JayZ750 - you're talking logic and I don't think TheFreak is interested. He's just continuing his Houston-fans-are-morons-and-everything-is-their-fault act. 5 more homes wins, "easy" - simply because the fans pack the place and go nuts? Don't think so. That would have put the Rockets with the second best home record in the league and remember, the Rockets are not talented, says TheFreak. We have unreasonable expectactions for this talent - anyone who expected them to make the playoffs was dreaming. However, had we cheered harder for Moochie, this no-talent, non-playoff team would have the same home record as Dallas. Also, I'm not sure how, but it has got to be the fans' fault the Rockets sucked ass on the road.
Exactly what I've been saying all along. If the Rockets bring back this same group of players and coaches next season, not only will they more than likely miss the playoffs, they could end up even lower than 9th place and with a worse record. While I still would prefer to see him replaced as head coach, if Rudy is in fact returning next year, he's got a lot to prove. He needs to show that as GM of the club he's capable of putting together players whose skills complement one another. And he definitely needs to show that he can coach in the era of zone defenses and discipline his players when they don't do as instructed.
Aim for the stars! I'm praying for: Kidd - PG East Francis V.Carter - SG East Duncan - PF West Yao Ming
I was talking about NEXT year, not this year. Not sure how the road record is relevant. Apparently you guys don't believe in home court advantage?
I would think we might not want to trade Cato, but that his name might appear in trade talks anyway. Leastern Conference teams don't have the size to compete. If GP stays in Milwaukee, would a trade of Cato/Moochie for Cassell (welcome home)/Ervin Johnson work? Milwaukee already has more than enough shooting guards, so Cat won't go there.
I think it was HP that pointed out in previous threads that there will probably not be a luxury tax in 2003-2004. See Larry Coon's CBA FAQ: 15. What is the "luxury tax?" Why does it exist? How is it determined? Who pays it? As detailed in question number 14 , the escrow system helps to ensure that total salaries do not exceed a designated percentage of BRI. If the players are paid more than the designated percentage, then part of their salary (not to exceed 10%) is returned to the owners. However, if the players are paid so much that the maximum escrow withholding isn't enough to lower the league-wide salaries to the designated percentage, then some teams pay a tax. This is often referred to as a "luxury tax," but the CBA simply calls it a "tax" or a "team payment." The tax is triggered when the league-wide salaries and benefits exceed approximately 61.1% of BRI (technically, it's 61.111...%, a repeating decimal. Also, it's 63.333...% in 04-05). If the league-wide salaries & benefits are less than this amount, then no team pays a tax, no matter how high their payroll. If the tax is triggered, then it is paid by all teams that are over the luxury tax threshold (called the "team escrow limit" in the CBA), in the amount by which their team salary exceeds the tax threshold (see below). In 01-02, salaries and benefits were approximately 59.8% of BRI (and the escrow withholding was sufficient to return salaries to 55% of BRI), so the team tax was not triggered. So Les, SPEND AWAY!!
See also: http://www.sportsfilter.com/comments.cfm/570 "There's also a luxury tax, which is triggered when the league-wide salaries and benefits exceed the designated percentage of BRI by more than 10% of the league-wide salaries and benefits. There will be a luxury tax this coming season; there probably won't be the season after that, based on projected salaries. Teams like Portland and the Knicks get away with paying insane salaries because teams like the Clippers always wind up way under the cap."
Man, I am late on this thread too! I go away from 12 hours and come back and there is this Monster thread started by Doc Rocket with tons of speculation. What Fun! From reading through this monstrosity of a thread I think Live's scenario seems like the most likley. We get two FA players in Barry and Anderson. Use our MLE on one and perhaps a sign and trade for another? And then Use a package of Griffin/Mobley as the principals in an Elton Brand trade. Then we resign James Posey to a modest contract. Those moves would give us a young explosive "3rd allstar type" player in Elton Brand, gives us a legitamate veteran PG in Anderson and a veteran SG in Barry that can play either the 1 or the 2. Moving Francis to the 2 guard is absolutely the right solution from the things I have seen this year. That position highlights his strenghts which is scoring versus his weaknesses which is turnovers at the PG spot. Anderson, Francis Francis, Barry, Hawkins Posey, Morris, Nachbar Brand, Taylor Yao, Cato Not sure where that leaves Rice though. You have to think he will be moved as well, if not this off season, then before the trading deadline next year. His expiring contract is just too valuable to teams wishing to slash salary to start over or get under the luxary tax. If the Rockets made those moves listed above this offseason I would be VERY happy! Looking at my "Rockets Offseason To Do List", it would satisfy points 2,4,5,6,7. Nice! <font size="1"><B>My ROCKETS Offseason To Do List</B> Re-evaluate the Rockets offense or get a new coaching staff! (more motion, passing and cutting). Try to trade for a 3rd star type player (i.e. Elton Brand). Facilitate Eddie Griffin & Bostjan Nachbar in having major offseason improvements in their game. Via trade or FA find a 3rd guard (no moochie). Add another "veteran player" into the rotation. Re-sign Posey ONLY at a decent salary rate, otherwise let him go. Use Cato, Rice (expiring contract) and possibly Mobley as trade bait to aquire better talented players (see above) to fit around Yao's and Francis' games. Only trade Griffin for a star type player. Look for Quality over Quantity.</FONT>
Joe, you can't just give BBS'ers a credit card with no limit and ask them to not bring back garbage. You have single handedly extended the life of this thread by 48 hours.
Anderson, Francis Francis, Barry, Hawkins Nachbar, Posey, Morris Brand, Taylor Yao, Cato Cant we move Nachbar up a bit? We need a shooter here.
any chances we can take some of the Pacers players? since they have al harrington and austin croshere and the other tall skinny white kid... sitting on their bench most of the time... any of those guys would be an improvement over eddie griffin
I remember going to that game, just about the most abysmal "nba" caliber performance I ever saw. Uggh, worst money I ever spent.
Well, definitely the Utah game. We were leading and *poof* the lights went out. And since we're a young team and Utah's a veteran team, we were afraid of the dark and they weren't. That led to their victory.
I'm currently beginning page 4 of this thread, and every damn time I read through a page, its at least another page deep, so I'll make my comments now. PG - East -- It sounds to me that we'll make a play for Jason Kidd. We all know what he can do, so I won't post his numbers, but another good choice out of the East would be Jason Terry. I believe his rookie contract may be up (drafted in 1999), and Atlanta is blowing up their team. He could be had. Numbers of 17.2 PPG 4.3 RPG 3.40 7.4 APG look damn good for a young team like the Rockets. Terry was also #17 in the NBA in steals this season. Payton? Really? C'mon....not for this team. He could give us ~2 more good years, but then where does that leave us? GP is too old and too expensive for this team, plain and simple. Same damn thing with Sam Cassell. This is what I think about EASTERN conference PGs. I also think we'll make a play for Andre Miller. My choices here are: Jason Kidd Andre Miller Jason Terry Miller is younger and cheaper than JKidd would be, so I might even choose him over JKidd. PF - West -- Its got to be Elton Brand. Karl Malone is too old for the Rockets. Even moreso than GP. Sorry, folks. However, he's not too old for a team like Dallas, which is literally right on the cusp of a championship, but Houston isn't there yet, and Karla knows it. Malone could just as easily wind up in New Orleans. The point is that Malone gives the Mavs a legit power player inside and could be the one piece that Dallas needs to beat the Lakers and Kings. Likewise, Malone does the same thing for the Hornets and makes them legit contenders to make it to the finals out of the east. Houston simply needs too much tweaking for Malone to think he could be the piece of the puzzle that the Rockets are missing. I'll be seriously pissed if we bring in Malone for these reasons alone. I'll only be slightly-less pissed if we bring in GP. My choices here are: Brand, Brand, and BRAND. Okay, Garnett, but KGs a pipe-dream. There's no way we'd take his contract. Please guys, not Karl Malone. Too damn old for this team. SG - East -- This is the only position I don't have an opinion on. I'd like to see Piatkowski, but Doc said east, and out of the eastern SGs....Michael Redd is as good a choice as any I can think of. I think the "veteran(s)" that Doc spoke of have got to be at the Guard positions. I think we'll target Jason Kidd. He simply must like the thought of playing with Steve Francis and Yao, not to mention the possibility of Brand, at least as much as he must like the thought of playing with Tim Duncan.
thinking outside the box.... re: PG/SG = east PF = west maybe "west" doesn't mean western conference, but means jerry west of the memphis grizzlies. maybe pau gasol is available? i've heard that stromile swift is definitely available. either one would be great at power forward for the rox... doc...am i waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off or getting a little lukewarm?
