Man, Does anyone else wonder what the heck the Rockets are thinking in their last few trades? All 3 players above would be GREAT on this team, and what did we get in return. EG - a sleepwalking player who can't shoot. Posey - I thought he played defense Langhi - Playing well....IN PHOENIX ! Come on now Rudy and CD, you are killing us here. The last good trade was for Steve Francis.... I hope they know what they are doing, because Richard Jefferson and KT look really good right about now. DD
well maybe they will not hesitate to trade off some of the excess baggage in the roster and coaching staff this summer.
It's all part of their long term plans. They're going to make a couple more trades that look idiotic in the future to get everybody's guard down. Then one day they're going to pull off a major trade that some sucker is going to take after looking at how all of our previous trades turn into gold for the other team involved. "Moochie for Rashard? Hmmm...I don't know... Hell, if the Rockets are trading him, he's probably the next Jason Kidd. Trade ACCEPTED!"
If KT were still here he would be showing us fans how player can disappear in the 2nd halves of ballgames,,,something Mo Taylor does not do. Trading KT has not hurt the Rockets.
Interesting thing with Jefferson, is that NJ did not want him either. They were wanting the Rockets to take ? that Seatle selected, who was torching up the workouts.
Well, Considering that we could have had Jefferson, KT, & Najera...plus 2 other players from last years draft. I think the Rockets track record on recent trades is for ****e. Heck, I would even have taken Rashard Lewis for EG....I mean are the Rockets stupid? They have turned down Lewis twice. DD
Draft is a hit or miss thing so don't put too much blame here. And I don't think KT and Langhi would do well for us even if they're with us, so forget them. The biggest regret should be the no trade between EG for Rashard Lewis. It's highly doubtful EG would ever be as good as Lewis let alone better. And it's not like Lewis is not young (only 23 years old), doesn't have potential (he's a HS kid), doesn't fit in with our team (we badly need a quality SF who can shoot) or is overpaid (he makes only 6m this year and 7m next year) either.
When looking back at past trades you have to consider thier effect on draft choices (with the exception of KT). Basically im trying to say that we likely/may not have landed the #1 pick last year if it hadnt been for certain past blunders. We will be able to tell what the right choices would have been a few years from now. Also with regards to KT, i think that he is a good player but i agreed with the logic of the trade to get Mo/EG more minutes since i feel that Mo is a superior player.
Sorry i forgot that you mentioned the EG for Lewis possibility. I agree that that was a mistake. I dont EG's potential its that much greater than Lewis' abilities now.
Exactly. So I don't regret those draft choices that much. After all those blunders helps us to get Yao and Francis and I firmly believe Yao and Steve are better than all those combinations of players we missed when all is said and done.. But I still regret the non-trade of EG for Lewis because I believe that we would be a better team right now with Lewis than EG. And it would not help us to get a better draft choice either because we don't have a 1st round pick next season.
Langhi will always suck...he is not playing any better than he did. Posey does play defense. Eddie Griffin will be a damn good player. Ask the Nets how good RJ plays when he wants that big fat contract after Kidd heads to spur town. How many years did it take Kobe to shine? More than 1 I will tell you that much..... Infact the only player ever to come out and shine right away is T-mac and KG is a close second. I STILL THINK THE UNI'S CURSED US.
T-mac didn't shine in his forst 2 years, Garnett shined more, and ofcourse Amare stoudemire shined in his first year. So i haven't givven up on Griffin, i do think the Langhi selection wasn't verry good.The KT trade i'm happy about, i like posey and we needed his kind of play more than the play of KT.
Jefferson is an assist machine. He is unselfish and plays team ball. The question is whether he would play the same role on the Rockets. I have a feeling that the ISO-players on the ISO-team would cause Jefferson to not be as effective on the Rockets. The Nets have a team-oriented offense, while the Rockets have an ISO-oriented offense. Jefferson wouldn't be as good on the Rockets.
i love this thread, but i hate it more. it makes me wonder about cd in the front office. i would want najera the most. do you think he would have let mutombo get away with elbowing yao in the throat last night? najera would have ripped of 'tombo's arm, shoved it into his left ear, and then would have pulled a shaq/ferry move.
The nets are unselfish, but Jefferson averages 2.5 assists a game. I'm not saying the team doesn't pass well, their whole team does, but assist machine ,.
I quite often agree with DaDakota but I'm going against the grain on this one. Reason? I think it's more a fault of the system than the players. Langhi: Other than when there where injuries, Langhi got no PT in Houston. At times this season, he has been in PHX's rotation. Now before you run to his stats and re-proclaim him a bust...drill down on game by game stats. Observe that when he gets 14+ mpg, his shooting is very good. IMO, it's because when he gets touches, he is able to get into a rhythm. Also, even though the Suns have a S1P2 PG, the Suns overall have more assists than the ROX (and a slightly lower FG%). Najera? His entire game is predicated solely on hustle and offensive putbacks. His overall numbers are decent but they're deceiving. Najera usually puts up good numbers against PHX & HOU and big numbers vs. non-playoff teams. He disappears against tougher competition. IMO, it's a real stretch to say the Rockets would be better off with Najera on the team. He benefits greatly from playing with Nowitski, Nash, Finley, and LaFrentz and also from the "grass is greener" syndrome...he's successful on another team therefore he'd be successful on the Rox. Jefferson? Great stats, very athletic...plays with Kidd. NJ averages 95.9 ppg. 38.8% of these points come from fastbreaks and points of TO's (The Rox are near dead last in these categories). I don't think it's much of a reach to say that at least 1/3 of RJ's game is generated by NJ's style of play. As mentioned prior, there is a high possibility that because Jefferson was a mature player when entering the league, he would have performed well enough in his rookie season that the Rox may not have gotten Yao. Griffin: My verdict is still out for one more season. Yeah, I know...he looks lost, his shot is ugly....I have questions, though. How much of looking lost is not wanting to get in the way of Francis and Mobley going 1on1? How well can a player develop when his X on the play chart is always at the arc? Would the Rockets defer to Jefferson over Francis, Mobley or Yao? Why would we think that Jefferson's X would be any closer to the paint when Posey's and Rice's aren't? EG's shot is ugly, but his 3's go in more frequently than RJ's. IMO, with the Rockets current offense (set and transition), Jefferson would be a non-factor. Posey: I don't think the NJ game is a barometer. Jefferson's scoring did not come totally against JP. Many were transition baskets. And the Rockets as a team give up a good number of these. Regarding Posey's D, I have larger questions. What is the Rockets team defensive scheme? Do they funnel everything to Yao? I'm not sure after watching the ease at which Speedy Claxton went baseline on Moochie. Kobe seems to get there easily against the Rox, too. Ever notice that most of the time Yao gets "posterized" in a half court set it's from the baseline? I'm having difficulty assessing Poseys' D when the whole scheme seems to wreak...poor transition, poor rotation, poor at PnR defense... With the possible exception of Hawkins (and Yao's ability to alter shots), we have a team of poor defenders. So the bottomline for me is still... Is it the players or the system?
You people who think Langhi is a good player have simply lost your minds. Back away from your keyboards. I am not even going to mention his stats, the name says enough, its Dan friggin Langhi, get a grip Rockets fans. Langhi is not going solve any NBA team's problems.
I have to agree with GATER's post. I think it is the SYSTEM, not necessarily the players. I DO NOT think RJ would be NEARLY as productive as a Rockets as he is with the Nets and benefiting from Kidd, the transition game and the offensive system that they run. Despite RJ's outstanding game last night, I still think he is very overrated! Yes, overrated! I don't see him doing those things on other teams. He is just the right guy in the right system in NJ with Kidd. The problem is the Rockets SYSTEM. That has to change. This team needs a lot more passing and more movement than it has now. Enough is enough! We have some talented players but until we get a solid system in place those players will not be maximized! With zone's these days, the days of just dumping it in the post ala Hakeem are over. Rudy needs to adjust with the times. Either get a new coach, or Rudy needs to hire some assistant coaches that can impliment a new "MOTION" (not movement) offense where everyone is involved and the team plays as a team.
