But did Cato really warrant more attraction? Didn't he see less playing time than O'Neal? I don't remember hearing much about him and his potential until he was in Rockets uniform in preseason.
I dont think its that he was more attractive. Maybe the Blazers saw more potential in O'Neal than Cato and were less likely to include him in the deal. After the Pippen deal, the Blazers made the deal for Dale Davis because Davis was better suited for their championship aspirations than O'Neil was. So I guess you can speculate that the Blazers were saving O'Neil so that they could get Dale Davis and therefore, they did not make him available to the Rockets?
I believe they acquired Davis a year after. They had O'Neal the year they blew a 15 point lead in the 4th quarter of game 7 in the WCF. It's gone downhill for them ever since.
My point is that, had we gotten O'Neal, we probably would not have gotten Ming. Which player would you rather have?
Based on Ming's upside, Ming of course. If he adapts to the league the way we hope, I think hell be more capable of turning our team into a contender than O'Neil would. No doubt.
Good point. Clearly, O'Neal's trade value wasn't really that high at the time the Rockets traded Pippen. Por prob knew this, and figured that if they showcased O'Neal a little, they could get more in return for him.
If we had both Sheed and Francis, we would demolish the current Tech record for a team easily since Sheed is #1 in the league and Francis is 2nd.
Francis and Mobley hanging on the rim or slapping the backboard gets old after a while, especially when it costs us a point everytime.
Maybe. Griffin is a better defender now I think. What I like about Wallace is how explosive he is around the basket. Maybe someday Eddie will find that kind of strength because it seems like this year he is still going to play like a wing player on offense.
I agree. I think Griffin is capable of developing a mid-low post game based on the skills that we have seen. Hes still growing and from what Ive read, he put on some weight in the off season so I think the strength will come in time. Hes so lanky, its easy for people so push him off the block now. Maybe thats why he jacked up all those 3s last year instead of taking it to the rim.
Let's hope that this season the Rockets make us forget about these painful memories. Maybe, just maybe, by the end of the year it won't hurt anymore to think about what we got for Pippen, or passing on Rashard Lewis. I'd much rather have Griffin and Yao than Rashard and O'neal right now.
To be honest, I love it..... when where up by 47 with 0:32 seconds left in the game. P.S - Man your post count is on a "meteoric" rise.
Griffin is a better defender help-wise. He is terrific at coming off the weakside and blocking shots. Wallace is a much better individual post defender. Wallace is very good at that. Offensively, their games are similar in that both are power forwards that can shoot the ball out to 3 point range. Eddie's not nearly as good as Wallace is in the post, but he has a lot of time to develop. Good comparison, unless you take into account personalities, in which they are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Whoa. Do you really mean that? You'd rather have two players, who are still based potential, over two proven all-stars? I know Griff and Ming are younger and if they fulfill their potential this debate will be laughable, but right now, O'neal and Wallace have been there and done that, Yao and Griff only have one year experience between the both of them. But now that I think about it, despite all that, I'd rather have Yao and Griff too. Go Rockets!!!!
As an aside, the 76ers were pretty hot for Scottie Pippen. I don't know who we would've received in trade, given Pippen's big contract, but I know Larry Hughes would have been one player...not that we really needed him (Dickerson on his way out, yes, but Shandon Anderson and Cuttino Mobley on their way in or already here).
