What about Gerald Wallace? That guy is an absolute stud. I would sign him and trade Battier for a PF if we could....
The Rockets need to bring in Adelman, then reunite Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson. Until then, championship talk is just meaningless.
i posted this in another thread but i'm not sure where it goes so... here's my idea for "where do we go from here?" a few reasons that TRADING YAO for KG would be a great idea (IMO) or possible. 1 - the league has changed a bit and is more based upon speed. kg is must quicker and faster than yao. if you don't believe me, please review games 1-7 rockets vs jazz. yao's lack of speed greatly hurt our team's overall performance on offense and defense. there are no speed drills that yao can do to change that guys. he is slow and ALWAYS will be. 2 - kg is a better all around player than yao. i give yao the edge as far as the "true" back to the basket game, but garnett has one as well. but garnett also has a perimeter game. i give yao a slight edge in patrolling the paint because his sheer size scares opposing players from coming into the lane. but we can all agree that kg is far superior rebounder and shot blocker. kg can score in a variety of ways as well. yao's game is fairly one dimensional. 3 - a man of yao's size CANNOT sustain a long career before his frame gives out on him. (granted this is a guesstimate on my part) yao has already had a few injury problems, but i give him credit for working hard to come back each time. i would venture to say that both yao and kg have about the same amount of "good years" left in them... almost like 1 year of mileage on yao is like 3 years of mileage for kg. yao may be an excpetion to this line of thinking, but i just don't see a guy of his size playing more than 10 years before he just simply peters out. (again IMO) 4 - kg and tmac provide versatility in regards to building a team, playing lineups, etc. since yao is so one dimensional (don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT dimension!) it allows teams to hone in defensively. utah demonstrated this in the series. it's easier to stop what you know is coming... wouldn't you agree? yao also plays only one position. this leaves the rockets in a bind when trying to match other teams lineups. IMO it would be easier to find guards, forwards, or centers (probably hybrid forwards) to plug in around kg and tmac for cheap(er). those are just my thoughts guys. i know alot of us are very partial to yao, but i think he: a - exceeded our expectations as far as developing b - i honestly don't see him improving c - his value is as high as it will ever be d - a team "like" minnesota is more likely to make a move for yao to start over, sell tickets, etc... maybe we work with a team like seattle or boston to build around mcgrady? e - i believe it will be easier to find pieces to fit around kg and tmac than yao and tmac. whether yao stays or goes i will always be a rockets fan. i just think this might be the best way to improve the team.
Maybe the entire rockets including both Yao and Tmac should go to jail, that is their last hope of getting a killer's mentality/instinct.
developing the bench is the most realistic thing we can do. that and getting a new head coach, and drafting whoever's the best on the board. no its not possible to get KG and les wont do it because he's in it for the marketing. no we wont get SF (but hey, i like the idea too) and hell no we wont get mike bibby. we got alot of "one dimensional players" on the bench that could round out alot better with a new coach. vspan's outside shooting and perimeter defense, kirk defense, head's handling, juwans...oh hell he cant get better, novak's defense. list goes on. those guys got alot of work to do and need to ball it up in the summer league.
haha wow.. i didnt start this post to talk bout trading players. i simply gave my thought out and wanted to see what people would think. talkin bout stupid trades like yao for kg or t-mac for kg is utter non-sense. like pickin big FA is non-sense. just got to hope for the best
Grant Hill is a shell of his former self and has said he's probably going to retire now. Some of the crap I hear on here is amazing.
Living in LA, I would love to have Yao play alongside Kobe. I can finally root for my hometown team. Kobe and Yao would be really INSANE. I've had the distinction on following the Rockets as a casual fan and not a hardcore fan so I feel I can be pretty objective in my opinions. I know a lot of myopic fans think McGrady is on the same level as Kobe, but these people are just blind. I'm a Vice President of one of the biggest banks in the nation so I think of myself as a numbers/results guy. I don't really care HOW something is done but only if the THING is actually done. Kobe gets it DONE. Case in point, people on this board is saying Boozer dominated Yao in the series, but if you look at the stats Yao: 24.4pts/g 12rbs/g 10.6 FTA/g Boozer: 23pts/g 10.8rbs/g 4.6 FTA/g I don't see domination at all by those numbers and in fact shows that Yao had the upper hand especially Free Throw wise. Yao was causing havoc throughout and was getting his against multiple defenders. While Van Gundy stuck with mainly 1-on-1 with Boozer. Yao getting points on the Free Throw line is much better than a regular bucket because it puts the other team in foul trouble. Most people here would be horrible business people because all they see is the flash but not the substance. It doesn't surprise me Enron came from there, people got caught up with the easy money but never actually saw the substance behind it (or lack thereof in that case) So Morey, please get it done and send Yao to the Lakers. LA needs a few more banners.... And by the way, I thought it was valiant for Yao trying to guard Boozer. Can you imagine if McGrady had to guard a guy like Nash or Parker. Guys that are smaller but ALOT quicker than him? I'm sure those guys would make McGrady look a little slow also. Bottom line, if Yao was matched up against Boozer, then he won his personal battle (check the stats/results), it's the other guys that didn't show up. Williams beat Alston McGrady beat Fisher Kirilenko beat Battier Boozer beat Hayes Yao beat Okur (this was the most lopsided matchup)
We still need a 4 - a banger to support Yao. I'm not even looking for Otis Thorpe here-just someone to bang -rebound and block shots. Someone physical. Look at how Yao got elbowed, pushed, and knocked around and abused by Boozer. Mehmet always had his hand- elbow in Yao's back. In such a physical series - this weak spot was glaring...... That one move would open Yao's game up so much. I do not know how to acquire a decent 4- as we have 2 more years obligated to Juwan Howard. With our new GM and Dennis Lindsay helping him with basketball knowledge- I'm confident they can upgrade the position without bankrupting the payroll. I'm happy with our point. I know Rafer is villified by some here- whatever.....Rafer can bring the ball up the floor quick and distribute the ball- I'm fine with him. BAttier has worked out better than I expected. Do not trade Tracy or Yao. Tracy's trade value is low right now. Keep Yao - because he is a quality big man. We are not that far away from being a contender.....
I guess it all comes down to finding the right trades/signings. Upgrades on PG and PF will instantly turn this team into a major/undisputable contender. Hell, even the PG upgrade alone would do it. This is not bashing on Rafer since i think he would be a great backup and I think his game would be better coming off the bench/with less mins. I think the first thing is obviously the coach situation to be cleared up, after that, the coach and management team need to find and manage to achieve the most appropriate signings. The way I see it, I've already mentioned in another thread who should go this year, the rockets will probably have about 16 mill per year for salaries for those 2 positions and at least 2 lesser signings. I think it's achievable to get something good happening with careful planning and thought, but the first step is obvious to see whats going on with the coach. The second should be the PG upgrade which should make the team more attractive to potential PF signings. Then, we could look at the rest
This is a smart post. Eddie Curry in New York really had bad statistics before the insertion of Power Forward David Lee. Lee really helped with rebounding, box outs, and forcing opposing teams to pay attention to him while drawing attention away from Curry. Curry then began to put up monster points after Lee started to play. I also noticed Curry's numbers really fell when Lee was out because he was injured or because Isiah was too stupid to play him. Curry by the way can put up Yao like numbers and his rebounds are low. That should tell you what is happening to the Big Man's position in today's game. The most obvious upgrade for the Rockets is a big bruising All-Star Calibur Power Forward. If you can't get that, then go for a guy like David Lee or Chris Wilcox from Seattle. High efficiency Power Forwards that can rebound the like nothing else.
Read the post, they're dumping Camby for salary cap reasons. Meaning they only want to get rid of his contract. Grant Hill is pondering retirement if he knows he won't be effective, and for a chance to be a quality piece on a championship caliber team he'll sign for the low.
i hear you. if we don't do a yao for kg, then we obviously need a deeper more talented bench and supporting players. i think we could even pry a better supporting cast away from minnesota too in this kind of deal. i think the rockets will have have more success through trading than through free agency because of their current cap situation. it's not like i think yao suck or that we couldn't win with him, i just think kg would improve the talent and versatility of the team. and if we lose a center and gain a pf, obviously other moves would have to be made. i just didn't go that far. SA built their team on amazing scouting and a little luck. they signed parker and ginobli to long term deals before they ever BECAME great. the rockets can't draft or scout i guess, so it ain't happening. and the team with duncan and robinson was simple to put together when you have the number #1 pick. if you think we can win like the spurs with our current cap situation, you are mislead my friend. so we gotta do it another way at this point. and i see your counter points as semi-valid, but yao is NOT shaq and never will be. comparing the two is insane. and my point was really towards centers of great size such as 7-4 or taller. sorry i didn't explain. oh and your point about miami last year? ... yeah they were knocked out in the first round this year plus eddie jones... so no dice there.
NEW: Starting Point Guard Starting Power Forward Rafer and Chuck are backups. Head is strictly a shooter. More athletic backup 2. KEEP YAO, T-MAC, BATTIER
1. New coach. 2. No need to trade anyone, just get rid of Sura, Bonzi, maybe JL3 and develop Vspan, Novak and sign a few FA. That's will guarandee we go deep.. 3. refs, we need do something, maybe ask some Chinese company invite them have a vocation in China?.... they treat us really not good.
