I doubt anyone is willing to read yet another post about how much the Rockets messed up in this trade, or how the addition of Shane Battier and the subsequent subtraction of Stromile Swift (more playing time for Chuck Hayes!) will pretty much guarantee us getting significantly better. Still, a true fan comments on everything with regards to their team, and I must share my thoughts here, after taking quite a bit of time to calm myself down, and while I see little upside to the trade, at least I'm not planning to go and burn my Rocket Memorabilia just yet. I feel like I did after the 2004 playoffs ended for Houston. No, wait, tonight is different. That 40 point loss in the most relevant game of the new millenium was a slow death; Prometheus having his innards ripped out by birds of prey. I knew it was over by the end of the third, and yet I forced myself to watch the disgrace, all the way until that final Darrell Armstrong 3 pointer to round off the rout. Why? Because I knew the Rockets would be back, but not for another 6 months. After that game, I looked at the despair here, at RealGM, at even the damn ESPN boards; a virtual reality self-torture, knowing the path is darkest before the dawn, and that with the franchise turning the corner, it would be so much more satisfying to remember how far the team had come. Today's news was the 99 hit stomach/groin/face/groin/groin/groin/groin punch super combo. Throughout the day, I had resisted the urge to listen to anything about the draft (Hawaii time, so the Draft started at 1PM here) during work, all set to see the glorious debut of a new Rocket era, ready to cherish that moment when whomever we drafted put on that draft cap. Turning on the car, I can't help but get a few snippets of draft recap from the radio station; fortunately the drunken idiots have somehow left out the Rockets from their discussions; all I hear before I turn it off is Andrea Bargnani is first, Chicago did extremely well with Sefolsha and Thomas (these guys are so buzzed they can't even say Thabo's name) and Portland traded all over the board, eventually picking up LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. My heart sank at that point, but then I hear that they traded Randy Foye to get him. All of a sudden there's hope! One of Morrison or Gay fell! I knew that there was no way Charlotte would take Gay, and there was no way Atlanta would draft another small forward, and all of a sudden, visions of the Gay Head Hookups were flashing in front of my eyes. Now all I prayed about was that the Rockets weren't looking at J.J. Redick. 45 minutes later, I get home after suffering horrific traffic, and pop in the tape. 45 more minutes later, I'm floored. Ric Bucher, the one guy on ESPN with true Houston scoops has just told me that the Rockets are going to move the pick for Shane Battier! I'm so amazed that they're going to trade away Rudy Gay that I'm in denial for the entirety of the 5 minutes Houston is on the clock. It's that sinking feeling again, and to put the period at the end of the sentence (the death sentence), Bucher states that the Rockets want to move Tracy back to the 2 guard, and that Houston wanted to get someone who could play small forward, something they felt Rudy Gay couldn't. I'm in quiet rage at this point, thinking to myself, "wasn't the knock on Rudy that he couldn't handle the ball well enough to be a 2, but was a prototypical 3?" I'm trying to go to my happy place, but now Shooter McGavin, Jerry West and Bears have invaded it, as Rudy Gay tears off the Rocket Red and White and puts on the Grizzlies Blue and Darker Blue, while my Grandma's face suddenly turns into Josh Howard's ugly mug, with Dirk's Goatee and Mark Cuban's hair. 3 hours later. I write this post, feeling like I just gave away a voucher for a PS3 for an X-BOX, because my friends are comfortable and satisfied with the system, it is available immediately, and the green and black matches my couch and carpet. Undoubtedly I made my place better, but perhaps not even one year from now, I'll be looking at the other guy and wondering why I did such a stupid thing. I'm not concerned about losing Stromile. Obviously, we should have dealt him to New Jersey, just like we should have traded Eddie Griffin for Rashard Lewis, or even Eddie Griffin for Shareef Abdur Rahim, but I knew that his value wasn't nearly as high as most thought; he's a 10-5 player that takes away from the team when he's on the court, while Battier, as average and unsexy as he is, is a 10-5 player who adds everything that doesn't result in stats, or individual awards, or playoff wins, or even regular season wins early in his career. This is a bad, bad trade, because it's the type of move desperate and poorly managed teams make, and I'll bet that even Bill Simmons will rip us a new one in his NBA Draft Diary, despite his absolute hatred of Rudy Gay. Shane Battier was a player I thought was untradeable, because he meant so much to the Grizzlies that someone would have to ridiculously overpay for him, and he just wasn't that desireable, as good of a role player as he is. Guess I was wrong. But true fans and true diehards will move on from this draft debacle; what is sports if not for following a team even though logic says you shouldn't? Sports is love in another form, and even when your significant other happened to blow your entire Christmas Bonus on a Buddha statue from "China" that "fit" so well into that empty corner of the living room, when you had your heart set on season tickets, you've got to forgive their irrationality and live with their ups and downs. Because you fell in love with them at some point, for some reason, and somewhere, deep down, that spark remains. (Though I think there might be an old, worn down, beat up, stubborn tumor or two in the brain (trust) that may need excising.) I love the Rockets. I hate them today, and I'll hate them until July 12 and beyond, but I know that when they toss up that ugly new ball, I'll be sitting somewhere arguing that Shane Battier is a gift from God, and cheer when Rudy Gay puts up a 3-15 night in a Grizzly loss, while Stromile makes Darius Miles look tame. It's illogical, its spiteful, its crazy and completely insane. It's Love. 14 Days 'til Rudy Gay is gone.
i was shocked, and horrified, when i saw the trade that had initially been reported. believe it or not, i was happier with it now that Swift is gone. he was a dead weight, and thatnk the Lord he's out of here. obviously Brewer and Carney didnt rate with management. they never did strike me as the kind of guys Van Gundy and Dawson would chase though. I figured when Bargnani was off the board we would trade... but Battier? surely we could of done better. i almost wish another crap season now just to REALLY shake things up - clearly this season just gone wasnt bad enough.
Gosh, this the sort of comment on the media that really hurt a Rockets' fan. Sigh ................. Link
W8 people it still seems to be rumor the Trade wasn't approve by the league yet, at least it is not mention in the NBA trade page. Who knows it might just not happen at all.
Nah. The trade's gotta wait till either July 1st or July 12th (I've seen both dates) to be official due to Battier's contract status.
Jerry West has pretty much confirmed it without confirming it. Here are the email addys you'll want to know: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=114474
Then there is still a chance. Even though I think Battier is underated we can still get a better deal for Gay.
yes, ESPN guys say so... so it must be.... Shane freakin Battier... now T-mac will never win a ring. Yao will win a ring (after mgmt finally gets it together) maybe the last years of his 30's.....
"Jerry West grabs the Grizzlies future with draft day trade!" "Stro and Gay for Battier...can't be true...can't be true. This is a PMI trade if I ever seen one" -MemphisX
I was just seeing if it was still true or I was having some sort of freakish nightmare. It looks like it's sticking.
Oh I don't doubt Battier might be a missing piece for the Rockets... BUT WE HAVE MORE THAN JUST ONE HOLE TO PLUG! What's worse, to get this "missing piece", we just opened up ANOTHER hole! Who's gonna backup 34 year old, 1 block per ten games Juwan now? 6'6" Chuck Hayes? Ryan Bowen?????
I can't sleep because I keep thinking about this idiotic trade. Why did we just trade our top draft pick for an average player who plays the same damn position as the best player on our team?
Im holding hope that they will fire van gundy and CD for being stupid then recind their offer to trade. the thing I have a problem with is Swift only had a few games where he played with Tmac and Yao and that was at the beginning of the season when he was new!!! so why not see what happens with tracy back on the court. plus we lose a backup 5. I would be more happy getting rid of Juwan he isnt able to shoot that well any more has a bloated contract and is highly unathletic. wtf is the management thinking with this trade!!! and i thought they were trying to move up in the draft!! at any rate if this trade goes through i just hope they trade juwan too and get someone a little better.
Exactly what I've been trying to say. It's like your car won't run, and you take it to the repair shop. The mechanic says you need a new set of spark plugs. You ask how much, he says "A million bucks", and you pay him anyway.
