The man has just stepped up and found his niche in the offense. If you study the stats it shows that it's been a long time coming for both him and shanndon in the rockets offense. I feel that early on Walt did miss a lot of easy wide open shots that he is now hitting. Also the wiz can do alot of things well! He has court presence even though it does seem lazy. Teams have to pay attention to him when he is out there on both ends of the court. Has anybody taken note that he has played three different positions for the rocket at different times this season. Even now Rudy still uses him as a power forward on defense sometimes when Cato or KT get in foul trouble. I think his skills are valuable to the rockets and the development of the steve(they are both from maryland), cuttino(trying to help the man develop some patiences on the floor) and shandon(helping him stay involed in the offense). Walt is a veteran who is stepping up and leading by example with his play. Granted I do think that we should start looking to replace(via draft or free agency) him after he becomes a free agent next year if he dosen't want to take a pay cut. Trading him now though would be a mistake. Plus the man knocked the sh** out of stickman Bradley. ------------------ ballplayer [This message has been edited by ballplayer (edited April 14, 2000).] [This message has been edited by ballplayer (edited April 14, 2000).]
I'm agree with ballplayer. I think Wiz is a very good player and now he's found himself. We need him! Don't waste him! In addition Rudy loves his play... ------------------ Peter Komlosi, alias KP. Student of Information Technology University of Veszprem, Hungary komlosip@szamtech1.szt.vein.hu
What the heck....Keep Walt if he's gonna give us 20 a night!!! He's doing what I prayed that he'd do at the beginning of the year. Steve apparently loves the Gizzard , and I'm sure that him pasting Bradley in the face engratiated him even more with his squad. We need a badass power forward, to set this team. I dunno, Kenyon Martin, Brian Grant , or Duncan??? ------------------
I think everyone is on "First Blood"s bandwagon these days. I know I am!! The guy can do no wrong. ------------------ The lottery sucks!
<center><marquee><font=h2><font=red>TRADE HIS BUTT NOW!!!</font></font></marquee></center> In the final ten games of the year he finally starts playing like his $4.5 Million contract says he should have been playing all year, and everyone wants to make him the poster boy and keep him for next year. Unbelievable!!!! ------------------
Awww Spinach Man! You spoiled the party! ;-) I have to agree that the Wizard has at least raised his trade value but you know us Rocket fans. We like folks who step up and bring wins...ala Eddie Johnson. ------------------
He actually played some center yesterday as well, when we had a lineup of Moochie, Steve, Shandon, Cuttino, and Walt. Popeye: First off, he's been playing well for a lot longer than 10 games now. He's averaging 20 over his last 14 or 15 games, but he was playing well long before that -- just not getting as many touches as consistently. Since he's been on this streak, he's becoming a larger part of the offense and produced. What more could you ask for? Besides, who cares how he played earlier in the season? Players improve. Anderson and Mobley sucked earlier in the season too -- should we dump them too? Walt has shown what he can do, and he's now doing it as consistently as any player we've had in a long time. Plus, he obviously fits very well with the type of offense we have, and his defense has improved notably. $4.5M is *not* expensive for a 15ppg/5rpg/3apg (my projection) starter in an NBA where the average salary in $3M. ------------------ Is it any coincidence that the Cato is the only Rocket with a temperature scale named after him? I didnt think so!!!! [This message has been edited by shanna (edited April 14, 2000).]
Walt's an extremely important player for the rockets. he can do so many things on offense that he reminds me of toni kukoc. sure his D isn't that great, but neither is francis'. of course if a great deal comes along then just about everyone is expendable, but i don't think that we should outright shop him. ------------------
Does anyone else see a similarity between Walt and a poor man's Glen Rice. Walt's actually shooting at a better percentage this year I believe and his D can't be that much worse. I'd only trade him if you get something good to help the team, not to just lose his salary for the hell of it. ------------------
I think if Walt played himself into a very high market value you have to seriously consider dealing him.... but he's not a player with one foot in the grave as some idiotic announcers made him out to be. He fits well with the team and certainly can shoot the lights out... (what a change from earlier in the season, when the man just flat out sucked) ... Going to be a busy offseason... yes indeed. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
It's nice to see all the closet Wizard fans finally coming out and all the Wizard-haters crawling into said closets -- to wait for the time when Walt sucks again and they can spring out and say, 'I told you so! I told you so!' I think we need to keep Walt around to see if he can repeat this performance next year. He is older than the rest of the bunch, however, and we'll need a SF of the future. In the draft and off-season trades (after we solve our big-man problems) I think we need to find a young, raw kid who can develop into a good SF behind Williams for a couple of years. Then, when most of the team is peaking, Wizard can be our grisled veteran, and his back-up can be the up-and-comer. ------------------
Heypartner: you're inaccurate in claiming that Walt has sucked most of the year. I'd say it's pretty much gone by the rule of 3rds. He sucked the first 1/3, was decent the next 1/3, and has been awesome the last 1/3. Really, 4.5 million *isn't* that much to pay for someone with Walt's abilities... in fact, if he plays CLOSE To the level of the last 20 games, that's not NEARLY market value. Still, I'd be content with the Walt of the middle season, ecstatic with the one that's emerged lately. ------------------
