gaines to Bucks; James to Rockets Reece Gaines to Milwaukee Gaines is a scorer and erratic jump shooter with some point guard skills. At 6-6, he may be better suited for the off-guard spot. He's incredibly athletic, but is having trouble adjusting to the pro game. With T. J. Ford out indefinitely, and with Maurice Williams continuing to make horrendous decisions with the ball, Milwaukee could do worse than trying to develop Gaines as the team's primary ball-handler. Mike James to Houston He's quick, strong, and a wonderful 3-ball shooter. James is more likely to pull up and shoot in transition than he ever is to drive his left hand to the basket. Less than adequate defensively, and can be taken out of his game if he's pressured. Should wind up with plenty of open looks in Houston while defenses gang up on T-Mac and Yao. Zendon Hamilton to Houston Hamilton is a banger and a rebounder who plays hard. He can run, block shots, hit open 15-footers, and shoot left-handed turnaround jumpers in the pivot. Finesse is not his strong point, and he'd rather just plow over a defender. At 6-11, 240, Hamilton definitely has a future in the league — and eventually could replace Dikembe Mutombo as Yao's backup. Who got the best of the deal? Houston by plenty, now and in the foreseeable future. Although Gaines could develop into a useful player, given the Rockets' inexorable improvement, Houston's second-round draft picks shouldn't be worth much. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Knicks get Taylor from Rockets Maurice Taylor to New York Taylor thinks shot every time he touches the ball. Fortunately he's a highly skilled and versatile scorer. He's best on the left block where he features a jump hook, turnaround and a drop step. He can likewise split the net from 18 feet, and his long arms give him virtually unblockable extension on all his shots. What are his deficits? Slowness in transition, and a penchant for committing fouls on defense. Taylor was the odd man out in Houston's Yao-and-McGrady-centered offense, but his potent scoring skills will attract double-teams in New York. Vin Baker to Houston This guy's only value is the cap space, which will be cleared when his contract expires in July. Moochie Norris to Houston A shoot 'em-up, mistake-prone point guard making a return to Houston. That's how desperate the Rockets are to find an adequate replacement for the injured Bob Sura. Who got the best of the deal? Even if Houston's No. 1 pick is a middling benefit, New York's offense has gotten tougher and much more explosive. Houston only gets a salary dump and another misfit at the point. By Charley Rosen, former CBA coach, author of 12 books about hoops, the next one being A pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA, is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com. http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3418918
Not bad analysis, overall. Mo Taylor does generally shoot the ball when he gets it, but I don't blame sportswriters for not knowing every reason behind a player's tendencies; Mo was a better passer in Yao's first year (and so was Yao, come to think of it) before his role of instant-offense-off-the-bench turned his passing skills into Yinka Dare lite. Well, maybe "lite" and "Mo Taylor" don't fit as noun and modifier?
Idiots. Why do all these sportswriters assume we acquired Norris because of our woes at the point? His was for the purpose of a salary dump as well.
Here is my analysis. I think you'll like it: Mike James trade: Houston is awesome and ripped off Milwaukee MoT trade: Houston is awesome and ripped off New York
We could have signed james in off season instead of charlie ward and we wouldn't have to give up 2 2nd rounders and the best part:NO charlie ward.
A day later and the media STILL hasn't figured this one out. And, aren't we waiving Hamilton? He is making it seem as if we are, not only keeping him, but that he will be a nice contributor this year and into the future.
If Milwaukee tries to make Gaines its primary ball handler...good luck to them. Mike James is less than adequate defensively?? Let's hear what Carroll Dawson says about that... “We’ve been interested in Mike for some time now, and we really like the defensive toughness that he brings.” He was only at the point of attack on the Pistons juggernaut defense. Zendon Hamilton...never even got a jersey from the Rockets. He's about to turn 30, and has never played more than 54 games with one team. Sounds like a hot commodity to me. This is the first report that Vin Baker is an expiring contract. I shall start a thread, as this may be of interest... We now know Chad Ford has a reader!! Ah, yes. Charley Rosen. Figures.
No, we couldn't have. The MLE was 4.9 mill. Most guesses are we split it 3.2 mill to Sura, 1.7 mill to Ward (I know, I know). We couldn't have given both Sura and James 3 mill apiece. Combined, they'd have to take about 1.3 mill less. It was Sura or James. I'll take Sura. I'm ecstatic we now have both.
Uh, if this is all true, isn't this the ideal PF we went playing next to Yao? He hits 15-footers, blocks shots, and is a banger? Could you imagine if he actually turned out to be a solid player? I remember him at St Johns, quite a player there, but haven't heard much of him since entering the league... Stuart
Thanks for pointing that out. I've seen that post that "we should have signed James in the off season" too many times to count.
Notice on the rockets.com site that all the players from the trades have been added, strickland waived, and yes... Hamilton is still listed on the active roster! Brewer, the throw-in PG from the Spurs-Knicks trade was waived today by SA, then why not Hamilton? Seems like they might keep this kid afterall, maybe cutting someone else instead, perhaps Ward?!? Why not make him a project like Barrett is and Gaines was? Seems like a lot of upside, coincidently built a lot like Vin Baker... Thoughts? Here's an excerpt from an article from an old 76ers webpage...sounds like a JVG guy all the way: "Zendon (Hamilton) came in and gave us a big lift," coach Ford said after the 97-88 win against the Bulls. "He had a double-double, 15 points and 11 rebounds." Hamilton, who recorded his second double-double as a Sixer on Monday, looks at it a little differently; "Just hustle, that's what I am about, plain and simple." "I got a little lucky. My teammates were looking for me. Eric [Snow] and [Aaron] McKie got me a couple of easy ones. Without them, I am nothing." Hamilton followed up his double-double with a season-high 33 minutes, with 19 points and nine rebounds in Monday's 97-92 win vs Milwaukee. With the Sixers vying to make the playoffs, and the lineup depleted, Hamilton has stepped up his play. Hamilton had another solid outing on Tuesday in Chicago putting up seven points and nine rebounds in the 89-81 win. Over the last three games, Hamilton has averaged 29.6 minutes per game, with 13.6 points per game. Previously, he was averaging 5.6 minutes per game and 2.4 points per game. An interesting note, when Hamilton plays 15 minutes or more in a game, he averages over 8.4 points per game, averaging only 1.76 points per game when he plays under 15 minutes. When asked about how the team has reacted to his recent success after the Bucks game on Monday, Hamilton said, "Were all good friends, on and off the court. When one of us gets in we root for everybody." http://www.nba.com/sixers/features/hamilton_040310.html
wow nikestrad you basically just destroyed that article. other then getting the names right, rosen basically made up everything he wrote.
i believe it was the fox news network that aired a few debates denouncing the legitimacy of bloggers and personal sites.
Yeah....but I remember around the time of the Tmac trade reading some articles on Gaines that made him sound like an up and coming star. That worked out pretty well for us.
