For all the Ming and Nachbar doubters: Forget all the points/rebounds or whatever per game Ming and Nachbar get. I look at the shooting percentage. Ming made 70% of his shots. I don't care how crappy of players he was playing against, NBA players have trouble shooting 70% on wide open, uncontested free throws. Hell, even if I were to play against a bunch of elementary kids I couldnt shoot 70%. We're not talking about Kelvin Cato-like making 60% of his 4 shots per game; Ming averaged 32 points per game meaning he took a considerable amount of shots. If you're not sold yet, Yao averaged 10.5 points on 64% shooting, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.17 blocked shots in about 20 minutes/game during the 2000 Olympic Games - versus the best players you can meet in the world - this was 2 years ago! Now as for Nachbar you could say he only averaged 13.7 points/game, however thats on 60% shooting, and Nachbar being somewhat a perimeter player ... well that speaks for itself.
Please see my thread on picks.... Personaly, I feel very good about what the Rockets were able to accomplish in the draft.
a lot of peeps probably already posted some of the similar stuff that im about to but i didnt really wanna read the previous forty posts. ill admit ive really havent wanted ming at all before the draft. after watching the video clutch put up i liked him a lil more but wasnt completely convinced. i dunno if its jus cus im a huge rockets fan or what but for some reason now that we have him i think he has a crazy amount of potential. after hearing how well snackbar did at the rockets workout i really wanted to get him, but thought he be gone before 15. luckily things worked out cus i think he'll be a perfect fit for the rockets and will be backin up rice most of next season and then take over his spot a year after that. i think this is what our lineup will look like for next season. 2002-2003 -------------- PG-Stevie/Moochie/Maddox SG-Cat/? SF-Rice/Nachbar/TMo PF-MoT/Griff/KT C-Cato/Ming/Collier i think we need to trade KT for a decent back up at the sg spot and thats about it. man this team could be awesome in a couple seasons especially if ming pans out. we'll prolly lookin at a 6-8 seed in the playoffs for the next couple of season but after that we'll be contenders. man its gonna be great watchin this young team grow together and hopefully bring us another championship. my starters of the future are listed below.
Great post, Bassfly. Yao has skills and unimpeachable physical advantages, people. He has also shown he can raise his game in big games (check out his playoff stats this year) and has played against competition that is at least as good as US colleges for four years. I think Yao is no more of a risk than many other players, frankly. Yao has demonstrated his abilities on the world basketball stage more than anybody else in this draft. Put it this way, I don't think you win championships with players like Caron Butler (a smaller Paul Pierce without a great outside shot isn't exactly what you spend a #1 pick on). Picking Yao shows that Rockets are trying to be more than a playoff contender and I am very proud of the organization. To paraphrase Rudy, it takes balls, big balls, to win championships.
Bassfly and Elvis Costello, can you imagine how much Steve's assist numbers are going to go up passing to Ming and Nachbar? Cat will be open MUCH more often as well. When these guys gel, I think we'll be scoring in BUNCHES. When Rudy gets the team to really commit to D, the question will not be "can we make the playoffs", I think the question should already be "how far are we going to go?". I'm really pumped about this season... hey, I'm on the front page as well! Life is good. (thanks, Clutch!)
Having been able to sleep on it, my uneasyness is that we drafted two people whose streangths are their offensive ability. And primarily away from the basket at that. Nachbar's thumbnails said he handles the ball well, shoots well, but best streangth is he can drive past his man and finish well. One of Ming's streangths is that he will pull the opposing center away from the rim. Our biggest need, in my opinion, is defense. I don't feel like we improved that area. Our biggest streangth is our shooting off the dribble, create their own shot, guards. I fear that we just bulked up on that area. I am afraid that Steve will once again be our rebound leader. As long as that is the case,w e will never have agood fast break. Boy I hope I am wrong, which is a weird thing to pull for.
Yeah I agree with all of this except not getting Grizzard... Tierre has to earn his spot AGAIN...best of luck
Did you even bother to read his stats? The guy blocks 5 per game in his league. How exactly does that make him a non-shot blocker? If you don't want to "hear about Payton and Carter" how about actually looking up his tats? Nachbar back-up at best" Good to see you're such an expert that you know more then everybody in basketball. Thank god we have your genius. As for jumping on the "international bandwagon", yeah they didn't want to help the team, they just wanted publicity. Yeah right. But since you KNOW that Nachbar is a back-up at best, that Ming isn't a shot-blocker despite blocking 2.2 shots per game in the Olympics (and China didn't play the U.S. in every game), and the fact that he blocked 5 bpg in China, and this was a money issue, then tell us, why did team like Chicago, and New York (who doesn't have attendance problems), and Golden State and other team try to get Ming. Why did Washington try to get Nachbar? I guarantee it wasn't money, and I guarantee they didn't think Nachbar was a "back-up at best". Do you even know anything about Nachbar?
RocksMill-To play devil's advocate, we don't know how 5 blocks translate. Ousmane Cisse averaged 13 blocks per game. I'd be happy if he averages around 2.5 per game in a couple years. I really liked how we picked. Ming was just a given. Nachbar vs. Woods...I think both have very high ceilings, and have unknown factors. The Rockets went the safer route, going with a guy that has high character, and is very NBA ready, as opposed to a guy who apparently admitted to smoking pot multiple times, and isn't as likely to have a team mentality. It should be noted that the whole Kenny Smith argument of "not understanding key things late in games due to language barrier" doesn't apply to Nachbar at all, because he speaks fine English. We haven't heard enough of Yao's english. Maddox is a dandy pick. I said before-HE could be the ideal backup to Steve. He can push the ball, he can pass, he plays excellent D, he has enough D to not make it OK to play Steve at the 2. I wouldn't be surprised if we move Moochie, and pickup a veteran to help tutor Maddox into that backup role, then eventually let Maddox take over as the 3rd guard.
1. I like Yao a good pick but needs to bulk up and learn. 2. I would have made 1 trade to move up to get Butler at 10. 3. Dont no about Tito Maddox hes going to have to fight for playing time never seen him play could be a diamond in the rough.
Of course Maddox will make the team, with Stevies migraines, he will probably start 4 us alot , YES they should have taken Woods over Nachbar (Now they have to deal wiht another international country), and 4 Yao, I have still not made my decession on him.
Extremely happy with the draft. As happy as I am to have a 7'5" center (that oh by the way, is tall, mobile, can shoot, and pass the ball... anyone else on the roster fit that description?). To be honest, I am even happier getting Nachbar (and no worries at all about Woods). Again, a tall athletic SF that can shoot AND take it strong to the hoop (and again, any SFs on the roster that can do BOTH?). Even the second rounder, typically scrap, is a good addition since he can back up both guard positions, is a real PG, and can provide a different look than Steve and Moochie. Heck, just at practices he lets the team play against tall PGs.
Ming and Nachbar are exaclty what the Rockets wanted. And that's what the Rockets got! It appears to me that the Rockets are going to be one of the toughest teams to keep up with. Francis, Mobley, Nachbar, Griffin, and Ming are all guys who can run the floor. This was an excellent draft. Woods had too many questions. Even after the Rockets passed up on him, 5 other teams passed up on Woods. Nachbar would not have lasted past the 16th pick. I heard Boylan say on 610 that the Rockets don't want to draft anyone with problems. Maddox was drafted because his problems weren't character problems as much as getting gifts. Woods has too many problems, 2 Juco schools in 2 years.
Let's see, Hakeem led us to 2 championships. Duncan has one. I guess you are right, no international player has ever done anything. Now....I am thrilled with the picks...I think the Rocks have all the pieces now, and all we need is time and maturity, and we will be right there baby !! DaDakota
Good draft. No: GREAT DRAFT. That said, Nachbar might be more of a Hedo Turkoglu than a Peja Stojakovic. That ain't a bad thing, mind you; Nachbar could be the backup 3/2. (Or maybe he's good enough to be the starting 3 for many years.) The point is, Rudy implied the team's looking around, seeing who they can bring onto the team. So another move wouldn't surprise me. But the draft itself couldn't be better.
Since when has it been a problem in dealing with "other countries" other than China? There has been NO mention of ANY problems associated with Nachbar's status to play in the NBA. And why would Woods have been a better pick than Nachbar? Nachbar has been playing professionally since he was 15 years old. Woods has been playing JUCO ball for two years since high school. Are you trying to say that the level of competition in the JUCOs is BETTER than the European leagues?
