Kevin Martin is not a "role player." Aaron Brooks is not a "role player." Luis Scola is not a "role player." The 3 guys above are top third to top half in the league at their positions. Trevor Ariza, Kyle Lowry, Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill are solid role players who are young AND have upside (with Ariza closest to his ceiling). Yao is a star if healthy and Shane is a solid role player if healthy. Chuck has value as a defensive stopper. He and Shane are the only guys on the whole roster who have peaked. Patterson and Taylor are interesting assets and we'll know a little bit more about them in a couple of weeks after Vegas. Sergio Llull is a real asset and those of you who followed him at all last year in online scouting reports and videos know that. The Knicks swaption and pick have value (depending on what Clown James announces tomorrow night). The Rockets have a top third in the league owner and a top 5 GM (I think top 2 with Presti). So is the roster as currently constructed a favorite to compete for a championship this year? Probably not. However, if Yao can play 25 min a game, this team is certainly a contender for #2 in the West next year behind LA. The West has been weakened so far in free agency: PHX and UTH in particular. DAL doesn't scare me. DEN imploded at the end of last year. POR underachieved and their next GM will be a big downgrade. Duncan is not far from Yao in terms of injury risk. OKC scares me to death but they're still very young and probably another year or 2 away. LAL is clear favorite as long as Kobe and Pau are relatively healthy, but Artest and Odom remain potential cancers / albatrosses. Rick Adelman is a top 10 coach in the league, and every single player on this roster is hard-working and team-oriented. Bosh would have been an interesting fit, but frankly I'm very comfortable with Scola as the PF getting big minutes - his production after Landry left was outstanding and consistent. I'd rather have him for the next 5 years than Boozer for instance, and he's going to come at less than half the cost in all likelihood. Yao is going to be the C next year and as others have pointed out, we get a free look at how he holds up before we have to commit any more $$ to him. Hill is a solid backup 4/5. Martin is absolutely a starting-caliber 2 on a championship team. Brooks and Lowry as a tandem will give great production at PG. Clearly the weakest spot is the 3. I love Budinger but penciling him in as more than the 1st wing off the bench in year 2 is aggressive. Carmelo would be a dream fit, and Brooks plus Ariza plus a pick plus an expiring contract could be a package that entices DEN down the road if / when that team implodes. More realistic and nearer-term options include Granger and Iguodala. If the team decides to upgrade at the 4 / 5, Josh Smith and Al Jefferson have both been rumored to be on the block and would be great additions. Next year if Yao is healthy and Morey picks up one of the guys above without gutting the roster, this team is certainly a championship contender. Will it require hard work and a lot of luck? Sure. Will this team be a ton of fun to watch compete next year? Undoubtedly. Just a reminder to everybody who wants to trade all the young guys who are just "role players" for a big name "star" who is a camera and ball hogging chemistry-killer, the last time the Rockets did that they gave away a future all-star (cassell) and a guy who went on to win more championships than any non-Bill-Russell-or-Celtic-teammate (horry) in exchange for a windbag quitter named Charles Barkley, who led the Rockets to what at the time was the team's first playoff loss to the Jazz since the Billy Paultz era). I'm with DD on this. Can't wait for next season, which actually starts Friday night in Vegas!
So when do we stop with the "IF" Yao is healthy? We don't even know whether Yao will even be half as dominant as before. If we are going to assume Yao will be healthy, then we shouldn't have traded away McGrady. We could've assumed that "IF" McGrady returned to elite status with Yao we would be unstoppable. This is getting ridiculous. Morey is going all in to acquire Bosh for a reason. Bosh will give us the defensive and rebounding presence that we lack when Yao is off the lineup. If Morey believes in this, we should too.
Regular season is a different animal than training camp. But I do agree that this current team complements Yao much better than the McGrady-era team. Yao has been the most effective in the low block. The post entry passer needs to be able to make the pass, and if he can't, he needs to be able to attack the basket. Brooks is too short & Yao is too slow for that pair to be effective. Battier and Ariza are poor ball handlers, and I'm uncertain how much playing time Budinger will get alongside Yao. Unless he's improved his outside shooting, Lowry's defender can sag off him and provide a partial front against Yao. Very simple. The Laker's core of Kobe/Gasol/Odom/Artest remains intact. Those are the players driving that team and you pretty much know what to expect from them. On the other hand, our offensive scheme has changed entirely from last year. Not only are the circumstances not the "same", but they're not even similar. I thought your objective for the Rockets to win a title? If that's the case, standing pat wont cut it. However, if your objective is for Yao's contract to run out, then yes, standing pat will allow you to achieve this goal. Don't kid yourself. Duncan was the driving force behind that championship team....regardless of who got the finals MVP. Wow, if you really believe that prime Duncan and current (healthy) Yao similarly impact the game, then I'm speechless.
None of the guys you mention are 19. Their respective ages are 25, 22, 22, 23, 27, 25. While we can expect improvements, besides Hll and Taylor, the improvements are going to be incremental, not explosions into superstardom. I don't see any Championship crop One thing we probably agree on though, is I'd rather see no trade than a bad trade. If NY looks bad going into the new season, just ride it out with what we've got, see how far we can go with Yao for 1 more year, and hope for a lotto pick from NY.
Well I'm a believer, I feel this team can compete with anyone, as is. Add a strong Yao and you never know what could happen. Was the championship teams ever considered a contender? I think not. Not even after we one the 1st championship. When we had the big three, we were consider contenders and we know how that ended. Sometimes chemistry and the right pieces in the right places is what matters most.. GO ROXS!! 5 stars...
We were considered a contender in 93-94. We had the 2nd best record in the conference and the best in our division. We even started the season with a 15 game win streak.
Well we havent seen Yao, Martin, Ariza, Brooks, Scola ever play together as a unit till this year. Add Lowry, Patterson, Hill, Budinger, Hayes, and Battier all for the first time ever together to start a season and go through a whole season together? I like our chances much better than Wade and Bosh alone will have.
JR is back! anyways, i've been posting the same as OP for quite some time now...didn't want to give up the youngsters for bosh in the first place and am happy to get scola back now......would consider a trade for jefferson but otherwise content to just let this group improve and wait until the trade deadline to see what are expirings can get us
I think we can make a run for the championship this year. AB, Martin, and Yao are an unstoppable force on offensive. At least on paper they are, we will have to wait and see how it plays out.
First off if Yao plays even close to how he played during the LA series,( even while he had a broken foot while he tried to fight threw it), we'll be in good shape. Add a 7'6" center to a team and see what it does to your defense. Add a center with his shooting touch, passing and his work ethnic. No hype, no tweets, just hard work and determination. Believing in Yao and his health is a lot better odds then hoping and wishing Tracy will return to elite status. The odds are also better of Yao being healthy than the odds were that Bosh would bless the ROXS with his presence. I'd say I would put my money on the same odds Morey plays. In Morey We Trust. I for one was not on the Bosh train at first but if Morey believes in Bosh, I have to trust his judgment.
Who considered us a contender? Sportscenter? ESPN? The talking heads? I can't ever anyone, calling the ROXS a title contender. We were always the black sheep and they only ones that believed were local Houstonians and ROXS believers. I still believe!
I really agree with this post. The team has so much young talent, and with Yao coming back and the likely addition of Brad Miller, I'm very excited about seeing what they can do this season. I still think Morey will make a significant move this summer, but even if he doesn't, and simply resigns Scola and Lowry, it's going to be a good team.
Sports analyst have recently deemed the Rockets as one of the most dangerous teams in the league if Yao stays healthy. Thats a big if. :grin:
I think the fans placed a lot of pressure of Morey .. He's very good but nobody is that good .. I said time and time with another defensive big and a better commitment to defense we are all good ..
Actually Ariza did improve. You guys seem to forget that he's only 25 years old. During the end of the season, he seemed to find his niche between Ab and Martin.
Because of the so-called big three hooking up in Miami, Ariza role becomes that much more important. His defense will be needed to shut one of them down. Other players like JT will be important because of his defense as well. He did a pretty good job on Kobe last season. Hopefully he can improve. I know you all are tired of hearing this, but the Rockets with a decent inside presence is ready for whatever the league has to throw at them. Bring on the big three. The Heats ass is grass and the Rockets have the lawn mower. :grin:
Isn't "if" Tracy homers fans favorite word? Recently, yeah probably(I agree with them). But I don't think back in 92-93' they were ever mentioned as "contenders".
Actually lots of national news magazines mentioned that in 93-94 - the Rockets were coming off a division title and a controversial game 7 loss to Seattle in the 2nd round, and Olajuwon was in his prime. They were very logically (along with Sea and Phx) considered among the top teams in the west.
i couldve sworn Duncan had a say in the matter and voted against trading TP. i may be mis-rememberin tho. as far as standing pat, i have no problem with that. i think hill can be a solid player/backup, PP we have yet to see, cbud has all-star potential depending on his off-season training, and our current team + yao is a top 3 team IMO. without yao we are a solid 6-8th seed depending on Hill and PP. not too shabby. we can beat LA. im not so sure bout miami. im certain LA can beat miami tho.
