Unlike a lot of the GARM, I am not impressed with the job CD has done. He has gotten nothing to speak of with our MLE the last few years, his eye for talent in the draft has been so so. Luther is decent but Novak is a specialist spot up shooter at best, he'll never be a starter in the NBA. The Battier trade may be beneficial this year but Rudy Gay is going to be better than Battier in 2-3 years. And if CD wasn't going to draft Gay, that's an indictment in itself if Gay turns out to be the near all-star/all-star I think he will become.
True, Snyder hasn't been very effective. And yet, he's been more effective than Bonzi. That's the sad truth. Bonzi simply wasn't a good fit with our team. He was always going to be in a limited role, and it was his responsibility to accept that and play it as efficiently as possible. He had his chances to help the team and maybe earn more playing time, but he squandered them by not being in shape, having a crummy attitude (beginning of the season), getting injured, and not playing well when he got his minutes.
You know... I saw on Rockets.com that he was placed back on the inactive list, but I'm surprised to not see any new articles on chron.com about this since last night. Feigen says he could be released within 24 hours, but I haven't heard anything new than this speculation. So for now, he's still on the team. This is much wishful thinking on my part, but maybe JVG will talk to him to raise his spirits? JVG has done this to T-Mac a number of times. Hell, JVG went to T-Mac's house last year when he was going through mental issues. This year, JVG always talks about T-Mac's "greatness" and told T-Mac he needs to have more fun out there. Anyway, I'm hoping JVG persuades Bonzi that he can contribute on the team, and he plays tomorrow. Again, wishful thinking on my part.
I think CD did fine. Can't blame CD for Novak pick. Getting a specialist who can contribute is very good for a 2nd round pick. Of course Novak still needs to prove himself. For Battier trade, that's a win now move, and that's the right move for CD and JVG. Imagine Gay is drafted and becomes a solid starter in 3 years or so, all-star at some point of his career. But does that do any good to JVG and CD? They'd be long gone at that time, and JVG is the one who gets canned if Rox missed playoffs this year, injury or not. You think he'd care about Rox future when his job is on the line? Besides, Rox's best chance of winning Championship is when Tmac is still healthy.
Yeah, but the difference is negligible. Bonzi had alot more upside if he coulda stayed on the court longer than 8 games in a row than Snyder will ever have. I for one still support keeping him on the playoff roster. JVG never digs that deep anyway and he would provide some insurance in case of an injury. Besides, I thought he played pretty well in the loss to Golden State. True his stats weren't great, but he was instrumental in the late surge making some hustle plays and grabbing some key boards. He got pulled and the Rockets fire was out again. Wells just needed consistent playing time and the turnovers would have gone down.
I'll have a big helping of that crow. I thought it would be great to have another experienced player with a scorer's mentality. Plus, you know what they always say: You can't teach width.
Damn I sure hope we do win now, because we're not in a very good position to win later... T-Mac and Yao aren't getting any younger, especially T-Mac. He's already at the stage of his career where he has to coast until the playoffs. At least that's what it looks like. Gay might be better than Battier in a couple seasons, so that trade would be a moot point if we don't win now. We have not developed any of our rookies, so the future in them is looking bleak. So... Houston Rockets: Your 2006-2007 World Champions. I can see it already.
Eh. I wish the organization would come clean and put someone on the radio to clear the entire situation up. There's just something about hiding behind the "an insider with the franchise with knowledge of the decision etc" line that is weak. Especially when the same Chron article has JVG saying he knew nothing new and CD declining to say anything until he spoke to Bonzi first. If he's done why not just say it straight up? It's a failure, no doubt, and considering this franchise's history with these type of things it would be fresh for them to just come out and say it didn't work out. Rather than hiding like they did after the Battier deal until all the knee-jerk negativity blew over. It really is a displeasure how distant this club can be with its fans when they most need the support. I don't know if I'm the first to feel this way but it definitely would be fresh to see a more honest approach without so much ambiguity leaving you without much understanding of what really is happening. Maybe this sort of thing is needed to protect the principles involved but it's really annoying.
I really had high hopes for the Bonze. But I guess a stubborn, no-nonsense coach and a sulky out-of-shape player did not make for a good mix. Man, he could've been a big boost in the playoffs.
whomever Bonzi is playing for next season, make sure you guys living in Houston and can attend the game do so, and give him the Stro Swift treatment x 100.
I think alot of it had to do with JVG... Bonzi seems like a Tmac type of player... (coddling required) but bottom line as a player you need to be accountable... for your own actions/playing.... especially if you are playing for a bigger contract next year... I was one for keeping Bonzi just too see what he would do in the Playoffs... thinking then was, even if we traded Bonzi would we have gotten fair value back... no with 20-20 hindsite...getting a draft pick in the 15th round would have been better...trade option...
You guys are too hard on Bonzi. When will you realize he took a leave of absence to get that mole cut off his face...sheesh.
Bonzi has to show a professional attitude about showing up to work in your best condition. He never looked in shape and it didn't appear that he worked on anything during the season except for nightclubs. He was slow and a liability on the defensive end. I expected big things, however, it never materialized and it not time to move on. Kirk isn't getting any run either.
To me, an intriguing postscript to the Bonzi affair is that if we release him, we owe him next year's salary (2mm plus?). Although the fact that Bonzi can opt out and pursue his own deal in the summer is well known, what if he doesn't opt out and tries to stay on the Rockets? I believe the Rockets are counting on him opting out to save 2million, but what if NO ONE wants to take a chance on him and his agent suggests he stays. I guess we would have to do a buyout or something. I know this is all quite unlikely, but just thought about it a minute and thought, Oh Crap! What if this Bonzi drama isn't over yet?
Come on, you don't think there are several desperate teams and/or coaches who do well with head cases who wouldn't love to have Bonzi for $3-$5 a year? And something tells me this time around, Bonzi won't laugh at the offers like he did last summer. Bonzi Wells is now an ex-Rocket in my eyes. We'll never see him straining the seams of that red and silver uniform again.
This is kinda going off topic, but this opinion really bothers me. CD not doing a good job? Do you remember who was on our team before the McGrady trade? It was pretty much Francis, Mobley, Yao and nothing but crap. Now look at us! And most of our guys we have acquired from trades. The Battier trade was essentially an even trade. Swift isn't getting PT in ****ing Memphis, so he's pretty much just salary, so it was pretty much Battier for Gay. I think both teams got what they wanted. We desperately needed at spotup shooter and perimeter defender (and big guard in general), Memphis needed a guy that would eventually turn into a good player. Gay wouldn't have averaged even close to what he did this year on the Rockets. Sure, Gay would've been a decent player in a couple of years, but in a couple of years Tmac and Yao are past their primes and it doesn't matter anymore. The McGrady trade was huge. Not only did we get one of the top 5 players in the league out of it. But the "scrubs" we got from the deal were used to get guys like Jon Barry, Mike James, ect. Of course, Mike James eventually was used to get Rafer Alston. And I think we can say we came out ahead in that trade considering James isn't even a starter anymore. Now lets look at the draft. Head isn't anything THAT good. But at the 24th pick... thats a gem. He's rated top 10 in his draft class. Novak is nothing to write home about, but keep in mind he came from the second round. CD has been doing a relatively good job especially considering what other teams have been doing in those years. Not every team improves their roster every year. I think its safe to say that over the past 3 years, we have improved ours every year.
