Why were Rudy and CD so eager to get this deal done?

....because it makes the team better?!! Also, adding Rice is probably a more important piece than re-signing Moochie (as much as I like Moochie). Now we can hardline Fegan.

Remember, Fegan was the leader of the pickpocketing boys in Oliver Twist. Moochie is Oliver. He too will get away.

 

You know, Shandon can shoot quite a bit better than most of you assume. No, he's not a natural, and yes, he shot horribly last year, but the two years before that he was quite decent.

The year before, he shot .47% from the field and 35% from the 3pt line. Not great, but a very credible threat. He shot 77% from the free throw line.

Last year was an abberation, in my opinion, due to his depression concerning the death of his mother and his lack of fit with the Rockets offense. Perhaps it was best that he left, but I think some people are mischaracterizing him.

 

His 47% FG% is more of an indication of the type of shots Shandon took, which were mainly layups. Most top of the line shooters tend to have a sub 45% FG% because they take more jumpshots.

FT% doesn't indicate whether a guy can shoot or not either. Shawn Bradley shot 78% from the FT line last season, I guess he's a credible threat as well, .

Shandon's hasn't really taken many 3 pointers before he joined Houston, so his 3pt% from his Utah days shouldn't be counted due to lack of attempts.

So he's had 1 bad year at shooting and 1 average year at shooting. He's either a very average shooter, or a very bad shooter. You can find average shooters anywhere for a lot cheaper than 42 million dollars...

 

This is kind of off-topic, but the more I think of it, given the Glen Rice situation, the more I agree with people who have stated that the Rockets didn't feel they didn't need Webber after acquiring Eddie Griffin, they just didn't see it happening with a very real risk of losing Taylor and maybe some of the other players for nothing.

The reason why I feel this way is that the alternative view held by many, (that with Griffin, there just are too many people who need the ball to be effective,) just doesn't hold with the addition of Rice to the team. Granted, a shooter who can receive kick-outs to the perimeter is different from a power forward who'll need and should get touches in the post (although I'm not trying to reduce Webber to a simple low-post player and Rice to a set shooter by any means). But where before we talked about the 'problem' of too many starters needing to touch the ball to contribute, now this same 'problem' of too many scorers is one of the biggest reasons for optimism as we enter this upcoming season.

I don't mean to ignore factors like Rice's significantly smaller contract to Webber's both in length and amount, Shandon Anderson's readiness to leave, etc., but if Webber's abilities, particularly offensive, were viewed in any way as less important to the Rockets with the drafting of Griffin, I don't see why we'd have gone to the lengths of adding another scorer to our team in Rice.

I think I still support the Rockets' decision not to pursue Webber, but I'm much more sympathetic to those few who didn't understand why much of the BBS (including myself) became cool about acquiring Webber after the draft.

 

Why does Shandon get so much respect, his A game is Rice's C game.
I really never saw how Shandon was an improvement over Rodrick Rhodes.

 

The Shandon that played for the Jazz had an offensive game; they one we put on the floor didn't. Why? The system, I guess.

 

Do you think Fegan would sacrifice (let him be renounced, meaning the best he can get is a MCE deal) Shandon to get Hakeem more money? Doesn't seem likely.

The way things happened was the way both Hakeem and Shandon could get the most money. Fegan did his job as an
agent, if it's get his clients the most money. I personally feel there's nothing we could do, our hands were tied either way.

The way things transpired, the choice came down to Mo or Hakeem, and the Rockets chose Mo.

 

Great thread guys, man diamonds can be found in the rough.

Fit and the Team Strategy for me appear to be why RT and Cd want to get this done.

Everyone in the League know Steve and Cat can't be stopped penetrating 1 on 1, the other players on the court need to be able to punish the defense when they collapse, or help or double or play zone to stop Steve and Cat's pentration.

Shandon slashing just gets in the way.

Assuming his foot will be ok, my guess it will but we won't see much of Glenn 20 in the preseason, then who can double the guy guarding Mo - No, can they leave Glen on the 3 pt line alone - No, well maybe the opposing centre will leave Cato or Collier, but that leaves them exposed for the Dunk or Offensive Boards.

We don't have the massive front to play a starting 3 guard line-up ( that is Steve, Cat and Shandon). Rice has the 3 body and his defense is a big jump up from Walt, whose shot seems to disappear quicker than HP's moniker.

Now if we can just add a Centre (when did everyone decide Cato needs a 13 chance????) we might be ok on the boards and able to stop opposing centres scoring 50.

Just a quick question for everyone, would you rather play in system that isn't a perfect fit or Ride the pine????