Seattle lost Jerome James to New York. Nobody in the West has done anything close to adding athletic big men that give the Rockets trouble except maybe Phoenix. But running with two PFs up front? Good luck!
I guess what the author is trying to say is that the other teams already have a good 4 spot and dont need to upgrade, and those that do, already have, or are on their way to doing so. And losing jerome james is no loss.
It's his job to be critical, so I ignore the usual sad b*stard, good try but not good enough story line. My opinion? There's only a handful of point guards in the league that see the game in the way that Jason Williams can(Nash, Kidd are the only ones that come to mind off the top of my head). Don't kid yourself into believing the Luc Ridnours and Kirk Heinrichs of the world have his talent. They don't. He's still unique and I can't comprehend how anybody, if they unbiasedly stepped back for a second and imagined him on this team, wouldn't be tantalized by the possibility. The turnover tag he acquired early in his career isn't valid anymore (he's averaged less than 2 turnovers per game the last two seasons) and he's much quicker defensively than most here will ever give him credit for. Still, that last statement alone would be enough for some to write off this post...he's a player who inspires that kind of prejudice. What I most like about him though for the Rockets is the lightning quick release on his shot. In this respect, he's the anti-Sura. I emphasize this because it was downright painful at times seeing Sura pass up open outside shots because of the deliberateness of his mechanics. It's such an affected shot. With Jason Williams on the perimeter, and Yao in the post, there is zero room for error with another team's defensive rotation. I see him in this spot and I see opposing teams getting absolutely demoralized and exposed. He doesn't think on that shot, and sometimes in basketball that's what you need. Of course, it's only an admirable characteristic when you have the shot to back it up, and regardless of his modest shooting percentages, the guy can flat out stroke it. Finally, we'd have a guard who doesn't like to rebound, which would be a god send. Our guards are still rebound happy, even with Steve and Cat gone. Whether or not we get more fast break points is irrelevant, what is important is the number of easy opportunity baskets this would create, in the mold of McGrady or another guard trailing the break for a wide open shot. The kind of shots you saw Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson feast on last season from Nash. It's all sound and fury signifying nothing with Williams though. Look at their roster. They have literally NOBODY to play point guard outside of him with all signs pointing to Earl Watson defecting. On Stromile, the likelier possibility of the two, to be less long-winded, I want him. He's developed a face up jumper, has a nice jump move across the lane that allows him to exploit his athleticism, good hands, and decent finishing ability...that's all the offensive repetoire I need out of him. He just fits into what we're trying to accomplish at the end of the day.
The Grizzlies aren't gifting you Mike Miller unless T Mac or Yao or moving Think Jason Williams, James Posey, Jake Tsakalidis, or maybe Brian Cardinal. However, we would probably want a future 1st also because you guys won't be trading anything that could help us on the court. I still think a 3-way trade is possible also. OT: What happened to all those Rocket fans saying Posey was not worth the MLE for 4 years? Now you guys want to pay Swift $7+...classic!
Houston trades: Weatherspoon, Norris, Baker, Wesley, Ward + two second-round picks: 21.3M Memphis trades: Swift (sign-and-trade at 7M), Jason Williams, James Posey: 20.5M TRADE ACCEPTED
Posey wasn't worth the money and still isn't worth the money. Why would we pay big money for an SF like Posey? Yeah he had a good year in Memphis but come on! And we woudn't have gotten McGrady if we had signed Posey. The only reason the Rockets are willing to pay Swift is because he is an athletic PF. We didn't need and still don't need an athletic SF sucking up money unless it's McGrady. Thete is nothing classic about it, any GM in the league with a brain would throw money at a big man over an average wing player. And that is what Posey was while playing with the Rockets, an average wing player. I agree with the above mentioned players, though I wouldn't be surprised to see Bonzi Wells name being tossed around just because of the attitude clashes.
The use of a crappy Young MC song title as a headline pretty much precludes me from being able to read the article and pay attention to anything been said. What's next? Ice Ice Baby to headline a story on the NHL playoff? I touch myself (by the Divinyls) for a story if Alan Houston gets into a fight with a player on the Rockets? Stop the insanity!
The way I see it, Jerry West isn't even answering CD's calls. I really really really don't see him trading inner-division especially when an out of conference team is a player for Swift (NJ). That's just GM101 -- and if you do trade inner-division, you're smart and make sure you're not giving up the best player of the swap; much less the 3 best players by your scenario SJC.
Not a very positive article, but it speaks the truth. Interesting to hear that the Rockets have talked about JWill, I would take him to get Swift and the Grizz have been pretty desperate to unload him.
Yeah, Lopez always try to sound critical of Rockets, I think he has pretty good intention. Sounds like he's as worried as I am that Swift has not signed with us yet.
If he's not taking calls or even considering it he's not a very smart GM. If there is a chance that Swift might walk to the Rockets for nothing you better get something out of it if you're Jerry West.
This is a "stir the pot" article if I ever read one by Lopez. Rockets interested in Jwill? SAR a good fit in Clipperland? Ridiculous. Lopez, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. on a side note...the Rockets need to sign Swift soon.
I don't think it's any secret that we're trying to upgrade our PF position so he's not saying anything controversial. Lopez is putting the spotlight on CD and calling him out - "Oh shucks, at least we tried" isn't good enough - which is exactly true. Great article.
That article was only saying what a lot of us were thinking. It's clear the Rockets will not only not get better but will regress if they stand pat. Im sure they are trying to improve the team but trying and doing are two different things.
I think Lopez may be trying to add pressure on the Rockets to get something done: hence the negative tone. "It's all sound and fury signifying nothing with Williams though. Look at their roster. They have literally NOBODY to play point guard outside of him with all signs pointing to Earl Watson defecting." This may mean that if Memphis is trying/willing for us to take on Williams, they'd probably want a guard back with decent ball handling skills, possibly James or Sura.
