It was and still is a good move. JJ doesn't play any defense for Phoenix and for that matter Dallas doesn't play any defense on him... The reason Wesley's shot was off a little in the playoffs was he was worn out from chasing around the hot shooter of the day for Dallas on defense...
Somebody else said it exactly. TMac and JJ are both natural 3's. Wesley is a natural 2. Need I say more?
What's with all the JJ hating. He was the Rocks' 3rd best player. He was a starter and we got another starter for him who fit the needs of the team better. Sura was hurt, Barrett was too short, and this team needed better perimeter ball handling and perimeter D. It was a good trade for the Rockets. JJ is a decent player who didn't want to start over in New Orleans...that's fine. He's in a good situation now and stepping it up in the playoffs with JJohnson injured. Of course Stackhouse owned him through 3 quarters, but then Stackhouse has been owning everyone not named T-Mac. At least JJ shot back in the 4th with Nash on the bench and really sparked the Suns. I wish Wesley's shot wasn't so off in the playoffs. Oh well.
Oh, please. There was a massive difference between JJ when we first acquired him...JJ 5 months after...and JJ this year. He did what, most likely, he does at every stop. At first, he's just what you need. In our case, he was a savvy veteran who submerged his game to the team's. Then...as he has a little success...he seems to have flashbacks to his early days, when he averaged 20ppg. He looks more and more for his own shot, and less for other players...until he's a liability. Not because he's not a good player - but because he has delusions of grandeur. The death of any good roleplayer is when they forget that they're not a star. JJ forgot this in Houston.
Bingo. And once we traded Steve, Cat and Kelvin, JJ saw himself as the leader of the team, even if T-Mac was infinitely more talented. Oddly enough, he fits in with Phoenix (at least for now) because he knows that Stoudemire, Nash and Marion are the established heart of the team, and he accepts the fact that he's a role player on that team.
Everyone is saying Dwes' shot was off, not until game 3 in the 4th when we gave up our lead and maybe a little of game 4 but otherwise I was pleased he didnt cost us the first round we just needed Sura to be Sura of before All Star Break and we need Juwon Howard, as special as this team was this season and the feeling we had that it was going to be something special those two injuries might have hurt us the most because role players are crucial and sura would have been that crucial role player in game 7 but he just looked slow after his injury in February. Just my take.
Early on, the Rockets struggled mightily in getting easy transition baskets. Anyone questioning the DWes/JJax trade needs to go look at how the Rox fastbreak points increased with David Wesley.
I thought it was a mistake then and I don't now. I still like JJ, we just needed Wes more. And Les liked Wes more.
I initially thought it was a mistake. I underestimated Wesley's defense, immensely. It was not a mistake at all.
i liked jj, but trading for wesley was one of the best moves cd made, and the change in our record supports this...
He was the 3rd best player, which was pathetic. People see his numbers and say - hey he wasn't so bad, at least he contributed, he scored 10-12 points a game. Sure he did, and he required 42 minutes a game to do so.
Great post... by my count, he's done that in Portland, Sacramento, and Houston. Could Phoenix be next? We can only hope. It looks as if it may happen sooner than later since he was injected into the starting lineup when Joe Johnson went down, so once Joe gets back... we'll be watching... You weren't alone in this thinking, it seemed most people on this board questioned it. Stuart
Game 6 in Dallas, 4th quarter, Jackson is doing what? Brick, dumb foul, airball, dumb foul, brick. I'm not exactly full of regrets.
The trade was a huge lift, and I felt bad for JJ when it happened even though I always liked Wesley. Now I feel bad for Wesley. I think he was spent at the end of the season and the ultimate victim of the "win out" streak we had at the end of the season. He not only lost a step in the last 6 weeks, but his shot disappeared late and in the playoffs. Dead legs. It's the only thing that scares me about JVG. He'll always ask too much of the few (usually aged) players he trusts. And Wesley really is a poster child for that, given JVG's penchant for age in a very much changed NBA. Even worse, Wesley's expiring contract and his good play seemingly makes him probable Rox history, before or after the trade deadline. There's just no way to feel good about that after his contributions to the team and being very much a "JVG guy".
Enough talking about this already.... Yeah, it surprised most of us. JVG and management made the keen observation that we had a liability at SF and that T-Mac needed to be moved to that position and a lock-down defender was needed to guard SG's to keep T-Mac from having to exert too much energy chasing around SG's on defense. JJ wasn't quick enough to fill that role at SG and Wesley happened to be available so the deal was made. Plus, i'm sure it didn't hurt there was a team actually willing to take off our hands the ever-popular bust and waste of time known as Bostjan Nachbar. The deal was made. JJ loved being a Rocket and I wish him the best of luck. He did his thing, now he's in a position to possibly win a championship. Great. T-Mac is thriving at the 3 and Wesley had a bit of a rebirth. He was crucial in our turn around and his defensive play has been spectacular. It worked out for both parties, enough with it already.
