I was up at the gym today when I ran into an old basketball coach of mine who has worked for the Rockets org for the past 14 years. I had seen him at the draft party and asked him some questions that any clutchfans.net reader would. I first touched on the Battier trade and if there was any chance there's another aspect of the trade we the fans don't know about. He said that what is being rumored (Battier for Swift+Gay) is exactly how its going to turn out (I was bummed), but he did defend the move by saying that Battier is very solid, and that Gay probably wouldn't have contributed this year anyways. He also said the Rocks MUST win now because we "have to strike while there's still an iron to strike" according to him. He then rambled on and mentioned that he thinks Mike James is a done deal and its only a matter of time before he's signed. On another note, he surprisingly said that hopefully Sura would be back next year. I was shocked; I told him everyone here thought Bobby was done. He said that Sura was rehabbing like crazy and that he's seen Sura really go at it in workouts with playing this season as his goal. Take this with a grain of salt, Sura is a professional athlete and isn't the type that would just give up and retire. Anyways, he said that if Sura was back, Rafer would definitely move to the bench. Ok, I know this is a long post, but he did have one more interesting tidbit he passed onto me. I asked him if the rumors that Les was going to sell the team was true. His kinda grimaced and said that there's no way that Les would sell: he loves his team and loves being the big dog. He always walks around and just talks bball with his employees. The reason everyone thinks he's going to sell is that he has a lot of disgruntled ex-employees who has ears in the media and tried to spin information that would lead to thinking Les was selling. Supposedly, Les is a cheap guy when it comes to his workers, always trying to replace them with cheap, just out of college grads. Whatever, he's a great owner in my book. I dont know how reliable this guy is, but it was just a convo at the gym so take it as you like.
I would like to believe Sura could help us but I don't. My mindset has Sura out of the picture and if he contributes it's an unexpected bonus.
I applauld Les on being a cheap owner and mistreats his employees, I've gained much more respect for him now.
Thanks for the post! I always enjoy these CC.net insider interactions... Wow, this surprises me... I would think that the best Sura could do would be to come off the bench. Rafer can and will average 8-9 assists per game as the starter for a healthy team, so I just don't see how you can relegate him to backup PG duty. I'm still not sure how Mike James fits into this, but at this point, I think I'd like to see MJ start at SG and then take all the backup PG minutes. Rafer's pass first mentality is a role that is sorely needed on this team. I guess that would leave backup SG minutes to Sura... Man, if Sura does come back strong and MJ signs, then the PG/SG situation will be up in the air.
Thanks that is interesting. If that is true I wonder how the rotation would be assuming we signed James PG-James-Alston SG-Sura - Head Would that mean Battier really does play PF.
I have been saying all along that Sura would be back and it appears that he will try and play again. Mike James is taking his time but I believe that he will sign on monday or tuesday. Dallas can give him money perhaps more money but with Terry,Harris,Stackhouse, and Howard THEY CAN'T GIVE HIM PLAYING TIME. In my eyes this puts Dallas out of the running. Go Rockets!!!
Thanks for the info. I think Les is the man. I think he's totally dedicated to winning. I don't think he's cheap at all like many posters on here do. Then again, I also think the Rockets are capable of no wrong. lol
I've actually heard this from a couple guys who have worked for the Rockets. I had a buddy who worked for them for a good while and I told him I was thinking about working for them when I get out of college, and he straight told me to look elsewhere. He said that people get canned and replaced all the time.
Thanks for the insider info. The part about Sura working out real hard and busting his ass to make a comeback seems spot on in terms of Sura's character. I just can't see him rolling over and retiring if there's even the slightest chance he could come back. Hell, I could see him being about 70% in terms of health and giving 110% effort and actually contributing to the team.
All the seemingly weird trade ideas that Rockets front office is having (taking in Battier and MJ) plus this statement (if true), point to only one thing: The management knows as a fact that one of our 2 stars (Yao and TMac) is definitely not going to last more than 2 years from now. That would explain why we are seeing all these trades that we think are ridiculous. That would explain why they see us needing to win now.
Drew thanks for the info man. the part about a return of our X-man bobby sura is awesom. i love sura, his energy and defense was our inspiration. i pray he'll be back.
Sura coming back may be what was behind JVG's comment about having 3 point guards. Sura, Rafer and James (hopeful). He doesn't want to leave Sura out and lower his moral and effort so he's always been included - while I have written him off. I'm still skeptical that he can return and if he does, that he'd be the same player we last saw. I hope he proves me wrong though.
