I am pulling HARD for Cato now. Damn Willis trade! :(

I am not saying that it is entirely a rational thought, but for some reason I think Kevin Willis might be the addition that brings it altogether. I know he is old enough to be Eddie Griffin's father (and may be), but suddenly I feel like this team has alot of talent! He is usually in great shape, a banger inside, and a decent rebounder. He doesn't need to score, or even shoot! I like it.

 

With all due respect, we need to be realistic about what Willis brings to our team and what we have. Willis is an old man who might give us some toughness but he also might give us another blackhole who does not pass and can't defend worth a lick. I think it is high time for the Rocket's brass to start bringing in some defensive minded, team oriented players who aren't out for stats but for the good of the team.

 

I think, for the most part, we are being realistic about what Willis will bring. In all likelihood, I would say he comes off the bench at C for now, as I think he is a better center than Collier at this stage in Collier's development. But, going on how our two main pre-trade centers (Cato, Collier) faired, health-wise, for the last couple of seasons, I would say that having a seasoned veteran like Willis available will prove to be VERY useful. It is not at all difficult to imagine a situation where Cato and Collier are both injured simultaneously. If that happens, we will be ever happy that we managed to bring in Willis for a mere second round pick. I see Kevin as injury insurance more than anything. Despite his age, he is in excellent shape and is a workhorse. All I really see Kevin doing is adding some much needed rebounding, which seems to be our main weakness at this point.

 

Shawn Kemp is Girffin's Pop

I have no proof but C'mon it's either him or Larry Johnson or Evander Holyfield.

 

Now that the Rockets are such a backcourt oriented team, I have a hard time seeing how Willis' lack of desire to pass out of the post will ever become the sort of problem that it was when he played for us before. When he played for us before, the Rockets played a different game... dump it into Dream/Barkley/Willis... create shot... pass out if double-teamed... Does anyone really think that Stevie and Cat are going to be dumping it into Willis without a damned good reason-- a mismatch, open look, etc.? I think this signing was fantastic-- we give up a pick and get a tough (and cheap) 4/5 who can play the game, isn't a head-case, and can rebound when the outside shooting isn't falling... What's not to like?

 

there will be no time in history at which that statement will become false so i don't think we need to worry about willis coming off the bench before collier

 

I like the deal. Its about as good as they could do at this late date. I think Willis did a great job the last time he was here. He was more durable than Hakeem and Chuck even though he was basically the same age.

 

I just wanted to clear up an opinion here....
Jason Collier is pure and unadulterated GAR-BAGE. Even if Kevin Willis was 44 years old, he would still be playing better than what Collier plays like on the floor. I HATE watching him play. It amazes and bewilders me to no end that he is still taking space the Rockets roster after watching him play.
Every time I see him on the floor, I find the game unpleasant to watch and I worry that something horrible will happen because he's there. That's how horrible he looks. He can't jump, he can't defend, he can't rebound, he can't pass, he certainly can't block shots, he misses tons of free throws, and he can't even hit jumpers (his supposed specialty) with any kind of consistency, and he doesn't strike me as someone with much basketball smarts either. All the while, he's getting injured all the time. Injured for what?!? I didn't know that you could get injured for working hard to stink up the floor! Effort only goes so far! If you suck, you suck. Three words for Collier...TOTAL GARBAGE PLAYER. I will be horribly pissed if Ike Nwanko (a good big-body and a dependable if not spectacular dirty-work type player) gets dropped so we can keep Collier.
Cato/Willis/Nwanko hits my ear MUCH better than Cato/Willis/Collier.
Too bad Pig's not around to get Collier's roster spot.

 

No one has meantioned the fact that Willis plays all but about 4 games a season -- every year. He will not be stellar (although he will be every now and then) but he will certainly be a solid frontcourt player in the rotation (I don't want to say "starter" or "backup" yet because it is too early to tell. If his minutes are around 25...I would expect 8 and 7, with maybe 1 bpg and -567 apg. He is a good rebounder, but his numbers there have steadily gone down the last few years. So don't expect 9 or 10.

So now there are three greybeards to play with all the kiddies.

 

Somebody asked why Milwaukee did it, and from what I heard it was to sign Mason at a higher contract and still be under the luxury cap.