Derrick, I know $1.67 million is not much money to you, but how about wearing something other than a t-shirt to your intoduction.
And that's just what we're going to pay him - He's going to get paid more than $8.5 million from Portland this season, and even more next season! ... and I bet that T-shirt was a freebie!
this is just an incredible off season...da is such a good fit with the team...we are some lucky hoops fans. This is gonna rock.
recovering like Codell said, but I was just trying to make the point that even the most consistent superstar in the league has off-nights. i'm not sure what it is, but today's superstars seem to have more off-nights than the guys in year's past like dream, jordan, etc.
i think that's an overused statement/idea that sports commentators recycle. alluding to my prior point, today's megastars don't always pull through. Shaq, Kobe, Duncan, Garnett, etc. all have not pulled through when it mattered in recent years. Dream, Jordan, Bird, Magic or the megastars of yesteryear always did seem to pull through. The league has changed and while it's still run by the superstars, even amazing players like Duncan have had mediocre games at crunch time.
I think of these group only Jordan and Magic really broke away in their will to win and delivery--yet even they had some losing momemts. Hakeem did it for 94 and 95--and in as spectacular of fashion as anyone, but not really other years. Bird was great, but I think he lost more championships than he won. Magic controlled the outcomes (winning/losing) just a little more than Bird. Shaq is probably next on the list in dominating deliveries since the 80s (behind Jordan, Magic, maybe Bird). Shaq was more impressive in his 5 NBA finals (3 victories and 3 MVPs) than Duncan. Even in losing in 04 to a better team, Shaq was clearly the best player on the court. Hakeem had his best showing the year ending Shaq's other finals loss, but it was just one battle and Shaq was a pup in his offensive game development. Fully developed Hakeem versus fully developed Shaq--who knows--but I do know either was a notch ahead of peak Duncan. Kobe and KG (and say DR) don't deserve mention in this thread, neither even has a single playoff MVP.
It looked like an intentional flagrant. Howard denied it. And the play seemed out of character of JH. He has never been considered a dirty player intentionally hurting others. Anyway, Anderson got injured and that probably cost the Spurs a championship run that year.
That's hoping for a lot I think. DA was great 5 years ago...but for a guy who shoots 40% and has only played one full 82 game season I'm afraid that's too much to expect. The defense is there, and you'll get three's....but I guess we didn't have a whole lot of options. Maybe the reduced role and minutes will make less injury prone. I still think we could upgrade over Sura/James at the point (an no, I'm not going to say Head is the answer because he probably won't even crack the rotation until mid-season) and definitely another center - one who can preferably run faster then Yao or Deke to give the team a different look. Overall, the team is improved but with all the off-season moves it's hard to know where the Rockets now sit relative to other powers. I think we can expect a second round experience - but not sure if this team is good enough to give San Antonio a run for it's money.
at these prices, I wish we had signed DA for 2 years with a 3rd year player option. I like the idea of him making entry passes to Yao.
Let's say we win a championship and Derek is a big part of it: Will he opt out of the contract and try to get more money from the Rox? or Try free agency? or Just keep playing for NBA-'pocket change'
I think DA will opt out no matter what. And then the Rockets will have a decision to make. I can see the Rockets using their MLE next offseason on resigning DA and V-Span. The FA class next year is pretty bad, so the Rockets re-signing their own guys might the the best route. I think the REAL key will be seeing how CD manages the "years" on the contracts.
Yao/Deke/Swift make a great, and versitile, centers group. If you are looking for a speed line-up, play Swift at the 5 (he has played lots of minutes there, a quick 4 (Baxter, Tmac, Bowen) and 3 guards. Last year when we were healthy and had our full team (JH healthy, Sura healthy, James) we were humming, 3rd best in the West for sure. Plug in Swift, Anderson, and hopefully no more freak injuries, definetly like our chances. I DA has any kind of health and a decent year, yeah he opts out. We will just have to wait and see, I am not sure Mike James (we have his Early Bird rights so don't have to use exemptions) won't be priority #1.
"It's like playing with Shaq (O'Neal). Would you want to play with him? Heck, yeah. Would you want to play with Bob Sura? Heck, yeah. He's one of the top people." HaHa SURA FAINTS!!! He's gonna be a great fit for this Rockets team. Exciting news.
I think a healthy can give us Min. 25 Pts. 10 Reb. 3 Ass. 3 What are you`re predictions about DA`s stats? I am really excited about this kid, he is very versitile but I have a feeling that he`s lost a couple of steps, I`m very skeptical about his health.
