I'm not afraid to go against the pundits. I think CDR will be a better pro than Rush, and would definitely help the Rockets more. We need scoring and CDR is vastly superior to Rush in this endeavor. Rush may be better in 3ptrs but I feel we need a player who can drive to the hoop and has a good midrange jumper. I think CDR beats Rush in these areas. Rush is a better defender, but I feel that is less important on the Rockets. We teach good team defense and can make our players better defenders. I think scoring is much harder to teach than defense. So, would you go with Rush, CDR, or someone else (as a SG/SF scorer)?
I want a the Rockets to draft a big man who can work with Mutombo. Marreese Speights, he is not suppose to fall to us but he is one of the most underrated prospects IMO. Some mock drafts have him up near the lottery and others have him in the 20-23 range. Here is his profile http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Marreese-Speights-1183/ and http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/marreesespeights.html
I agree with you jogo, and I've been pimping CDR off and on. He could be the new Alex English, though most posters wouldn't remember that guy. 6-7, 190 lbs 15 seasons, career 50% FG, 21.5 ppg playoff avg 24.4 ppg 8 all-star appearances only took 81 3-pointers in his career. midrange phenom
I'm going to be pissed if we draft a C. I can't understand everyone who is clamoring for one? Why? So we can waste a year? So we can watch our first round pick in street clothes on the bench? A drafted center has almost a zero chance at making an impact on our team this year. Whereas a 2/3 swingman would actually be in the rotation. So tell me, why does everyone want to draft a career backup versus possibly drafting a rotational player/future starter?
I think if we draft Marreese Speights he will get time just like Landry did last year. I found an intresting article on ESPN about the big men in this years draft. http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draf...lumnist=hollinger_john&page=DraftRater-080620 This is what hollinger said about Speights, Speights has only one full college season under his belt, but he's a huge post player who might be more of a factor in the NBA game than he was in college. But he would have been better off joining the league about 10 years ago, when it featured a more post-oriented, half-court game.
After being at the National Championship game and watching the both play, I would not prefer CDR over Rush. They both played great games but Rush made plays when his team needed him and CDR didn't. If you remember CDR missed something like 4 out of 5 free throws in the last 2 minutes, just what the Rockets need another clutch free throw shooter. Also, after a Kansas turnover with less than a minute to play he took it to the basket missed the layup and got fouled, instead of pulling the ball out and killing the clock. Not to mention he can't play defense CDR just doesn't seem like a smart player. He reminds me of another former Memphis player who has not done much for the Sixers Rodney Carney.
Scola/Landry/Hayes Yao/Mutumbo/Woods/Hayes Where would he play? If you're drafting a PF, I can somewhat understand.. but that means you sure as hell better not be planning on bringing back Landry. We need a 2/3 - we're really thin at those positions. PF/C? Not so much.
I'm still sticking to Rush. I like them (and I think they will go) in this order... Rush Douglas-Roberts Lee
Brandon Rush is solid on both ends of the floor but the only knock i have on him is a I never see him go to his left.
I'm about 99% sure both CDR and BR won't be on the board at 25 so if either of them is there I'm ecstatic. I would not be surprised if Morey is angling to move up for Rush since he figures guys with recovering ACL's are undervalued. I've never actually seen Lee but 6'7" and athletic is better than 6'5" and less athletic. I do appreciate a pretty jump shot though and anyone playing with Yao will get some looks; if they can play enough defense to get some floor time (I'm looking at you Novak)
Take a look at his video at this link... http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/prospects?rank_type=1 He drives from the perimeter 4 times in the video. Exactly 3 of them are to the left, and only 1 to the right. I'm not real sure your knock on him is legit...
I'm a life-long Memphis fan and was crushed by Calipari's mis-handling of the final few minutes of that game. I absolutely loved CDR's play in college. He was clutch many times during the season (much more so than Rose), so I am not going to hang him for choking in the final game of the season. A whole lot of players would cave to that pressure (some guy named Weber comes to mind). All that being said, I don't think CDR will make an impact in the NBA. He is a great creator once he gets into the paint with a variety of very cool unorthodox shots, but getting into the lane in the pros will be much more difficult because he does not dribble exceptionally well and will turn the ball over a lot in the pros. He is long and plays very good off the ball defense, but he does not move laterally very quickly and will get exploited by speedier wings in the pros. I really hope I'm wrong, because it would be awesome to have 2 Memphis players finally become stars (Penny could have been the guy if not for injuries). I don't know much about Rush so I don't really have an opinion on him. Westbrook is the guy I covet, but I don't think there is anyway for the Rockets to move up high enough to get him.
a more applicable comparison, not as good as English, is guy the rockets would be great with rip hamilton
Your going to bank on the fact he will be injured? I think we draft somebody regardless of who gets injured like we did last year and it will help more.. We can get maybe a RAW center at our position, but what happens when Yao is NOT INJURED? thats a draft pick wasted when we could be getting a solid backup bench player (Look @ the impact players like Julian Wright and Landry made last year, we could be getting one)
rush doesnt have the ball handling skills to be a starting guard IMO. he's another battier type. i think people are intrigued more because of his athleticism, but without the ball handling, his athleticism doesnt play up to the level it should be. i dont think he's very good at creating offense for himself or off the dribble. he waits around too much and sits out at the 3 line, and that's not really going to help take pressure off of mcgrady. CDR moves well without the ball and has a polished midrange game and can create off the dribble. his game is similar to Rip Hamilton IMO, just not quite as polished yet. i just dont see that much difference between Battier and Rush, and we need to diversify our team so we have different role players who can do different things to help in different areas. Rush and Battier are too redundant and i dont see how having both of them really helps us get over the hump. with CDR, you can rotate him and Battier in and out when you need offense or when you need defense.
