I was at the Toyota Center and heard all the fans boooo along with myself. I must say at first I was not pleased with the trade. I have been a Rockets fan since day 1. The organization has done many things that have upset me in the past (i.e: trade Richard Jefferson and 2 other picks for just Eddie Griffin)...we all know how that turned out. Richard Jefferson could have very well filled the void that was left in our roster. Trading Gay-Swift doesn't make sense initially, but I'm thinking the Rockets are trying to free up some space so they can possibly try to make an attempt to either package a deal to another team or maybe even just have a legit shot at picking up Peja Stojakovic and/or Frickin' Freaky Mike James. It seems a bit of a reach for the Rockets. But if we are to be angry, we should be upset with the Atlanta Hawks. They screwed us over. Why waste the #5 pick on Shelden Williams. I feel the Hawks should have drafted Brandon Roy for us at #5 and we should have taken Shelden Williams at #8 and the swapped the two picks. After all, if Atlanta didn't take him at #5, then neither Minnesota nor Boston would take him at #6 or #7 because they have no need for big men. That would have made more sense and not upset the fans so much. But I guess, that goes along with the philosophy of why help other teams...be selfish. The one thing that upsets me the most about the Rockets organization is how boring the team is. We are never willing to make big risks, settle with what we have and work with the pieces. Although I hate the Mavericks deeply, I do respect their front office. They have done a great job molding the team into what it is today. The Rockets have no depth at bench. What can Mutombo provide? Nothing. He is ancient and cannot contribute. This season he proved he is losing his 'touch' given that he ever had any. Steve Novak is a great shooter from Marquette, but knowing how big a fan Van Gundy is of young players, we will probably bench him this season. Furthermore, what is up with the freaking Toyota Center. That place is so boring compared to other NBA arenas. Other NBA arenas (Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls) have cool things inside their arena. All we have are the toyota cars that we see on commercials every other commercial. All we have are fat people waiting in 40 minute lines for $2 nachos and sodas. For those of you who were wondering what the big surprise was...well here it is..What was it? It were stupid season tickets Jeff Van Gundy got. At the draft party, there were supposed to give locker room tours. But I might add, they failed to mention on the website that they would close them at 6 PM (30 minutes after the stupid draft party began). The draft day was a dissappointment to me. It showed the Rockets are trying to hard to be a lot like other NBA teams, but failed miserably. As far as this '06-'07 season is concerned, look for Tracy McGrady to whine about his back again. Back problems are chronic and they only worsen as you age. Yao Ming has shut all his critics up and played ball. He is about the only Rocket who has done that. And for all else, I hope the Rockets can get that spark which Bob Sura provided for us two seasons ago. You can expect Daryl Morey to change things dramatically next season as he is much younger than Carroll Dawson. I have a feeling Morey will make this team into a much younger and deeper team. CD has made some good moves throughout his tenure as GM but has also made many bone headed moves.
well as long as you had a good time seriously though, i really dont like going to the toy box. im from a soccer (futbol) background where "expressing" yourself at games is par for the course. over there i feel i should apologize to the person in front of me every time i cheer
I like the deal to much to players that don't have passion is bad for a team and if is two of them is fewer IMO we get a good shoter that can hit the trees and defender that can be as small foward and shooting guard and pass well the ball i would like more if Mike killer and juwon howard is add to the deal but.... if this trade is oficial?, the free agent gona be huge this year if not i don't know what the rockets gona do
I think battier can be far better in houston then he was in memphis. He is also the classic guy who is far more valuable then his stats show with defense, deflections, hustle plays, and leadership. As for saying gay is 10 times better is absurd. Right now you can say gay might become 10 times better but who knows how long it will take if ever. Honestly I see gay being a little like stro. Incredible athlete who will have some amazing dunks and blocks but not a consistent contributor. Gay will be better then stro, but I see him scoring 25 one night and 4 the next. I think the rox should have offered just gay for battier. I wonder if the griz wanted stro or the rox demanded he be included. either way i hope we can at least get the rights to alexander johnson in addition to battier.
Take a look at the stats of the 3 guys you mentioned, I threw in Mouring and Walker just fro kicks: Min PT AST REB FG% 3P% Jason Williams: 31.2 8.8 4.7 1.8 36 35 Posey: 29.3 7.3 0.3 6.0 42 40 Haslem: 29.2 6.5 0.3 6.2 50 0 Walker: 36.5 13.8 2.2 5.5 39 27 Mourning: (1.5 BPG) 11.0 4.3 3.2 0 69 0 Well if you combined their contributions, of course that would be the superstar to end all superstars, unfortuantely they are individually lacking. If you break down these guys' performances in the Dallas series Game by game, it is not too good. Jason Williams is the most consistent of the 3, scoring 12, 11, 12 the first 3 games of the series, he went for 6, 9, 3 in the last 3 games, going 1-7 in the last game. Seriously, Rafer Alston can match what he did. James Posey's stats are skewed by the game 3 blowout, as he went for 15 and 10 in that game. The rest of his games you ask? 2 7 4 6 10 pts scored, not too impressive right? Udonis Haslem is the strangest person of the 3, he had that huge last game, but really that was the only game that he showed up in! He scored 4 6 8 2 2 in the 5 games prior to game 6, he must have been saving himself. The most consistent Miami roleplayer you did not mention, Mr. Antoine Walker, with 5 double digit games. Bad Antoine only showed up in game 1 with 6 TOs, he had under 2 TO for the rest of the playoffs. Everybody loves Alonzo, he really plays his tail off for 10 mins a game. He had 3 good games in the series where he played 20 14 14 minutes. So Walker was the consistent roleplayer you were looking for, do you think Battier can do what Walker did? Personally I still can't figure out how Miami won. Besides Wade, nobody really had it going together, one guy would be hot and others would be cold. They had like 6 guys that would be hot and cold and somehow found the right combination of hot and cold to win 4. You have to take your hat off to Pat Riley for playing the right guys at the right times I guess. Either that or Wade is God disguised as D Wade.
Are you really concerned with Rudy Gay though? Even if he becomes a good player he's not a leader and that Memphis team will not contend. I hope that teams in our division make the playoffs, because next year's draft has real franchise players.
I am happy to have Battier on the Rcokets, but like everyone says we gave up too much for him. Hopefully we give them a little more like the TE and they S&T Bobby Jackson or D. Stoudamire. The trade wouldnt make sense if we don't get someone else as well. I wanna see how Battier plays with Tmac and Yao.
Like 99% of the Rockets fans i too was pissed off when I heard about the Gay-Swift for Battier trade. But this guy I know was in the lexus lounge where he got to talk with Rafer Alston about the draft and this proposed trade. Alston told him he's for the trade cuz Rudy Gay has some 'personal problems' that he's been dealing with for quite a while now. Personal problems...hmm...Does that ring a bell for anyone??? I've looked at this trade inside-out...i even signed that petition to keep Gay...but now i dont see this as such a bad thing. i still have jvg and cd though
The big difference is that Gay is fundamentally sound and has a great mid range jumper. Uconn breeds great NBA players. It's hard to imagine Gay being a flop or worse than Shane "10/5" Battier.
Why are you using the stats from the finals? That's not an apples to apples comparison. I don't think Battier can do what Walker did. As much as I dislike Walker the guy is incredibly talented (20/10 at one time). Unfortunately, Battier is more like 10/5 talent that gets the most out of his skills.
I think Battier can be better than Walker because of what he brings offensively and defensively. The only thing Walker is good at is chucking shots up. My nickname for him is "the law of 3-pointers" cause he takes about 5-8 per game. Sure he is alright at getting rebounds, but he has had only one season averaging more than 10 rebounds. Also, Battier has a better career field goal and 3 point % than Walker. And Battier is a better on ball defender than Wlaker. So in my opinion Ming/McGrady/Battier has the potential to be better than Shaq/Wade/Walker.
I love Battier for the Rockets as I think he is a perfect fit. I quite like the trade because this might make the management lok for a "real" power forward or at least a starter. But on the other hand we gave too much up to get Battier. We gave up a productive back up power forward and a potential star to get a very good role player. I wouldn't mind this trade as much if they added a guy like Warrick or Lowry.
I really hope that we aren't the answer to the trivia question about Rudy Gay.On the other hand Battier could be an important cog in a multiple title run here by our Rockets if the team can remain healthy.I just can't(or don't want to) beliieve this isn't being done in conjunction with plenty of other moves that will shore us up.I know this sounds strange right now,but I have more faith in CD than ever.
A couple more things....I agree that if it is Howard instead of Swift that the whole complexion of this deal changes. ...and from the way West talked,there seemed to be a basic agreement,but more to follow.At least that was my interpretation.
Also to put this in perspective,San Antonio lost Robinson to injury,picked up Duncan with the high pick and the rest is history.We missed out on the potential of Rudy Gay,but added a MAJOR piece to a team already possessing two superstars,setting us up.This a case of square peg square hole deal.Battier is a polished pro who D's up shoots well,and is schooled in fundamentals to the hilt.The goal is to win titles,and right now we have a high chance with Battier and additional moves. I was pissed at first,but see the genius in it now
You did not just compare the Spurs drafting Duncan to the Rockets trading for Battier did you? Tell me you didn't. Please, almighty, you just didn't.
It might be a win..win situation.Logo rolling the dice w/CD & co. taking the safe smart route to the trophy.
The comparable scenario is two teams with their superstars injured,getting a higher pick due to a lousy record,and capitlizing on that misfortune.
Face it,with a healthy Yao and TMac at 80 - 90 % the Rockets are a major threat.We are just filling in the blanks.
