Head stays in front of his man, while JB couldn't stay in front of his during the games he played in garbage time against those scrubs (I forgot the teams). That is enough D than no D. And JB said himself that he has lost his lateral or whatever, if someone could help me out here, he said something on the radio that he is still injured etc. etc.
Just a note on Mike James. If the rumors are true that he is looking for a contract starting at $6 million per season, I personally think that is a pretty reasonable contract demand for a guy with his skills in this era of the NBA where the rules favor the smaller, quicker players so much. I am not going to go back and redress the trade. I feel like Rafer has helped this team. But, in hindsight, it sure would have been nice to add Rafer and keep James. He has busted out this year and shown he really is a player. Although he may not be the ideal fit for a team like us as a starting PG, he sure could have made hay coming off the bench at the 1 and splitting time at the 2. Now, we are still searching for our 3rd option. James would have been it for us this year. We wouldn't have had to worry about scoring, offense, etc. etc. etc. He would have given us a whole lot, especially in light of the fact that injuries to our main 2 weapons exposed us so badly for what we are, a 2 trick pony. Mike James would have kept adding an extra dimension to this team and we would be pushing .500 with him on this team. Now, we're looking for a scorer, we're looking for perimeter quickness and defensive presence, and we're looking for somebody with an edge. Yeah, we're looking for that dude up in Toronto that ate our lunch a couple months ago and singlehandedly put another L on our record. You guys that don't see what we lost in James and think he was gonna leave here anyways. We could have easily afforded to give him a contract for a little bit more than the MLE. The James trade solved one problem.................but created about 3 others. Now, with this Barry move, we are getting even shorter on shooters, along with already being shorter on defenders , and shorter on players with attitude because James is gone, Sura is essentially gone, and now Barry is gone. Makes you wonder, what does Van Gundy want? Shoot, Patterson sat out there on the trade block the whole durn season. You want defense, you want attitude, you want a tough, veteran presence? Go get him. No, we got Fitch, youth, inexperience, wrapped up in a cream puff rookie who will zero impact on our season. It really does look like JVG is throwing in the towel, especially in light of his rotations against teams like Phoenix. Are we the only people that think we still have a shot at the playoffs? Because if the coach doesn't think so, then the players ain't gonna think so. I wish Van Gundy would speak to that point. I just can't imagine him throwing in the towel on a season at any time.
It doesn't really make a lot of difference if you stay in front of your man or not if your opponents often drive you by (Head often on the receiving end), you commits turn-overs, and you can't hit an outside shot. Head's play has been crappy for a while. Look, you can argue all you want, but you would have a hard time convince me a pure shooter doesn't has his place on this team, while this and this (insert names) are still on the team. Especially consider the timing.
I think James was traded for chemistry issues. But, man, he is EXACTLY what we need on this team right now. DD
All we have is the MLE, nothing more. I guarantee you he will end up more than that and will never accept the MLE.
CURSE Barry was on the cover of the Rockets "Blastoff" playbill tonight. Edit: I'll scan it at work tomorrow and post it.
Hey bro, I didn't say I agreed with it, I just think that is why he was traded. I think JVG wanted more of a passing PG, and was worried that in a contract year Mike James would be a selfish player. DD
Like I said, I understand getting Rafer totally. But I don't understand moving MJ without having another distinctive move set up for a 3rd scorer and perimeter defender.
At that time Rockets were probably counting on JB and DA for 3rd scorer or 3-pt shooting. As to perimeter defender, I don't know, maybe they just couldn't get the deal they wanted.
As a trend, this move is difficult to understand. When you are 7th or 8th man, you can afford to have some gaping holes in your game. It doesn't really matter. Barry could roll around in a wheelchair and still be better on defense than Bowen is on offense. Barry's skill as a shooter would seem indespensible on a team like the Rockets. The Padgett situation definitely shows a move away from shooting as well. Padgett was acceptable on defense and was probably responsible for several wins last year as he was a great offensive spark. Keeping Bowen and letting Padgett shows some strange priorities. Essentially, this team is completely devoid of offensive bench players and seems to be headed further down that path. All the while, JVG is proclaiming this a poor shooting team in the paper. Maybe we are tanking. Someone should tell Yao.
Probably the wrong place to bring this up.... Was Sura not part of the WBPS? I thought he was.... Would this not make him and Rybo the last two members? Does 610 still play the WBPS theme song this season whenever they interview Barry on the show like they did last season? I remember driving to work one morning last year and heard it two times and that was it. As corny as that song may have been, it cracked me up to no end and I actually would have liked to hear it again. Alas, I didn't hear it on 610 any more and couldn't find it any where. 610's site doesn't have it (I can kind of see why), was a bit surprised not to find it in the multimedia section of Clutchfans.
Ding ding. I agree. Guys, I love Jon Barry. I love Bobby Sura. But both those guys are/were doing nothing for us. Barry was about to retire when he signed with us. JVG said they're looking for guard help and he's cutting him to help the Rockets and Barry out. It's sad, but I don't have anything against it. JVG had nothing bad to say about him. I haven't made it to the end of this thread yet, so I'm eager to see what Barry has to say. He even said he wasn't 100% in an interview a few days ago, I believe. Good luck to ya JB - I'm gonna miss ya.
Ask the Chicago Bulls and Phil Jackson... oh, my bad... Phil was a cheerleader and powder keg on the bench, I forgot.
Well, I won't forget the memories JB gave us last year. I will miss his voice on the radio though, that guy is a great guy. I hope he finds his way into commentating in games or something. JB, I'll never forget you rolling onto the court when TMAC posterized Bradley in the playoffs last season. Thanks for the memories, good luck with the rest of your life.
So Barry was talking about himself being a liability on defense, then he gets canned to vacant a roster spot. Now JVG and the JVG lovers: Shouldn't Bowen gets the same treatment because he's a liability on offense? I'd rather get one NBDL player to develop with Bowen's spot.
funny thing is the rockets lost due to their inability to knock down the open three pointer. If there was one day this season we would needed jon barry tonight was it..
Maybe this is a prelude to signing Tim Thomas? If that's the case, I'm okay with the move -- Barry had little to offer us at this point.
