Ok, I am going to try ONE LAST TIME !!! It is NOT about being able to lock down Kobe...no one can do that, it is about off setting his offense with a threat on OUR offensive end. We already have TWO mismatches every night...EVERY SINGLE NIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tmac and Yao, now we need to put supporting players around them. Guys who will fit in, and play their roles. Tmac can drive and dish or finish, Yao can distribute or finish on the inside. When we run a pick and roll I want a guy who can finish off the pick, and this opens up Yao on the roll. Redick fits that bill, maybe Brewer does too, who knows. It is NOT about individual players, it is about the ROCKETS TEAM, and which player makes the TEAM better. Redick makes us better, in shooting, in defense, in basketball IQ, in competitiveness, heck in every way, he is an upgrade. Brewer does too, so either one is fine with me....however, I KNOW that Redick will be a threat from the outside on all those shots that Tmac and Yao generate, I HOPE that Brewer will. Think back to this year.....all the open shots that Bogans & Rafer and Wesley and Head bricked........WIDE OPEN SHOTS !!!!! You hit more of those, and your team improves immesurably. DD
Maybe I am misunderstood. I don't want to draft a player that will look foolish, embarrassed, abused on the defensive end. They don't have to lock them down. Just give them fits. Unlike how Redick will just let them through.
Well, since JVG doesn't run the team, CD, Les, Morey and Lindsey do...I guess we will find out. JVG didn't want Luther or Hayes, and he admits that he was wrong. I don't think JVG is any judge of talent.....all the people he brought in from the old Knicks SUCKED. DD
If Redick was really that bad defensively Coach K would not have kept him on the court. You are making a crazy assumption here. The only thing we really have to go on about what these players will become is what they have already done on the college level. Brewer's skill set is on the defensive end of the court. Redick's skill set is on the offensive end of the court. But to say that Brewer can't play offense or Redick can't play defense are both misstatements. What we KNOW about the 2 is that J.J. is more likely to be successful on the offensive and and Brewer is more likely to be successful on the defensive end. With that in mind, what is our team's greatest need? By the way, to the other poster, about the "lock down" defender that has the "POTENTIAL" to "lock down" Kobe and the rest. You can get that guy in the 2nd round of the draft. In fact there are whole lot of dudes in the 2nd round who have the "POTENTIAL" to be "lock down" somethings or another. Do not waste a lottery pick on this far-fetched "POTENTIAL" which will never materialize to "lock down" Kobe.
This is nuts. So guys like Brewer does not need to expand their games and become more of a complete player if they are to become a starter in the league? I fully expect JJ to become a servicable defender under tutoring by JVG. On the other hand, a great shooter is rare to find in the league today. Name me one guy who has become a great shooter in the league while not known for his shooting in college. None.
Alright, this argument is getting tedious. Pro-Redicks are actually naive enough to believe SHOOTING simply solves EVERYTHING while all the Anti-Redicks want versatility and have a difficult time overlooking his shortcomings and probable helplessness on the defensive end. My question to all you "Pro-Redicks": Do you think he's worth being selected #8th overall or are you only in support of him if we traded down? As I have mentioned before, I would take him in a trade down since I believe taking him #8th overall is too high combined with my prediction that he slips to the mid-lottery anyways. In a perfect world, we could trade down for another pick and take Redick while still picking up a solid player like Brewer, Carney, Cedric Simmons, Maurice Ager, Alexander Johnnson, Jordan Farmar, etc. The possibilities are endless if we play our cards right. NOTE: I only want a trade down if one of the big names don't slip to us.
BTW, do we need more guys who can do everyone well except putting the ball in the basket? The Rockets need great shooters on the team over anything else and Redick is the only high profile player that fits the billing. If they draft the likes of Brewer, it will come back to haunt them in the near future. I have no hope that the Rockets management can make the right decision. They have a proven suck record for the past decade and I don't expect that trend to end this year.
There is no doubt that Redick will be amused on the defensive end, especially in his early career in the NBA. On the otherhand, he can also make people pay on the offensive end to get even. I have a nightmare seeing the likes of Rafer going 1-9 from 3s (against Philly) when his man cheated on him and doubled on Yao. I am fearing that Brewer will make things worse on the offensive end by joing the long list of Rockets bricklayers. So don't come back to complain next season that the Rockets need more shooters to free their stars. Nobody asked you to but you took the poison yourself while medication was still available.
Baller, We need players who can contribute RIGHT AWAY, and drafting number 8, you usually do not get that type of a player. Most players taken at number 8 or lower are potential players, some succeed but the vast majority flame out. I think Redick and Brewer are less risky than a lot of picks, I would be happy with either, though I think Redick fits a TMac and Yao team better and would contribute more minutes right away. Does he have limitations, sure, but none that can not be worked on in a team concept way, and the fact that he has been the best player IN ALL OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL, says a lot, a WHOLE lot. DD
Scouts are praising Redick for one thing: his shooting. They give him credit for being a very smart player, a well conditioned athlete and for being a very coachable player but everything still comes back to his ability to shoot the ball and score. Scouts are praising a player like Brewer for his upside, athleticism and abilities to handle the ball and defend. There is a big difference when talking about who is more of a "complete player". Of course Brewer is going to need to improve and refine his skills if he is to succeed on the NBA level but the point is his he's probably going to be at that point of becoming a "complete player" much sooner than Redick is.
I don't mind a trade down as long as we are assured of getting Redick there. And I don't think he's going to be available much past 10. I think Orlando or New Orleans takes him there if he is on the board, that is if Seattle doesn't snap him up at 10. Like I say, I'd like to see us be able to trade for Seattle's pick, and then trade our #8 for other picks, players. I think we could get Redick at 10 and then get whatever else. But, the bottom line is, if no trades can be made, and if the big 6 are gone, and we have to pick at #8, then we should go ahead and take Redick. Yeah, it's a little bit high for him. But, in this draft #8 is a little bit high for anybody that is out there including Brewer, Carney, Simmons, or whoever. Everybody is going to be drafted a little high if the draft goes right because of the weakness and thinness of this draft. Remember, drafting #8 in this draft is going to be like drafting at #13 to #17 in previous years. This is the year that there are no high schoolers in here pushing talent down. Stick Oden, Mayo, Gerald Henderson, and a couple of those other high flying high schoolers in this draft, and then stick in Noah, and one or two of his buddies and all of a sudden, Redick is sitting down at #15 to #20.
Are these those same scouts who let Josh Howard fall to number 29 in the draft, or Dirk Nowitski to number 10, or Amare Stoudamire...well you get my point. DD
I'm still wishing we had lost a game or two at the end of our season, and had a higher pick. In fact, I'm more inclined to trade it, unless one of the top six falls to us. Having said that, I wanted to make the point that adding strength, if the player is willing to work, and I think Redick would be, is something the team can help him with. An average shooter may or may not improve his shot, but you can definitely add strength.
I have watched Redick play for Duke for 4 years and have watched enough games of AK that featured Brewer for 3 years. I know which player fits more on what Rockets desperately need right now. And please remember the only complaint that your franchise player made during the season when he faced double or triple team each night: "I really wish that our perimeter players would be able to hit the open jumpers so that I would have had more room to manuever inside the post." Someone please be kind to find that link. It was mentioned by articles both from Chronicles and sina.
PS. If keeping an ATHLETE at the SG/SF position was SOOOOOOOO important, why did we not keep Stephan Graham? I mean, you can teach him to shoot, right? And he and his brother Joey were the best athletes in last years draft, and probably better than any athlete in this years draft. Why did we let that guy go? Makes no sense....except that JVG teams RARELY....develop a player....... DD
Since we are on the topic of franchise player's request... Tracy McGrady a few weeks ago, on the radio, when asked what he thought the Rockets needed after watching the Dallas/San Antonio Games ... he answered perimeter defense. This is the same player who was doubled/tripled team when he was playing last season. What does that tell you? Brewer has the same potential to knock those wide open shots you Redick supporters are claiming Redick is going to take. His mechanic is not going to make it difficult ... if Shawn Marion and Kevin Martin with their shooting mechanics can do it so can Brewer. The rockets have too many holes to draft on just need; they need to draft the BPA. The best player available is a player who can play three positions on the offensive and defensive end.
DD, you're my man 100grand, but look at guys who learn to shoot vs guys who learn to put the ball on the floor. I think it more about work ethic and ability. If a slashing type of guy has a great work ethic, he will become a better shooter. I mean look at guys like Marion, Howard and Jefferson who have become good shooters. Look at one trick pony guys like Wally S, Casey jacobson. Why havent those guys gotten any better attacking the rim? Attacking the rim is angles and explosion where as shooting is repitition. One can be taught, the other is natural ability. Look at a guy like Mike Miller and Dunleavy Jr. They come off the bench and went high in the draft because they are basically spot up shooters. Now if you feel the Rox can beat the big boys with 1 dimensional guys like reddick or miller starting then go ahead, but lloking at the playoffs when shots become contested, it puts a premium on guys that can beat their man. Having Ming and tracy will benefit any player, but imagine having a player that can pump fake and step in or even get to the cracks and creases. Look at JJ and say how will he help the Rox beat SA,Dal,Phoe,det,or Mia. If you feel good, then he's you're man.
