What About Nine ??????

The Number Nine

Everyone here is aware that the Rockets are attempting to move up in the draft and to use this improved position to bang out a starter in the Martin/Swift/Fizer race. That is my hope as well.

CD (and RT to a lesser extent) has consistently said in public that they will "strongly consider" trading away the #9, if they could not move into that top four-five slot. "Other" quotable Rockets sources have said similar things.

But if the Rockets end up with the #9 at the hour of decision (and there is just as much evidence that this will happen as not happen), who are they faced with in the decision process?

The Choices (presently)

* Joel Pryzbilla, C 7'1" 260# = he will likely not be there but strange things happen on draft day. His stock value has risen lately, especially in Houston, but personally I hope they pass on him.Unless they take him to trade to the Knicks, Indiana, Toronto, Chicago, etc... . I definitely could be wrong, but to me, he is talented but remains another lead-footed big man, and we don't need anymore trees waving in the breeze on this team.

* Darius Miles SF 6'9" 190# = again, "insiders and media people" say he will not likely slip that far, but I would not be surprised to see him drop as each teams' needs lists get shuffled around. IMHO, in the top eight or so spots, Chicago and Orlando are the only teams able to afford to have him sit and learn properly and mature professionally. Other teams may be under the false impression he is an instant starter. He most decidedly is not. He will need some help with a patient coach and needs to be surrounded by some young depth and a few understanding veterans. Houston would be a good team for him, as long as the players also see him as a collective project for the next two seasons. I think he would excel professionally and socially in a Rocket uni. Sources tell me the Rockets would indeed take him if he were available at the nine.

* Mike Miller SF 6'8" 215# = Except for the outside chance of us choosing Courtney Alexander, Miller is the guy that is probably pissing Mobes off the most and likely the reason he is delaying his contract negotiations. The Rockets are high on Miller and that means Mobes' limited playtime at the SG/SF may be reduced to only the SG role next year. I like Miller. I like his game and his enthusiasm. I would take him in a heart beat. Miller at the three with Walt Williams as backup. Yes, I said start M&M over Walt! The backcourt of SF/MN/SA/CM would rain havoc with Miller at the 3 and a decent 4/5 front.

* Jerome Moiso PF 6'10" 230# My personal choice for the number nine spot. We need a tall athletic PF. Moiso is a big, long armed, talented forward who moves well with the ball. He does need to have some rough edges of his game refined by a good tutor. (I wish Barkley was a frontcourt coach this year.) And his post up is not the best, but he is a good board player. He can score. He squares up and can face with the best of defenders. I like his medium shot and his big hands have touch around the rim even when he gets banged around. In that sense he is a lot like Shandon Anderson. He can get hit going up or laterally to the basket, but maintains a cool and accurate control of the ball all the way. I like that. Good physical presence on the court, agressive at timers, but the long 82 game schedule may not be to his liking. He definitely has game to develop. If I was his coach: platoon him (JM50%, KT35%, CR15%) with KT and Carlos for the first 40 games of the season.

* DerMarr Johnson PF 6'9" 200# = I think of him as a SG/ SF tweener with a very light body for a SF at 200 pounds, but a real terror if defended by a SF. Good shot. Could be a big shooter and WILL be a scorer in this league. Don't laugh, but he reminds me of Carter in that he is "stealthy". If you watch him play he appears way out of the game, then Bam! He laid you out. He could have a position here in Houston, but we need some PF meat on this team first, and his lack of collegiate playing time (he's a freshman) may hurt his value too. My best scenario would be if we ended up getting (and keeping) BOTH the #9 and the #10(Orlando's) we should grab Moiso and DerMarr (that is, if Darius wasn't still available). I like Moiso's big upside. I hope I haven't understated his street game. I think he may have as much slam game inside him as Carter, McGrady, Garnett and Kobe.

* Outside Picks: O. Oyedji C 6'11" 240# = experienced at pro-play but still "under-tutored" in some basic skills. Athletic but needs positioning challenges and footwork studies. But that is common with most young big men. He has great attitude and is smart and coachable. A definite project player that I wish we had this whole past season. Hakeem would have had the opportunity to stretch OO's game a little with coaching, one-on-one practice and court guidance. It would have helped Hakeem enormously also. We would not have been talking about O'Kandi all year, if OO was aboard. Soulmalia Samake C 7'2" 230# = The best thing about him is that he has had some experience and has played with some blue collar players in the past. He knows how to work and already has developed a somewhat basic pro defensive game. His court
decisiveness is suspect, but that is common for young foreign players. His blocking is great, his rebounds need improvement though. This guy could be a sleeper. Iakovos "the Greek" Tsakalidis C 7'2" 220# = Admittedly I only saw him in two games and in them he sure was a court presence and could move with some fluidity, (if you can use that term for someone of his size and not snicker). He has a passable medium shot but only if not defended well. If you run at him he drops the brick. IMHO He has LIMITED PRO OFFENSE. Period. But like several people are credited with saying: "you can't teach height". He is rated ahead of both OO and So Sam by many basketball people who are a lot smarter than me. But I do not buy it. Have him sit with the Turk in Europe.

I purposefully left off some players like M. Cleaves, E. Barkley and Quentin because I do not think the Rockets will consider them come draft day. Etan Thomas, may be considered but there will be a lot of talent in front of him. Others I am sure I have missed, and I know you will let me know!

 

TraJ

Mobes played 30 minutes a game last year. He played three positions depending on the game situation, the opponents gameplan, the match up possibilities and the effectiveness of both Mobes and the other available players (Shandon, Walt) at the three spot.

This is by no means scientifically accurate, (but close enough for government work), but he played something like 50% at the SG (2) spot, 30% at the PG (1) spot, and 20% at the SF (3) spot. That's 15 minutes,9 minutes, and 6 minutes respectively.

He probably will lose a considerable amount of his PG playtime with the emmergence of Moochie's very effective PG duty.That is reasonable to assume. I know Mooch will get some of Drew's time,also but even at that, let's say that cuts Cuttino by half at the PG. That's now 5 Minutes @ PG for Mobes.

At 6'6" and 210#, Shandon was as effective at his role last year as Mobes. His defensive skills were exemplery at times. Shandon played the SF when a tall and quick shadow was needed at the "D". Or a slashing, weakside offense was needed on the "O". Although not the defensive stopper that Sahndon is, Miller will still take some of that SF playtime from Anderson, with his perimeter shot, his well rounded offense and his 6'8" 215# frame. That means more of the SG time will have to be upped to keep Shandon sharp and happy. But let's say Mobes keeps his 15 minutes @ SG.

On top of that Mobley would lose a considerable amount of SF playtime with Miller on board as Miller will match up favorably with the same opponents that both Mobes and Shandon matched up with and Miller will need some playtime to develop. I also noted above how I thought he may even capture the starting role. Let's say everything considered, Cuttino loses another half of PT. That's 3 Minutes @ SF.

That's a bottom feeding total of: 23 minutes a game. Even if all things were equal and Walt was kept(UGH), and Walt's time was split with the new kid on the block, and Cat never lost any playtime at all ... he still would be relegated to a lesser role ( PG/SG/SF to mainly SG) and still only get 30 minutes a game. That's the point. IMHO Cuttino would not be happy, and that may be the reason that his signing, although favorably anticipated, is taking so long.

 

Mango:

I would almost sell my soul for a look at anything above the five spot. I honestly feel that Swift would be available at the four for reasons I outlined on another thread. But, (I know I am vacillating here a bit) if the opportunity to do that was lost, and nine got here I would:

1. trade away everything in a good trade, taking a player for the pick, that would net me a starter.

2. or, accept the Orlando 10 spot if offered (or taken in an easy trade) to secure the #9-#10 tandem slots. Then take Moiso and DerMarr.

Clutch

I do not disagree with you that Swift is the Rockets focused #1 player pick. TODAY. As I see it he would be the absolute best team fit of any of the top players.

But draft wise I still feel that Kenyon Martin has demonstrated the best skills of all the players in the draft. IMHO He will be the overall number one pick.

I agree with your Darius and Miller quandry. Who indeed would they choose? If there is anything to the Leon Smith rumors, that may be the only "kid project" they would want to handle. Who knows. However, Darius is legitimate. He is a gamer and a half. The team would enjoy his explosiveness. And RT would love to coach a coming "phenom". Miller. on the other hand, also brings a game to the table. He's a little more controlled in his play, aggressive at times, more decisive and in my mind would end up being the starting 3 before the 20th game.

Email Bud

Cuttino is in the middle of a contract negotiation that hinges on a number of things.

1. Money. That is doable. He can be offered 108% of the average by the Rockets, which will net him $4.1 or 4.3M a year.
2. Length He wants a contract at least as long as Francis. That's three years. Hopefully four.
3. Role. He wants to be featured in the game plan just like any other player of his worth. Iso's, spot ups, weakside control, slash and burns, treys, frontman on free throws. That sort of thing. He would even be willing to continue the sixth man/bench role as long as he has his opportunities.
4. Playtime. Closely connected to number #3 above, he plays the SG/PG/SF positions. At a rate of probably 50%/ 30%/ 20%. With Moochie on board and getting more and more effective every game he played, Cuttino started playing a lot less PG, and a little more SF. Walt came on late in the season and started playing longer shifts, which cut into Cuttinos limited SF playtime.

Any player that can play the SF role consistently against those players that Mobes would normally have been matched up against is a threat to Mobe's playtime. My point is that a player like Miller will take all that SF time away from him.

 

Joe Joe

In my mind, Cort Alex at the three is the same as Shandon and Mobes when it comes to playing the SF position. To me it would be a waste of the opportunity of getting a starting big man at the four, if we used that for more depth at the 2/3.

On Walt, he better show me some stuff, and aggresively do it early, for me NOT to trade him for two tootsie rolls and a coffee.

One of my points with the Shandon/Mobley minutes thing was to show that: ideally, we need to find either a backup to WallyWill (when Walt starts,UGH) that will do something different in their game that our present Shandon/Mobley twosome do not do, or bring in someone that will start (Walt is the backup or is traded). If that is the case the new 3, should also bring something to the table that Shandon/Mobley do not have, like bulky build, height, big arms, etc... . A 3/4 type would be ideal. IMHO, both Shandon and Mobes playing the three for any appreciable time will hurt this team. Shandon can defend at the three for some but not all opponents, Mobes creates problems for opponent's matchups because of his offense, but both are light for that position under most conditions. We need someone to offset those matchups and add some diversity at the spot.

Rocket34

I agree with Mobes being signed as being more important than the pick up of Miller. But let's put all of this in perspective. I noted that this is probably what is slowing down the negotiations with Mobes. Put yourself in his place, he wants to play, he wants to play here, he will take a lesser spotlighted role as long as he knows what that role is and if he gets his minutes. He's going to lose PG minutes. Miller who is similiar to him, will match up to opponents similiar to the guys that Mobes matches up to at the SF. It has got to have him thinking here. But I doubt he decides to come or stay on that alone. It is pissing him off, but I bet he signs, irregardless of who they draft. Mobes is a competitor and if anything, he plays himself into another role, or he outworks any rookie who is taking his minutes. LOL




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"Let me get this straight .... we pay him $4.5 million dollars a year to play 82 games right? And, the other guy we pay $6 or $7 Million a year to stop the other team from scoring and maybe to score once in a while too!" ......... Popeye's darling sweetpea attempting to figure out WizBang and CaveInTo's role on the Rockets.

[This message has been edited by popeye (edited May 28, 2000).]

 

Davo

Ironically, I got a call very early this AM from an excellent source who said Mobes and the Rockets have reached an agreement. A deal is done. He is a Rocket.

I confirmed it with another source just now. They are apparently waiting for some other "thing" to develop before the Mobley signing is announced, but it will be "very soon". No particulars, but one of these sources had told me earlier last week that the offers centered on a 3-4 year deal with an "under $4M to start". No idea of exactly what was finally agreed upon.

Second source says, Cat is happy, Steve is happy and everyone is glad it is done. Duh!!!!! No kidding!!!!!!

I guess the playtime question has been answered. LOL

More as I get it.



[This message has been edited by popeye (edited May 30, 2000).]