Nomar, I understand your last post a lot more than those Finley dreamcasting ones. IMO, Austin can be much more than a spark off the bench. You disagree. Oh well, I guess we will see ... ------------------ blah blah blah
doxy-So, with that information in mind, why did Tracy McGrady leave the Raptors for Orlando, a .500 team, when he was on an up and coming team. Now, let's give a quick look at the Pacers, their 2 main centers, Smits and Perkins, are both likely to retire. Their starting PG, and locker room presence, Mark Jackson will be retiring soon, if he doesn't leave in free agency. Miller isn't very young anymore. His main supporter, Larry Bird, is out of the picture. The Rockets meanwhile, have a core of young players, and need a player like Croshere. The Rockets have a coach that is well liked, and are close to a new arena. The Rockets can offer Croshere a starting slot. Indiana can't. Is Croshere a lock to sign with Houston? Far from it. Does Houston have a chance? Of course. Of other note: Do you think a forward tandem of Croshere, and say Rashard Lewis (assuming 1 year deal) would not be a pretty nice to have? I do. ------------------ The more lefties on your team, the better. Collier is Seven Foot and Left Handed. How can you go wrong? Trade or bench Kenny Thomas.
Haven, I agree that I'm being a little hard on Croshere. At the same time, the tone of some of these posts would lead the uninformed to think that Croshere is the answer to all of our problems. I would love to think that.....but, man, we're a long way off from being truly competitive....especially if Croshere is the biggest and only improvement we can make before the end of next season. ------------------ "I'll take a Dream Shake for two, please."
I'm with Gascon. Croshere is a solid pickup, but thats all, nothing more. I get the feeling as well that people in this BBS are making Croshere our savior. He's a good player, and that's it. I doubt even getting Croshere would assure us a playoff spot. We still need some muscle in the front court. ------------------ President of the Chris Webber fan club.
If Croshere will sign with us for the 2.25 exception, we'd be real stupid not to do it and the Rockets are not stupid. He might not be a superstar or all star, but he would be a great role player. As far as him getting eaten alive by some of the more dominant power forwards, I guess that some of you forget that Rudy teaches sound fundamental defense. The TEAM helps each other. This is not a one on one sport. (except when Mobley gets the ball with 30 seconds left on the clock & tries to go to the hole only to be cut off & dishes it out to the perimeter guys with no time left. Ooooh, how I hate that!) Nike, you forgot to tell doxy-so that Indiana doesn't even have a coach yet. So who knows what direction they are heading. The Rockets have an obvious direction.TO THE BIG DANCE!!! ------------------
Gascon: I don't expect Croshere to be our savior. At the same time, I think having a legitmate front court threat on offense could mean 5 or 6 more wins. I'm not specifically referring to Croshere... merely any C, PF or post-up SF who can score night in and night out. This would greatly enhance the versatility of our offense, and decrease the pressure on Francis. If you want to find another frontcourt player who can do this, fine... I like Croshere quite a bit, but it's not his particular virtues that I'm so enthusiastic about, but rather the fact that we'd be adding a new dimension to our offense. And before you suggest KT, keep in min... Croshere had better #'s in FEWER minutes. ------------------
hetero: i dont know what you said in the other thread, so i dont really have anything against you. but the pacers are probably not going to be as good as us next year. their whole team is basically old and in free agency, and they dont have a coach. CriscoKid: thanks for understanding my point. i agree that we will see. actually, i hope your right about croshere. Nikestrad: Croshere and Lewis would be nice. Who plays the 3, who plays the 4.( not sarcastic) I would rather have Terrence Morris or Curry or Woods ect. + Lewis. Croshere costs too much for bench. Gascon: right on. Play Maker: ditto. i like the signiture. Hottodie: I agree! if croshere will sign for 2.25 mil, i say do it. but not for 5,6 mil. Haven: 5 more wins next year, or a contender in 2 years. Even thought Thomas' numbers last year werent as good as Croshere, their both post men who can swish the trey. Same type of player. You cant use the argument about Kt's numbers vs. Croshere because, KT was a rookie last year. Usually, rookies improve upon their first year stats. ------------------ Starting at shortstop, for the Houston Astros, Nomar Garciaparra. [This message has been edited by Nomar (edited July 14, 2000).]
Nomar-that's the beauty of it. It doesn't really matter. So we've got to play Minnesota? Put Lewis on KG. Uh oh, we've got to play Elton Brand, put Croshere on him. And either way, with either, you can take the other team's star PF out of the game pretty much, by keeping him on the perimeter, being forced to have to guard Croshere or Lewis. Matchup problems galore. They're tall forwards, that are 3/4s, both can play perimeter, and would be perfect for the iso-Big enough to get rebounds on misses, and have enough jump shot range to make the iso effective. Both are hustling players, and if you put out a team of Francis-Anderson-Lewis-Croshere-Cato, you're going to score a lot, and the other team won't (hopefully). Lewis naturally is a 3, that can guard some of the new breed 4s. Him and Morris are both rail thin, and might get banged up too much. On another note, I don't think Croshere is the savior. But he's a great fit on this team as a system player, and rugged enough down low. ------------------ The more lefties on your team, the better. Collier is Seven Foot and Left Handed. How can you go wrong? Trade or bench Kenny Thomas. [This message has been edited by NIKEstrad (edited July 14, 2000).]
Kenny's FG % was abominable. In many ways, this was Croshere's first real year... he didn't play much at all the first two, as Indy had so much depth up front. The departure of A. Davis gave him some PT. Croshere is also more athletic than KT. And btw, have you even been reading other people's posts? WHO is this supposed help we're getting in a couple years? I'm still trying to figure this out. IT IS NOT LIKELY WE'RE GOING TO SIGN WEBBER. Do you really want to be like the Bulls, with all that cap room and no top-tier free agents coming? I'd rather improve the team gradually... and if a free agent REALLY wants to come to Houston, work out a sign-and-trade. With the power of agents these days, if anyone really wants to be in Houston, they could probably work out a deal. If you're thinking about getting help from the draft... that's very iffy. I don't think we're going to be able to trade-up that far next year (and Croshere could help us do that, if we wanted, actually), and even were we to get the #1 pick, there's never a guarantee the pick will work out. Croshere, we know, has game. ------------------
Nomar: Just because Croshere can shoot from outside and put the ball on the floor does NOT make him a 3... he can also score in the post. If you remember him coming out of college, he was a veritable Dan Langhi, a guy who could flat out score and hustled around the court but who was too thin to play PF in the NBA and was a touch slow to guard some of the quicker SF's (a la Finley/Spree/Rose). So Croshere had limited minutes his first couple of seasons, and he figured the only way to get himself some PT was to be a PF, so he went to the weights room and put on 20 pounds of muscle. Now he's able to bang around in the post defensively and his hustle is still amazing. He's not the answer at PF? I want to ask why not? For this team he's a GREAT fit and he brings a full offensive game to the court. You think he can only shoot from the outside? No way! He can score from anywhere - he scored massively in college and this year showed signs that he could score in the NBA. Maybe he won't be a 20ppg scorer, but the fact is that he scored at a good clip. Why did he come off the bench for Indy if he was so good? Well quite simply there was a Dale Davis guy who complemented Rik Smits game unbelievably well and who has shown that he is an amazingly tough PF and he started. Croshere is not as good as Davis is now, but maybe in a year or 2 he'll be playing at a similar level. You want to "solve" our PF problems with a player from next years draft?? How will that work? We get a rookie who may or may not pan out as a good NBA player, call me crazy, but I'll take a guy who's shown that he can play in the NBA and is a ruthlessly hard worker anyday of the week! Nike: I LIKE the idea of having Croshere and Lewis at the forward spots - that'd make us a pretty tough team.... ------------------
One thing I think that needs to be cleared up in this post. I understand the error because I myself thought this to be the case before I sat down and worked out the cap numbers. Let's say the Rockets commit 5-6 or even 7 mil in a sign and trade for Austin Croshere, they would still be able to sign a top notch free agent like Chris Webber, Michael Finley or Rashard Lewis (if he signs 1 yr deal) in the 2001 summer. This is assuming they can unload Walt for free agent(s) to be in 2001. They would also be able to fit Cuttino Mobley into the cap as well. Thus, a team of Francis, Anderson, Lewis, Croshere, Cato with Mobley, Collier, Langhi etc off the bench is very workable under the cap. Signing Croshere even to a bigger contract via a sign and trade (KT, Drew, Milw pick, 4.5 mil exception) would not get in the way of a top notch free agent signing in 2001. The key, though, is to unload Walt Williams. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
FINLEY IS NOT COMING TO HOUSTON. I HATE HEARING THE NAME FINLEY & THE ROCKETS IN THE SAME SENTENCE. WE HAVE NO CHANCE TO GET FINLEY FROM DALLAS. IT'S NOT EVEN A MONEY THING. FINLEY IS HAPPY IN BIG-D. WHERE HE IS THE MAN & JUST ABOUT THE ONLY MAN & WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE BIG MONEY MAKER & POSTER BOY FOR A LOST CAUSE. Personally I dislike Finley very much but beyond that he is a good player that will never where the Jetson's gear!! ------------------ Trade Shandon & Francis now. Join the save our Mobley movement. Less fire, less heart, less competition for a starting job More money - more touches & it's all good now.
Your missing the point. Whether or not we can get Finley or Webber, wouldnt it be wise to save the cap space for some major moves, or trades, just in case? Also, your forgetting about all the draft picks we have. Those can be used for trades also. I think that the acquisition of Croshere will limit our freedom in acquiring players. For instance, we get Croshere this year, and he plays PF. We get Terrence Morris in the draft, and McDyess or other PF wants to demand a trade. We will not be available to this PF because we already have Croshere. We cant just trade Croshere cause it will weaken our free agent deal like with Shandon. No more wink wink deals. ------------------ Starting at shortstop, for the Houston Astros, Nomar Garciaparra.
True, he is a sf, but he plays like a sg. He would help, but not be able to make up for the Rockets woes at center and PF. But read Willie's post. Webber is a lot more likely end up in Houston than Finley. ------------------ blah blah blah
Actually, he would make up for our woes. Francis Shandon/Mobes Finley 2001 Rookie PF Cato or for slick willie Francis Shandon/Mobes Free Agent/Rookie Free Agent/Rookie Cato this starting lineup does not include croshere, theres no room for him. Dont pay him to sit on the bench, thats what Los is for. ------------------ Starting at shortstop, for the Houston Astros, Nomar Garciaparra. [This message has been edited by Nomar (edited July 14, 2000).]
Shandon is the only wink wink deal right now. Rockets can always trade Croshere later without hurting their rep. Its better to stock up on talent rather than the off-chance that Finley or Webber might want to sign as FAs. They are the only big ticket FAs next year, when the Rockets will have cap room. If you want to trade for a star player, you have to have trade bait anyway. In trades, it isnt necessary for the teams involved to be under the cap. And there is no telling exactly how many picks the Rockets will have next year. They could have as many as 4, but they could have as little as one. And thats not to mention that the depth of the draft will depend upon who declares and who doesnt. It would be a good move to sign Croshere. ------------------ blah blah blah
Another thing about Croshere, as alluded to by DrNuegebaur, is that he's only been in the league for 3 years. Last year you might say was his coming out party. If he stays healthy, I believe his game is going to get better. I liked what I saw last year, so if his game gets stronger, then he's right on track with the Rockets rebuilding program. In another year or two his game should be well established. Just in time for us to make a serious run at the championship. All of this is assuming that the Rockets make all the right moves and I have no doubts about that. After all, who would've thought that we might even have a chance at Croshere, without having to gut the team, after the way he played in the playoffs? ------------------
Great all we need is Crosher, the 6-10 cleaver beaver, he'll fit right along with Jason "Eddie haskel" Collier, and Dan "Wally" Langhi. Rudy you really fouled it up this draft. Rudy I dont know if you'll be able to pull it off, like when you hit that tree, by saying you fell asleep at the wheel. You've seemed to put us in a situation, or what some people may call a circumstance. Hey guys, Matt Bullard is our new team bully. Watch out New York! ------------------ [This message has been edited by ROCKETBOOSTER (edited July 15, 2000).]
How much cap room will we have next off-season? because if we had around 12 million I think that would be enough to get both Lewis and Croshere. What we can do is sign Croshere to a 1 year contract this year at 2.25 mil. then next off-season give him a long term contract at 5 mil. a year. Hopefully Lewis will have signed only a 1 year deal with Seattle so next off-season we can sign him at about 7 mil. a year. Then in the draft we can package our pick and Milwaukee’s pick to move up and get a power forward like Eddie Griffin (“next Tim Duncan”). That would give us a lineup of: C: Cato/ Collier PF: Croshere/ Griffin/ Thomas SF: Lewis/ Williams/ Langhi SG: Anderson/ Mobley PG: Francis/ Norris You have 3 potential superstars in Francis, Griffin, and Lewis and some very good role players to surround them with. ------------------ You ain't gotta like me, you just mad cause I tell it how it is, and you tell it how it might be.
