I was looking thorugh some old drafts, and Can someone tell me what the Rockets where thinking Drafting Rhodric Rhodes and Serge Zwikker in 1997, and Collier and Langhi in 2000. 97' was awful picks but in 2000 we picked decently but traded those two away for these losers (collier and Langhi). We sent to Milwuakee Przybilla a decent backup center hes better than collierr and to dallas sent Najera plus a second round pick for Langhi. Guys you do O.K. drafting but just because it worked out well trading for francis in the 99' draft dont do it in 2000. This would be the team assuming we kept them. Never would have traded anderson for rice PG Francis Norris Maddox Sg Mobley Anderson Sf Posey Najera Nachbar PF Griffin Taylor Morris C Ming Cato Pryzabilla We would be as deep as dallas with a big man
IF the rockets would have drafted it's possible that Yao would never been a Rocket. Rhodes was a good player or at least a decent role player I think injuries caught up to him
Anderson, would have left anyway, for money and the wave off's, getting Rice was a fair outcome compared resigning Anderson for the money he is now on. Najera and Pzybilla would have certainly been better, but didn't we in the Collier/Pzsbilla trade get a pick that landed us Eggie
If i remember right... the trade for Collier is what gave us one of the 3 picks that we used to get Eddie Griffin. Please correct me if I'm wrong there, I'm going on memory. Shandon isn't happy with the Rockets in the role that we put him, so I don't think keeping him was an option. I liked Najera at the draft because I have seen him play so often on the OU games, and he seems to amaze me with his heart. Seeing him getting injured and come back to play to the best of his abilities, I think that is a major characteristic of the Houston Rockets team. Collier, imo, was never expected to accomplish too much except as a big body in the NBA. I believe that his highest expected accomplishment, hopefully, is an upgraded version of Luc Longley.... but it's fun seeing him play at times. Rhodes in 1997 was an athletic player with seemingly nice defense. He can play the 2 or 3 which seems to please Rudy. These picks are chances that we took... hoping to bring out their true potentials. If it doesn't work out, I don't think that these picks that the Rockets have will help them that much considering they aren't all high picks.
We did get a pick, but we could have sent the other 2 and shandon anderson. NJ would probably have done that with them uncertain the if kittles would ever come back. We probably would still get Eddie but Shandon anderson would be taken off the roster i made but i left out posey so u can slot him in at back up 2.
Rhodes was a nice player while he was here. He couldn't shoot to save his life, but he played awesome defense, had nice passing skills, and could drive to the basket very nicely. He could never finish though. When it comes down to it, there aren't a whole lot of players after our pick who would've been any more valuable . . . Rhodes got a big head after his first year, never worked on his game when he should have, got on Rudy's bad side and got himself shipped out. See, Rodrick is one of those players who Rudy can get something out of, but no one else can. Rodrick doesn't belong on most NBADL teams, but under Rudy, he was a competent player who even made the Rookie 2nd team . . . Pryzbilla versus Collier is a wash. There's no way in hell I want Pryzbilla with a 9th pick . . . he's not that good. He's not good at all. Collier basically was a free pick as we got another pick the following year. And that draft was so awful, there aren't a whole lot of players worth having outside of the top 8 . . . Personally, I kindof like Collier better as he's not a bad outside shooter, and he has some clue and plays hard on the basketball court. He just doesn't have the talent to be very good. Pryzbilla just seems to have no idea as to anything from rebounding to defense. He can block shots, and he's a big body, but he's not that great of a shot blocker, and there are lots of big bodies who are better and aren't in the NBA. Serge Zwikker wasn't really a bad pick, I mean with a 2nd rounder it's a bonus if the player can even make the team . . . Zwikker was predicted to go as high as the early 20s by many. Sure, he ended up sucking, but frankly, that doesn't really matter much because you expect 2nd rounders to suck. Langhi was a bad pick IMO. When we got Najera, I was very happy. Then getting Langhi instead turned out to be very bad. But hey, hindsight is 20/20, and Langhi plays awesome in the summer league. He just isn't an NBA caliber player . . .
No Griffin, we get Richard Jefferson As much as I like Griffin, Jefferson would of not been a bad pick (like the Colliers, and ? before) had we not been in the position to trade with NJ. Besides Collier had nothing to do with getting Griffin. That pick could of been used on many people, considered more 1st round material.
We wouldn't have picked Jefferson if we were picking for ourselves. That's clear by now. You MAY say, in exchange for Przybilla we got Collier and 1/3 of Griffin. But all this is silly. You can play this game all day, and little things would change everything. If we picked Jefferson, had Przybilla, and Najera, then we wouldn't get Rice. If we didn't get Rice, then Cato wouldn't be playing so effectively. If Cato didn't play so effectively, we easily lose 3 or 4 wins at the beginning of the season. If we don't pick Griffin, then Kenny Thomas is back here, and James Posey is gone. If Kenny Thomas is playing PF for us, the our record would've been different too. It's an endless game that no one can predict. Just because you reverse it, doesn't mean everything else is constant. Who knows if ONE sentence out of Rice's mouth improved Francis' leadership skills which ultimately improved our team? What if we didn't have Rice?
Agree Things would have been different now. Everything happens for a reason. Anderson, Najera and Pryzabilla those types of player can be found easily. But with a player like Yao, a once in a lifetime player, not only would you need a #1 draft pick but incredible luck to get him (ask the Bulls and the Warriors)
The 1997 and 2000 drafts were the two worst drafts in recent history. There's a rumor that when Houston was on the clock with the #17 pick in '97 draft Rudy was wasted. David Stern came asking who's your pick. Rudy was f*cked up and responded in a slurred voice "I don't know." This was misconstrued by Mr. Stern as Rodrick Rhodes. The ESPN draft gurus called it the worst 1st round pick ever. In 2000, Collier was your typical Rudy T pick. Rudy has some kind of fetish for big guys who can shoot. The plan was to trade down and take Etan Thomas, since Mihm and Miles were already gone by #9. Dallas screwed it up and took Thomas at #12. Rudy was frantically looking at his draft board. Desperate to land a big man, Rudy ignored Jamaal Magloire and went for Collier. Also, because they were negotiating with Cuttino on his new contract, Rudy didn't have the balls to sign another 2 guard. They didn't want to hurt Cat's feelings. Thus Desmond Mason and Quentin Richardson were never considered. Damn shame if you ask me. Cuttino wouldn't be playing 42 minutes a night if we had Mason or Q. Anyways, there was a total meltdown on the BBS during and after the 2000 draft. People here were f*cking pissed. The consensus pick at #15 was to take Magloire, Q, or Mason. Instead we end up with a big, dumb oaf in Collier, and an anorexic SF in Langhi.
ehh, i'd rather they screw up the rhodes', langhi's, and collier's of the world and be right on the francis', ming's, eddie's, and cat's of the world.
True.. In picking Collier, Rudy was looking for a big man who could spread defenses with a perimeter threat, while that did not work out..the pick of EddieG got the job done. While Ive never heard Rudy say so, I think Eddie is THE key to Rudys basic offensive scheme of spreading the D with both the pf and sf..getting better spacing for driving lanes for the guards ..and now, more working room for Yao.
i'm just going to agree with the fact the 97 draft was pretty terrible really and i'd like to challenge you to find somebody picked after rodrick rhodes who would have helped. collier and lang- no argument. najera would be better. also, wasn't that the year we passed on Rashard Lewis or was that 99'?
The Rockets had the #24 pick in 1997. The only players worth a damn after that were Jacque Vaughn, Marc Jackson, Stephen Jackson and Alvin Williams (2 of these guys needed CBA seasoning). Rudy simply didn't have alot to choose from. If the Rockets had taken Magloire in 2000, I think we could have made a pretty big trade. I seem to remember a rumor that after the 1999-2000 season, the Suns offered Shawn Marion (and I guess cap filler) for Cato. I'm not sure if this was true or even possble, as Cato's extension (which hadn't kicked in yet) would have made things tricky. Anyone want to confirm? In any case, Magloire, Turkoglu, Mason, Q or Morris Peterson would all have been more productive draft picks. I would have even taken a chance on DeShawn Stevenson, although he has yet to really produce at the NBA-level. But I think Rudy wanted a big man who could spread the floor for Steve and Cat, and Collier was the only one who could do that. As for Langhi, that was a huge mistake. He was the consummate play-breaker for the Rockets (mostly by getting in the way of the other players) and we saw that he hasn't added anything to the Suns either. Najera would have been a great addition. We would also have kept our 2nd round pick in 2001 when there was some still serviceable players left (Loren Woods, Alton Ford, Jarron Collins, Alvin Jones).
I don't recall anyone mentioning Magloire in the 2000 draft from this site. He was so far down, he wasn't even in the <a href="http://%20www.clutchcity.net/mockdraft_avgp.cfm?Player=11">Clutchcity Mock Draft</a> <b>Jerome Moiso</b> was the consensus pick for the Rockets at 30% of cc.net voters. <a href="http://nbadraft.net/2000mockdraft.htm">NBADraft.com had him going to the Rockets, too.</a> Suffice it to say that Collier and a future #1 is better than Moiso. By comparison, 83% of the BBS thought <b>Quentin Richardson</b> would not be selected in the lottery. 95% thought <b>Desmond Mason</b> would go unselected. Most people wanted a SG for the Rockets wanted <b>DeMarr Johnson at 35% of the bbs</b>. Yeah, that's a good pick. Anyone who says they were yelling for Q, Mason or Magloire are likely lying 3yrs after the fact.
