Is being mediocre really better than rebuilding?

Not only do we need to rebuild but we need to change the direction of team by getting rid of adelman.

You can get to the playoffs with his uptempo style but he's not a championship caliber coach, he's a offensive minded coach like D Antonio and Don Nelson.

And we'll continue to bring in soft "play-off-ball" type players to fit his beloved system, a system which isn't suited for a superstar type player.

You need a superstar and a halfcourt defensive minded team to really compete for a championship.

Adelmans philosophy is the exact opposite, role players (that play without the ball) and fit in a uptempo offense.

As long as we continue to build with Adelmans princeton offense style, I know Morey is more interested in being the phoenix suns to sell tickets rather than building a true contender as he mentions.

 

+1

The Rockets have done well given the circumstances. We are fortunate to have DM as the GM. The things he could not control include season ending injuries to Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. These guys were as good as a duo as anyone in the league at their prime.

It's ironic how in the past we have been clamouring for a quality roster to complement these guys. Well DM did just that but unfortunately that ship has sailed.

 

Sacramento Kings were a few whistles away from a ring in Adelman's Princeton.

His Blazers were not shabby either.

 

So they brought over Artest because the Rockets wanted a soft "play-off-ball" type player?

It doesn't work for superstars, but a Hall of Fame guard, Clyde Drexler made it to the NBA Finals in Adelman's 1st and 3rd full seasons?

Nobody's system is going to work when your 2 stars are in the hospital all season.

 

Teams tank for better assets and the better odds, not for a sure superstar.
NBA draft gives out free and sometime perfect assets to teams.
Rockets do not have enough assets for winning big or trading big.

Why are Rocket not taking advantage of the draft?

 

How far did we get with JVG's defensive mind and his NYK retreads that he kept bringing in?

 

Says who? Vince Carter was had for Courtney Lee, Al Jefferson was had for a trade exception and some end of the bench players. Ray Allen was had for Jeff Green. Obviously none of these guys are the best in the league or anything, but if you are expecting to draft the next Tim Duncan... good luck.

It's one thing if we are a 30 win team with old players... yeah time to rebuild. But it just doesn't make sense when it would take an average of 3 or so years to do a complete rebuild and the best case scenario is probably 10 more wins and a few more seeds higher than where we are right now.

Also, since we are talking about needing assets to trade for stars. Another possibility is to use assets to trade for a lotto pick. And usually a good target are the teams that had a down year and got in the lottery and would rather have "win now" players than a rookie that wont get the playing time. For example, we were taken advantage of like that before. The Rudy Gay/Shane Battier trade, remember? At the time the trade made sense because we already had McGrady (who was still in all-star form), and we didn't want to have to wait the 3 or 4 years for a player to learn the game. I don't know if there will be any teams like that this year. We could offer a guy like Scola to a team that just needs that one last player and in return maybe get a top 5 pick and some filler back. That's the type of rebuilding move I wouldn't mind doing.

 

I'm pretty sure Adelman has been to the finals and deep into the playoffs on more than a few occasions. Comparing him to Mike D'Antoni and the like is r****ded.

Also, if you standard for a good coach is this high... there are really only 3 coaches that would fit the bill for you. Phil Jackson, Greg Poppovich and Larry Brown (maybe?). Anyone else has as many flaws as you claim Adelman does.

 

Smoothie, as you must suspect, that's what Moneyball is -- winning mediocrity. The theory of Moneyball always aims for good performance for dollars expended -- never ever go-for-broke gambles on a player who could be a superstar or a bust. With Moneyball working the way it should, we will always be 42-40 to 50-32 at best -- and dead center to mid-20s in the next draft. We have to live with that until Les Alexander takes an active, leading role.

 

Im sure we could of orchestrated a Landry for Martin swap w/o moving Tracy.

 

I know right. What player would turn down being a top 5 pick?

Danny Ferry pulled the same stunt and threatened the Clippers not to draft him. Ferry turned down being a top 5 pick(drafted #2 actually), and accepted an offer to play in Italy.

Why would Kobe want to go back and play back home, where he grew up?

Well, maybe that's a bad example. Let's move on.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/05/1289903/passing-on-kobe.html

 

I've made a thread a while back about tanking. Basically, it has never been whether or not you should tank,but WHEN you should tank.

The only thing worse than giving up on a season, trading away all your veteran players, is to get a player that will only bring you back to mediocrity.

Ask yourself this question - What was the difference between our past #1 pick and the #1 pick next year? The difference was 1st round exits vs finals/semi-finals appearances.

So please, enough of the "since we can't go to the finals we should suck" argument. It doesn't work out that way. First you must identify the draft, say a DWill/CP3 draft or a Lebron/Wade/Melo draft. Then you identify the draft position. And that's when you pull a Spur/Cav type of obvious tanking and go for the superstar. Otherwise, you'll just end up with Tyrus Thomases, Kenyon Martins of the worlds and still suck... except with a lot less fan interest. And the reason you should keep some good players before the tank is so you'll have the pieces to build around said new superstar.

Morey's not an idiot.

 

Jeff Green was a top 5 pick that was traded for a star. Moving up a few spots can be the difference in trading for an all-star, Ray Allen, or getting no-stats all-star Shane Battier.

Vince Carter was not the same player, after multiple injuries. The Nets decided to get rid of him, while he was value was still high unlike the Rockets with T-Mac.

 

Please explain how, without using any of the players you still showed on your hypothetical roster. Because I'm not sure that would have been possible.

 

Why do you have to trade your veteran players to tank? What about trading away veteran players that won't be on the team in a year or two anyway?

Brad Miller isn't going to be with the Rockets, after next season anyway. Why keep Miller only to tread water, and lose him after next season, and return to mediocrity anyway? Rockets should be focusing on the development of Jordan Hill and Patrick Patterson, so that they will be even better players next year.

Why should the Rockets play Battier extended minutes for a 15th pick and lose him in the summer anyway? Battier is getting slower every season and his defense is not what it was 3 years ago. He is starting to get more injured also. His effectiveness is declining. The Rockets need to focus on getting better and developing T-Will and Budinger.

If our young players develop into good players, maybe we can package them and the next year's pick for a star like the Celtics.

 

Bima I cant recall what sort of exceptions and what not we had. What was Cook making last year.

 

(1) Brad Miller is a good mentor for the Rockets' young bigs.

(2) Brad Miller is in the first year of a multi-year deal.

(3) Next season, Brad Miller will be a quasi-expiring contract.

(4) In 2012, Brad Miller will be an attractive trade asset as a non-guaranteed contract, with only $848k of his $5.2M salary guaranteed for that season.

Based on (1) through (4), it would appear that Brad Miller's trade value is currently at its lowest, while Brad Miller's value to the Rockets' team is at its highest. After this season, his trade value (as a contract) will increase, while his value to the team will decrease.

Ergo, it would be a bad idea to trade Brad Miller this season and a better idea to trade him next year or the summer after next season.

Shane Battier is finally over a series of nagging injuries that slowed him down the past couple of years. Shane is having a GOOD year. He is also crucial to the team's perimeter defense. Especially if the Rockets manage to get something for Yao's expiring contract, it is quite possible that the Rockets look to re-sign Shane, albeit at a lower salary.

While it's nice to hope that Chase or Terrence develops into a top-notch starting SF, the Rockets could still use a guy like Shane Battier. Especially if they want to win. And I think we've established by now that the Rockets have no intention of losing games for draft position.

 

You can't combine trade exceptions for salary matching purposes.

Brian Cook made $3.5M.

Sacramento would not have done Martin for Landry/Cook/Dorsey, and the Rockets would have had to add a fourth player just to make salaries match. Remember, they also dumped Hilton Armstrong's ($2.7M+) salary on the Rockets.

Face it, the Rockets could not have had Kevin Martin without trading McGrady's expiring contract.

 

I will not!

Houston
Martin (~10m)

Kings
Landry (3m)
Cook (3.5m)
Third team expiring (???)

Third team
Houston TPE