Why the Focus on our Backcourt?

I think since Jordan left exactly one guard, Billips, has been the playoff MVP. I'd say if anything it has been a Shaq-Duncan league.

We almost beat them this year with having to have our best guard/swingman play power forward. We could have beaten Dallas with lots of slight modifications, having a healthier pair of PGs, having a bigger/better two guard, or having JH not gotten injured where then Tmac could have taken out there hottest guard on the perimeter rather than making him battling in the paint on defense. But the PF spot, be it via Duncan or Amare, was going to catch up to once JH went down regardless of what our guards would do.

I for one am more concerned with beating the Spurs, Suns, Heat and Pistons than worrying about a counter to the Mavs. Aim to improve the guard play, particularly SG alternatives, yes, but not before we have another capable PF. Someone can do a poll, but if you pose which is a higher priority, adding a new PF, SG or PG, I think PF will win. I think this will be even more evident as we used our 1st rounder and only pick on a combo/tweener guard.

 

Yao Ming is not a superstar. He's a pretty good player. Superstars should be able to give you more than 30 quality minutes a game. Yao isn't even a 20/10 guy.

If you're truly under the belief that we have Shaq and Kobe part II, then it will delude you into thinking we really don't have that much more to add to this team except some decent role players.

But if you truly feel that Sura, Wesley, James, and Barry are a good enough guard combination to win a world championship, then I think you truly overestimating T-Mac and Yao. And please don't compare them to the rocket teams who won champions. Smith, Cassell, Maxwell, and Elie were better basketball players.

 

We didn't even have Howard in the playoffs! :/
Anyways, I agree with some of your points that Wesley and Sura and Barry and Mike James were great this season. They really were.

And now we have added quickness with Head. But I think Head can replace Wesley or James or both.
If we can get a guy like Finley, we don't need Wesley anymore..if we resign Barry.
And Sura is slow..he can't keep up with point guards. I would not mind if he's still here but if we can get a better pg..then okay

 

Barry's defense isn't anywhere near the level of Wesley's.

 

Bu2002, I don't really see your point.

Everybody talked about as a free agent--be it guards or forwards, are role players. Simmons, Mobley, Finley, Spree, Walker, SAR, Marshall, Swift, Stoudamire, Daniels--they would all come here as role players. Only Walker wasn't really a role player last year (more like a "secondary star" role if you will), but would come here as a role player, as he did with Dallas.

We are clearly out of the bidding for free agent stars--Allen, Redd, Z, and maybe Joe Johnson and Chandler qualify too. So all the talk is about role players.

If your point is we need better players in the roles Padget, Bowen, and Wesley tried to fill, rather than more role players of their quality, I agree. I have less a concern about Sura/James/Head being adequate role players for the 1 than my concerns with our role players in the starting/back-up PF spot (1st) and our starting/back-up SG spot (2nd).

 

you're out of your element, buddy.

 

simple answer: TOO OLD, TOO SMALL, TOO SLOW.

 

Signing a SERVICEABLE PF is more than enough. Signing a SERVICEABLE SG or PF is NOT enough. We can't keep up with the Parkers, the Bibbys, the Mavs' convicts, and basically every guard in the West. We have Yao as our low post pillar and the only thing his sidekick/PF needs to do is defend and rebound and put up the occasional shot. Our backcourt needs more than that. We need guys that can be counted on during crunch time (like Antonio Daniels have proven) with the ball and guys that can knock down shots. A shooting guard that has the ability to take over the scoring load on certain nights is a big asset (i.e. Mobley). Lets remind ourselves of game 7: Tmac and Yao played their game, but everyone else got shut out. By bringing in MORE capable scorers, we won't have to go through situations like that again.

 

One game was apparently all it took for many Rocket "fans" to jump ship on the players ... the team that carried us through the 2004-2005 season. Game 7 did not decide that series. They say you're not as good as you look when you win, and you're not as bad as you look when you lose. The Rox could've won the series in 4, 5, 6 games. Nobody was wanting to lynch our guys when we were up 2-0 coming back to the showroom. Now everybody wants to panic. These guys played their collective ass off.

I totally agree, there's always a drive to get better. But to call out guys like Bobby Sura and David Wesley and Mike James after all their effort throughout the season is ridiculous and quite unbelieveable. Sura righted the Rockets' ship when he he came back in December. The guy never got a chance to fully heal. He came back early to help his team ... to help our team. He played hurt the entire season. That's heart, that's effort. And that's what we need.

David Wesley. He was doubted when he got here as so many people questioned CD and JVG and what they thinking getting rid of JJ. He only helped the Rockets obtain one of the finest records in the league from his arrival to the all-star break. His perimeter defense was outstanding throughout the season. Now he's doubted again.

Mike James was an instant spark after the trade deadline. On both sides of the ball, he played hard. He played 30 something games with us mostly coming off the bench with lineups that were consistently changing. I'm not sure how accurate a gauge that is when analyzing his abilities.

Be weary of their age. Be weary of their health. And in the case of Mike James, be weary of him leaving for a bigger payday at the end of his contract. But to say they're crap or that they suck? Please. Spoon, Baker, Norris - flame those guys for sure. The addition of Luther will only help our backcourt.

So yeah, why focus on our backcourt indeed? Solidifying our 4 should definitely be top priority. Give CD and JVG their due. With their transactions and team building the last 2 years, how can you adamantly disagree with them or second-guess them. I think they've proven themselves quite well. Have a little patience, and have a little faith.

 

I love this post, I think it really sums up our need for a good offseason.

Sura and Wesley did a great job in filling our holes last season. Sura provided some much needed toughness and rebounding, Wesley provided some veteran shooting and perimeter defense.

But we cannot start these 2 again and expect to be successful. Sura's health and age is too much of a gamble, as well as his lack of shooting. Wesley lost a lot of steam at the end and his shooting suffered badly. Both weren't able to guard the quick guards of Dallas so I don't think they'd be able to do it now.

Adding Head and a guy like Mobley along w/ TMac would make us one of the quickest backcourts in the league. I think Mobley is overall a better shooter than Wesley and he is much more athletic.

 

When Sura finally got into game shape, our team was tough to beat. Problem is, going into next season and depending on him is a mistake. If his injuries weren't an issue, I could maybe see him as our starter next year. But it is too risky he will break down again.
If Wesley is our starting SG going into next year (he is 35 years old!), the offseason will be a big disappointment. He is our weakest starter hands down (when Sura is healthy). Replacing Wesley with an above average player is the biggest improvement we can make to our starting lineup this offseason.
Mike James is an excellent backup. We must get good value if we trade him.
Luther Head is an unproven rookie. I wouldn't get my hopes up because it is unlikely he makes a big contribution this year. Many have hyped him here but the best reasonable hope is he can give us 15 good min/game by the end of the year. If he turns out to be a "steal", we'll all be very happy. Sorry to say, most tweener guards don't do well in the NBA.

We didn't lose to the Mavs because of JH's poor play, we lost because he did not have a backup. We MUST get a compliment for him this summer. If we spend the MLE+ on someone, it's better to replace Wesley than to get a compliment for JH. Stromile Swift is no more than a compliment; he is not a better player and is not worth $$8-9MM/yr for 5 years.

Your statement we lost to Dallas because we didn't have a good backup to T-Mac doesn't make any sense. T-Mac plays 40+ minutes a game and will for several more years. We sink and swim with him. His is the last position we should focus on a backup. If T-Mac goes down, we are done. If we do replace Wesley with a good SG/SF swingman, this minor need is taken care of.

It's good to see so many agree now on replacing our backcourt. I'm sure the majority still favor getting a new starter to replace JH but the "vocal minority" is getting larger (or just louder).

Last comment: With Spoon, Moochie, Baker, Ward (& Wesley if he's still here) all having expiring contracts, we may be in a stronger position to improve at the trade deadline than we are right now. I hate the thought but I'm gearing my mind up for the worst.

 

T-mac and Yao didn't have a single guy who could consistently beat a guy off the dribble and finish, consistently hit a jump shot, or serve as a good play-maker.

Our guards just got destroyed by Dallas. Dallas - a team that didn't do a whole lot of damage against Phoenix. Phoenix - a team that didn't do a whole lot of damage against the Spurs.

We have a ways to go. Hopefully we have more backcourt upgrades coming....head is a start, but he probably won't be a starter next year. We need an off-guard for sure still. Even a small forward would help since T-mac can play the 2.

When all that is done, then we can talk about upgrading over Juwon Howard.

 

Desert Scar, i did mean that we just need better players filling our roles, not necessarily another star level player, I should have clarified that better, but we're on the same page. I was disagreeing with the original poster's idea that our backcourt doesn't need upgrading......I would rate our needs at PF and SG as pretty much equal. I really can't say one deserves a higher priority than the other, because I feel they are both weakpoints. As far as PG goes, i think the rockets envision Head playing the Derek Harper, Derek Fisher, and BJ Armstrong type role. Good ball handler, hits some outside shots, and can D up. In fact, i think they want that out of James and Spannoulis if he ever comes over. But they need a 3rd scoring option either at PF or SG. We can all agree on that.

 

We should trade Wesley and James if we can. I appreciate what they did for us, but they just didn't leap out at me like the other guys did. Try to bring in AD and either Simmons or Mobley. That should be enough of an backcourt upgrade for us to compete with anybody. Have Sura backup Mobley and Barry backup Tmac. Give Head about 15mpg to grow. If he doesn't pan out, move Sura back to PG, Barry back to SG, and Tmac without backup.

AD/Head
Mobley/Sura
Tmac/Barry

 

Well it is clear it is a vocal minority pitching backcourt before PF:
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=98620

BTW it is OK to be in the minority, sometimes you are right, just not this time

 

what the hell am i gonna say that hasn't been said 30 times already???

you don't think we need a new backcourt; i thank God you're not our GM.

 

I think it would be very revealing to have everybody posting this thread to say what their age is, bet there's curve from " trade the back court" , younger fans, to " hey Head is a good addition and a PF upgrade will work wonders" will be the later age bracket. me 53. Just my thoughts. Still, if you blame the game 7 loss on bobbie sura and wesley ok, go for it. And you can also pin the incredible run to the post season after 6-11 on them plus james also. Hm. Soooo...........frankly we aren't goning to get a young mj this off season, ( ops, hey head may surprise dude.., and I betcha that the san antonio spurs were very happy to have us disappear. When it comes to playoffs, as stated countlessly, defense will win almost all the time. Remeber a team called the Suns/..Whoa whoa..run and gun,,,zippidy doo dah..blah blah..bye bye. Yes there's age in there, but don't think injury had no hand it this. Head is uh, prety young so we'll see. Cuttino Mobley, ok, I'd take him in a heart beat..cause of his defense. Add Walker brother, and you've got yer team right here. Maybe not world champion yet, but give it a little time..oh very young.

 

We didn't have a single pf in the Mavs series who can make shots and rebound. If we had a pf who can do the job decently we'd whoop the Mavs a$$. Sure, the most damage was done by their guards, but they were able to do it because our lineup is restricted by playing T-Mac at the 4. Without that restriction James/Sura/T-Mac would be able to counter their 1,2, and 3 if we had JH, and JH is a Mav killer by scoring his highest season total of 29 points against the Mavs. We lost because we didn't have a pf who can play.

Mike James/Luther Head at 1 or 2
Bob Sura/T-Mac at 2 or 3

This is a lineup that can match up a lot better with the Mavs and doesn't lack in size. Some may be concerned with James' occasional ball hogging. It can be remedied by Sura bringing up the ball. We do need another big 2/3 who can hit open shots and play D, in case of Sura going down, but that insurance plan needs to take a backseat to our starting pf who is currently nuturing a heart disease.