We need a good 1, and also desperately needs a blue collar 4. However, given the choice of either a very good 1 or 4, which will help us more in contending? After watching Tinsley destroying us the other night, I am more inclined to believe that we are just a Hinrich or Tinsley away from contending. An excellent national 1 will help both Yao and TMac's game tremendously. Sure we need both Yao and TMac play at all star level consistently. TMac is already there. With Yao regaining his outside shooting touch, I feel that he can also get there soon. And with a borderline all star lead guard, we can contend even this year. Your thoughts?
I am not saying that we get both. I am saying that we might be a Hinrich or Tinsley away from contending. The market value for an excellent boarder is just cheaper than an excellent 4.
I go back and forth on this all the time, but I think PG is of the biggest concern. They interviewed Mike D'Antonie's 91 yr. old father (coached for 30 years in West Virginia) during the Suns/Spurs game on ESPN, and he said "If you have a great PG, you have a great team. If you have a good PG, you have a good team." It makes alot of sense as all the top teams the last few years have had a real good PG to go along with the team's one or two stars. You can tell when the Rockets play well it is because Sura is very aggresive at attacking the paint and pushing the ball when he can. I like Sura, but he is not a true PG and would probably be better served being that spark off the bench. Solidifying the PF spot would be great, especially considering the west is stacked at that position, but I think a real good true PG would do this team wonders where a PF would help Yao out more than the collective team.
we are 2 players away from contending. they don't even need to be borderline allstars, just solid players would work great. imagine if we had marshall and arroyo added to our team. the problem is we are the oldest team in the league. even though we are only two players away right now, deke, wesley, sura, Jho, and barry are all on the decline.
you could be right but we would still need atleast a defensive minded PF at that position. A good PG would allow Sura to come off the bench and help out both Yao and T-mac and meybe even improve our defense as well. However, when we go deep into the playoffs, Howard/Mo wont be able to contain the likes of Amare, KG, Dirk, Duncan, Webber, etc. We will still need a 4 that can atleast rebound and play a little better defense than our current PFs (it would be a bonus in my mind if he could also hit the 15 foot jump shot).
Amare is Yao's b**** so I won't be worried about that. Among the rest the only one I am worried about is Dirk. But I guess that with a great one running our offense, it will definitely relieve TMac of play making duty so that he can focus on scoring and defense. A great one can also make Yao much more dangerous. I think that the added power of Yao & TMac can offset our weakness at 4.
Man, I wish we could get Rafer Alson. He is just ballin' in Toronto averaging just over 7 assists on a crappy team. Look at what he has done in his 5 games: BOS - 10 pts | 6 Rebs | 6 Ast | 6 TO PHI - 11 pts | 5 Rebs | 13 Ast | 4 TO NO - 13 pts | 6 Rebs | 7 Ast | 2 TO MIN - 18 pts | 1 Rebs | 15 Ast | 2 TO NY - 13 pts | 4 Rebs | 5 Ast | 3 TO He is quickly coming into his own as a pretty good PG in the league. I think a trade for Alston plus one of either D. Marshall, Aaron Williams, Eric Williams or Lamond Muuray would be a great trade for the Rox.
I would say a power forward. Mo Taylor seems lost this year. Juwan Howard has been playing decently the last several games, but we need better rebounding and defense at that position, and those two don't fit the bill. We can make due with the "point" guards we have now. Stuart
I wish we could have picked up Troy Murphy..I've always liked his game and he's doing pretty well this season. Anyone know his contract situtation?
Funny this comes up. I was just thinking tonight about what would be more important to this team, a PG or a big banging PF like Swift or perhaps a Sweetney/Fortson body type to really bang the glass. I was watching Tinsley too along with Nash tonight and it caused me to think about this. We basically have the TE, our first round pick, the MLE, and the vets minimum exception to work with between now and the beginning of next season. There are quality, veteran PGs out there that would perhaps make a big difference with this team such as Payton or perhaps Damon Stoudamire. Would they be willing to sign for the vets minimum and would they be a "legit" bandaid until we could sign a real decent younger PG with our MLE the next year? I remember when Tinsley was a rookie. It was obvious that he was a good playmaker but he seemed to be physically limited. Now a few years later, he looks like an extremely solid, very low paid PG who has toughened up his strength and stamina, improved his decision making, and now has a very good jumper that he can bury. To me, he is a top 10 PG easy in the NBA. I agree with the assessment of Sura. I really like his hustle and energy. I think he is a very good player and would be great off the bench. But I still feel like we need an upgrade at the point. And at this point, I am beginning to think that getting a legit PG may be the key to this team even more so than a PF. How about a Dale Davis next year for the vets minimum? Would he go for that so that we would be able to offer McGinnis or somebody like that the MLE? How about Larry Hughes at the MLE? I have no idea how to value Hughes since I haven't seen a whole lot of his game but he seems to be much improved, leading the Wiz in assists. But he has never really seemed like a true floor general. Bobby Jax? Is he the playmaker we really need? Dickau? Watson? F. Williams? None of these guys really excite me as being the true playmaking PG that would really make us hum? Maybe Brevin Knight. He has stunk it up until this year, but now he looks like a real good distributor for an expansion team. Can he play with real players? Sure is helping Okafor look good. Is he big enough? The PG answer sure seems to be Antonio Daniels but how do we get our hands on him? And it seems that Knight is right there with Daniels when it comes to efficiently running a team. I just don't know if Knight has enough mojo defensively to keep Van Gundy happy. I don't see us getting a legit PG in the draft that Van Gundy would trust to play. Frankly, I don't see us getting a quality PF in the draft that Van Gundy would let play unless somehow we fall out of the playoffs and get that kid from Utah which is a 1000 to 1 shot. Gonna be an interesting next month up until the TE. Is anybody else watching this incredible Suns Spurs game?
nah, but i am watching the ali G movie. that guy cracks me up. to stay on topic...we need a PG just as bad as we need a 4. i can't say what we should look for first. i would be happy getting either one ASAP.
What is amazing is how the Rockets haven't been able to find a real good true PG for years and there is the Spurs who have Parker and now Udrih (who has been playing despite Parker most of the second half and OT). Hopefully this Spanoulis kid will be a real find and makes a difference next season.
We are really only 1 player away from being a championship team. That one player is: Dream Jordan Bird Magic Drexler Mchale Jabbar or any other superstar player with a will to win. DD
This quote is absoulte BS. Who was the point guard of the bulls champsionship teams.? BJ armstrong and ron hardper? Great? Hell no. Who was the pointguard of the 93-95 rockets? Kenny Smith. Great? Hell no. Is Tony Parker a great point guard? No. Who was the point guar of the 2000-2003 lakers? Derek Fishter. Great? Hell no.
We probably only one player away to be a contender. Obviously, you have to have talent to win in this league, but that's not the most important part, chemistry is just as important if not more important. We have the foundation in Yao & Tmac, they are young, so we get all the time in the world to develop that chmistry between them. All is left is for CD & JVG to make the small changes, find a set of role players who understand their respective roles, and fill them well. A star quality PF will be wonderful, but I honestly think we can get away with Howard playing 30 minutes, Padget and co can pick up the other 20 so minutes. As for PG, we absolutely have to have a sound PG to be successful in the playoff. Someone who can handle the ball, direct the traffic, hit 18ft consistently, someone who can give us 12-14pt/6-8asi every night. There get to be someone out there fit that role, CD & JVG just need to do their work to find that player, or develop a younger one since we have two young stars anyway.
No, we need 2.5 players. 1 PF who can rebound, 1 PG who is steady, can handle the ball, defend and shoot the 3. The rebounding will be a problem once playoffs come. PG is very important for sure. The 0.5 player could be T-mac. Why? we need a defensive stopper on the wing. Right now, Rox does not have a guy like that. Only T-mac can do that.
