We went into the draft with some needs. We never expected to completely fulfill any need, but rather draft the best available talent and then hope to steal in a good big man. We did exactly that. It was a successful draft for the Rockets. People expected a starting vet PF via trade on draft night, and exactly how do we get him? A team is going to trade a starting caliber legitimate veteran PF for the 26th pick? please. You guys expect way too much, we got two rotational players, that's 1 more than we though we would've. I hope Brooks can contribute 18mpg from the bench and Landry 15mpg. Both players are seasoned well, have a great work ethic, and incredibly high BBall IQ(at least Landry does).
Can people please stop saying that McRoberts, Splitter, Davis, Fazekas, etc. are quality forwards. Where are you getting your information from? Are you basing your opinions off of their height and their college numbers? Good college stats don't mean anything in the NBA. These guys went late for a reason. They're soft (even Davis relies too much on his jump shot), not athletic, and have been known to disappear when going against quality competition. Inserting a body that's 6'10 into the rockets lineup isn't going to suddenly make us unbeatable. IF you think McRoberts and company were going to add so much to our roster please substantiate that claim before you continue posting that garbage.
So much hate from Toys, I mean Rockets are us. Chill already. It's not the end of the world. The GM didn't kill the president or something. He took a risk on who he and his staff believes is the best available player at that position at that time. He say he would. He picked a PG, the 6th on the team. Now thats picking for best available and not for need!!!!!! Also, any pass history is just that, pass history. He is new and if you don't want to give him a chance, it's your choice. I am hoping he's pick up a couple of "assets" for the team. At 26. thats all you can hope for. And that BS about not getting home court so we can pick 25th. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND! I lost all respect for you after you said that. Please think before you type. Rockets play the regular season to get the best seating. That's all. Getting home court was huge. It made it 7 games. So we lost, but it's at home. They had to steal one. You are nuts if you think we should have somehow lost the Suns game and gave the Jazz homecourt.
Only time will tell us if Morey was played. There are so many factors into what makes a draft pick successful (right team, right coach/scheme, work ethic, injuries or lack thereof) that making snap judgments is foolish in most cases, particularly at #26. Now if we were talking a lottery pick - this would be a whole different conversation. But at #26, Morey's taking a calculated risk. Could this backfire? Certainly. However, Morey was working from imperfect information, and made what he felt was the best call. I will reserve judgment for now, and wait to see how the roster shapes out.
I'm not sure I totally agree on the Fernandez thing but have agreed 100% with nearly everything you have been posting since the draft. The basic difference between us? It has really fired up your fan passions. As for me, I'm just too damned disgusted to care very much. From Day 1, I have NEVER and STILL don't buy in to the concept of $Ball for basketball. Brooks may very well be the BPA from a $Ball aspect. But that only serves to focus on the flaws of $Ball for basketball. $Ball application totally disregards fit and upside. Those are human inputs. Totally discounting Fernandez, the BPA possibilities at #26 IMHO were numerous. And nearly all the external rating sources had Brooks as a 2nd rounder. The Spurs and Mavs have had solid success at both late and international draft choices. They took Splitter and Fazekas. A truly active and effective GM would have gotten the Suns #24 with a promise to take Brooks or the LTax pressed Suns' choice at the non-guaranteed 31 spot. BUT that requires insight and skill that can't be programmed in to $Ball.
To offer something comparable to what Portland gave, which was $3M for the 24th plus a $2.9M TE for James Jones. Rockets would've had to pay $3M for the 24th pick then agree to trade Sura's contract for Marcus Banks. After waiving Sura they get a $2.88M salary dump.
Morey could not possibly outbid Portland for that pick. Paul Allen has no problem eating salaries and risk paying luxury tax. Les, on the other hand, has such constraints.
Gater - You're absolutely right about how high my emotions are following Morey's decision making and outright Spin following NOT getting either of the players they were looking for. Brooks reeks of Plan C-, even if he's a "$Ball" prospect. I would have been with you on the indifference to the draft if we had seen even a modicum of success in the post-season. My measuring stick for last season was simple: Past Round 1= Good and Not getting out of Rnd 1 = Bad. That it came on our own court, against the Jazz makes the dagger go even deeper. That we then lose one of THE players that would have made an immediate and potentially long term impact on the ROX to the JAZZ, has me pissed to say the least. And now, because the fans (and I'm sure TMAC) are none too pleased with the crap they pulled in the draft, Morey has absolutely no choice but to USE the press by saying that we're going to be a player in the Rashard sweepstakes. The ROX have a maybe 3% chance of landing Rashard when Orlando, Seattle, and pretty much anybody with a bench has far more of a chance to either sign him outright or do a sign and trade that will give Seattle A LOT more bang for their buck than the ROX can offer. Yes, I'm pissed about us not getting an impact player for our future. The only think short, fast players do is get slower during the course of their careers, so their 1st and 2nd seasons are likely to be their best (Nate Robinson is a GREAT example). I remain skeptical at best about Landry and the Aussie, who's nothing but a long distance relationship with a 2% chance of making the ROX bench. From all the list of PF available, I'd take PJ Brown for 1 season, or I'd take Nick Collison for 3. Ike Diogu is still on my wish list, but going cheaper than any of those options will only expose Les for the cheap guy we all know him to be. For God's sake, the only thing between you and your "coveted" guy in the draft is money and your don't even get in the ball game? Les is a frickin "Billionaire" folks, that's with a B. I don't care if Paul Allen can buy and sale Les several times over, Les and Morey were screwed because of their combined peronsality deficits, not because somebody else was SOOOO much smarter!!! So, yeah, I continue to believe that Morey got played like a fool by the rumors of "interest" for Brooks. I can tell how interested the Spurs were by the way they went after SIZE for the future, of whom is likely to become a starter within 3 years!!!
Sorry for digging up an old thread, but it seems relevant now that we've been talking about the two rookies. There were multiple threads like this one floating around on draft night complaininga bout the choice of Brooks and Landry-- particularly arguing Brooks is a late 2nd rounder and only got picked because Morey loves moneyball and stupidly thought some other team would take him first. I wonder if anyone wants to change their mind now. On the other hand, our two highly touted veteran acquisitions-- James and Francis-- have not been in the rotations for some time.
A fairly reasonable take on a volitile topic. I think that getting one contributor much less two when drafting lower than 25 is an oustanding draft. DD
It really shows right? The difference between a GM (even a rookie one) and some armchair basketball fans. Couple Morey's draft picks with his wonder trade for Scola and I think Morey should be co-MVP of the GMs for this season!
Size doesn't matter as much as talent. Aaron Brooks is like Kenny Thomas, a little undersized but talented.
In hindsight, the picks look to be pretty good for late first round, early second round. Though judging draft day transactions really takes a few years.
Wouldnt even comment on this if Morey had a long history of drafts like Carroll Dawson to judge from... For his 1st draft as full time GM, and 1st time $$-ball figured into a Rockets draft, not too bad considering the early cynicism. Just hope it means more future draft hits than misses.....
What this proves is that Morey likes to take risks: - Brooks: a mini point guard (good decision) - Landry: a mini power forward (we already have one, but apparently a good decision) - James: Trade a locker leader,veteran and reasonable player, for a trouble maker - Francis: Pay little money, but still risky. His only safe move was Scola. So 4 out of 5 offseason moves were very risky gambles. Two apparently will turn out OK. I absolutely love his style.
