[CHRON] After draft day dealings, Rockets ready to take on West

Did T-Mac help recruit Juwan for Orlando as well? I remember that Juwan was courted by several teams but decided to take less money and play for the Magic.

 

Let me say this. Lets go before the draft. Before the draft i was reading that we can trade Swift for bag of peanuts. Seriously, we all knew Swift was a dumb garbage and didn't help us anyhow. Now even before we drafted Rudy i knew we were a contendor in the west. WE WERE CONTENDORS IN THE WEST WITH T-MAC AND YAO. So what changed??? Just because we didn't draft Rudy doesn't mean we are not contendors any more. I know we gave up too much for Shane battier but we are still getting a shane battier.

Just relax, take a deep breath and know that our organization is trying desperately to win next year. Thats a good thing, it means they have confidence in T-mac and that T-mac is not hurt. I liked the idea of acquiring Shane but we gave up too much. Its Ok. Lets all hope for good Free agency and hope Rockets do not make the mistake of giving up too much for a player we clearly need like Shane BATIER.

 

There's never been a bad lottery pick from Uconn.
Not one.
In fact all of these guys had an impact in their rookie years:
Charlie Villanueva
Emeka Okafor
Ben Gordon
Caron Butler
Rip Hamilton
Ray Allen
Donyell Marshall

 

That's the thing, I didn't think we were contenders prior to the draft. We won 51 games two years ago and we seem to have taken a step backwards last year. Right now I think we're a playoff team, but we're not a contender.

 

McGrady's back. If it goes again, the Rockets could've immediately changed direction, ie Yao & Gay. As of now we would be stuck in a few years of mediocrity.

 

Dont be a fool. Tmac was mad. He said he wonders why they didnt ask for his input. At that time they had Drew Gooden already.

ORL management and Tmac were not even talking at that pioint.


Oh yes, and LOL saying Juwan and less money. The guy is an overpaid stiff

 

"When they told me that's the deal we made, I was so happy," McGrady said. "Shane is a solid player and the type of player we need, a player that can inspire the team with hustle plays, a defensive presence. He's smart and can shoot outside. But I really like that when we match up with Phoenix or Dallas, we can match up with Shane at the four.

If he is happy....Im happy....what a difference one day can make when you really think about whats best for this team

 

C'mon. What's he going to say? Horrible move Rockets. That's not happening.

 

You're rewriting history. T-Mac had issues with Weisbrod who didn't join the Magic until a year after Juwan came on board.

BTW, Juwan was considered a bargain signing at the time.

 

Thats what i am saying. Rockets didn't change direction because they think T-mac will be alright. That should be a good news. If T-mac is good to go than we are a contendor.

We were definitely contendors to win last year before the injuries. You can't be serious if you tell me that if T-mac and Yao weren't healthy that we would still be out of playoffs. If T-mac and Yao are healthy than we are contendors. So what if we didn't add Gay, we added Shane. Swift was doing nothing for us and just looked plain dumb out there.

But putting Gay and SWift together for Shane is a bad deal, but you can't tell me that by doing this deal we are not a championship contendor.

 

At least they all know the fans are really pissed...

 

We are all happy. In fact, we're ecstatic. Until about the 5th time in the first PHX game where Battier can not handle Shawn Marion 1on1 or can't catch up to him in transition. And we are all pissed at Van Gundy 'cause his offense won't allow Battier to post Marion up. Then maybe we'll be just a little less happy.

 

I think eveybody in the league has trouble with Shawn Marion. He is a unique player. It should be a team defense.

 

You can predict the future? Ever heard of help D ? Or how about Tmac playing D on him ? Or maybe you think that Rudy Gay can guard Marion. Some guy posted that Novak lit up Gay for 41 this yr....he had 8 pts in the game....what a stud!

 

Oh...I'm sorry...I thought that was supposed to be one of the pro's to drafting Battier...we could play small ball and matchup with PHX...never mind then....makes the trade even dumber...

 

There's a big difference between being another playoff team and a contender.
If T-Mac and Yao were healthy we would've made the playoffs, but I don't think we would've been a contender. Although Swift didn't play too well for us, but he did play significant minutes at the 4. Are we going to play Battier significant minutes at the 4 when he averages 5 rebounds a game in 35 minutes?

 

Battier replaces 2005 Wesley. Is he being looked at as the third piece to win the Championship? He's good but not great and we've got two guys who should be on the bench with Head & Hayes in the starting lineup. That's our team, real deep isn't it?

Stro was a disappointment because he couldn't displace JHo but he gave us depth at PF & C and offense off the bench.

 

Do you realize that if there were highschoolers in this draft....Rudy Gay would have not been in the top ten

 

UHH read my post again. EVERYBODY has a problem staying up with Shaw marion. He is every where. He is a unique player that needs attention. We can still play small ball. Adding Shane Batier gives us a better chance to play small ball than the players we currently have.

 

Just drink all of this up, guy. You'll feel better. I already do. Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Shane Battier will lead us to the title... Seriously...