While I was watching Walt William’s do his best Larry Bird imitation against the Suns last night in the 4th quarter it was obvious how well the offense was capable of running. Rudy T let the Suns continue to concentrate their attention on Steve Francis while he allowed the offense to flow through Walt. Walt was much more last night than just a few 3 point shots, he made all of the right decisions including pin point accurate passes down low close to the basket to Kenny Thomas for easy lay ups. His decision making was flawless, always getting the ball to the player in the best possible position. As a result Walt got the bulk of his 16 points and 4 assists in the 4th quarter and the Rockets streaked out to an 11-point lead and took control of the game. The offense run to perfection with no indecisiveness or lazy pass turnovers (until Moochie’s behind the back across mid court pass late in the 4th). I think that’s how Rudy intends for his offense to look. Unfortunately Walt is not very athletic and can be liability on defense. When his shot is not falling he sometimes lets that effect the rest of his play and of course his is starting to get up there in age. This is where I see Lamar Odom fitting in. He is still very young at 22, he makes great game time decisions and he is a great passer averaging almost 6 assists a game. He can drive to the basket or shoot the three (he hit well over 30 percent his first two years) and he has the height and athleticism to create nightmare match-ups for other teams. He does all the same things well that Walt did in the game last night against Phoenix and he has tons more athleticism and is more consistent plus he has the added bonus of playing defense. About the only thing that Walt does better than Lamar is shoot the three and even Walt can go on shooting droughts that can last for months. I see Lamar as being the type of player that could change this team from a 42 – 45 win team (when healthy) and a boarder line play-off contender to a legitimate play-off force. A Rockets team that has Francis (migraines under control), Cat, Odom, Griffin (with a years experience and matured body), MoT (healthy), KT, Cato (playing at his current level), Moochie, Oscar and Morris this could be a lethal team. All we would really need is another big body at center (Collier?). The question in my mind is do we have what it takes to get Odom from the Clipps? We can exclude Francis, Cat and Griffin from any trade proposals since it is a given that Rudy T and CD are not going to trade any of these three. I think it is also safe to exclude MoT for obvious reasons. Would our lottery pick be enough to pull Odom away from the Clipps? The better the Rox play the lower that lottery pick drops and it is starting to look more and more like a late lottery pick. Is there anyone in the league that we could possibly get that could bring the same type of intangibles that Lamar would bring?
The problem with Lamar is that no one is going to leave him open because he is respected more by the defense then Walter.
...because the only thing better than one pot smoking former LA Clipper is TWO pot smoking former LA Clippers... Fire it up!
So who do you double then? Steve? Cat? Lamar? MoT (when healthy)? Eddie(after another year and off season)? You can only double two people at a time and then you have two guys open (Cato rolling to the basket for an ally oop from Francis) and another on man to man. Double Steve and Cat and leave Lamar man to man and he can go off or create for other people. Double Lamar and Cat then Steve can go off for 40 pts. Same for Mobes. Throw in a healthy MoT and an experianced Griffin and we will have a situation here similar to the one in Dallas. We can let the other team pick there poison.
I think that it would take more than a lottery pick to get Odom. I would also imagine it taking KT or Mo plus maybe even Mobley. If the Clippers want to trade Odom for our 1st round pick, then we need to jump on that trade right away.
I would trade CUttino plus a pick for Odom. Lineup Cato/Mo Griffin/Kenny/Mo Odom/Griffin Steve/Torres moochie/Tierre
No way the Clipps would trade for Mo since he wants to play there about as much as Marc Jackson wanted to play for Golden State. If our lottery pick turned out to be to be a top three pick through the luck of the lottery would you trade that pick for Odom? Certainly a shot at Ming, Williams or Wagner would be enough to get Odom...wouldn't it?
It's just my oppinion but Odom and Cat are almost a wash. Odom might get the nod but I don't think he would be worth Cat and a lottery pick. I don't think it is an option anyway since it would take an elite player to get Rudy and CD to trade Cat and I don't see one of those trades on the horizon.
Just say we get Odom, ( Which I dont think we will) .. But if we do, Lamar Odom is going to have to stand at the 3 and just jack up shots. Thats how rudy runs his sf.
Last night in the 4th the offense was run through Walt. He did far more than stand at the arc and jack up threes. The defense was intent on stopping Francis and Mobley and Walt killed them more with his ball distribution and good decission making than with his 3 point shooting. This could be Lamars role and I think he would excel in that role. If you really think that Rudy will make Lamar stand at the arc and jack up threes all night then there is no need to even have this discussion since there are other sf's in the league that can do that better Lamar including Walt. I think last nights game was a better indicator as to how Rudy would like the small forward to play as well as the team.
That was just one game, the suns didnt defend the rockets well. Rockets usually dont have that kind of luck when the team is clicking in one night. I think this team has to let go of some players when next year we got Big Mo and Glen coming back. I would love to get rid of Collier, langhi, tierre. Rockets have a lot of questions to be answered this summer, cause for real this team can not go to the playoffs this year unless they pull some 10 game winning streak miracle. BUT NEXT YEAR, they better have things set or Steves chances of leaving houston will be alot greater.
Whoops...hehe...forgot about the Clippers and Mo Taylor connection (although I would like for the Rockets to keep KT over Mo if they have to get rid of one). If we got the #3 pick and Ming was available or let's say even Amare Stoudamire is available, then there is no way in hell that I would trade that pick for Odom. Although he is gifted and talented, there is something about him that worries me. Besides, I would love to see Rudy get a dominant big man and maybe, just maybe, he would change his offensive philosophy and get back to the days when they would dump it into the post and then kick it back out for a 3 pointer.
I missed the game last night, unfortunately. I really want Odom, but his unreliable shooting worries me. Even LA Rocket fans seem to agree that shooting is a problem for Lamar. Question: if Walt wasn't shooting well last night, might that have influenced his ability to get the ball to the open man? Say what you will about Walt and his erratic shooting, but I think he still averages about 40% from the perimeter this year. That's not something we can expect from Lamar. In my opinion, most plays will and should always run through Steve and Cuttino. Even if we put the ball in Lamar's hands a good deal of the time, Steve and Cuttion are still our primary options. If Lamar can't shoot the '3', what are ways he can score as the immediate beneficiary of a dish from Stevie or Cat? Maurice is money at mid-range. Cato has gotten better at finishing dunks from the weakside. Eddie's outside shooting has been a pleasant surprise this year as well. I'm not trying to argue that a versatile player like Lamar can't score with the Rockets. I'm just saying that I'm not familiar with his game, and if he's not a good shooter, I want to know how he can be incorporated into the offense when it begins with the ball in Stevie's and Cuttino's hands as it usually is?
Huge misconception. That was Pippen. The SF plays his abilities. Kenny Thomas doesn't sit at the 3 point line. Walt doesn't always do that. Rice got plenty of low-post action. Shandon caused that. Shandon had no shot, which meant the defense could back off of him. Add in the fact that he couldn't dribble, and since he got uprooted from the SG slot by Cat, he couldn't post up bigger SFs, he was basically out of luck, because he couldn't hit the spot up jumper, he couldn't beat a defender off the dribble, and couldn't post them up. Odom's handles and penetration ability are sick. Even if his shot is off, he can get to the basket, and has the ability to simply shoot over any SF.
If you think Cat=Odom, you must be smoking out with Odom. Cat can score, but that's pretty much it. Odom at 6 ft 9 is a better passer and ball handler. We won't need Cat's scoring if we have Mo back as well as Odom.
Ehhh.....? I highly doubt Steve, Cuttino, Maurice, KT, Griffin would enjoy or thrive in that kind of a game plan.
When is the lotto !?! That ping pong ball is going to clear a lot of this up. Things are WAY different with balls 1-5 than with balls 5-11. Y'all know I'm a big "get Lamar" supporter, but here are a few negatives that give me pause : a) nagging injuries, slow heal b) I want y'all to know : "This Will Never Happen Again." Rinng! League office? Y'all are coming for the drug test next Tues? Oh, sure, I'll be clean! c) UNLV d) Defense? What's that? d) coachable? Nevermind. Forget it...What? Forget all that! I want him! Get me that guy, now! In spite of my reservations - that guy is the bomb, and his game is PERFECT with Steve, Cat, Taylor, Cato, Griffin. The ball moves, the team rebounds, posts, runs, drives, shoots. All our strengths get better and our weaknesses get some cover. Way better than Rashard, or any other option, IMHO. I would gladly overpay for him, cause whatever pieces you have left get so much better, and the Rox have a surfeit of good but replaceable pieces to play with. I think it would be lucky if we could trade Cato (who now has value) KT (value) and a lotto pick for Odom and Kandi. It may take Mobes or Griff, too, though - but the Clips are already loaded at 2 and have D.Miles and Maggette with Brand. The clips need a pg (dooling potential notwithstanding) so they ask for SF, get Mooch. Mooch is a really good backup pg. All that depends on the value of the pick, though, of course. The big plus in trading the pick for odom is he can play with these guys right now - without a three year learning curve like the lotto guy. He makes the team instantly a contender, and a serious or at least respectable threat (and with very entertaining, ticket selling play) for Year One in the new area.
It's not much different than the current one. It's basically the same thing, except we just hang out on the perimeter instead of inside.
I really never considered the Rocs having a pure PF. WE have 4 that can play the SF or the PF spot (KT, MT, EG, TM) None are great at either spots, but they are capable of playing the two positions. So there really is no drastic need to trade them becuase of their versatility. Heck, against certain centers, MT and EG can actually slide to the 5.
Well, I'd rather have about 8 extra points than 3 extra assists. I'd also like to be assured that the player fits in well with team chemistry, has his head on straight (smoking pot after getting caught isn't smart), and makes shots down the stretch of close ballgames. It's also kind of interesting why a "better ballhandler" would have more turnovers per game.
