so you would like to keep the team exactly the way it is, but get rid of rafer for apparently nothing...leaving the PG spot up to a 36yo backup, a guy who barely has any nba experience, and steve "heading for injury retirement" francis?
Arenas Rule: We can match anything anyone offers. or they can't offer more than we can offer. Or something. However it's worded, we can keep him no matter how much he signs for.
I'd be willing to trade Rafer in a package with Francis and our draft pick for Hinrich. Then send BJax and Head to Memphis along with next year's first for Mike Miller. Hinrich/Brooks/Francis (after agreed to buyout) McGrady/Miller/BJax (another BBarry deal) Battier/Miller/Harris Yao/Lafrentz/Deke (after he gets bought out) Scola/Landry/Hayes/Harris
I love Carl, but I don't think most of the league is so swayed by him just yet. If somehow he pulls ROY out of his butt then maybe he'd be a good investment, but right now he's high risk medium reward which doesn't scream let me spend all my MLE on him to most owners. Well, except for the Knicks.
I would put brook to start at pg because i think he could be like the next parker able to drive into the lane because of his speed and i think he got a good jumper and 3pointer. Also i think steve still got like one more year left in him.
Number one priority for the Rockets this summer is a back up center. I don't want to see for a third straight year Mutumbo starting for the Rockets when Yao is out for another stretch of games.
Why worry about a backup center when you need a starting point guard? Unless you predict Yao is going to be out for a majority of the season again.
I agree, I watched Artest last night and he is a beast on D and O, and hes super physical which the Rockets desperately need. He has attitude and won't take **** from people too, I love it. I would trade Battier for him in a heartbeat, but Battier has impressed me lately. Battier, imo, can be a scorer and is a complete 'basketball player', they just don't run the offense for him. I've seen him make his own shots plenty of times. I just wish he'd do it more often. I hope the Rockets manage to get Artest somehow, and Artest leaving all that off the court baggage behind him.
I don't he doesn't even fit in with a shot happy Bibby or a mellow person like K Mart what makes you think he'll fit in with T-mac and Yao
pgs? if we are that desperate... we can have some of the grizzlies. maybe lowry for cash... you know, to pay back for the battier for gay trade. the one where cd wanted lowry and it was part of the trade, but jerry west somehow secretly took that out, without cd knowing, which got us ripped off. seriously... i want any of memphis pgs except for navarro. they are young, athletic, and quick. i love luther, but if it means saying bye for one of them, we have to do it.
As long as Rafer is our "budget" PG the Rockets aren't going far. Battier needs to come off the bench as a defensive specialist. Hayes is a "mascot" player, everybody likes him but he is a huge offensive liability. The Rockets need more of what they have needed for a long time, more talent. Talent that is athletic, long, and quick. And, please, one, just one, consistent shooter who can also run and jump. Playing out of your mind, above your abilities, surpassing your talents produces streaks not championships.
i love mutombo but i think it's clear that he can play well with limited minutes, and only limited minutes. its just too much to ask a 41 yr old center to carry the burden of being a team's lone shotblocker and intimidator. we must find a real backup for yao that can log significant minutes, which is admittedly no easy task. the best option would be for yao to just stay healthy all year but i think at this point all rockets fans just have to prepare themselves for the possibility that yao and tmac will both miss significant time any given season.
sure, if deke retires we need another shot blocker. there are always guys like foyle and ratliff available for the min. i just don't think it's a major requirement for the offseason. with yao playing 36mpg, scola and landry will play about 30mpg each next season and that's all of the minutes at the 4/5. an extra shot blocker is just insurance policy...all be it an important one...but still just insurance.
i'm not in awe of the suns, this so called greyhound team, have everything but they could not fall back on defense when needed. The only player that plays defense is a roungh up player in raja bell. spurs is a good team, but you have to admit they got abit lucky. They got barry, finley and horry on the cheap. low drafts that played very very well. And they got a coach who have been there like forever, hence being able to bring upon his vision of the team. For the current rox team, this is a team that is filled with VG type of players. They are learning a new system, and rox have a bad year with injuries. For the system that is being implemented in this rox team, you need players that are comfortable with the ball. Being able to pass, dribble or shoot. How many of the current rox squad is able to say is up to that task? You put Tmac there, maybe rafer alston, battier, scola, brooks and bobby jackson. Yao as the pivot need less skill of dribble, so you could add him to the RA requirement. And thats all. You got maybe 7 players out of 15 players that fits this system. And if you look at it again, there is 3 point guards in that 7 players. Do you really think that this is the best this systems can do? For me personally, rafer alston is having his break-out year. Hence the solid record for this season so far. But for me, its tough seeing him maintaining that over the rest of the season, not to say next season. Scola, brooks, jackson and landry is one step to making this team a rick adelman team. And I guess we will see more changes to the team for next season. On skills type that is needed to help Yao and Tmac, is players that can put the ball at the back of the net. Preferably from range, as this will create more space for the 2 stars system to work. I do not think that this team needs a 3rd scorer, but they certainly need a 2nd unit that could score. Or a player that complement well to both yao and tmac, when one of them are resting on the bench. Someone who could go low and also able to shoot the 3p. I thought that someone is Bonzi wells, but certainly the RA looks at things differently. I certainly hope that rox be able to get a PG that is more consistent, more reliable and able to change the pace of the game when needed. Rafer is certainly not consistent, his shots selection could be much better and too many times i have seen that the pace of the game have been push too high of a tempo and rafer could not slow it down. Players that i think will thrive under RA system, Mike Dunleavy. Yes, he is putting up big numbers for a bad team, but it made me think that in a system where he is not the no.1 option, the ball movement is faster. He could be even better, as his range and his size will create match-up problems with everyone, especially when there is 2 players that comment double teaming as his teammates. Free agents that have caught my eye. James Jones(Portland), Mickael Pietrus(GS), and Chris Duhan(Chicago). Pipe dream: Arenas and Artest.
I would be extremely interested in Dunleavy if he was available. That's the kind of basketball brain I want on our team. And the bonus is he can shoot, dribble, pass, see the floor, and he runs pretty good, like a low grade greyhound.
