I just read Hawkins' quote in the Chronicle and I have to say he definitely seems to be a smart guy...because he said JUST the right thing to make Franchise and Cat want him to stay on the team..."I focus on defense so they can rest on defense"... Keep him because he seems to be clever!
C. Ming Cato PF. Taylor Griffin Thomas SF. Rice Nachbar SG. Mobley Torres PG Francis Norris Brown Hawkins Collier Morris 15 is hard to get to on this team. Seems like however you work it some decent players are not going to make the cut.
He did play some good defense last night..no one play sticks out in my mind..but I did see him staying in front of his man and tryin real hard to guard him..better than some other guys I can think of SA Rocket I'm guessing you haven't seen any of the preseason games. Tito has flat out stunk up the place. Contract or no...he does not deserve to be on this team..at this point anyway. T Brown has shown that he does deserve the backup slot. This isn't a popular opinion around here, but I believe T Brown is better than Moochie right now..He always looks to pass first and runs the O rather well. Hawkins and Oz both should stay, we need another couple of games to tell for sure..I will be interested to see if "The Hawk" can continue to shine, or was this game a fluke?
He made two pressure free throws at the end of the game. If that's the only knock on him, he should have a spot.
I do not have a knock on him really. I just believe that this is now a team where not just anybody can show up and get a spot. Tito was picked knowing he will not be able to contribute now and was signed with that knowledge. CD has done such a good job on this team that we can certainly afford to help the Hawk get a spot somewhere else.
In addition to last game, good things have been said about Hawkins play during the practices he's participated in. Just another player? Ok so Carl Herrara, Moochie Norris, Mario Elie, Sam Mack....were they all just any player being added to the roster? No they contributed....who says Hawkins can't or won't contribute...this based just on the fact that he wasn't a free agent or draft pick...?!? sounds sterotypical and dumb. Who classifies as "just anybody(i.e. just any player)"?? Maybe you can help me understand DearRock? Who qualifies as "just anybody"?
Because T-Mo and likely Moochie are going to already be on the IR when the season starts. So there will be two slot open, the Rockets could put two people on the active roster, and fill up those two people's spot on the reserve list with a couple of other people.
Because if the Rockets didn't want him they wouldn't have signed him, and if they thought it effected the cap as much they definitely wouldn't have signed him. The fact that his contract is small pretty much guarantees the Rockets will take a chance on him. Basically, just because you or I don't like Maddox (I think Maddox will be good), doesn't mean Rockets management doesn't see something in him we don't see. So I think they will stick it out with him whether we like it or not.
Gater: Good response, but … IIRC the Rockets did not exercise their option on Collier. This would mean that at the end of this year he will be a FA. This suggests that he isn’t in the long term plans for the Rockets, and I doubt that he’d even want to resign here given that he’ll be looking for minutes behind Cato, Yao and Griffin. Might as well go to a team where he will get a chance to play and develop his game. So why keep him for a year, to do nothing, and then lose him? Perhaps they are looking to trade him, but what do you get for 1.3 million these days? He could probably be traded for someone making the veteran minimum, I suppose. I think that would work cap wise.
I would agree if Hawk didn't look so good last night. If he wasn't there I really think we would have lost. When he needed to hit the free throws, he knocked them both down. To me, that showed he has that little bit of an intangible quality known as 'clutch'. Tito was in a similar situation the night before and blew it. While I think Tito might eventually become a quality player, he is nowhere near that point yet. Plus, when I looked at the defense of both players it looked to me like Hawk was better. I haven't noticed Tito slowing down anyone to a great extent, while Hawk did a nice job on Tracy McGrady and each of the Magic players he guarded. At a minimum, he deserves minutes in the next game to have a chance to replace Tito. If he has a similar game or two, then it would be very difficult to drop him. CD and RT might still see something in Maddox. But if our season goes as planned, he will see zero gametime. They would be doing a bigger favor by letting Maddox go somewhere. Stay on good terms, and we could probably have the first shot at him next year.
In the pre season programs they have 16 listed. francis, mobely, norris, maddox, brown, torres, rice, nachbar, morris, taylor, thomas, griffin, ming, cato, collier that kinda tells me anyone else may not be in the running, but thats just my opinion
I put a poll out on this subject. I'm not sure if the choices represent every one's ideas, but that's what I tried to convey in the poll. http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43424
It also should be noted that the chronicle reported today that KT fractured a finger trying to block a Grant Hill dunk.. ~kountzer~
Personally I think that this will be the final cut: 1.Steve Francis 2.Cat 3.Rice 4.Griff 5.Yao Ming 6.Norris 7.Morris 8.Thomas 9.Taylor 10.Cato 11.Brown 12.Boki 13.Maddox 14.Torres 15.Collier I wish that we didn't need Collier but I think that he will prove useful somewhere down the line. And is it just me or does he look very out of shape?
Collier is a waste of space. I don't care if he's 7 ft. I know he's a nice guy, but he just doesn't belong in the NBA. Tierre is better than Tito as I've said 100 times, but Tito has a partially guaranteed contract which basically told me a long time ago, bye Tierre. They still think Tito can play SG as well as PG which is BS. Tierre has proven himself time and time again, but it's not enough. I really don't know who we'd keep out of Torres, Mickeal, and Hawkins. I never got to see Hawkins since I'm in damn Austin. The same goes for Mickeal, but I've seen him before and he sounds like the best addition to me. Hawkins had some nice stats, but let's see how he does in the next 2. IMO, Rudy shouldn't even play Cat more than 15 min, and split the rest over these three. We already have an idea of what Oscar can do. I like how he played at times, but I don't know if he can be consistent and adjust to a back-up role. Mickeal sounds the best to me.
I think Maddox is the perfect guy for one of the three reserve (old IR) slots. Lets face it, number 15 is never going to play. He gets a year to practice with the team, learn the plays and learn the league and build his body. I think he was drafted for the future, and this is how you develope him. Collier - we ned a third center. I accept Griffin and maybe Tayor as the desperation third stringer, but not right off. Ming is tired, untested and has not had a chance to practice the plays. Like most rookies, he is likely to get fould called on him, and Cato already is foul prone. I think Griffin will be great, but if we need semi significant center minutes in the first half of the season, I hate to have to rely on a second year 20 year old playing out of position. 12 man roster Cato, Ming, Collier Griffin, KT, Taylor (its just a log jam folks) Rice, (KT), TMo Mobley, Hawkins (I think he plays 2, right?) Francis, Norris 3 developmental Maddox Brown Nachbar Hawkins has played solid, I hear - seen 0 preseason - and he was bragging on his defense in the paper. Fits our need. Nice to let one spring training guy go through, makes everybody compete. Nachbar starts on the IR becasue there are not a lot of minutes for him, a groin can always use more rest and it gives him a chance to watch the league the first time through, and he won't wine about it. He is clearly on the team before the end of the year. Proably after Rice gets hurt. (believe it or not, we will be sad when Rice goes down - could be a dream, but I'm going with it) If TMo's injury keeps him out for more than a week or two of real season Boki gets the reprive. Brown is waiting for an injury. Oscar T is just the odd man out. Obvious choice for a 10 day contract if the injury bug comes back. By mid year- if there are no injuries, and Ming develops and does not hit a rookie wall, Collier steps down and Boki up. But I think Collier will surprise us this year.
1.Steve Francis 2.Cat 3.Rice 4.Griff 5.Yao Ming 6.Norris 7.Morris 8.Thomas 9.Taylor 10.Cato 11.Brown 12.Boki 13.Maddox 14.Torres 15.Collier I think you hit the nail on the head, though I'd would prefer to get rid of Maddox. Hawkins or Mickeal would be a better selection
