Hey guys, I know this probably belongs on the NBA Dish, but considering he is a former Rocket, I would like to comment on him. Have you guys noticed the past 6 or 7 games this guy has had? He is putting up some really big numbers. Do you think that he would be doing the same with us, or is Hubie an influence on his game. This dude had some really good talent that he showed in flashes with us last year, but he has been pretty dang consistent this year with the Grizz. Any comments?
No doubt that he has talent. He was a 14ppg guy in Denver. We knew this. But he wanted more money. We got JJ instead. The thing I miss about Posey was his ability to run the floor. His 47FG% and 39%3FG is pretty impressive. Best % of his career. Hubie is a great teacher of the game too. The difference between the Grizz and the Rox is that the Grizz as a team, know how to share the ball. We don't.
The man is shooting 40% from beyond the arc this season. He had some big games late in the season for the Rockets and was actually shooting well from the perimeter with his little set shot.
True, he played well last season. In fact, I'd bet (not money, Buffalo Wild Wings wings) if you extrapolate what Posey did the latter half of last season, you may have even been able to predict this type of performance this season. I know how to extrapolate, but am just too tired to go through with it. I doubt CD knows how to extrapolate though
I hate regretting things but it seemed like a good call at the time for the sake of the teams present and future. But yeah J-Pos is tearing up.
BZZZZZZZZ!!! WRONG!!! We got Erick Pissess-me-off-ski instead. JJ came in the place of Glen Rice. I'll keep posting this until at least some of you brain-washed Houstonians start to realize what a Cheap b*stard Les Alexander is.
Posey had a good game against the Warriors, with 25 pts and 10 rebs. Posey has scored 20 or more points in three straight games and is averaging almost 22 points over the last five. But if you look into the stats of this game, the refs were the real story. 7 technicals, 4 players fouling out, 62 fouls called - with Posey getting to the line 17 times and Speedy Claxton shooting 18 free throws. I don't know if anybody actually watched this game, but either the game was sloppy (29 TOs isn't really that many for a game) or the refs (lead by Joey Crawford) played too much of a role in the game.
Would JJ signed with the Rockets if James Posey was still on the team? While Posey went to a team that was overloaded at his position, I doubt JJ would have signed with the Rockets with Posey on the squad.
I was just talking about in terms of their roles and available cash. I couldn't remember what trades were made for Rice and Pike. As far as Les. If he doesn't make a trade in the off-season, we'll always be just "good." But never challenge for a title.
He signed on a team much deeper than the Rockets in wing plays (Sacramento), so with or w/o Posey JJ prospects PT looked pretty good here. Remember he can to a team who just signed Pike and A Griffin to replace Posey (as another pointed out the JJ situation surfaced well after these other decisions and salvaged in the short term what otherwise would be atrocious decisions by our front office)--so the overall PT prospects didn't look much different. As many of us pointed out at the time it never was a good call talent/playerwise (seeing as how not matching would never realistically got us close to the salary cap that actually matters) and was a "good call" only for saving Les's money. Let us also remember we acquired him for a pick and Kenny Thomas who is putting up 11 & 10 on 48% shooting. Basically the Rockets have retained most of the wrong guys to surround Yao, SF and Mobley with while letting the 2 younghish guys witht he most future as long term solid roll players go. Last year was a terrible year to try to be cheap asses and now the Rockets have more holes to fill in the future.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but he was 'first off the bench' for the Kings, and with Hedo leaving it would've meant plenty of PT there. I wonder if he would've signed to a new club as a 'benchie' - especially a club that didn't make the playoffs last year... Sadly it does look like we let 2 good guys go - but hindsight can be a real bonus sometimes! Posey - he 's having a career year this season in terms of shooting the ball. His career 3pt% is only 32, and in his 7 year career this is only his 3rd season of shooting over 30% from that range. Similarly, his 47% from the field this year is way above his 41% career mark there. Piatkowski on the other hand is a career 44% shooter, coming off a 47% season. That coupled with his career 40% mark from 3pt land probably made him a pretty attractive option for a team looking to spread the floor for its emerging big man... KT - we all thought that keeping EG over him was a no-brainer: sadly it turned out that EG is literally the no-brainer....
Pike+JJ were both signed to a portion of the MLE. We had Posey's bird rights. In effect, we could have had all 3 players if we wanted to. Clearly the Rockets did not want to pay Posey his asking price. Was that Les being greedy? Perhaps. Was that the Rockets making a shrewd monitary decision? Perhaps. But I will say this. If we had kept Posey, I am not so sure we would have gotten Jim Jackson. Not because of monitary issues (because in theory we could have gotten them both), but because Jackson might not have come here to be Posey's backup. Perhaps he would have gone somewhere else. Keep that in the back of your mind. With that said, would you rather have Jackson or Posey? I will say this though. I feel the Rockets need to add a player of Posey's nature in the offseason. A player that his a hustler and can bring energy off of the bench.
What a lazy, lazy post, DD. You didn't finish. We got rid of Kenny to get Posey. We lost them both. We kept EG who was a sweet, confused kid who nonetheless liked to shoot off guns in residential areas when his honeys went at each other but who did also in his off time like to spend time with the kids of...who was it? Someone in the organization. We kept EG and then watched him walk when we could have had Shareef Abdur-Rahim for him. But I don't want to appear cynical.
I agree with Deuce. Jackson was not signed to replace Posey in the monetary sense. But probably wouldn't have signed with us if we had Posey--not only because Jackson wouldn't, but also because the Rockets probably wouldn't have looked at getting another similar type player. Why would we sign Posey, Pike, A. Griffin, and JJ, when we already have Mobley and Boki? Money-wise, we could have both JJ and Posey. But basketball-wise, I don't think it would happen. BTW, do we have to have a Posey-is-tearing-up-how-stupid-we-were-letting-him-go thread about every week? I am glad we have finally stopped starting KT-is-tearing-it-up-we-shouldn't-have-traded-him threads.
I think we could have had both... JJ wouldnt be only backing up Posey.. I think JJ is actually more comfortable as a 2 guard and would have shared time spelling Cat and Posey. J
One position espoused in the offseason -- that Posey wasn't worth the MLE in a long-term deal -- seems to me to be disproved by his play for the Grizzlies this season. He's their second leading scorer and crucial piece to their team, easily earning his keep. His role would probably be less prominent in Houston, but still important and worth the money. But, the other sticking point from the offseason still holds true, and you people are beating your head on a brick wall because you can't come to terms with it. The Rockets will not pay a luxury tax. Maybe that makes Les a cheap b*stard; your call. But just accept it as the prerequisite understanding to be a Rockets fan. The Rockets will, as a matter of course, sacrifice good players and Ws to avoid the luxury tax. That's why we gave up picks to get rid of Glen Rice a year early. That's why we traded Kenny Thomas away. That's why we let Posey walk for nothing. Eddie Griffin isn't a factor here because he made little money on an expiring contract. It isn't that we favored one guy's future over another's. We favored one contract over another. If you can just accept the luxury tax as a hard cap on Rockets spending, it will make fandom much easier to bear.
Good points JV! It is an unfortunate reality we have to accept as Rockets fans. We just can't compete with owners that are WILLING to pay the LT such as Paul Allen, Cablevision or Mark Cuban. It is not worth banging one's head against the wall about this issue. Better to focus on moves that work under the LT and go from there.
I realized this when the Rockets let Posey walk. And I defended the move at the time because I felt Jerry West was paying Posey way too much money, especially since the Grizzlies already had an abudance of SGs and SFs on their team. What frustrated me then and is even more infuriating today given Posey's level of play for Memphis is that the reason the Rockets were forced to let the guy go is the ridiculous contracts they handed out to the likes of Mo Taylor, Kelvin Cato, and Moochie Norris(which has now been replaced by Clarence Weatherspoon). I'm not saying Mo, Cato, and Spoon haven't contributed this season, cuz they certainly have. But it pains me to think how much better this team would be(and how much weaker a division rival like Memphis would be) with a guy like Posey still around. I just hope that come 2006 when the Rockets find themselves with a ton of cap space, they spend it wisely this time.
But why the hell should Rocket fans except this? Les should have been tarred and feathered by the media and fans. The man has made a lot of money from the Rockets, he got taxpayers to build him a new stadium, he lucked into the lowest payed big draw in the nba in many years (Yao) and he could sell the team it for a nice profit!!! To me this is a very passive attitude. The man should be roasted until he spends whatever it takes to make the Rockets the best they can be or pressured into selingl the damn team at a nice profit (to Les) to someone who will put the team first. We let Les' and out good fortune (lucking into Yao) lower the rightful expectations for a tax subsidied owner and team.
