Ad in the Houston Chronicle - First Draft - Need Your Feedback!

Here's my suggestion....get a girlfriend and let it go. It's a freakin' draftpick that may or may not pan out. What exactly do you think you're going to gain from getting this in the paper?

 

1) Speculative...Gay has to prove that his floor is Battier's ceiling, so this one is pretty weak imo.

2) Good point! ... unless this move is to set up a bigger move.

3) Good point!!

4) Not a strong point, because of how weak this draft appears to have been.

5a/5b) Weak/Very Weak arguments.

*The UCONN argument proves nothing, it up to Gay to prove his own worth.

Although I am in the "5%" who like the trade, I say go for it, I would just make the points more concise and less speculative.

Best of luck!

 

I have said this a lot, but a lot of people have made the same points in multiple threads.

I don't think I'd get laughed out of the building. Certain programs play a way that is well suited for the NBA. I've actually gotten this logic based on what "experts" have often said. Which is Uconn gets its top players for the NBA. People also say this about teams like North Carolina, etc. I don't think an NBA GM would laugh at the rationale. I'm not saying it's the sole reason to keep Gay, but I do think it is one thing to consider.

 

Marshall being better than Battier wouldn't even survive the simplest of debates. Okafor missed quite a few games his rookie year, and played hurt for quite a few more.

 

I took a stab at editing Rasselas' letter. I took out all the arguments, because, hey, we're writing a letter, not a detailed message in the GARM. Plus, length is the key here. Take a look:


ATTENTION: HOUSTON ROCKETS:

We are Rockets fans.

We stand behind the team. Always have, always will. From Moses to Moochie, from Scottie Brooks to Scott Padgett, we've loved every superstar and every role player. We're diehard, we care, and we spend more money on season tickets than we do on rent.

… And now, we're mad as hell.

During the 2006 NBA Draft, held recently on June 28th, the Rockets had a golden opportunity to improve the team, the kind that comes along about as often as sweet-shooting, 7' 6" centers from China.

The opportunity? Rudy Gay. Projected by many to be the draft's first overall pick, the young, athletic slasher--with a rock solid jumpshot to boot--somehow tumbled all the way to the Rockets at #8. According to both head coach Jeff Van Gundy and GM Carroll Dawson, the Rockets' most glaring needs was "youth, athleticism, and shooting." Rudy Gay represented all that… and more.

When the 8th pick rolled around, us fans could barely contain ourselves. After all, we could hardly believe our good fortune: in a thin draft, we somehow landed the most explosive player with the most upside, a player that happened to perfectly match our needs.

… And then, to our horror, we learned that the rights to Gay and last year’s free agent prize Stromile Swift were traded for… no, surely we didn't hear that right… Shane Battier? Straight up, this deal makes no sense and is severely lopsided in every respect. More importantly, the Rockets have short-changed both the immediate and long-term future of the team with this ill-conceived trade, which very well may come back to haunt them.

Now, we bear Shane Battier no ill will, whatsoever, and wish him the best of luck. He's a safe, scrappy player, as well as a great locker room presence – exactly what you want out of a role player. However, the Rockets had a phenomenal chance to add a dynamic scorer and drastically improve the team… and they blew it. And so now, we, the loyal fan base of the Houston Rockets, are rightfully outraged.

The good news? There's still time to correct this grievous error, as this trade cannot be finalized until July 12th.

Mr. Dawson, you have just over a week to undo the damage. Please, sir, reconsider, for the sake of the fans and for the good of the team we so dearly love.

Go Rockets.

Sincerely,
Your Loyal Houston Rockets Fan Base

 

I like the edited version much better.

 

Much better than the initial letter, but it's still too melodramatic! And please just sign your own name, you don't speak for the whole rockets fan base, some of us liked the trade or are neutral.

 

It could be signed "Concerned Rocket Fans" or something along those lines.

 

I loved the draft but I agree it needs more facts and less sensationalism. Just a fact based article about why we need to hang onto Gay.

Some other points I would like to add.

Needs - Didn't we need a quick, tall perimeter player? = Rudy Gay
Lateral Quickness - We have all seen that Shane does not have the foot speed to guard 2's or even 3's on the perimeter but does a damn good job defending guards and SF's in the post. We needed quickness and length in the backcourt and thats Rudy.

I loved the part about shortsightedness and I totally agree.

Gay is much younger than TMac and Yao so when they are in the decline of their careers Gay will be an up and coming star. You look at the top teams they always have young talent on the bench looking to learn the game slowly. We seem to have the oldest bench in the league.

I love the Rox and when its time for Yao/Tmac to move on it will be nice to know we have planted the seeds of our future. Gay may or may not become a superstar but that is a joint effort between his personal desire/drive and our organization.

One last point I think Gay on an off day will take Shane to town and I cant stress how much that bothers me if we trade him.

In NBA terms this reminds me of Orlando trading Tmac for Steve Francis. Doesn't JVG and CD always say the team who ends up with the better player wins the trade or something like that?

J

 

Well, it has to be somewhat rousing in order to snag the reader and elicit an emotional response. Otherwise, you might as well add a TPS report and stick it in someone's inbox.

As for the ending, you can't sign it from one person. I mean, what's the point of that? It's a letter representing a large portion of the Rockets' die-hard fan base. If the ad came from just "Joe Rockets Fan", no one would pay any attention to it.

 

or about how Shane is overpaid? we could get talent like his for the MLE dont you think?

tough scrappy 10 pts/5rebs + intangibles?

J

 

I like the ad, but I also think it should point to a website (not cluthfans as VesceySux pointed out) where we can show an online petition form. Afterall, taking out an ad doesn't necessarily mean that a lot of Rocket's fan agree. For all they know, it could've been a handful of fans with too much money on their hands.

Maybe a poll would be better than a petition. I'm willing to give the other side equal time to make their argument, as that would make our arguments even more legitimate.

Man, I totally forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder. I'm so used to visiting this site that I sometimes forget this is *not* the official Rockets site (although it should be).

 

It's Isiah Thomas, not Isaiah. Like somebody else said, typo reduces credibility.

But all in all, excellent job and brilliant idea! Thanks for voicing our anger!

 

maybe add a point about how many Rockets Fans contributed to this ad for it to come out. Somewhere in a championship, a chance has to be taken on a young guy. We had Cassell and Horry in our championship years. We almost traded Horry, which probably would've spelled disaster. Cassell, as a rookie, made one of the biggest shots to help us win that championship. JVG should know, he was on the other bench under Riley, unless I've mistaken.

Rookies might take time to polish, but it's also about the right attitudes. If we can infuse a hungry attitude, all that talent could come to fruition and the Rockets will have years of success and excitement down the line.

 

how are we putting Rudy Gay in the class of Cassell and Robert Horry?
no.
The scouting report says he seems to 'lack desire or fire; not a clutch player'
these are the OPPOSITE characteristics of the Rocket Legends.
Sam Cassell at 36-37 is still schooling people.

Sam Cassell and Horry are once in a GENERATION PLAYERs. Such uncanny CLUTCHNESS is XMEN LIKE. Sam Cassell as a rookie destroyed Phoenix and the Knicks. I'm questioning if Rudy Gay will help Memphis win 1 freaking playoff game!

 

I don't think Horry or Cassell were legends when we drafted them, were they? If not, I'm sure they had knocks on their scouting report much more than "lacks fire, not clutch". How subjective is that kind of criticism anyway?? Lebron isn't clutch either.

 

They weren't Clutch.
Someone had to teach them about hitting clutch 3 pointers.
Teach them about having fire.
Teach them that no matter if they are down 0-2 going to America West Arena
after being labeled CHOKE CITY by Eddie Sefko, never to give up.


Thanks Eddie Sefko (now works in Dallas).

(May 13, 1994) Down by 12 points at halftime in Game 3 of the 1994 Western Conference Semifinals, Vernon Maxwell turned the Rockets into road warriors. After losing the first two games of the series to the Suns at home, Maxwell made sure Houston wouldn't go down 0-3 in Phoenix by scoring 31 second-half points to lead the Rockets to a 118-102 win.

 

tinman, please stop derailing the thread. We get it: You really, really like the 94-95 and 95-96 Rockets teams. Now move along to another thread so we can discuss more important things. We're actually trying to do something here.