Good points, but a motivated healthy TMac (even with less athleticism) can still have a hugely positive impact on this team. The jersey switch is irrelevant, and TMac very much gets the benefit of my doubt on that one.
except that iverson is ONLY a scorer. he can't really create. you don't hear detroit's former coach curry talking about how they missed iverson even when detroit sucked. adelman actually missed tracy in the playoffs. tracy does way more than just score, unlike iverson. he petitioned to change his jersey mid season LAST YEAR, way way before the ariza deal is made. i'm sure tracy knows there's a high chance of him being traded anyways.
Exactly.....think about it....who's honestly gonna sign Tracy next year? It won't be to a contending team because let's face it, Tracy changes the dynamics of a team by his need to be able to "facilitate" which takes away from the strengths of the other 4 guys on the court, especially the point guard and shooting guard. It won't be a bottom dweller because they essentially need to develop their own talent (in a lot of cases young impressionable talent) That leaves teams who are on the bubble (not lottery or playoff bound) but what team is honestly going to say that Tracy Lamar McGrady is the one piece they need to get them over the hump?
When Morey says there's one roster spot for Taylor, Budinger or White, I believe he means on the active roster. I don't think he plans to cut the other two players outright, and will probably stash one of the remaining players on the inactive list. My guess is that White's going to be the odd guy out of the group.
You are right, we missed T-Mac dearly during the playoffs, guess who else we missed- Yao, Mutombo, Dorsey, Cook (lol he was irrelevant), White Point is that the players that didn't prove themselves during the playoffs should be bursting their butt to add more fire to a team that took the NBA champions to a game 7. Yao- proved himself during playoffs. While he is injury prone, he is also a warrior. This "injury scare" is just gonna give him more time to rest and join the team down the line. Morey knows Yao can only play so much games each season before something weird happens to him, so we are saving him until we need him either 1/4 through the season or 1/2. Mutombo- retired, done Dorsey- is playing like a possessed animal in the summer league. He knows his immaturity hurt the team during playoffs when they would have used him against the lakers, so that Scola can worry about studying Cook- more valuable as a trade chip, although he might make the roster if he starts hitting his 3's consistently White- while he worked hard on his "d", he forgot about his offense. He is sitting on hot coals now.
i'm talking in the blazers series. adelman brought him up out of nowhere. that basically should tell you tracy does more than just score b/c we had other scorers out there doing well (brooks, scola, wafer, shane, and even ron somewhat). tracy is a playmaker. a team will take a chance on him. tracy and iverson are completely different players on the court.
They both need the ball in their hands to be effective They both need to be an integral part of each play to even look a little bit interested on the court
AB at the two? I know he is a scorer and all but he is one of the shortest guards in the league. Morey said that Ariza and Battier would both be in the rotation? as in both starting? and with ab at the 2 wouldnt that roster not work out. (according to dachuda86's recap) I'm kinda confused... please though if I sound like a complete moron someone help me out on this.
except that tracy can post up, play the pick and roll, run around screens (if his knee allows)... iverson is an isolation player ONLY. that is much tougher to deal with.
I'm pretty sure he means that AB will play some 2, not be the starter. Adelman used the AB/Lowry tandem this year also.
Just because Morey said Battier would be in the starting lineup, doesn't mean he is not available if a nice trade comes along. Based on our roster now, Battier will start. I think Morey will do more tinkering before the season starts. The only reason most Rockets fans and FO are hesistant about trading Battier is that if we trade Battier, we are admitting thatwe made a huge mistake by letting Rudy Gay walk, the same way we let Richard Jefferson walk.
We were not discussing their style of play, you told me Tracy and Iverson are 2 different players on the court and I just proved to you that they are similar in the fact that they both either need the ball at all times, or they will pass it to someone else for an easy assist or so that the person can pass it back. So, Iverson runs Iso plays because he is very quick, or he used to T-mac posts up because he is bigger, or used to lol, pun intended Go look at the individual ball possession per minute when T-Mac is on the court
i understand they both need the ball to be effective, like EVERY star my friend. but their styles are different. if you don't get that, i can't explain it to you. all i will say is morey wouldn't trade tracy for iverson if that's the last deal he's got.
when did you see McGrady do all those things? even when he had fisher guarding him he never posted up, brewer ate his lunch all the time, he is not a motion offense type of player that run around screens and pick and roll like Iverson. Mcgrady can not even finish at the rim the way Iverson does.
I agree about the pick and roll part but how often have we seen him posting up and running around screens in the last 3 years?
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O9yezegWdQ0&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O9yezegWdQ0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> most of his points were "off the ball" there my friend. IF (big if) healthy, he can do that. too bad his knee is jacked up.
I don't think he meant AB would start at SG. I do think the Lowry at PG and Brooks at SG combo worked well in the playoffs thanks to the team's defense but it still is not a combo I would expect to start. With the addition of Ariza and the inevitable jump in playing time for Chuck it is more than reasonable to expect the team to be even better defensively this season. A small lineup of Lowry, Brooks, Ariza, Carl and whoever manning the Center spot should provide great team defense with excellent speed for the transition game. One thing I am puzzled about is the possibility of Battier and Ariza both starting. I don't see how that would work. Despite Morey's repeated claims about Ariza being able to slash the truth is he sits out at the three point line just like Shane does. Ariza's athleticism is mostly wasted due to his inability to handle the basketball worth a damn. Battier and Ariza is such a redundant combination I don't see why the deal was made for Trevor unless this team plans on going so small that one of those guys is going to pick up minutes at PF which also makes no sense with the quality PFs already on the roster. I'm still waiting for Shane to be moved to bring in a Center or maybe a real SG. Otherwise you basically are paying $15 million a year for two players who do exactly the same thing.
You do know that Gay wasn't the Rockets' choice right? If the deal wasn't made, the Rockets were going to take Sefalosha, not Gay. Also, we weren't going to take Richard Jefferson either. That was going to be Troy Murphy if the deal didn't happen.
