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The Root of Frustration: Brooks, Budinger and Hill

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Carl Herrera, Feb 25, 2011.

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  1. Carl Herrera

    Carl Herrera Member

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    If fans are frustrated with the Rockets record this season or with the lack of a significant trade, it seems to me that these three guys are the root cause. Specifically:

    (1) The team has generally played a lot worse with the bench than they did with the starting group over the course of the season (exceptions of these are few), and these are three of the main guys playing off the bench who have caused the struggles.

    (2) The team's trade prospects depends on having young player who are viewed as having potential to be at least above average contributors. If the Rockets were going to get a star, his team most likely would be rebuilding and would want high-ish level young guys with potential rather than vets, even good ones like Martin, Scola and certainly not old man Brad Miller. These 3 are among those who could have fit the bill but each decreased the amount of trade value that they had compared to the beginning of their season by under-performing. AB did worst than he did last season, losing his starting job. Budinger whose rookie year numbers were quite good, did worse as well and failed to beat out Battier for minutes as the team had hoped when they traded Ariza. Even Jordan Hill fell apart after having some good games after being traded to the Rockets. So, we ended up with Battier and Lee being apparently the two guys teams wanted the most-- and those offers are from contending teams who would rather give you a pick rather than existing talent. AB ended up being traded for a price likely less than what 32-year-old Battier fetched.

    (And it just so happens these are three of the DaDakota favorites...)

    Anyhow, I've lost faith in Hill. AB is gone. Bud the Dinger still has a chance to redeem himself. Hope he mans up with the extra minutes now that he made Shane leave.
     
    #1 Carl Herrera, Feb 25, 2011
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  2. DreamShook

    DreamShook Member

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    Ban DD from picking favorites!
     
    #2 DreamShook, Feb 25, 2011
  3. Joe Joe

    Joe Joe Go Stros!
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    Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. These players falling apart is what put the Rockets in this position. Brooks, Hill, and Budinger combined aren't worth a healthy Yao Ming which puts us in this frustration.
     
    #3 Joe Joe, Feb 25, 2011
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  4. Hippieloser

    Hippieloser Member

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    The Hard G's performance has been the biggest disappointment this year for me. I really thought he'd take over the starter's role this season, and based on the Ariza trade it appeared the Rockets felt the same. At least Hill has the excuse that he was playing out of position. His best moments this year have come at forward. The Arizona Connection fell on its dick this year. That's half the bench right there.
     
    #4 Hippieloser, Feb 25, 2011
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  5. thetatomatis

    thetatomatis Member

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    Budinger is actually not as bad as some of you Battier lovers piled on him to make him out to be. Thats why Morey felt good enough to hand the starting job to Budinger practically. We will see on that one though. I am fairly certain although his defense wont prove it. His playing ability overall will. Will we win as much? Thats up to if we have enough depth with Twill or someone else at SF behind Budinger.

    Hill? No arguments there.

    Brooks? Injury and frustration with Lowry contributed to play.
     
    #5 thetatomatis, Feb 25, 2011
  6. larsv8

    larsv8 Member

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    Brooks and Budinger are understandable but how can you have already given up on Hill?

    The kid hasnt even played 100 games yet. Barely 1500 minutes in the NBA. If we are going to rebuild, having patience with guys like Hill is essential. Shouldnt give up on him until atleast he has three full NBA seasons under his belt (non Knick seasons)

    I am actually looking forward to seeing him alongside Thabeet. Thats a lot of size and athleticism there.
     
    #6 larsv8, Feb 25, 2011
  7. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    Being afraid of paying your good players is not something that winning franchises care about.

    They just sign those players.

    Morey's trade of Shane made sense, Morey's trade of Brooks was to save money.

    Winning franchises do not worry about that, they go for the wins...not the $$$$$.

    DD
     
    #7 DaDakota, Feb 25, 2011
  8. Xerobull

    Xerobull ...and I'm all out of bubblegum
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    He's already banned.
     
    #8 Xerobull, Feb 25, 2011
  9. thetatomatis

    thetatomatis Member

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    In fact lets further explore points on Budinger. He has better assists, better rebounding, same steals averages, same block averages, better freethrow percentages, .7 less points per game, shooting two percentage points less than last year, 6 percentage points less on threes. All in averaging 2 minutes less playing time in minutes per game than last year.

    His scoring is basically this average vs this average with 2 minutes less and playing with a early season injury.

    8.2 vs 8.9


    His defense is worse. He was injured. Taking away from his lateral movement. Basically overblown because people wanted Battier to keep starting after Battiers own horrendous start to the season.

    DD has curses but Budinger is my player.. :grin:

    So is Patterson. These are my favorite players for the future.
     
    #9 thetatomatis, Feb 25, 2011
  10. Amshirvani

    Amshirvani Member

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    Is he really? I was wondering where he's been the last month...
     
    #10 Amshirvani, Feb 25, 2011
  11. kidcave9

    kidcave9 Member

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    Miller is trash...
     
    #11 kidcave9, Feb 25, 2011
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  12. Dei

    Dei Member

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    Doubt this is like Rafer to Brooks. The Rockets are barely in the play-off race. They just bit on an opportunity to move an expiring for a center and a pick.
     
    #12 Dei, Feb 25, 2011
  13. Carl Herrera

    Carl Herrera Member

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    Tracy, yes. Not because of the injury, but because of his whining, reports of his lack of proper rehab, etc.

    Yao, I'm not so frustrated with. He got hurt. Not his fault. He did all he could to come back. Didn't work. It hurts the team but that's luck.

    Bud and Brooks I am frustrated with because they can do better than they've done for the team this year. In fact, they have done better in the past. Hill, too... it's frustrating to watch him thrash about cluelessly. Knowing that he was taking minutes away from Patterson added to the frustration (though that's probably more on Adelman).
     
    #13 Carl Herrera, Feb 25, 2011
  14. stonecold999

    stonecold999 Member

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    Really? Is DD already banned on CF?
     
    #14 stonecold999, Feb 25, 2011
  15. spookyoldtree

    spookyoldtree Member

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    Brooks is to Rockets = __________ is to Clutchfans

    fill in the blank :grin:
     
    #15 spookyoldtree, Feb 25, 2011
  16. DCkid

    DCkid Member

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    Agreed. Brooks injury and subsequent play on his return brought EVERYONE's value down.

    1.) Without Lowry in the second unit Budinger clearly was not getting as many open looks or Lowry finding him on slashes to the basket. The whole second unit just looked terrible, compared to last year when our bench was a positive.

    2.) Players just don't look as attractive when the team is losing. And our losing was mainly due to Brooks from last season (possibly our most important player) being absent.

    Wonder how our season would look if the ankle injury never happened.
     
    #16 DCkid, Feb 25, 2011
  17. xomox

    xomox Member

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    i think the root cause is not the players you mention, but the coach who put them in the game even when they were stinking it up big-time. he knew those slumps were bad enough to cost some games. but the dipsht gave up those games anyway. hope adelman does not resign
     
    #17 xomox, Feb 25, 2011
  18. PeppermintCandy

    PeppermintCandy Member

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    It's a mistake to make second-year players the focal points for the team and be disappointed when they don't "step up." Even Landry and Brooks didn't have so much responsibility put on them in the sophomore seasons as Budinger has. Before Yao went out, Hill wasn't even supposed to see much playing time this season.

    It would have been great if Budinger or Hill did exceed everyone's expectations, but you can't base your team's plans on that possibility.
     
    #18 PeppermintCandy, Feb 25, 2011
  19. 9495

    9495 Member

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    From Brooks' point of view, he didn't get an extention after a MIP year, he got injured, Yao got injured, he lost his starting job, the team is losing, must be pretty frustrating...
    Like I said, all the better players in the team left unhappy, Artest, Tmac, Ariza, Brooks... Is it always the players? Or the management had something to do with it?
     
    #19 9495, Feb 25, 2011
  20. OremLK

    OremLK Member

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    ClutchFans often has a skewed perspective. Budinger's numbers, for instance, are surprisingly similar to last season's; his 3P% is down, but his assists, rebounds, blocks, and free throw percentage are all slightly up despite him playing fewer minutes per game. His amount of scoring per 36 minutes is almost identical to last season. His PER is actually higher, at 14.5, than it was last year, at 14.1.

    Yeah, he's missed about a dozen three point shots he would have made last year. But he has still been a valuable contributor off the bench and if he had made those shots he would actually be performing significantly better than he did last season.
     
    #20 OremLK, Feb 25, 2011
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