I agree with that statement. I admitted I was wrong about Courtney Lee. I liked the Terrence Williams deal. I wish we would have done the Anthony Randolph deal, but I guess there is still time for that to happen. In business, in life, in sports -- all that matters is the results. A lot of people thought Darko was going to be one of the best NBA players in the league. Dumars shouldn't be absolved from the responsibility of picking him just because a lot of people thought it was likely he would become a star. If we traded for Shane Battier and he had micro-fracture surgery his first year and we never saw him play with the core back then, I think I'd be on your side. Hard to blame Morey for not seeing a big injury coming to a guy whose never been injured before. And it's not even that we didn't win the championship. We didn't make the NBA Finals. We didn't make the WCF finals. We got to the second round once, in the third year of the Battier trade. Not once did we even get home court advantage in the playoffs. We were 51-31 the year before Battier and 52-30 the first year with him. The following two years we were 55-27 & 53-29. For a move that was called 'win-now,' it utterly and absolutely failed. There's no way around it. I strongly believe that we would have been just as likely to get past Portland with Rudy Gay's third year vs. having Shane Battier. You may disagree -- we'll never know the answer I guess. The Battier trade was 100% Morey. I don't think it's fair to shift the blame from Morey to CD when Dawson was only a figurehead GM. I'm calling it his worst acquisition because it was labeled 'win-now' and we gave up a second-tier star for a player that only helped us get to the second round three years after the trade. I think Rudy Gay could have done the same, all while being younger and a lot more gifted offensively. Rudy Gay would most likely be considered our best overall player if he were on the team right now. I understand your point about wanting more from the trade -- a lot of us assumed that Memphis' first rounder would be included and were angry when it wasn't. It's hard to say who was responsible for negotiating that deal; it had Morey's fingerprints all over it. Obviously Morey felt strongly enough in favor of the deal to push it despite not getting more compensation back in return for that 8th pick.
What the hell does it have to with anything and how has that affected their game???... can they run up and down the court and not get winded??... I see Bud and Hill get up and down the floor just fine. I cant see how smoking weed would make you a worse basketball player if you are still in good shape. Not saying I know that they are toking it up every second of the day or anything because they probably are not, but even if they did smoke every once in awhile it has nothing to do with Budinger missing shots from 3 point land.
The Mavericks, the Rockets, Brendan Haywood and Kevin Martin – On Friday, DallasBasketball.com cited two sources in reporting that the center-starved Rockets (possibly facing life without Yao Ming) are “eyeing’’ Mavs center Brendan Haywood. Maybe not coincidentally, we reported that the Mavs “covet’’ Houston’s Kevin Martin. Those aren’t trade talks. … not yet. But Dallas’ involvement here is indicative of owner Mark Cuban’s endless push for his team to be “the next big thing.’’ But there needs to be deep evaluation of change here. Nelson says, “One of our top intentions is to not mess with an incredible chemistry,’’ and who can blame him? Dallas is 21-5 and has won 14 of 15. Scout.com Do we want Brendan Haywood or not ?
http://espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=2426 (Ariza) http://espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3445 (Lee) How can it be said Ariza is playing better than Lee? Lee - 47% shooting, 50% on 3's, Ariza - 38% and 28%
Plus Lee is the better ball handler and passer. And Lee can actually drive and pull up for a midrange shot. Ariza is lacking in that Area although he so probably thebetter slasher and fastbreak player. But Lee is good at those also. Arza does get the edge at covering the passing lanes for steals and might be the overall better defender. But it is close again. Overall I give the clear edge to Ariza and that doesn't take into consideration trading Ariza allowed Bud tio improve his overall game and us to get T-Will. And T-Will with any luck will be the much better overall player in this league.
He's better at riding Kobe's coattails to a ring, while Lee could only ride Howard's coattails to the Finals.
I'll be happy when management focuses on player development and gives Patterson, Twill, Lee, and Hill more play time, and if the Rockets land a top 5 pick.
Just checked in on our boy.At the 3:54 mark of the 3rd qtr, he is 1-8 from the field for 4 pts in 25 minutes. Add 2 TO, 1 Assist, 2 Fouls & 7 Boards. Pitiful except for the boards.
Why does everybody ignore that Stromile Swift was part of the Battier/Gay trade? He had negative trade value and the Rockets were able dump his contract to make up for the mistake of signing him as a free agent a year earlier (which was pre-Morey).
How about dribbling/ball-handling? Ariza is better at guarding SFs, but Lee is better at guarding PGs. Given that we already have Battier, Lee's defensive abilities are a better fit for us imo.
Mr. defensive specialist Ariza shoots more than CP3, yet again, for 1-13 FG from the field. Ariza woujldn't be so bad for the Hornets, if he didn't act like he is the 1st option over CP3 and West. He's still living off one playoff stretch with Kobe. He needs to be the last man to take a shot.
I can't understand why people keep doubting management's willingness to give young players playing time? We're the team that gave AB/Landry (late 1st and early 2nd round picks) playing time in the second half of their rookie seasons. We traded away Rafer to let AB continue to develop. We gave Chase (mid 2nd round) playing time from the go in his rookie season. We gave Hill playing time when he couldn't get any for the KNICKS(!!!), and he's averaging 20 min in his last 5 (after closing in on playing half a season for the Rockets last year and this year combined). We gave Ish Smith playing time as an undrafted rookie. AND WE HAVE the deepest roster in the league (our 13th player JJ can start for some teams and has trade value around the league at a lower salary, our 14th player is a lottery pick, and our 15th player is a multiple all star that is injured)! Let's revisit this issue after the Feb trade deadline to see whether we can consolidate some of our players for a star or near star, or at least trade one or two of our 1-3s for a center. If so, I think T-Will will get a chance to play a decent role. For once, I'd like to see DM slightly overstretch (pay too much) for a defensive center.
