ESPN INSIDER-ROX ON " THE UPSIDE" ESPN INSIDER THE GOOD , THE BAD, AND THE UPSIDE http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&id=1974113 THE UPSIDE Houston Rockets : The Tracy McGrady-Yao Ming show has been impressive of late with the two averaging a combined 48.6 ppg, 16.5 rpg and 6.8 apg in the month of January. But the key to this team seems to be Bob Sura. When Sura is stroking it and finding open players, the Rockets roll. When his shot isn't falling and he starts getting selfish, they struggle. I wonder why the Rockets didn't make a stronger play for Arroyo. They could have offered the same cap relief (they have a traded player exception that Arroyo would fit in) and could have offered a higher first-round pick. While Arroyo doesn't play great defense, he would've helped out tremendously on the offensive end and been a big hit in Houston. As much as the Jon Barry and David Wesley signings may add depth, this team will miss Jim Jackson over the long haul.
sure we will miss jj in the long haul because we don't have a true PG. otherwise they are right on about us playing as sura plays. that means we need a consistant PG with a consistant jumper. not jj.
It's obvious that the Rockets were not going to give up a 1st-round pick, which is fine by me. I don't think Arroyo is good enough to give up a 1st for anyway.
I would like Arroyo and I would be willing to give up a first round pick for him since all of our picks would be late first rounders. We do need to shore up our PG situation and I believe a solid PG / solid PF (notice I said solid not all star) would move us from pretender status to contenders. It would just move us a step closer and even if he is not a good fit here it is always prudent to pick up assets that someone else might want for leverage in future deals. J
They probably have their eye on a free agent point this offseason (Bobby Jackson) so they didnt want to go for Arroyo. Well at least thats wat it think
Ford is an idiot. I think we need to develop Barrett to be a better backup to Sura. Other than that, Yao needs to be aggressive. But yea, Ford is an idiot.
I am sure that we can make a move for Arroyo later - when Brown decides to go back to Hunter as the backup for ONE more post season and Arroyo is on the bench with Darco
ESPN Insider= recycled garbage and stating the obvious. However, I do think Rockets should have got Arroyo if a late first round pick was what it cost.
There's still a decent chance that our pick this year will be number 13 (lottery). We can't just part with it on a whim. A future first rounder, that would've been ok.
I think Antonio Daniels is a free agent this year.......i'll almost bet thats the reason for not getting Arroyo........Get AD in the offseason, and draft a PF or SF in the draft......
I like how it said they are averaging a combined 6.8 assists per game when Yao is getting .7 assists right now. What happened to the court vision? He has a .24 assists to turnover ration.
AD is a FA this summer and the Rockets should pursue until they get their man. AD is a big PG that is athletic, a decent shooter, and doesn't turn the ball over. As for a PF, I think the Rockets should make runs at Chandler or Swift, preferably Swift. Then the Rockets should draft an athletic SG or SF.
Chad Ford really proves just how unfair the world is. I mean, I don't begrudge pro sports players for the money they make, because so few people have the ability and training to compete at such a level. But Ford's "writing ability" and "insights" are no more than your pretty knowledgable sports fan. Yet the guy pulls a nice paycheck from espn.
Correct! Swift is the perfect fit. Sign him up and watch Ming's game improve. Then we will be a PG away from contention.
Did anyone catch John Granado (on SportsRadio 610) talk about Badine this morning? Apparently Granado says that the Rockets are still "extremely" high on him. He's currently recovering from shoulder surgery, but figuires into their plans in the future. They love his tenaciity on the boards. Anyone else got more info on Badine?
So if the shots were not falling for Sura, then he became selfish; otherwise he's great. I guess that's true for every guards. It often goes like, "What the f**k are you doing! Stop shooting, you ballhog, @#$%^&*&. Great Shot!, Sura is Da Man!"
No way we can afford to get both a good PF (Swift/Chandler) and a good PG (Jackson/Daniels). We only have the MLE so unless we trade some of our current PFs for extra cap space, we can only get help at one of those positions through free agency. Personally i think we have a better chance at landing AD than at landing Swift or Chandler only because those guys might command more than what we can offer.
I like what Deuce mentioned in another thread. Lets do our homework on Badiane and Spanoulis and see what the draft has to offer, if Spanoulis has potential and there is a good PG that we may be able to draft, then lets try to get Swift. I hope it works the other way and we rate Spanoulis as a work in progress and there are no good PGs left in the draft. I really like AD, big guard that can play both guard positions and SF and has a reliable shot. We need shooters as much as we need rebounding.
