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[Foxsports] Rockets poised to challenge Dallas for #4 spot

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Yaowaming, Feb 26, 2005.

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  1. Yaowaming

    Yaowaming Contributing Member

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    [Foxsports]Rockets poised to challenge Dallas for the No. 4 spot in the West

    http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3421062

    Bucks seem determined to keep Redd
    Sean Deveney /
    Posted: 4 hours ago



    Thursday marked the most active day of deadline-dealing in the NBA since 1987, with 29 players involved in trades, and 10 teams making roster renovations.

    And yet, one of the players who came out of the NBA swap meet in the sweetest shape was one who went nowhere, a player who has toiled in relative obscurity for most of his five-year career.

    Such is life in Milwaukee. But if you're Michael Redd, shooting guard for the 22-30 Bucks and a free-agent-to-be, what happened Thursday makes you one of the big winners of the day, even though you've gone nowhere.

    That's because, in trading away Mike James, Keith Van Horn and Zendon Hamilton, the Bucks served notice that they have no intention of letting Redd walk this summer. They have created about $15 million in cap space to spend on Redd (as well as other free agents). Redd has assured the team that he does not want out, that the Bucks will be given fair consideration for his services. Cleveland, which has pursued Redd, should be poised to make an offer, too.

    If Redd was a subtle winner, then the Cavs should be considered the subtle loser on deadline day¡Xthey'll be in for a fight over Redd, an Ohio native who could be the key to a championship, in July. But other winners and losers are not so subtle.


    Winners
    Allen Iverson, Sixers. Finally, the Sixers have acquired a true, star-caliber complementary player to put with Iverson, forward Chris Webber. There are problems with Webber's knee, his mobility, his defense and his contract (three years, $62 million), but for this year and next, the Webber and Iverson duo figures to be good enough to help the Sixers challenge in the East. His perimeter shooting and passing are a perfect complement to Iverson's kamikaze drives.

    Chris Mullin, Warriors general manager. Last summer, Mullin gave huge extensions to Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy, eating up all his cap room this summer. He gave out baffling contracts to Adonal Foyle and Derek Fisher, and hired a college coach. It sure looked like he was lost in the front office. In one transaction, though, Mullin made the Warriors legit, acquiring point guard Baron Davis for the slim price of Dale Davis and Speedy Claxton, then getting some young talent in Rodney White and Nikoloz Tskitishvili from Denver. The Warriors are a talented, athletic team without a leader ¡Xif Davis is healthy and interested, he is a perfect fit.

    The Spurs. They dump Malik Rose, a faux backup center with a too-big contract (four years and $27 million) on the Knicks for Nazr Mohammed, a real center who has been showing progress. How do they get away with it?

    Byron Scott, Hornets coach. For Scott, Baron Davis was causing more headaches than he was worth. Davis showed little interest in playing or rehabbing his injuries in New Orleans, and now, Scott has a blank slate. New Orleans will rebuild from scratch, which means Scott is likely to have a job for at least the next two years.

    The Rockets. Over the last few months, Houston has completely revamped its roster, adding David Wesley, Jon Barry, Vin Baker, Zendon Hamilton and Mike James, while getting rid of some dead weight, forward Maurice Taylor, point guard Tyronn Lue and other scraps. This team is poised to challenge Dallas for the No. 4 spot in the West, and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.


    Losers
    Isiah Thomas, Knicks president. There are so many things wrong with what Thomas did on deadline day, there is little to do but shake one's head in pity. It seems that Isiah, after a nice performance in the early going last year, is overmatched in his current job. Already facing a logjam at power forward with Kurt Thomas and Mike Sweetney, Thomas acquired two more power forwards of marginal talent, Maurice Taylor and Malik Rose. Cap space, you're wondering? Nope. Rose has $19 million over the next three years, and Taylor has almost $19 million over the next two. The Knicks did get two draft picks out of the deal ¡Xfrom the Suns and Spurs, who figure to pick in the 26-30 range.

    Kevin McHale, Timberwolves honcho. Perhaps trying to be McHale the coach blurred the vision of McHale the executive, because the Timberwolves had to do something at the deadline. McHale says that nothing came by that would improve the team, but the fact is, getting rid of malcontents Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell for a sack of gym socks would have been helpful. Wave goodbye to your fading playoff hopes, Wolves fans.

    Donyell Marshall, Raptors. Toronto had been pummeled with offers for Marshall, a free agent this summer, but the Raptors were specific in what they wanted: Youth, draft picks and nothing that will weigh heavily on the payroll. It looked like a deal with Indiana was near, then a deal with Cleveland. Miami and San Antonio were very interested, too. Any of those would have put Marshall into the thick of the playoff hunt, but instead, he will play out the string in Toronto.
     
    #1 Yaowaming, Feb 26, 2005
  2. NIKEstrad

    NIKEstrad Member

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    I find it hilarious they mention us adding Zendon Hamilton, but not Moochie Norris. Gives you an idea of what the current league opinion on Moochie is.
     
    #2 NIKEstrad, Feb 26, 2005
  3. Willis25

    Willis25 Member

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    the Mavs are on a 6 game win streak and they are 7 games ahead of the Rockets

    Also, they just added a quality backup PF (and Henderson got waived by the Bucks, so HE may return)

    I would love for the Rockets to make a hard run... but I don't think they can catch that 4th spot

    ... I DO think they will end up comfortably in the playoffs (Memphis, Lakers, and Minny all lost again) - I think the 5th spot is very reachable (and while the matchups are that good in the playoffs, I think it would be better for the franchise to finish as high as possible - just to prove to themselves how good they are
     
    #3 Willis25, Feb 26, 2005
  4. BigM

    BigM Member

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    agreed. the kings won't fall out of the playoffs but i'd say there's a good chance we slide into 5th and even memphis overtakes them for 6th. dallas might not be a better matchup then seattle but thats not something we should ever worry about. just get the best record we possibly can and start out 0-0 in the playoffs like everyone else.
     
    #4 BigM, Feb 26, 2005
  5. Visagial

    Visagial Member

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    Agree 100% Willis. But I would MUCH rather play Seattle than Dallas. We could very well sweep the Sonics with a healthy Bobby Sura and if James works out. A Dallas series would be a dogfight. Let San Antonio knock them out in the second round and we'll take our chances against SA in the conference finals.

     
    #5 Visagial, Feb 26, 2005
  6. fa7999

    fa7999 Member

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    Seattle is a better match up for us than Dallas, period.

    There is no one on the Seattle team that has any answer to Yao. On the other hand, Yao still has issues with Dampier who is experienced in arm lock and two hand push in defense.
     
    #6 fa7999, Feb 26, 2005
  7. fa7999

    fa7999 Member

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    BTW, a #5 seed means a second round match with the Spurs.

    I'd rather face Suns in the second round rather the Spurs.
     
    #7 fa7999, Feb 26, 2005
  8. arkoe

    arkoe (ง'̀-'́)ง

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    Moochie's going staight to the IR.
     
    #8 arkoe, Feb 26, 2005
  9. Samar

    Samar Member

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    yup i would rather wait to challenge a run n gun team till we have gotten some momentum in the first round. So lets stay at our spot. Well play sonics, kick their ass. Then in phoenix, Nash always starts crappin out once playoffs start so if he cant do well, neither can the suns. Then we pull a miracle in the conference finals, and there we go. We make all those people in Orlando kiss our asses.
     
    #9 Samar, Feb 26, 2005
  10. Cohen

    Cohen Member

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    Barrett beat him to it.
     
    #10 Cohen, Feb 26, 2005
  11. wafna

    wafna Member

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    delete
     
    #11 wafna, Feb 26, 2005
  12. robbie380

    robbie380 ლ(▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿ლ)
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    ummm even though this guy likes the rox he puts us in the same category as mullin. mullin is an idiot...not a winner.
     
    #12 robbie380, Feb 26, 2005
  13. rm365

    rm365 Member

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    If the Rockets just keep the 6th spot, I'll be surprised, given how hard our schedule is for the next several weeks. The good news is that tho I'm still bitter about that Seattle game, I think we can beat them in the playoffs... especially if T-Mac and Sura are back to 100% and Mike James contributes.
     
    #13 rm365, Feb 26, 2005
  14. Uprising

    Uprising Member

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    He is the third string PG. AB is on the IR. Strick is gone. Thank god.
     
    #14 Uprising, Feb 26, 2005
  15. adai

    adai Member

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    Seattle, we are coming.
     
    #15 adai, Feb 26, 2005
  16. vwiggin

    vwiggin Member

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    As far as I'm concerned, there are only four realistic title contenders in the West: Spurs, Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston.
     
    #16 vwiggin, Feb 27, 2005
  17. RocksMillenium

    RocksMillenium Member

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    The only teams that can challenge us for those seeds, Memphis and LA, have an equally harder schedule. I agree though, I want a piece of Seattle. Phoenix is a title contender the way they're playing, but the lack of a center and depth and defense is going to catch up to them in the playoffs. The playoffs is when factors like those are exposed. But Phoenix is so explosive and Stoudemire and Nash are playing so well along with the other guys that they're still a threat.
     
    #17 RocksMillenium, Feb 27, 2005
  18. RocksMillenium

    RocksMillenium Member

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    Amazing, We go from Strickland starting and Barrett getting significant minutes to Strick being gone, AB being put on IR and having a legit PG in under a week. Talking about having someone smiling down on you!
     
    #18 RocksMillenium, Feb 27, 2005
  19. bozo

    bozo Member

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    And - - Moochie could surprise. In the past he was a great guy to have when you needed to kill time, dribble out the clock and/or jack up some outta control shot. He can however, handle the ball. Hopefully with proper incentives from JVG ( ie: " I shipped your butt outta here before, and I'll do it again") - Mooch could provide some minutes off the bench - - - as long as he keeps focus on the number "1" priority - - Get the damn ball across half court quickly, and look for the guys with 1's on their jersey -- either the large man in the middle wearing number 11 - or the lanky, sleepy eyed guy, on the outside wearing number 1.
     
    #19 bozo, Feb 27, 2005
  20. vcchlw

    vcchlw Member

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    At the beginning of the season when Rockets had a 6-11 record, some "experts" predicted we would finish 11th in the West. Now somebody said it's 4th. I know our team is winning but we are probably not that good yet. JVG is perhaps right this time:

    ''When you're losing, the bandwagon gets empty,'' he said. ''But when you start winning, you see how quickly people want to jump back on. Because people are always jumping on and off the bandwagon, you should keep the bandwagon closed just to your team. It's easy now for some fans to say, 'See, I knew they were going to be good."

    In addition, you do not earn respect by finishing high at the end of the regular season. You earn respect by going deep in the playoffs. Obviously we have much better matchups against the Suns/Sonics than Spurs/Mavs.
     
    #20 vcchlw, Feb 27, 2005
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