did anyone hear the interview with john and lance, i think i caught the end of it. they asked him about the developmental league and he told them that information on it is still slow so he has no idea whether he wants to put any players there. he said he's happy with the offseason so far, the swift signing, DA, etc. said barry was a 50% shooter in the 4th quarter, glad to have him back. said wesley is one of the best defenders we've had in a while he slides over on the pick n roll better than anyone since vernon maxwell, but he's only 6'1". anderson's length will be valuable in guarding guy's like josh howard. he also will be someone who can attack the basket for us. they talked about t-mac carrying the team against dallas. said that's the first time he's ever seen dirk actually guarded. they asked him about the article in the paper featuring dream tutoring okafor and whether the rockets ever talk to him about working with the team. CD says he constantly talks to dream and a couple days ago they talked about okafor and how hakeem is showing him the same stuff that CD showed dream years ago. said it's hard to get hakeem in cause he's only here for the summer and when the season starts he's already back in jordan. mentioned that they've talked to him about coming to houston for the all-star game. he said dream is very willing to help out the organization. final question was about whether we can exect any more moves, CD said training camp is only one month away but trades are still happening around the NBA. things could happen again in october or november. that's about all i can remember, was on my way home from class. anyways, is CD possibly the nicest person ever? i don't know him personally but he comes off as a great guy. it's no wonder that free agents feel so warm and welcome when CD makes the sale. there's been alot said that JVG is the one controlling the team and while he probably picks the players he wants, CD does a great job of bringing them in. texas hospitality i guess.
It probably only SEEMS like a repeat; there's not too much new information. But it's good for CD to throw us a bone now and again.
I heard it this morning as well. He said he doesn't really expect any trades or any kind of moves from any team before October and that often times there are injuries, etc, that necessitate moves. Also said they really like Baxter's energy and that he is a better shooter than most people think. Lance compared him to Clarence Weatherspoon (the younger version) and CD agreed but said he is taller. He talked about the fact that Anderson would help a lot. Said that David Wesley is the best pick and roll defender Houston has had since Vernon Maxwell, but that his size causes him to struggle against bigger players and DA is perfect for that.
Heard it too, nothing much to add other than a Luther Head mention. CD admitted that he needs to work on his shot, but wasnt worried about it and said that it will eventually come around and will be come a effective shooter. IMO, he sounds like he will be sort of like Roderick Rhodes. Erratic shooter at first and needs to improve on it. Of course Rhodes turned out to be trash and couldve been the deal breaker to get us DStoud back in the days, so I just hope LH stays in the league longer. As for CD in person, he does sound like a nice guy on the Radio. I met Rudy at the airport when Yao first arrived and I can confirm that he is one of the nicest people you could probably ever meet.
I'm not sure this is a fair comparison. Rhodes was never a shooter or scorer in college, Head has shown he can put up big points if he has the ball. Also, Rhodes had great size and is perfect for defense at the 2 and 3, Head is a 1/2. I've always thought that Rhodes could make it as a rotation player because he really excels on man defense, but the advent of zone defense in the league has made his skills useless along with his inept ball handling and offensive skills. I think Head definitely has a better shot than Rhodes and he seems to be able to handle the ball pretty well. I think he should make a decent role player in a year or two.
Also mentioned Yao....said he is down to 8% body fat and that Tom Thibodeau (assistant coach) is in China and is working with him. Said Yao should improve greatly because he got to rest (especially after the surgery) and is working with one of their coaches. Also mentioned that Hakeem is back home in Jordan during the season and in Houston in the offseason, that's why Hakeem could not work out with Yao. Either Yao is in Houston while Dream is in Jordan, or Yao is in China and Dream is in Houston.
Was Rhodes really that bad?? Couldnt shoot at all, but was quick on D and decent slasher? Did we trade him, been so long?
To be fair, he was out of the league because of a serious career ending groin injury, right? (or am i thinking of someone else)
Actually, I thought he was decent during his rookie season. I did like what OldMan said, thats a fair report on him. He wasnt that great in college. The Rockets thought they can give him a jump shot and be their replacment for Drexler. Rhodes came in the same year as Drexler's last. He was injured the beginning of the '99 lockout season and when he came back, Michael Dickerson already took his starting role. In all fairness, Dickerson was 100% better that Roderick and I remember he had an attitude towards his comeback saying that "im getting my starting role back" in which he ended up sucking and we did trade him for Sam Mack. In the end, Rhodes really did suck. He had his injury and wasnt the same since. Unfortunatly, same thing happen with Dickerson, but at least he produced when he played.
Rhodes was impressive on D and his 15 minutes of fame was when he harrassed Michael Jordan into 1 or 2 turnovers. The tv announcers and fans went ape over that. He was an athletic freak, but couldn't shoot the ball. One of the reasons he was no longer with us was because he supposedly had a confrontation with Rudy about playing time if I recall correctly.
I remember those Jordan steals. Those got me all tingly over the potential of Roderick as a shutdown defender. Never could get his shot together though. The cool thing about Rhodes was his long, quick arms. He would be back on his heels defending a guy (like he did on Jordan) and suddenly his hand would shoot out and swipe at the ball, knocking it free. Always seemed to work well for a steal or two a game, and then the other players would start guarding their dribble better.
