Can the Rockets make the playoffs without Patrick Patterson?

People who talk about the "big picture" are probably people who haven't been around long enough to know that this "big picture" talk has been going on for an awfully long time now--upwards up five years (that's how long Morey has been with us all the while we havent' made the playoffs once, wheras before those five years the Rockets had been in the playoffs nearly every year). I recall one of the Houston writers referring to Morey back in 2009 or whenever, and in regards the Kevin Martin trade, as a "jedi". KMart was the "answer" and would guide the Rockets to playoff places they had never gone before! Little did people realize that the guy whom they had traded KMart for--Carl Landry, who was the Rockets fourth quarter stud, would prove to be all but irreplacable. The Rockets--before the trade--were on a playoff run, almost a lock to make it. After the trade the future was all about Kmart and Trevor Ariza. Then the Rockets started losing. For the three years afterward the Rockets wouldn't make the playoffs, and curiously during that time they were one of the worst fourth-quarter teams in the league.

These past five years (no playoffs for Rockets all the while) have seen the rise of the Clippers from a cellar dweller to a contender; seen Miami go from great to greater, Denver go from decent to possible contender; the Knicks go from sucky to second place in the east. While Rockets fans keep waiting for a big picture which never materializes--other NBA teams are getting it done. While the Rockets front office keeps waiting and waiting for that big-picture miracle man like D12 (who can't even help the Lakers make the playoffs) other, lesser known general managers are building--not in theory, but in reality--contender teams from the ground up.

 

Kmart was bought in to play with Yao, not be the man...but to be a 2nd fiddle to Yao because Morey wanted to surround Yao with shooters sort of like how the Dwight Magic team made the finals and how Hakeem had plenty of shooters to kick out to. Yao retired. Plans change.

How long did it take the Clippers to get to where they are? We are talking about years and years upon years here.

I think it is silly to say the Rockets haven't made the playoffs or built a contender soon enough...they just lost Yao and Tmac, that wasn't even 5 seasons ago...

Are they then supposed to just find a superstar player out of thin air and instantly become contenders again?

BTW, Kevin Martin got the Rockets James Harden, a guy at worst the 3rd best SG in the NBA at 23 years old. I'd say Morey did just as well a job as Denver did in rebuilding on the fly.

A lot of teams lose their superstar players and suck for an entire decade...

 

I see. Clearly the Houston Rocket's route to contention will be done off the back of Patrick Patterson.

Also, on the Carl Landry thing? Morey openly stated that what those Rockets were doing was not sustainable, and it was closer to what Portland did this season - ie. pull a crapload of victories out of one's rear end, but fade down the stretch because you can't do that forever, which we were doing well before the Landry trade. I cannot emphasize ENOUGH how much I hated that stupid fourth-quarter stat.

 

we're playing .580 ball since the trade

We're playing .520 ball before it.

I'd hazard a guess to say yes.

 

Are you saying that Morey traded for KMart because he knew that four years later a guy named James Harden would come along, and that he could trade Kevin Martin for him?

At the time of the KMart trade--Yao in fact was injured, and slated to miss the entire season, which he ended up doing. Yao only played 5 games that entire season and his future was very questionable. The KMart trade was anyhow a turning point in the Rocket's season. Morey and Adelman somehow thought that Ariza would be the next TMac. That trade ruined chemistry as well: AB started becoming tempermental and playing not so good: it was a whole different team. Anyway, so I see history somewhat repeat itself with this PPat and Douglas for TRob and Garcia trade. People were saying the same thing back in '09 about "big picture, big picture". I guess my point is...that if it works, don't try to fix it; improve upon it, sure; but don't destroy a good thing for a one in fifty chance at a miracle!!

 

That's for stating so succinctly what was wrong with the trade. There is actually less than a one in fifty chance for the miracle Morey has bet on. I am starting to think maybe he has a personal gambling addiction.

 

I would say that there is about a one in fifty chance that TRob becomes the all star Morey and management expect him to be (if that). TRob has played in like 65 games this season and guess what his season high is? 12. PPat could do that in his sleep! Actually...tonight against the Clippers I believe that PPat had 13 points on 6/10 (and also he spaces the floor); and the game before he had 22/5. Let's see TRob these next two years do that even once.

 

If you're going to go on a diatribe on how Morey suxorz, you could at least get your basic facts right.

Such as the fact that Ariza was on this team before Martin, that Brooks played perfectly fine with Martin and Ariza ( he won the MIP with them, after all). Brooks had problems the NEXT season, when he got injured and started clashing with Lowry for minutes, aka. nothing to do with Martin. The Martin trade was not a turning point. The Rockets were 28-26 on the night Martin debuted, and finished with a 42-40 record. That's pretty much statistically similar.

 

A 1 in 50 chance based on his season high in points...and just points no less because basketball is all about scoring. You're really going base your argument on that?

 

Of course Ariza was on the team before Martin, duh, Although I guess I had forgotten that that year was Aaron Brook's MIP year. Yeah--it was the next year that he started sucking. The Martin trade WAS a turning point though. TMac was gone and the whole atmosphere had changed. It may not have happened right away, but, it did happen over the course of the remainder of that season. The Rockets had been on pace to finish that season much better than 42-40. They were playing really well, if you recall--what one might even call inspired. And then...the TMac, Landry for Martin trade.

 

I'm saying that getting Martin proved to be a valuable piece in rebuilding because Morey's whole thing has been to gather assets to flip them later for a star.

He did that as soon as he saw that star available.

Also yeah Yao was hurt but the idea was that when he'd come back Martin would be a great piece to play alongside Yao. That never happened of course (I think Martin never played with Yao once) but the whole thing is it's taken how many years for the Rockets to get a star?

I don't blame Morey for not making the playoffs. I look at the deals he made and ask "Did he end up winning those deals?" and most of the time...yes...yes he does.

 

If you average only 8 points a game or whatever and on 45% or less shooting, are an average-at-best defender, don't space the floor, have small hands and therefore fumble lots of passes, are not an exceptional passer, meanwhile you rebound like crazy--you are for the record not an all-star, you are Reggie Evans.

 

Did you miss the part where I just said that the Rockets were 28-26 at the time of the trade?

You are right, in one sense. The Rockets were doing much better earlier in the season, winning a large number of close games thanks to inspired 4th-quarter performances. What you're missing, and this is something most fans don't get, is that this is actually a bad thing. Because teams cannot continually pull victories out of their rear ends forever. They may be able to do it for a month or two, but not a season. And that's what happened to Houston in 09-10. They started off strong with a lot of close victories, but faded down the stretch as their luck ran out well before the Martin trade. Morey himself tweeted at pretty the very height that this was not going to last.

If you want a more recent example, Portland this year is an excellent example of that. They had all sort of miracle comebacks this season, and had the lemmings who make up this forum panic about them catching up with us in the playoff hunt. While I stated:

And with Portland's defeat tonight, their playoff chances are pretty much finished.

 

is this the same patrick patterson everyone wanted to get rid of bc hes mediocre? smh horrible thread

 

Wow, I have it seen all.

Apparently a GM's job is to fulfill his personal goal of winning every trade and one-upping his peers, but not improving his team's record and building a winning team.

And even more weird is that people applauded it.

 

Not one to defend Morey's performance the past couple years, but this is a pretty dumb post. Those teams at the bottom of the East didn't have more success than the Rockets simply because they snuck into the playoffs in a terrible conference then proceeded to get swept. By your estimation, teams 15 games below .500 are having a better season than the Mavericks and Blazers.

Also, the Rockets have been a top 10 team this year.

Also, Patterson was one of the worst starters in the league.

 

The OP is clearly implying that anyone who doesn't agree with him is dumb.

 

Really busting CXbby's balls

I'd take CXbby's "mega-doucheness" over Carl Herrera's current "act". Okay, Patterson is the greatest PF ever, looking forward to his HOF speech, Robinson is the worst player to ever play in the NBA, we get it.

If the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs is Patrick Patterson, the Rockets...(how do I put this)...were screwed to begin with? Have major issues/problems? If they can't survive without Patterson, they probably weren't good to begin with or doesn't speak well to the other players on the roster.

But hey, go Kings, go Patrick Patterson and hopefully the Rockets miss the playoffs so I can say I told you so one last time!

PS: Patterson is the greatest & Robinson sucks!