this should be a testiment to carroll dawson. alot of his moves have been to get closer to this position. since hakeem we had been looking for the kind of guys that can take us to the next level. we traded players and picks that all led to us finding our core. we made the gambles to find the guys we needed. we traded picks to find a post talent to go with francis. we signed mo to a big contract to find that inside scoring to go along with our perimeter threats. we now have a team identity that shouldnt change for the next decade, and now we know what we need to succeed. we have our post presence and we have our perimeter presence, and our gambling for these kind of players are over. in the past we had to take bad contracts to get tmac, and we had to make bad contracts in hopes of finding a missing down low scorer. now is the time that we find compliment players to play around a constant team identity. and for the first time since hakeem, we know EXACTLY what we need. although we have some past things we can look back on NOW as mistakes, we have assembled one of the best cores in basketball, and in a fraction of the time it takes most teams to find just one. now we dont owe any picks. while other teams draft top talent for that superstar need, our needs are much simpler. we can find what we are looking for in later rounds. these picks are the keys to us building depth, and we must hold on to them and not get desperate by dealing the future to make up for past mistakes. but two of the most underrated deals of this year will be the subtle trades of barry and wesley. two smart and savy shooters who have the confidence to provide some of the missing ingredients to a better season. a great defender, and an old school player who takes pride in outsmarting you on the court. in barry i see a guy who knows who he is and has been dying to play on a team where he will get open shots. in wesley i see a mario elie clone. a strong personality who can be looked to for leadership and thrive when feeding off of people. both guys know exactly where to be on the court when the stars have the ball, and both are going to make teams pay. their strengths were part of our weaknesses. for the first time since hakeem, we are now sure of our identity, we have our inside and outside core, and we now know exactly what style of player we must look for to compliment the strengths of that core. as long as we dont get desperate and jump into any more bad contracts just to move the ones we have, i think we are going to see our transactions continue to improve starting from these last 2.
The only problem is that the players we've been adding are all kinda old. They may plug some holes and some of them may even do a good job, but there's no long-term security. Aside from Yao and TMac, our roster isn't set. I wished we would have kept Kenny Thomas. Wesley and Barry are great pickups though.
yeah, i found that i registered long ago before it cost $10. now daddy knowledge can reach more of houston.
its not ideal, but its ok. you have to remember that the rockets teams that won championships were somewhat old. and we competed for half a decade with that team. in the mean time, we dont have to make crazy trades for superstars that cost us depth, picks, and change our identity. we keep our picks, find players that fit specific needs, bring them into a vetern atmosphere where they learn what it takes to win, all the while our team identity, and what we need from each position never changes. we also wait out some bad contracts without committing to similar longer term contracts, and we have the freedom to find what we want. all of what we see now has been the jockeying to find our identity and the players that will provide that as well as take us to the next level. as you might know, the needs from each position are different dependant on team identity. the talent of superstars are what create team identity. when you dont have the solid base of core players that you plan on building around for years, things can change like they did. but now we know what we are looking for, and as long as we dont do anything to handcuff our ability to move in the future, we can more easily replace players for younger ones when they are available.
Absolutely brilliant post in all. I am really impressed that someone as deft as you are only have 5 posts only. I have been seing things this way since the last off season and I am glad that you see the trend. The fundamental philosophy behind the moves we have made so far is high commendable and heart warming. I trully believe we are in for a treat as Rox fans for many many years to come.
People actually doubt about the trade of JJ for Wesley. I for one, have no doubt that this trade could only help the Rockets because I seen Wesley game and think he can really kill teams for doubling Yao and TMac. He is a hell of a shooter in my opinion. Ok so JJ is a good decent player as well but you got to trade something good to get something decent back. I think the reason Rox make this trade is cuz they can slip TMAC into the 3 position and so they decide to get rid of JJ so get a better player at the PG position. So JJ is essentially used as a sacrifice to fill up what the ROX need which is good cuz now the ROX have perimeter thread for the first time with Wesley, Barry and TMAC in the perimeter.
cool. I used to enjoy reading some of your posts on the espn boards. I meant that in a rocket fan kinda way, not a gay way, not that theres anything wrong with that.
I agree, I like the deals. These are veteran guys that will step up big for the Rockes and are battle-tested, which would help in a playoff series. Wesley takes care of our PG spot, he passes well (7 assists against Milwaukee), can shoot and score, and is a very good perimeter defender. Barry gives us a nice boost off the bench. Both can play both guard positions. I don't care about getting younger right now, there will be time for that, to build a young team around Yao and McGrady. Right now we have a solid, veteran team that can win now when they develop chemistry. And winning a championship or making a deep run will get people's attention.
LMAO, I was thinking the same thing. I guess I can't see the forest from the trees as I would have rather gotten David Wesley about 5 years ago.
trading jj was shocking, but it wasnt mind blowing. even as much as a francis fan as i am, his trade wasnt mind blowing. unless the rockets make a mind blowing move that is just stupid, it will only continue to get better. i am 100% sold that tmac can work with yao, and the only thing i am waiting for is to be 100% sold that yao can take his game mentally to the level that his physical abilities are. but it is such a relief that we dont have to look for that identity. for 5 years we couldnt find the left hand for francis. and for 2 years francis wasnt a sure right hand for yao. now we have both core players and we should see them together for the rest of their career. no more drafting the best player that might not fit our team, no more making huge player and pick trades that might not work out to find that other superstar player. we now just have to keep from making things worse by making a desperate trade to get rid of our rebuild residue, and we can concentrate on specific needs and specific talents that fit the way we play. step 1 john barry, step 2 david wesley.
5 years ago our needs were different. and thats the whole thing i am talking about when i say that things will be easier and moves will be better and less long term damaging than they were 5 years ago because we finally have the core and the team identity in place. the house is built, now all we have to do is paint, wallpaper, carpet, and find a big metallic picture of a space unicorn to go above the couch. i dont know about any of you, but it looks at first glance like david wesley is for the most part just like jim jackson. but when you watch the game, and see both him and barry on the court, the team just doesnt look the same. it doesnt look like the team that is capable of going 13-15. it looks like it has a different attitude and a different demeanor. it looks like it knows what to do next, and how its going to do it. it looks like it has already figured the shortest difference from a to b = c. it still has some holes at the same spots that it did, because we still need a pf and a pg, but it seems like we have obtained more of the "right" type of players that can sustain us and provide us leadership and depth for the future, where adding a pf and a pg might be the missing ingrediences to a championship.
Too bad JVG hasn't shown the ability to develop players therefore our draft picks don't mean crap. For the record, I always thought the Tmac trade was fair. I wish we could have kept Cat though since he was our best perimeter defender and 3 point shooter. My problem is JVG has shown little ability to coach a decent offense and motivate his players long term. I have no problem with our personell except for the ward signing. I just think we need a better and more likeable coach.
Very insightful post Daddy. I also agree that barry and wesley gel with our players much better and are a much better fit for this team. They are both open court players who know their role and can hit the outside shot. Kudos to carrol dawson for pulling off these two trades.
Excellent point.. no FA's want to come here b/c JVG is the coach and they know that their production would decrease and they would have to put up with a negative pessimist as the coach.
i dont really like his dictator personality either, but as long as we win i dont care. ward has a team option next year, so his 1.5 mil likely will be gone next year. but what draft picks should he develope?? griffin?? i dont agree that he cut him or not get any compensation, but its not like he didnt put himself in that situation. is it boki?? i liked boki, but frankly he never showed me that he had the ability to even come off the bench on a good team. the only reason i wanted to see him was in hopes that he became what we needed. did he show something to you that deserved playing time?? how about reese gaines?? reese gaines has shown to be another one of those guys who are just waiting around like something is going to go off in him and he will finally get it. instead of going out there hungry, he was going out there trying not to do something wrong to get him removed from the nba. maybe barrett?? i dont know what everyone else sees, but what i see is a player that is lucky to be on an nba roster, not a guy who should be backing up anyone on a playoff team, or even given any playing time. do you think that if we drafted a rookie who came in and tried to leave his mark on every game, that jvg wouldnt play him?? we have had marginal rookies to this point, but if we discovered a guy who could actually help win games, im sure he would give them playing time. i dont think its youth that jvg doenst like, i think he dislikes weak fragile minds.
