There is no way that we would have ever had a line up of Lewis and Yao or Jefferson and Yao. Either of those players would have given us too many wins to be in the right place at the right time to win the lottery. If you ask me, I would rather have Yao than Lewis, Jefferson, or any other combination of players from various drafts.
I agree. Our management team seems to have a "shortcut" attitude. That points to a lack of long-term vision. Jeff, if you really wanted that, I would do it for you. Well actually I don't think you need it. Notice how many of those guys are playing in the playoffs right now. Drafting, like trading and signing, is not just about luck (sometimes it is, but not for every time), it also requires a lot of scouting, judgemental skills etc etc too. Most of those who picked those guys are smart front offices (thus producing successful playoffs teams). Those teams who missed those guys are poor front offices (producing perennial lottory teams). Unfortunately, we right now belong in the latter group rather than in the former. All things start at the top, not only in sports but in all institutions and companies as well. If a company is in trouble, surely the responsiblity of the president or manager is bigger than that of a clerk, no? I can't believe that many people haven't figured this out. This thinking got you nowhere. We got Yao by sheer luck. That luck didn't excuse or justify the poor scouting/judgement of other players for most parts.
Right on Newgirl! The sad thing is that there is no evidence to suggest that this will change anytime in the future. Not if we keep the same regime (Rudy T, CD) in place.
Thank You! You have said what others here fail to say much less understand. This is a mediocre team because it has mediocre management. The coaching has been suspect but the primary reason for the disjointed state of the Rockets today lies with the poor personnel decisions made by this organization. Remember, Yao's acquisition was not planned but was a fluke of chance. It makes me shudder to think of where the Rockets would be if they did not have Yao... As it is, even with Yao, you have a team of mismatched players that do not complement each other at all.
You still haven't answered the question of DoD and mine. All teams make some right decisions and bad decisions, some more than others. There are some obviously bad managements: Clippers, Knicks, and Blazers. The Rockets are nowhere near those franchises. Scouting is not an exact science. And chemistry between players is even harder to predict. The Rockets have made their share of mistakes. But not ALL moves were bad, as you asserted. The most recent example was Yao. It was luck to get the pick. But it wasn't luck that they stuck with Yao even under a lot of second guessing, the temptation of many trade offers, and the pressure of red tapes in China.
No, not all of the moves were bad, but 80% of them were. The sad fact of the matter is that Rudy T's track record as coach and GM over the last 5-6 years is pathetic. I keep asking the same questions, but I'll repeat them once more. At what point are Rudy T and Carroll Dawson going to be held accountable for the job they've done running this franchise? How far removed must we be from the championships(we're at 8 years right now) before sentiment and loyalty aren't influencing Les Alexander's decision-making? How many consecutive lottery seasons will it take to warrant a regime change? How much longer will the fans, players, and coaches make excuses for how little progress this team has made in 4 seasons?
When did Carrol Dawson go up to the front office again?? I think that was when our 'talented' front office when down the tubes
Ok, I didn't answer DoD's question. So here's the answer: He asked if other teams have passed up these players. At the time, those teams didn't want to pick those players because either they were full at the position or it wouldn't fit their chemistry. When we picked up Griffin, we gave up 3 key players that would of filled weakened slots on our roster. We already had Taylor and Thomas at the PF slot. We didn't need another PF to compete w/ two veteran players. Jefferson would of easily filled the 3 spot and could of started off backing up Rice. Collins could of ended up a good backup center with us in the near future. So far, he's doing ok w/ the Nets. Armstrong is like Maddox, and like the Nets, there hasn't been any need for his services. Now to your question: You are right about every franchise making mistakes. That is true. The acquistion of the big 3 was also a mistake, and the Drexler thing was right. But you are also right that those adjustments changed the outlook of this team. How have Malone and Stockton been going to the playoffs all these years? They never have any good draft picks, but they pick quality players in the draft that are given a chance to play. They pick quality free agents who can run w/ the team. I know they have only went to the Finals once, but at least they have picked up the right players to develop strong chemistry. But all that's going to change next year. But they are an example of a team who knows what to do to develop a caliber playoff team. The Rockets can learn from them. That is why I think there needs to be changes to the front office. They have the power to either develop a playoff quality team, or screw up the chemistry and pick players where there aren't needed.
Why are we "nowhere near" Clippers, Knicks and Blazers? Clippers I can understand. They don't care about winning and are screwed by Sterling. But hey, look at their roster, they are much younger than us and have way more upside potential. Don't most if not all people on this board love Clippers players and want them? And what's the problem of Knicks and Blazers? Knicks are a lottory team? So are we! And Blazers made playoffs every single year and we didn't! They're light years ahead of us. So Knicks and Blazers have a loaded and inflated payroll? So do we! All of us are over the cap and screwed by bad contracts in cap/trade situation. Just their owners were more willing to pay luxury tax than ours. So what EXACTLY made us better than say Blazers?
TIME OUT! Comparing our guys, including the weeds of Mo and EG to the thugs etc of the Jailblazers is not reasonable. Rudy/CD could lose their jobs. Witless already did. RT/CD for misjudgment of talent and Witless for poor judgment of character. Fairer comparsons may have to be with Phoenix and Detroit, Nets even. But not Clips, Knicks, Blazers. IMHO.
The Blazers have enough talents to be one of the elite teams, not just making the playoff and out in the first round, in the past 5 years. The fact that they can get a decent amount of wins every season even though they have zero chemistry and tons of off-court distractions testifies how talented they are. They are bad management because the only thing they know is to hoard talents with no direction for the team. The Rockets on the other hands made personnel decisions with purposes. Some of those decisions might be wrong. But they know what they are trying to do. The Clippers are sort of the opposite of the Blazers. Rather than hoarding talents, they give away talents simply because Sterling doesn't want to pay them. That's why they got all the good picks but still are perennial losers. You can't say the same thing about the Rockets management. The Knicks gambled and lost: Houston, McDyess. . . If you are going to gamble, at least lose some and win some. . . The Rockets did not gamble on the bad draft picks, they just made wrong scouting conclusions (everybody does). They did gamble on Griffin. We still don't know if we lost or not. They gambled on Moochie, and lost. They also gambled on Yao, and won.
Yes it has. I remembering Rudy, or C.D. saying that the trade was finalized during the 10th pick in that draft. Jefferson was picked 13th. N.J. told us who to pick. What I also thought was interesting was that, according to one of the insiders around here, Jefferson wasn't even N.J.'s(or our) first choice at that spot. They wanted Radmanovic(as did we), who went to Seattle one pick earlier. Remember, a lot of the people here were hoping for him too. So actually, it looks like N.J. got lucky he was taken before, although V.R. may still turn out to be a good player(young, good 3-pointer). And the word was(with Radmanovic gone) that we would have selected Troy Murphy had we stayed at 13. T.M. went one pick later to G.S. Think about it. Coming out of college, Jefferson was an ultra-athletic defender with virtually no outside shot whatsoever. Does that fit the profile of a Rudy T selection? I think not. He was weak in the areas Rudy puts a high value on, and strong in the ones he seems to not care about very much. So, if people want to do a "what if" about the Rocks without the trade, I think it would be better to dreamcast our lineup with Murphy in it, instead of R.J. Murphy didn't impress me at all his rookie season, but he has made improvements this year. I liken him to a Kenny Thomas type player. Great hustle and desire. Good rebounder. Probably never an all-star, but a good to very good role player. Although K.T.'s a better defender, Murphy has a better jumper. I think the real "what if" to consider would be if we would have selected Zach Randolph with the 18th pick that year(went to Por. at 19 I think). I knew that guy was going to be good(offensively) watching him at MSU. Just had that knack for rebounding, and putting the ball in the hole around the basket.
Newgirl, there are many reasons to criticize the Rockets' front office. But failing to draft Radoslav Nesterovic or Mehmet Okur is not one of them. Your posts exhibit a fundamental ignorance about the available talent in the NBA draft.
Actually it was made right after NJ picked Eddie and the Rockets started talkin to them and got the trade NJ told Houston who they wanted and Houston drafted them!
The braintrust believed EG would be a difference maker, the others would be less so. Their failure has been to develope the young feller into that difference maker. Kidd has a game which Jefferson has adapted to beautifully, but, frankly, he would be just another 3 with most other PGs, IMO. Credit Jason and Jordan (as in Eddie, the ass't coach,) and Byron Scott, the head coach (as opposed to our system's shortcomings, for example).
I think it'll take the spectacle of that brand new arena with scores of empty seats on SportsCenter night after night.
C'mon Freak! This thread is perfectly sane. I realize that hindsight is 20/20 but if you look at Newgirl's recap of the Rockets drafts, a disturbing pattern emerges. I agree wholeheartedly with her contention that this is mediocre team because of poor personnel decisions. It's no mistake that there were 15 former Rockets playing in the playoffs while the current cast watched them on TV. At what point does the Rocket organization become accountable for this sad sack state of affairs? Better yet, what have they done to convince you and everyone else that they have the knowledge and ability to build a championship team? Does the Les-Rudy-Carroll tandem fill you with THAT much confidence?
Can you imagine this line up; Ming, Kenny Thomas, Jefferson,Mobley and Francis. Man that's like the set of furnitures you want in your living room. But then again, Dream on Baby!!!
