Some of us are hoping MJ will be a backup and our starting PG has yet to be acquired, ESPECIALLY if we trade Rafer. MJ as starter with V-Span/JL3 as backups is totally unacceptable.
I would do a Ridnour and wilcox for battier and head. Ridnour/James combo would be great. james is the scorer and ridnour is the playmaker.we also get wilcox in return.
A battier and rafer for ridnour and wilcox will match salary wise. then we can use Sura's salary,Kirk and v span to do the Artest deal.keep bonzi around and we have a good enough squd Ridnour/James SG:Tracy/Bonzi/Head SF:Artest/Bonzi PF:Wilcox/Hayes C:Yao/Deke/Jake
if battier is traded, and tmac moves to the sf, i'm pretty sure vspan will see time like 10-15 minutes, if hes worth those minutes. if not, rafer and james will just have to play more. players are worth the minutes, or not worth the minutes.
We also started Hayes over HuWon last year and look at the difference in their salary. and you can honestly cry me a river about VSpan, if he couldn't at least even compete with Luther for backup PG minutes last season, then maybe he's just not that good and we can get off his jock...PLEASE
Frankly I don't think that Rafer is going anywhere which means V-Span is expendable. You hear a lot about how Rafer is actually better in a high speed/transition offense - now I don't know if that's true or not, but I think he'll be around because that's the type of offense Adleman runs. There were rumors of V-Span, Snyder, Sura and our first round pick going to Sac for Artest - I think this trade just makes that trade all the more likely. I'd be pretty happy with that. The only problem is it means that Battier or Artest would have to play PF...I'm a little nervous about that. If we also got Bonzi back I think that would end up being a fairly formitable team. PG: Alston/James/Lucas SG: McGrady/Head SF: Artest/Wells/Novak PF: Battier/Hayes C: Yao/Mutumbo (assuming we resign him) But yes, we'd lack a lot of size at PF with that line up. Plus there are still a lot of "what ifs" in that scenario. But, they're saying more players might be added to the Howard/James trade...so we'll have to see. But, I can see V-Span's days being numbered here.
Boki the bench player? He's ok, but when you cant beat out Bowen, whats the problem. The one thing the euros are suppose to have on college players is that they are already pro's. Boki was suppose to be a ready made player and at most a good contibutor year 2. It has taken 5 years for him to find a role. If a guy that has taken 5 years to find a role after playing years of pro ball overseas, then i have a problem with that. V-Span should have at least threatened Rafer and head or lucas shouldn't even be in the picture. His limitations are apparent as a turnover machine. Do i think he cant become a good player, nobody knows, but it would be good if he would work on his decision making.
i don't think they will ship Alston...we know what he can do..he is proven....billy hasn't had a chance to prove so the potential is there to get somethign for him... i think they will trade billy and th #26 for a legit PF..and maybe head...
To reiterate, becuse I think some folks here have reading comprehension issues, I never said that I thought that Vspan got shafted - in fact quite the opposite. Now it's obvious that HE thought he got shafted by the team, and it's obvious that some in the Rockets thought he got shafted b/c JVG not playing him factored into JVG's departure. So. What I'm saying is that UNLESS Rafer gets traded, Vspan might feel shafted yet again. My reasoning is that Rafer and MJ are established NBA PG's and will split time there. Now maybe on occasion, in a small lineup, MJ will slide over to SG, and Vspan could get a few minutes as a penetrating PG, kicking it out to MJ, BUT if Rafer is still here that would be rare. So some have said that he could also get time at SG, right? Well, wasn't the complaint of some posters here that he WAS played out of position as a spot-up SG last year? I agree that we have a ton of depth at PG, but from Vspan's standpoint playing time has gone out the window unless Rafer does too.
Amel, when I think of wise posters who add great, objective comment to threads, I always think of you.
I think that would be a big stretch. And I only think Battier becomes expendable if we get an equally potent defender. So I suppose if we managed to get Artest we could trade Shane. But I think its VERY unlikely that we'd make the Howard/MJ trade a big trade for Artest AND a big trade for either of those guys. Although, I don't have a lot of love for Wilcox or Haslem - but that's just my feeling on it.
I dont think it changes much... Vspan... was only going to get 10 or so minutes a game if he was lucky anyways... I like how Vspan can get to the line... but he has alot of other things he needs to work on over the next few years before he can be considered a back up even...
JVG's offense = heavy reliance on spot up 3pt shooters on the perimeter. VSpan = cutter/slasher that works better driving to the basket, with a jumpshot that appears to only be good 10' in. Luther = 44% 3pt specialist. Bad example, bad comparison, bad everything.
then maybe VSpan should have worked on his jumper a little more. If you want minutes, you gotta earn them. Even JL3 beat him on the depth chart and JL3's shooting is nowhere near as good as head's.
JL3 was the default option behind Luther. His shooting didn't have to be as good as Luther's, it just had to have more range than Vspan's and be less of a turnover risk.. which was easy for JL3 since he never passed. He should work on his jumper , but how much he improves on it won't make or kill his chances with Adelman, like it did with JVG. That's why I think we should discount last year when it comes to evaluating Vspan's ability and potential contribution to this year's team. Instead, consider this year, Vspan's real rookie year. He'll be working with a coach(if he doesn't get traded) that likes to use a bit of everything in his offense: Motion/ISO/low-post with some princeton/triangle properties and passing. And sometimes like in the case of Bonzi, he'll just put the player in the spot he works best and freestyle for a few plays, aslong as it produces positive results. He also prefers a rotation deeper than 8. So, we really should snap out of this JVG mentality.. he's gone, there's a new sheriff in town.. No player will be traded or kept , utilized or not utilized based on whether they're "proven/known" or not. Or if they can or can't fit into a specific mold or strict position already set in stone by the coach. We should take a wait and see approach, as if this year were to be Vspan's first year. I personally hope he isn't traded. So we can finally get a real good look at him as a player. If he can't make it in Adelman's system however.. he's just not gonna make it anywhere..
well it would certainly be an overhaul of the roster. that's usually what happens when you get a new coach. also, this howard for james/reed trade throws the roster completely off balance. consider reed at his natural possition (SF) and look at the depth chart yao-deke hayes-novak shane-bonzi-snyder-reed tmac-luther-sura rafer-james-billy-lucas we can see that there MUST be another move to clear up the perimeter and put someone at PF. now, if the artest deal is made then there is still a great need for a PF and shane is completely expendible. if the artest deal isn't made then billy, snyder, sura, and the #26 are bait for a PF.
Shafted my rear. Everybody needs to earn it. Bring it in the practice, in the limited play time you get. There is no given. Not even to a top 3 draft pick. Let alone a 50 some second rounder. Give me a break.
