I was living out of the country when the Rockets drafted Gay & traded for Battier. It was so hard to get any info where I was. Anyway, I've always known "something" went down as far as Brandon Roy goes...but I've never asked. So, what's the deal? Thanks.
Jeff wanted to win games, everyone was saying tank tank tank... if we lost 1 more game in particular i want to say there was one against Minnesota i believe. Gotta love JVG but back then everyone wanted to finish scalping him!
The game people point to was against Denver. But what they forget is that Denver seemed desperate to lose that game themselves due to playoff positioning (they kept Carmelo out of the game in the closing minutes). So, do we blame JVG for coaching to win, or do we blame the Nuggets for not playing to win?
People here will blame JVG forever about that, still think it was a case or the Nugs thanking that game hardcore for the reason you mentioned.
Well, it wasn't JUST playoff positioning. True, had we lost only one more game that entire season, it wouldn't have been an issue, and we would have Roy now. However, Roy was still 'gettable' even still. As I remember it, we had a deal in place with Minnesota - they took Roy for us, and we were going to take Foye for them. But stupid Portland got wind of it before we picked, and stole Foye, so Minnesota had to deal with them instead of us, which gave Roy to Portland. Grrr. This is why I hate hate hate the Blazers now so much, because their GM had a run of a few years there where his sole strategy seemed to be to try to trail DM and then jump ahead like a weasel at the last minute. Glad that guy got canned. And I'm sure Morey had some amusing tweets for him too.
With our luck, he would have blown his (already surgically repaired) knees right after signing that extension. And who says if we had tanked more, we would have taken Roy? Maybe we would have moved up for Shelden Williams or Adam Morrison. So be careful what you wish for... :grin:
Are you a gambler or a betting man? If not, you will never understand the Roy thing. Van Gundy could have tanked one final Nuggets game that was meaningless, but didn't. Because of this meaningless game, Portland had a better losing % than us by one game and was scheduled to pick a spot ahead us prior to the NBA lottery. Now here is where gambling comes into place, conventionally Portland came out one spot ahead of us as was predicted before the lottery, but the Rockets could have possibly flipped the odds. If we had lost that game, we would have been in Portland's place, and would have won the 6th pick, but again, Portland could have flipped the odds again, but since we didn't, they probably wouldn't have either. No you tell ,e who's fault it is, the lotto or the freaking coach who went for a meaningless win hoping it would help him save his Job. This quickly led to the knee jerk trade for Battier by giving up Rudy and Mr Potential.
Most winning gamblers/bettors/investors are not usually stupid enough to analyze the bet/gamble solely by the results, either. Gay overcame the odds and succeeded (somewhat), Roy has been relatively healthy and very productive and Battier didn't quite have the (offensive) impact of which he showed glimpses early in Memphis. All this is of course JVG's fault and you did have the crystal ball in hand and predicted all this beforehand. Like I said, how about we had listened the pro-tankers earlier that year (I'm sure DD and Old Man Rock made a thread..) and got such all time greats as Andrea Bargnani, Shelden Williams and Adam Morrison? If we got lucky, We might even be pondering right now will Tyrus Thomas ever fullfill his potential and should we match offers for him? Jackpot would of course have been the powerless forward Lamarcus Aldridge who is owed 50M for five (or something) mediocre years. I'm not saying that the game was a must win for us and that more ping pong balls wouldn't maybe helped, but if the other team wants to lose just as badly or even more than you, somebody will get disappointed. And we didn't have Mark Madsen to launch those 3-pointers, either.
Nope. Not a gambler, but I'm tracking you. However, in hindsight I love the trade for Battier! Team leader, great defense, basketball IQ, intangibles, & generally seems like a good guy - or, we could have the opposite in Rudy Gay who will probably be asking for twice the $$ this year.
Gay would have stepped out during McGrady's diva act, and would have part of a young core that the Rockets brass are building now. Yet Battier sticks out like a sore thumb, to smart but not to agile, not young but not too old
