I understand that, and maybe he had to be let go to make him grow up, but the team could have re-signed him......if that story is true. So many times organizations waste their picks on young players without some sort of support system for these players.... They are assets, you would think the organizations would be smarter about it... DD
They did have reason to cut Green. Yao went down and they needed a big body. Maybe its a coincidence, but we'll never know. Unless Morey was lying, he did say in a radio interview that the Rockets staff were disappointed they had to let Green go. I just don't put much faith in random people claiming they know inside information. Seriously, when it comes to certain subjects, multiple "insiders" come from the woodwork and spew whatever.
Wrong, once Yao went down the season was effectively over, they were not a true contender, at that point they should have started opening up the minutes for some of the younger players to find out what they had. Trying to win every game is great, but winning a championship is more important. The team was going nowhere last year after Yao went down....even though they won 10 more after he went down anyway. You have to be pragmatic and take a longer view sometimes.....that is how most championship teams are built. DD
You mean like JR Smith? What about Donyell Marshall, Larry Hughes? I could go on and on. For the record, swift played 1 yr without Tracy and Yao for 70% of the time. Now I'm not calling for the rox to bring him back, I'm just saying that just because one guy fails, that doesn't mean you stop trying. Swift's stigma is that he was drafted #2. Had he been drafted 20 or so, we wouldn't be taliking about him so badly. Its not like he has ever signed for more than mle money either. I never bought into the notion that you don't look at a guys size relative to his position and his atheleticism either. Those are just some of the factors when selecting players, but they signed Bobby Jones! Then Landry goes down and they sign mike harris and cut him. What sense did that make. Then in the summer they didn't even invite him to camp which would have made sense to me. Instead we had guys like head,novak(pre trade) and others on our summer league. There is always time to "coach up" players. I mean in practice, who is a better size matchup for tracy and artest? Green or Head. That's part of the reason I think yao is struggling along with being tired. Look who he's practicing against, dorsey,landry,hayes,or scola. No one over 6'8. Now imagine the practices of the 97 team when they had Willis and Harrington as backup bigs or elie as a backup swing. Imagine the practice La gets against their 2nd unit. Odom,mihm,ariza,farmar,sasha,mbenga and walton battling their starters. That's has to make all the players better.
I 100% agree, remember last year when Tmac talked about needing to step up athletically as he was getting left behind? TMac seems to need a challenge....and Artest may wear him down, but having someone like Green pushing him athletically would be huge for this team. Plus....if Tmac continues to decline...you potentially have a younger version of him, on the bench for practically NOTHING in terms of salary cap hit. DD
So the Rox needed a big and signed Bobby Jones and later mike harris. If they had signed Jelani McCoy or Chris Alexander, i'll buy that, but not jones or harris. That's why when Rafer went down, I thought they shouldve just kept playing brooks. Instead of giving jackson unneeded playing time, why not give it to the younger guy? The team was going no where. The hardest thing to do is be rea aout your team as a gm. As bad as it seems, I agreed with Kerr when he traded for shaq. After 3 yrs playing the same wasy and losing the same way, there wasn't anything that wouldve told anyone with a brain that they can't beat the spurs. Just like anyone who followed the rox knew the mid 90's team couldn't beat the sonics with their roster at the time..
Green's numbers are a bit better so far, but mediocre swingmen are the easiest players to find in the NBA. There are a hundred CBA players who are athletic and can score, and yet still suck. But people fall in love with them b/c they have a nice string of highlights for a few games. Flip Murray, anyone? The truly rare qualities in swingmen are the unheralded ones: passing, handles, spacing, defense, rebounding, and general BB IQ. I haven't seen Green play live, so I'll withhold judgment. But has he shown progress in any of those areas?
Just because Dallas signed him and he is doing well in Howard's absence doesn't mean he is more mature now than he was when we let him go. You also neglect that he's playing in an uptempo system right now similarly to Azubuike in Golden State. Both players weren't spectacular when they played for us, but are much better in a different system...One with no defense. Remember, we don't have have a good player making point guard like Jason Kidd, and that's part of the reason Green looks so good right now. I agree he is better than Wafer and it's a little disappointing to see the Rockets keep Wafer and not Green, but both are bad defensively and would be end of the rotation players for us.
That is ok with me, having guys in practice learning from our veterans and getting valuable knowledge while they grow as NBA players means you are stocking for the future. Which is smart !!! DD
I watched the game last night and yes he had a couple bank shots and a dunk, but he also had TOs and ill-advised shots down the stretch of the game which contributed to them blowing a 11 point lead and losing to the Lakers. He is still not 'ready'. Dallas will struggle to make the playoffs this year with G Green. Maybe next year he 'get's it'. Our team will be just fine without him. Wafer is a better ball handler and shooter than G Green.
You didn't really watch the game that well then, if this is what you saw. He was not in during most of the Lakers run, and while he did have some turnovers, he showed good progress. The shots you are talking about were against the shot clock where the team threw it out to him late and he had to jack it. At least try to give an honest representation. DD
I think people here are only hating on him because hes on the Mavs and WISH he was on the rockets. Ive seen him play twice this season and he has really impressed so far
good for GG. his issues were always mental and maturity. Seems that being dropped like a bad habit by a few teams finally made him realize that talent isnt everything...you have to use that talent to be worthwhile.
DD, I think a lot of people are missing what we're talking about regarding a guy like green. If we're to believe competition makes your team better, how can tracy or ron get better going against barry,head and wafer? Having green compete against artest and tracy and even shane makes them better and him. Playing against a 2nd unit of brooks,green,and landry would challenge the defensive integrity of the starters. Not only that, the guy can get better. I remember predraft asking people who had the higher grade right now, gerald or donte? This was before the trade for artest. I also pondered that grade when talking about head vs green. As bad as it might have been vs utah, the biggest problem once again was the lack of a big swing. When they brought in harpring,we brought in luther. That's 4 inches and 30 lbs. I'm not saying Green wouldve won the series, but the fact that green is atheletic and long enough to play against brewer,ak-47 and harpring seemed more logical to me. Hey, what do I know? I will tell you that a guy 4 inches shorter than me couldn't ever contest my shot no matter how long his arms are or how quick he jumps. That's just simple basketball.
I'm actually really worried about this team post-MacYao era. As of right now, it would be the Aaron Brooks, one man show. It's interesting to see how it shapes out, but a guy like Green isn't the solution to our problems in the future.
Donkey, I agree, him losing his job probably motivated him, I just hate that the Mavs got a lottery pick talent for peanuts, when the Rockets could have signed him this offseason as well. But, he is on a one year deal, and can sign with anyone this offseason, maybe he comes back as Tmac in waiting? I think we agree a good amount of the time Leeb. Some people just watch the game on TV, if you have played it, on any level, there are things that just don't come across on TV as a fan. DD
I really hate this line of thinking - you've espoused it before and I wonder if you've ever thought that line of thinking all the way through. If you can't win on paper - just throw in the towl, get some young guys experience and better luck next year. Imagine if every team followed the philosophy. Basically the Lakers, the Celtics, the Hornets, and the Pistons would play hard and the rest of the teams would just throw out their scrubs since they have no REAL chance. You play the game in the real world, NOT on paper. Developing young players is a great idea for teams that have no chance of making the playoffs (but even they still play to win), but the idea of just getting players experience if you're playoff bound but not championship bound is ridiculous. It would be the death of the NBA and all sports if teams followed your philosophy. Personally, I liked the 22 game win streak - but hey, according to you we would've been better off playing Aaron Brooks, Green, Landry, Novak, etc and just waited until this year.
What's funny is people wondering why we don't score more. Well the team can't generate easy baskets. 1st play of the 2nd half was a alley oop to green for a easy 2. Want to be a better transition team? It takes 4 really to run the break, lead,2-lane fillers and the trailer. Yao gets the rebound, kicks it to rafer, who's filling the lanes and trailing? You watch the 90's rox, smith in the middle,horry and maxwell filling the wings and right behind that dream or thorpe for the secondary break. What does that have to do with green? The 2nd unit u have brooks in the middle, green and shane on the wings and here comes landry trailing. There are reasons why this team doesn't get easy over the top alley's or transition baskets, lack of atheleticism.
