You need guys that have speed and can penetrate to survive in today's NBA. The Heat have Wade and Jason Williams. The Spurs have Manu and Parker. The Suns have pretty much their whole team. The Mavericks have Josh Howard and Jason Terry. We need those kinds of guys that can get to the basket and Reddick won't be the answer. He'll be fine as a 6th man but not as our starting 2 guard. Remember Bob Sura? He did a great job for us not only with his shooting but because he didn't fear driving to the basket and playing a physical game. Remember Luther Head before the All-Star break? He was getting it done outside and inside. The one thing that we tend to overlook is that this team is no where near title contending even with a 100% McGrady and Yao. You have two of the best players in the league but most of your role players wouldn't crack the roster (much less the starting lineup) on most teams. So it's going to take a year or two (maybe even 3) to actually get a team together that can compete with everyone. Sure it's not something I want to think about, but it's reality. I don't think anyone wants to turn the Rockets into the Suns. It's just that we need more athleticism if we were going to draft a 2 guard. Perimeter shooting is always a rarity but I think the consensus is that if we can find a 2 guard that can penetrate and can knock down the medium range jumper, he would get picked over Reddick.
We played very well with a healthy Tmac and Yao this year. As far as the pairs you listed. Ill put Tmac against any of the players you listed even in terms of getting to the basket, when he wants to he does. Yes it seems the rockets do need another person who can get to the basket I dont deny that. However, I feel like there is such an overreaction that it will "take 3 years to overhaul this roster into one where every player can drive and get their own shot". Simply put, that is dumb. Especially when you have two stars on your team as the Rockets do, there is no need for every player to have the ability to create their own shot. The attention Tmac and Yao get will create shots for the supporting cast. We just need players who can hit those shots as opposed to bricking everything like we saw last year.
When a player can do one thing extremely well in the NBA,he's going to most likely have a long career.As far as JJ goes,at the minimum he should be a nice role player on a title contender.He could very well be a longtime starter though.True,his defensive prowess leaves a lot to be desired,but JJR is such a good shooter that I don't see any reason why he shouldn't have a productive career.At Duke he had other guys that helped him get his shots....I see no reason why he shouldn't be even more wide open for us.That said,I don't want him at 8 though...You can pick up shooters that fit our offense much cheaper than with the 8 th pick in the draft.If it's possible to pick up the Lanlord at 8 and JJ between 10-15 via trade,I'm all for it.(assuming we have other guys that are athletic and can play good perimeter defense)
Reddick will not be able to get his shot off in the nba, just look at what he did when teams were in his shirt like lsu and memphis. He's 1 dimensional and unlike hinrich who is very atheletic and a ball handler, reddick will struggle mightly
Our supporting cast does have to be multi-dimensional. But that doesn't mean every player has to be able to run the floor, defend, and shoot. If they could all do everything, our payroll would look like the Knicks. Every team has specialists. They have specialist defenders and specialist shooters and specialist slashers. The BIGGESTS problem with out team is we could not win with both of our top guys out of the game. Take Shaq and Wade off Miami and see how many they win. Take Nash and Stoudamire or Nash and Marion off Phoenix and see what they do. Take Dirk and Terry or Howard off Dallas and see how many wins they get. Cassell and Brand? Clips win 30 of 80 without them. Duncan and Manu off the Spurs, they don't make the playoffs. Chauncey and whoever? They don't make the playoffs. We had our two best players, who are two of the top 10-12 players in the league when healthy both hurt at the same time last year. The biggest difference between us and the Dallas's and Miami's is we need that third player to go with our big 2. And that guy DOES need to be able to get his own shot. But we don't need 12 guys that can get their own shot. So, the case against Redick at 8 is fine. Frankly, I agree. Although I feel that he COULD become somebody's third option and he COULD turn into the next Hornacek, I don't think we can gamble at #8 for him to be that on a Van Gundy led team. At the same time, Carney is in no different a position in regards to our team. He COULD be a great, athletic, sweet shooting, lock down defending big time player. But he is not without his negatives. There's huge questions about taking a guy that comes off the bench for his college team because of his lack of intensity, work ethic, and dorkiness. You want to take that kid at #8 and think we can plug him in for 30 mpg, on a team coached by Van Gundy??? After we signed a $35 million PF and he sat the bench last year for basically the same reasons?? To me, if we are sitting there at #8 and Roy is gone, then we should start taking trade offers. Because we have just as good of odds of hitting on J.J., Ager, and Brewer as we do of hitting on Carney. What we have to do is 3rd option that will give us 20 whenever we need it and can get his own shot and WILL play the bulk of the minutes at either SG or PF next season. And they need to be a star calibar player. Now, granted we could get that 3rd scoring option at the PF position. We could acquire a player like TMurphy or Al Harrington that would be the definitive third option we are looking for. If we do, then I don't have a problem with whoever we put at the 2. Go get a long athletic player that Ds it up but can't shoot to start out there. Take a chance on Carney, Redick, Brewer, or whoever. As long as we have that 3rd scorer on the floor with Yao and TMac. The bottom line with these guys is this: Roy is the only proven player in this draft that comes in and makes starter and is the go to 3rd scorer. He is the only one that we could trust to be that. All the others have too many questionmarks. For us to debate whether to take J.J. or Carney at #8 is silly. Neither player is worth the risk IF we can trade down and pick up and extra pick or use the pick in combination with other players currently on our roster to trade for that solid third option. Why would you want to take a chance with a solid asset of a pick at #8 on a player like Carney that has the distinct possiblity of becoming the next Harold Miner but you won't take a chance on moving a player who is not an asset and is a negative force on the floor (Juwan Howard) for a player that has the athleticism and length that you need and still has huge upside (Miles)? You take chances on guys with questionmarks about their character, desire, athleticism, etc. when there is not much risk attached to them. Trading Juwan for Miles is a low risk proposition. Drafting J.J.,Carney, and Brewer at 12-20 are low risk propositions. We won't be as high as #8 for another 5-8 years or more. Drafting any of those guys with questionmarks about them is too much risk. We have to make sure we get value at #8. The assets we have to work with on this team are the #8 pick, the MLE, the trade exceptions, future first round draft picks, Stromile, and Luther. We have 2 priceless commodities in Yao and TMac. Rafer at this point is a neutral. He could become a decent asset. Chuck Hayes is a neutral. He could become an asset. Everything else is junk with llittle to no upside and not much trade value. If we are going to trade or use one of our assets to acquire a player in the draft, we have to make sure they are going to be an asset or at the very least have an extremely good chance of becoming an asset, with no questionmarks regarding attitude, skills, and athleticism. If we are going to acquire a player/players that are risky in that they have questionmarks in attitude, desire, athletic ability, quickness, or are one dimensional and can play on only one side of the court, take a risk on them by acquiring them with the junk we already have on the roster. Do not use asset pieces to take risks on these types of players. 1. Sign Mike James with MLE. 2. Sign Jay Williams to league minimum if possible. Otherwise, sign Delk to league minimum deal to be 3rd PG. 3. Get rid of Juwan for anything. Start taking offers. TAKE the best deal. 4. See what we can get for Stro. Put him up for bid. Somebody may overextend themselves. 5. If Roy is there at 8, take him. Otherwise field trade offers. Do this in conjunction with 3. and 4. above. If we trade the pick, make sure we get at least 2 picks out of it, preferrable NO's picks, or make sure we get our established third option by trading the pick in combination with one of our other players, TE to net us our 3rd primary scorer. If we trade down for multiple picks, draft the best most NBA ready players available. To me if we could work a trade with NO, and pick up Shelden at 12 and either Brewer, Carney, Ager, or Redick at 15, that would be a great deal for us. 6. Re-sign Wesley as a backup or use him to facilitate a S&T for somebody else. If we can't use him in trade, he is a good shooter off the bench. 7. Re-sign Bogans(defense) and Frahm(shooting) to minimum deals.
There are also a ton of athletic superfreaks who get drafted on potential that flame out in the NBA. With Redick you know what you are getting. A great shooter how has a confident swagger. And, why does redick get pounded for being one demensional, but Ben Wallace gets praised. No i am not saying Redick will have the impact that Wallace does, but lets face it, Wallace is out there to only to play defense, Redick would be out there only to shoot.
Redick is not worth the 8 pick to a lot of teams, but to the Rox maybe so. On the wrong team he will be worthless, but on a team with a great post presence or multiple players commanding double teams he can be very good. With redick hanging out by the three point line, his defender can not double down hard on yao or tmac. Spread the floor with redick and either tmac or yao on one side. Best case scenario yao and tmac get a one on one look at the rim. Worst case scenario, Redick takes an open three. As for the criticism that he only scored 27 a game and not 30, or that he wont be able to put up 27 for a playoff team, that is crazy. Morrison scored a little more, but he played against nobodies in a weak conference. JJ put up his numbers against solid ACC teams in visiting arenas that absolutely hated him. And no one in this draft will be putting up 27 a game for a playoff team anytime soon if ever. Everyone says dont take him cuz he cant play D, but either can Cassell and everyone wants him back. They also say we need a player like Sura who is tough and almost cocky. JJ is very confident, borderline arrogant and can be a spark for us in the swagger department. He should not start for the Rox next year, but barring injuries i dont see any other SG we draft starting either. I think he can be had at 11-15, but if no team is willing to trade something of value for us to move down, i would take him at 8 assuming no big names slide.
People need to stop saying that Redick can't score with a strong defender on him, this may be true but the other teams best defender will be defending T-Mac, and depending on where they are on the floor, JJ's defender will leave him to help double McGrady or Ming, unless they want to be left alone to be slaughtered. We would be drafting Redick as a 3rd option to hit shots off double teams. Is he the best option at #8 ? maybe not, and he doesn't have the upside of Carney. But it's not like we wouldn't be improving if we drafted him...we need talent on this team---simple. Carney, Brewer, Redick, S.Williams-we are only adding to our team. And for the record, i'd still prefer Carney or Brewer but i'm not going to write a player off because he can't D, scoring is just as important and something we struggled with even with the 111 on the floor.
Rockets were one of the worst defensive teams this year. The offense suffered and this was magnified from the added pressure of playing bad dense.
Actually stats wise, the rockets were one of the better teams this year on defense. They ranked 4th in points per game allowed and 29th in points per game scored. With Van Gundy the defense will always keep them in games. They need someone who can put up points. Thats why I am okay with Redick. Carney would be okay but i dont see him helping that much next year. As for Brewer I dont see why people are so high on him. He did not dominate at the college level and I dont think he has great skills either. I dont see how you bash taking JJ at #8, but not at taking Brewer #8. Same goes for Ager. He should be nowhere near the top 10.
Nothing against him personally- but I think it would be a terrible mistake to pick him with our No. 8 Pick - that is way too high for a role player who is undersized for the NBA position. [I WOULD LIKE TO DROP DOWN AND GET JJ; WITH THE GAURANTEE THAT WE GET HIM] Let us not forget that he will not get the "duke" kind of minutes nor will he be the first two offensive options. [ACTUALLY UNTIL HE PROVES HIMSELF HE WILL PROBABLY GET MORE WIDE OPEN SHOTS THAN ANYBODY ON THE TEAM, BECAUSE HE WILL ALWAYS BE THE FIRST DOUBLE-TEAM PASS OUT OPTION}] He will be steam rolled defensively in the NBA. [I AGREE THIS WILL BE THE TRADEOFF;JUST LIKE WITH MATT BULLARD, MOST OFFENSIVE PLAYERS....BUT WE NEED THE BEST SHOOTER WHO CAN HIT BIG, WIDE OPEN DOUBLE-TEAM SHOTS CONSITENTLY....B/C UNLIKE MOST TEAMS WE HAVE NOT ONE DOUBLE-TEAM SUPERSTAR, BUT TWO} IT HELPS DEFENSE SO MUCH IF THE OTHER TEAM HAS TO TAKE THE BALL OUT OF THE NET. I WATCHED SAN ANTONIO & DALLAS PLAY, AND NEITHER TEAM HAD A CONSISTENT GUY WHO COULD HIT THE WIDE OPEN SHOT OFF THE DOUBLE TEAM....I THINK IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF PLAYOFF HALF COURT BASKETBALL....HAVING PLAYERS WHO CAN NAIL HALF COURT STYLE SLOWDOWN SETUP BASKETBALL SHOTS OFF THE DOUBLE TEAMS!] If it is perimeter shooting we are lookign for why No Douby or Novak. Heck Mike Gansey would just be OK. Agreed none of these are starting calibre player- but no way can anyone say with a straight face that you will spend the #8 on a college kid who perhaps being a great role model- is not what this team needs. (I THINK FOR OUR TEAM HE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT WE NEED....I SAW 3 PEOPLE ON YAO AND 2 BEING SHUFFLED BACK AND FORTH TOO MUCH LAST YEAR.....WITH THE DEFENSE AS MUCH AS 15 FEET OFF OF THE OTHER 3 PERIMETER PLAYERS......ITS ABOUT TEAM PARTS FITTING TOGETHER JUST RIGHT.........WE DON`T NEED ALL STARS AT 5 POSITIONS..WE NEED COMPLIMENTARY PARTS THAT MAKE THE WHOLE THE BEST] Sure a 14-16 th pick it would make sense- but not close to the Top 10. Compare Steve Novak's 3 Pt Shooting percentage- and if you watched him in the 3 Pt shooting competition you would know- that Novak Kid is worth considering with out Second Round pick ( I am afraid he will move up as more people get to know the facts) [I HAVE SEEN SHOOTERS...BUT REDDICK IS THE BEST WIDE OPEN SHOOTER WHO CAN TAKE THE PRESSURE AND MAKE THE SHOT HE IS SUPPOSSED TO MAKE....VERY FEW CAN DO IT....WHERE IF YOU LEV THEM OPEN ITS 3 POINTS ....CHECK OUT PIAKOWSKI...ETC...THEY ARE ALL SO DAMN INCONSISTENT] WE DON`T NEED THE SECOND BEST OUTSIDE SHOOTER..... THINK IN TERMS OF ROBBING A BANK....IT IS MORE VALUABLE TO HAVE A SPECIALIST AS A GETAWAY DRIVER THAN SOMEONE WHO IS SERVICEABLE AS A DRIVER,,,BUT IS TOUGH....AND CAN CRACK SOME HEADS..........WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SO MANY DOUBLE-AND TRIPLE TEAMS THAT UNLESS WE HAVE 2 OR 3 SPREAD THE FLOOR BEST SHOOTERS IN THE LEAGUE.....OUR OFFENSE IS GOING TO BOG DOWN AND BE UNWATCHABLE AT TIMES......WE NEED THE GUY "IF REDDICK WORKS OUT WELL AND IS AS GOOD AS I THINK HE IS AT WHAT HE DOES BEST" WHO THE DEFENSE CAN`T AFFORD TO TAKE THEIR CHANCES THAT HE MIGHT MISS...THEY HAVE TO KNOW....THAT THEY CANNOT LEAVE HIM OPEN OFF THE DOUBLE TEAM... YOU PAY OR YOU DON`T DOUBLE OR TRIPLE! rEMEMBER WHEN SEATLE COULD DOUBLE-TEAM AND STILL ROTATE TO THE OPEN GUYS.....THAT`S WHY THE THIRD GUY NEEDS TO BE AN OUTSIDE MACHINE...ITS THE ONLY WAT TO SPREAD THE FLOOR TO DEFEAT THE ROTATIONS WITH 2 DOUBLE-TEAM SUPERSTARS] THe ONLY reason would be that he was a star at DUKE- it just does not fit our needs .[/QUOTE] HE COULD STAR AT TSU....FOR ALL I CARE.....IF HE SHOOTS 90% FREE THROW.....AND A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF 3`S WITH DEFENSES IN THE ACC BUILT TO STOP HIM....THIS IS THE RELEVANT POINT....LET ALONE WHEN HE DOESN`T NEED TO DO ANYTHING TO GET HIS SHOT OFF, JUST MOVE TO THE CORNER/ARCH AND MAKE THE DEFENSE DECIDE WHICH WAY THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE A CHANCE ON DEFENDING YAO!} I KNOW THAT HIS VALUE IS NOT WORTH THE 8TH PICK BY THE NBA TEAMS...SO BETTER FOR US..........BUT THEY DON`T HAVE THE LUXURY OF YAO, AND TRACY REQUIRING DOUBLE TEAMS EVERY TIME DOWN THE COURT....SO PICKUP AN EXTRA "SOMETHING" JUST FOR TRADING PICKS WITH THE TEAM WHERE WE CAN STILL GET JJ, AND GET THE MOST FROM ANOTHER TEAM THAT WANTS TO MOVE UP... ACTUALLY WATCHING THE PLAYOFFS, HOUSTON IS BETTER BUILT FOR THE PLAYOFFS THAN THE REGULAR SEASON WHEN THE GAMES GET TIGHT, AND YAO,TRACY AND JJ WOULD KILL THE MAVS/SPURS/PHEONIX...IN THE HALF COURT TYPE GAMES WHERE IT GETS REAL BUTTON DOWN THE HATCHES AND EXECUTE IN HALF COURT THAT ULTIMATELY DECIDES THE PIVOTAL CLOSE GAMES IN A SERIES.
I LIKE HIM MORE NOW....HE TAKES ON CHALLENGES...HE KNOWS HE CAN FLAT OUT PLAY....THATS WHAT THE ROCKETS NEED SOME FIRE!!!!UNLIKE THE BULLS TWO 7-FOOTERS WHO HAVE THE FIGHT OF DOGS ABOUT THEIR WEAKNESSES....THEY DON`T CARE ENOUGH TO WORK ON A DIET, OR DEVELOP AN OUTSIDE 15 FOOT SHOT....GIVE ME SOMEONE LIKE STOCKTON,,,WHO WANTS TO PROVE YOU WRONG....JEFF HORNICECK DID PRETTY GOOD FOR BEING A 6,4 INCH NON PHYSICAL 2....HE EVEN GUARDED CLYDE....IT WAS A CHORE...BUT HE WAS ABLE TO STAY ON THE COURT...AND IF THE JAZZ DIDN`T CHOKE THEY COULD HAVE BEAT THE ROCKETS IN THAT SERIES THAT WAS DECIDED IN UTAH! BRING ON JJ, OR I`M GOING TO BE PISSED OFF AT JVG, AND CD....I`LL FREAKIN BUY MY OWN TEAM....I COULD RUN THE ROCKETS BETTER THAN THESE SO-CALLED PRO`S....HOW THE HELL CAN YOU NOT DRAFT REGGIE BUSH...WHAT A MORON CASSERLY IS? i WANT A REDO DRAFT....BY THE TEXANS ON THE BASIS OF MENTAL INSANITY ON THE PART OF THE GM...LOL
YES, I AM AFTER BUSH....................AND WATCHING THESE OTHER TEAMS OFFENSES.....JVG NEEDS TO STOP BEING SO STUBBORN...IT TAKES HIM 3 YEARS TO LEARN HOW TO REPOST YAO........I WOULD HAVE TAUGHT THAT STRATEGY IN 3 WEEKS AFTER WATCHING THE STUPID MICKEY MOUSE ATTEMPTS TO DEFEND YO....JVG IS SLOW TO SAY THE LEAST...HE IS STUCK IN THE 1980`S....IT TOOK HIM 2 YEARS TO LEARN THAT TAKING CHARGES WAS FROWNED UPON BY THE LEAGUE OFFICE/REFS....
I don't see why you take Redick over Novak on this rockets team. Redick can hit some contested three's, but Novak's shooting is just insane when open. 47% of his three's, 97% from the FT line. Believe me, Novak will get all the open three's he wants here; our shooters aren't really contested. He doesn't have to hit the hard three's, he just has to hit the open ones. Once he gives our stars space, they'll be the ones taking the shots instead of him. I'm not really fond of either guy, but for pure shooting I'd take Novak.
JJ Redick is not a bad fit OFFENSIVELY for the Rockets. We already have the best inside threat in the NBA with Yao and the one of the 3 best wing guys in the NBA in McGrady. Those guys are going to be most of the offense, probably 55 ppg combined, so they don't need another big time scorer. They need somebody to hit open jumpers. JJ Redick can do that. The only way teams shut him down was by focusing their entire defense on him. All of his shots on the Rockets would be wide open, he could probably put about 15 ppg on the Rockets. However at only 6'4 195 and unathletic he scares me too much on defense. He would be destroyed by guys like Kobe or DWade or Stackhouse. He really creates a liablity on defense. It seems we really need a balanced player that can defend guys like that so Tracy can save his energy for offense. Rudy Gay is the perfect player for this team, Brandon Roy and maybe Brewer are OK, JJ would be a great 2nd rounder
