I was at the game last night when JJ was nailing 3s right when we needed them, and I said to the guy next to me that JJ was the missing piece for this team. When he makes shots we win. And the next day he gets traded. I don't get it.
Sucked big time? Dude you were barely a friggin tadpole swimming in your daddy's nut when the Rockets sucked big time. You've haven't got a clue where this team(players and/or coaches) has been and where it's going. Go cheer for the Hornets. You'll find out what it's really like to suck big time......for a very long time.
Could it be something in the locker room we don't know? Are management forcing T-mac and Yao to stand up in the lock room to become leaders?
I think we should have at least gotten a protected 1st rounder or something out of this. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense, trading two SF's for a combo G. Maybe there is another deal in the works, but I don't see what we could be giving up? Obviously a PF is needed, but we lost some trade bait in this deal I think. Gotta feel bad for JJ though. Poor guy just can't stick anywhere. It's just unbelievable how much this team has changed in a matter of 6 months. I don't know much about Wesley's personality, but hopefully he can help bring this team together...he's gotta be hungry to win after all these years with the Hornets. Ultimately I don't think this affects the team too much long-term. I think getting rid of Van Gundy would be the best long-term solution right now. There just seems to be a dark cloud over the team and the fans with him.
Clutch, What are your thoughts of the trade? Is there a BIGGER story behind this that we dont know about? Thx!
Alot of people are looking at the microcosms revolving around this trade, but maybe this trade and the trade for Jon Barry were just to shake things up a bit and make people's lethargic play just a bit more up tempo. Obviously we have one of the highest flyers in the league in Tracy Mcgrady who is relegated to a half court offense because he can't fly down the court with no one else alongside him. So what do we do, we go out and get two players used to an uptempo style of play: Jon Barry (2) and David Wesley (1) in exchange for Tyrone Lue (1) and Jim Jackson (2). I'm actually happy with the net result. Even if people are playing out of position, we're at least a more fun team to watch and may actually be able to match the higher scoring teams in the league. Obviously we still have a problem with our slew of Power Forwards and Van Gundy's inability to stylize an offensive methodology, but I think that the problem may be addressed sooner then we think with management's itchy trigger fingers. The only interesting nuance with these trades is that if we're pushing towards more of an uptempo style, are we quietly stating that we are moving away from this being Yao Ming's team and moving more towards this being Tracy Mcgrady's team. If so I think it's a good move because Yao Ming needs to mature a bit in a supporting role more for his mental psyche then anything else. Once he reaches that point, he'll be able to dominate at will and the Yao / Mcgrady combination will be as lethal as we all expected.
I kind of agree. I think as far as shooting, its not an upgrade, but I think this makes us more versatile in the backcourt. And as far as off the court and in the locker room ...who knows ....perhaps JVG and CD felt this would be a definite upgrade.
I hope not. Tmac and Yao are not ready to be leaders. I'm hoping Wesley and Barry can fill that role.
Put me on the side of "I don't see why everyone is getting so upset about this trade" group. JJ hadn't done jack all season. You talk about his leadership qualities. I wouldn't say he's been a great leader this season. A stinky leader...maybe. The guy had his best shooting game last night and was pathetic up until then. Before that, he wasn't the JJ I used to believe in. He was way short of that person. He was one of the primary reasons why the Rockets sucked donkey balls. His turnovers and horrid shooting...sigh! If he would have played all season the way he played last night, then we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. As for Boki, the guy occassionally hit a 3 but was more of a novelty from Europe. He seemed more like a foreign mascot to root for than an actual player who did anything. In the seasons he was with us, he didn't do much. His best role may have been his friendship with Yao. Sure, he may evolve eventually into a better player but, here and now, he wasn't doing jack squat. Apparently, the coaches over him agree based on his playing time he's seen to come up with his career averages of....what....3 ppg? Don't let the door hit you on the way out there. Sure, he was young but that is no reason to keep him since he hasn't really shown the growth on the court we've been talking about hoping to see from him. I'm all for trying a new player if he can actually make shots with any degree of consistency. Hopefully, he can play some D. I don't see how he could do worse than JJ has done all season. Least of all...give it a chance before you huff and puff and blow the Rockets house down. I know the majority of you think the answer is to fire JVG but, in my mind, that move is only throwing away the entire season. We are trying to salvage the season as it stands now. If you want to change the coaching which affects everything on the court on O and D, then you might as well just wait until the season is over. A new coach now would do nothing but give us more disappointment while going through major coaching philosophy adjustments. Then, once it is realized that a new coach won't fix us in the short term, then everyone will be calling for the new coach's head as well. So, you traded one old bloak for another old bloak and a youngin. Big whoop! At least the one old bloak we acquired apparently can shoot with more consistency which is one of, if not our, major problems in that we have people that cannot hit open jump shots to relieve the pressure off of Yao and TMac.
DieHard, My thoughts exactly. I think both JJ and Boki are arguably as good as Wesley, this moves our weakness from the PG spot to the SF spot, unless TMac plays SF and then we start Sura and Wesley in the backcourt. We still need something other than a flower foward. Also, I honestly think getting rid of Boki will haunt us for years. The guy will find his spot in the NBA.....IMHO. DD
The sad part of all the rockets trades in the past year: everyone talks about the weakness of PF position for a long time, but ironically PF is the only position getting much worse due to the departure of Cato.
LOL! I forgot I had that. I thought Wesley would be a decent PG, mainly as a backup, that would be available to acquire. Of, course I never thought JJ would ever be a part of something like this and I thought he would be an extra part of the trade for PJ. Look at the bright side, at least they didn't jump at Eric Snow and his bloated contract. So guys, who are some SFs & PFs that are available for trade around the league?
it might not be such a bad thing that tmac gets moved to the 3 spot. i mean look at lebron james, he moved to the 3 spot and his numbers went through the roof.
So I guess there's no point in asking the NBA to review that "2-pointer" a couple of games ago by Jackson. Who knows, maybe Houston can sign 'Zo since Miami has Haslem playing superb. Actually since the team did get older with this trade, I suggest the Rockets sign Kareem. Actually might as well get Alcindor. I would have said Wilt, but he's kind of...dead.
