I vote Brooks, Scola, Ariza. Actually I don't want to keep Ariza but he's still a better option than Shane.
Rockets wouldn't even be in the playoff picture if it wasn't for shane, he's the most constant professional in basketball.
I do. Well, I wouldn't say much better but I think Landry is only more productive when he's being featured in the offense. Scola is a more consistent jumpshooter (when open), a better rebounder and he does his thing playing off of everyone (of course, the flipside is that he struggles when forced into a major role).
Brooks over Lowry. Brooks has more upside Scola over Landry. Why? Trade value. Nuff said Battier over Ariza. Battier defines this team if push comes to shove.
I chose Landry in this partular scenario, but if Scola and Landry were the same age I would choose to keep Scola. Landry is sort of one dimensional and his production started to dip once defenses started keying in on him. Scola is much more well rounded, even though to be fair, Landry could get better. Scola is a better rebounder, a better transistion player and is much better on the pick and roll. His elbow jump shot very consistant.
Its pretty simple for me. Brooks was the rockets best player in the playoffs last year. Without him, the rockets lose to portland. This year hes close to all star level. Ariza has shown he can make big plays on the road in the playoffs, shane hasnt. Scola v landry is really close. When its this close, i go with the younger player.
Landry is young and could be a starter. If we can't get a back up C, I would shoot for an all star PF that can play both the 4 and 5, like Pau Gasol. Scola imo is a bit too short to play center. That way, we will always have an all star presence/low post dominance despite Yao being out.
I wouldn't have used the words "much better," but I think that at this point in their respective careers, Scola is the better player. It's a choice I wouldn't want to make, because I like both of the guys and think they make a great tag team. For the money, the best in the league. But if forced to make a choice, I choose Scola.
I do think he is a better player, but a lot of my thinking on keeping Scola while letting Landry go is that Landry will be an unrestricted free agent and Scola is restricted, so you can get about the same performance out of Scola and do it with a cheaper contract. I think teams overpay for offensive players. As for Battier vs Ariza....I think Ariza doesn't have great basketball skills and would like his contract off the books...and Shane is expiring next year, so give me his cap space over Trevor's albatross. DD
I really wouldn't want to give that much up but if it lands a star player and makes us better then I'm all for it. I would keep Brooks because he spaces the floor which is needed with Yao. AB also has the ability to take over games as we all have seen. There is so much to like about Lowry, his ability to run, he is tough as nails, love his rebounding at the one spot, so it's tough. I would have to go with Scola over Landry because I think he rebounds better and doesn't rely on his athleticism as much as Landry. Unless Landry gets better recognizing the double team we may have seen the best of him. For as good as Landry has been I just don't see him keeping up the dominance he's shown, Just a hunch more than anything. I guess I would take Battier over Ariza because we know what we are going to get and he doesn't need the ball in his hands to be successful. I'm worriedAriza will not want to play off a couple stars, meaning having a reduced role at this point. If Ariza was open to being the fourth option and concentrate on defense I may have leaned toward keeping him over Battier. All of these my choices were not easy ones, I like all these guys for different reasons. I'm almost sure Morey makes a deal that is gonna sting a little, guess we will see
DD, we know you don't like Ariza. You don't have to keep throwing it out there. I chose Brooks, Scola, Ariza. With Yao coming back, we'll need AB's scoring ability. I feel that we still have a chance at being a championship team and I don't see Landry as a starter, although Chuck starting in Scola's place is a possibility. When or if we get a good shooting guard, Ariza will be a nice compliment to the team.
Many posters easily ignored the very first sentence in Clutch's OP, that this is not 'Who's the better player' thread. I would keep Brooks, Landry and Battier. My reasons? 2 words, Rick Adelman. As much as I love Yao, I simply cannot put him into the formula. I think Rockets is betting on the wrong side if they thought Yao could come back healthy AND be able to adjust to the team AND the results would be positives. I disagree with Clutch saying that Brooks over Lowry will be a no brainer given the condition that Yao would come back healthy. Brooks is a great scorer. He lacks the ability to orchestrate the team. The Brooks-Yao combo was horrible on the court, both players suffered from the other's game. If Yao is gonna play the same role after he returns, I would choose Lowry over Brooks. Lowry has better court vision and his brain is less overheated in the critical minutes. Back to topic, Rick Adelamn brings the best out of Brooks and Landry. These two players have to be the core of Coach's offence. Adelman's games start from offence, hence the better offensive players should weight more than the better defensive players under Adelman's system. Ariza is not happy with the team. I guess he will not be happy to play for any team other than Lakers. He will have better trade value than Battier due to his contibutions in the Lakers playoff games.
Even if ariza has shown he can make big shots in crucial times on the road on a championship team, you keep talking about how bad he is. Go pull ariza tapes from last year in the playoffs and compare it to shanes on the road and match their age and salary. Get your head out the sand
Even if you cant factor Yao into it, this is a crazy and wrong statement. Take brooks out the equation and they lose to portland because no one is respecting lowry's offense. The rocket scored more points and won more games once brooks took over also.
This is my thoughts as far as who is better. I don't think Scola is "MUCH" better but he is better both defensively and rebounding. I give a slight edge to Landry (but not much) on offense. But I would keep Landry if I had the Choice based on his age and upside (which I think he will reach). Also Landry has shown the ability to block shots which no one else on the team can do.
I chose Shane for many of the same reasons as you. The most important reason in my book has got to be the influence he has had on Chase. When Chase is in the game I never worry about if he will be in the right place on Defense and I credit Shane for a lot of that. Plus I would really like to see Chase starting at some point sense I think he already has a complete game.
I agree with you here. I really like Lowry's game a lot and he brings a lot off of the bench but AB is just at another level with his game right now. I don't know what anyone saw last year that made them think AB and Yao can't play together but AB clearly has the best outside shot on the team which would only benefit Yao on offense.
