Cat - Sorry for not responding sooner to your request for proof of MoT's laziness. I don't know why I need to offer proof when Mo does such a profound job of demonstrating his laziness as a player EVERY TIME HE STEPS ON THE COURT!! Mo is simply too big to average less than 6 boards a game. And I'm talking about his CAREER average (5.2 rpg). The guy is almost as big as the Mailman and he can only scoop 5 boards a game? Franchise gets more boards than that!! Why do you think that is? Because he is LAZY on the court. He is NOT a good defender, and he is NOT a good rebounder, and if he is NOT shooting the ball well, then he is a waste of money!!!! I simply do not like the dude as a player. There are too many guys (like K.T.) with less size, and supposedly less talent who are doing more than MoT has done or will do. I am willing to bet that MoT will never fulfill the potential attributed to him since he entered the league. On another note, I will say again that we did not need another defensive presence. Our shooting percentage without Yao Ming is already HORRIBLE!!! We need shooters. Especially spot up shooters who can consistently drain the 3. That's why we were able to win two championships: Hakeem demanding double and triple teams, and kicking it out to Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, and Mario Ellie, with a slasher (Clyde, etc.) to keep the other team honest. Posey may be a good player, but we need a younger version of Shandon Anderson Again, this smacks more of desperation than good since. I can't believe there's not a decent back up 2/3 with offensive skills that we couldn't get for the same deal, K.T. + 2nd round pick. Give me someone like Tony Delk!! Now that would have made us a better team.
Cat - Sorry for not responding sooner to your request for proof of MoT's laziness. I don't know why I need to offer proof when Mo does such a profound job of demonstrating his laziness as a player EVERY TIME HE STEPS ON THE COURT!! Mo is simply too big to average less than 6 boards a game. And I'm talking about his CAREER average (5.2 rpg). The guy is almost as big as the Mailman and he can only scoop 5 boards a game? Franchise gets more boards than that!! Why do you think that is? Because he is LAZY on the court. He is NOT a good defender, and he is NOT a good rebounder, and if he is NOT shooting the ball well, then he is a waste of money!!!! I simply do not like the dude as a player. There are too many guys (like K.T.) with less size, and supposedly less talent who are doing more than MoT has done or will do. I am willing to bet that MoT will never fulfill the potential attributed to him since he entered the league. On another note, I will say again that we did not need another defensive presence. Our shooting percentage without Yao Ming is already HORRIBLE!!! We need shooters. Especially spot up shooters who can consistently drain the 3. That's why we were able to win two championships: Hakeem demanding double and triple teams, and kicking it out to Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, and Mario Ellie, with a slasher (Clyde, etc.) to keep the other team honest. Posey may be a good player, but we DO NOT need a younger version of Shandon Anderson Again, this smacks more of desperation than good since. I can't believe there's not a decent back up 2/3 with offensive skills that we couldn't get for the same deal, K.T. + 2nd round pick. Give me someone like Tony Delk!! Now that would have made us a better team.
James Posey will not handle the ball as much for the Rockets. If the Rockets are looking to decrease their turnovers, they better talk to a point guard who is second in the league in turnovers and has the worst ast/TO ratio of any PG! I love the guy but he's gotta do something about his turnovers. At least get more assists!!
ESPN: Stein's Daily Dime Rockets clear logjam with Thomas trade Wednesday, Dec. 18 Asked recently if any team in the league was close to making a trade, with barely a quarter of the season gone, one prominent general manager took pause to mentally survey the landscape. "Well," the GM said, "Kenny Thomas is out there for the taking." Amazingly that was enough. Even the Houston Rockets would have to admit some surprise that Thomas could be a catalyst for the first in-season trade of 2002-03. Thomas makes just $1.6 million in the final year of his contract, meaning that he wasn't likely to fetch a big name in return in the matching-salaries game. It usually takes bigger numbers than that to ignite things. Of greater concern, power forward has been Houston's problem position this season, and Thomas -- recovering from a broken thumb and some ankle trouble -- was part of that struggling three-man rotation. The statistical drop from last season (14.1 points to 9.9, and 7.2 rebounds to 6.8) is somewhat expected with Yao Ming's emergence, but Thomas has been missing open shots. Coach Rudy Tomjanovich has shaken up the lineup repeatedly trying to jump start at least one of his three four-men, which seemingly couldn't have done much for Thomas' trade value. Seemingly. Turns out Philadelphia likes Thomas regardless, needing an extra power forward with Derrick Coleman always a health risk. Thomas gives Larry Brown another option there besides Brian Skinner. The Rockets, as part of Wednesday's three-team deal, claim James Posey -- who was nearly traded by the Nuggets to the Wizards around the draft. Posey offers athleticism and defense at small forward and gets the nod here as a better bargain than Thomas at basically the same price. Posey, earning $1.7 million this season, is also a free agent-to-be. The onus now falls on Griffin and/or Taylor to start playing better. The Nuggets, meanwhile, add Philadelphia's first-round pick from 2005 and a future second-rounder from Houston to their down-the-road war chest. GM Kiki Vandeweghe, besides systematically clearing out every remnant of the Dan Issel era, is collecting assets for this summer's team makeover. Vandeweghe will have more than $20 million in salary-cap space for signings and trades. Thanks to Thomas, he has at least one more attractive piece (yes, the first-round pick) to play with.
Rebounding is more about positioning and understanding than effort. If you'd like, I can dig up some older posts from administrators (I remember one thread specifically from Jeff) with their observations on Mo while watchin him closely. If you watch him, without a bias, he is trying out on the floor. He just does not have the proper rebounding technique, or the ability to get to the right spot at the right time. Rebounding is not all about effort. There's a skill and intelligence to it, and for whatever reason, Mo doesn't have it. He's definitely trying on the floor. If you don't like him as a player, that's cool. But don't assume things about his personality by those opinions. A basketball players' effort is not the only factor in how good of a player he is. Also, Mo's career numbers already more than fulfill the average production from a #15 pick in the first round. On Posey, those players you listed had one quality: they played solid perimeter defense. Posey's not Shandon for two reasons: he can shoot, and he's bigger. I don't care what the percentage says. Posey's percentage is skewed because of how terrible those Denver teams have been, and he has been forced into becoming "the man", which is not his game. I've seen him in many games, and he can stick the open jumper. We have enough offensive role players. We need someone who can play good man to man D and stick the open jumper once in a while. That's Posey. Also, one of the main problems with Shandon was that while he did play good defense, it was often negated by his lack of size (6'5 or 6'6) against most SF's. Posey is 6'8, and in the NBA world, that's a tremendous difference at the 3 spot.
Maybe Posey will mean fewer minutes by Francis at the 2 when Cat takes a blow. Maybe we'll see the two of them playing less, which would be great. Still digesting this. KT for Posey... quite a surprise. Terence will see more minutes at the 4, that's for sure. Griff and Taylor can rack up the fouls on occasion. Morris and Nachbar have to be stunned. I thought we might be shopping for a banger at the 4 spot. Maybe we still are?
Hey Cat, Sorry but I have to agree with Rocket on this one... I heard a comment sometime during tonite's game that MoT was simply overweight and pushing 280, 290 lbs. I don't know if that's true or not, but being overweight surely can explain his sluggishness on the court. Quite frankly, I DO get the sense that MoT seems to be a step slow and an inch verticle too short to get the rebounds he would normally get. Again, whether there's any truth to his being overweight is beyond me. Separately, I DO like EG's aggressiveness and I definitely see more potential with EG adapting to the needs of our Rocket team. KT had his own game, his own style. While he may be young, IMO, he wasn't going to be that malleable anymore. EG, on the other hand, I can totally see bulking up and being a monster rebounder and shot blocker. EG fouling out of tonite's game was a welcome sign, IMO. He is trying. He is smacking. And he is working as he should. Whereas KT's potential was limited IMO, EG's only got upside from here... esp if he develops a complimentary game to Yao and Steve. theSAGE
Shandon also had more pressure on him when he was signed by the Rockets. He came here soon after Quitten was traded and there was a lot of hype surrounding him. With Posey, he comes into a good situation and doesn't need to replace any big shoes.
I like this trade for many reasons and don't like it for a few. I hope that bringing in Posey will lower Steve and Cuttino's minutes per game. I hope that this trade will allow us to take Yao or Steve out of the game and still have offense. This team looks to be playoff bound and injuries happen. We do need this extra depth. I hope we will soon see Cato and Yao play together. I think either one of them would make a hell of a third option at 4. Minutes wise, I think this trade does everything we want. More minutes for Mo and Grif and less for Mobley and Francis. I don't like the timing of this trade. Griffin and Taylor are not playing as well as Kenny was. I would have liked one of them to have the hot hand before Kenny left. Also, I feel the same way as I did when we lost Otis Thorpe. I liked Clyde, but Otis helped us win number one and you never forget your first. I'm just shocked basically. Welcome James and I'll see you on Friday! Go Rox!!
For Boki's sake, I hope Posey is main considered a SG for our team. SF - Rice/Posey/Morris/Griffin/Nachbar Rice - SF only Posey - SG/SF Morris - SF/PF Griffin - Starting PF, C and very little if any time at SF Nachbar - SF only? Rice is gone in 2004/2005 Morris is a free agent at the end of this year Posey is a free agent at the end of this year Griffin should only see emergency minutes at SF Nachbar could be our starting SF when Rice is gone Mobley leads the league in minutes played, so having a good backup for Mobley is huge! Mobley playing about 30-35 minutes a game sounds like a great deal to me! This team is deep! Our only weak position now is PF. Maybe Taylor will change my mind, but I am not happy with him so far. B
Posey could be a great potential defensive specialist In the meantime, I did some digging on our new friend, James Posey, and get the impression that this guy is: 1. Athletic - i.e. quick AND has hops 2. Has quick hands - as indicated by his steals 3. Might be too good a jumper as to be inconsistent with his shots Numbers one and two I like a lot. I think Posey can add some really like defensive pressure whenever we find ourselves matched up against big guards. That way we can have CAT's offensive productivity shine while Posey can neutralize the opponents big guards. His size is surely impressive... at 6 8 is bigger than either CAT or SF. Again, I can't overemphasize how crucial this might be to negate some of the big guards in this league. Number 3 is manageable. As long as he works w/in our still evolving offense, I think Posey will be OK. If he claims too many touches and FGA, then naturally, I think our team FG% will start to go down... obviously, not a good deal. My prediction is that Posey will begin by playing off the bench... late 1st and early 2nd quarters with that "second" unit of Cato and TeM and Mooch OR in special situations when we have a opposing big guard (e.g. McGrady) against us. Sane, if you're reading this... I'm swinging my vote "IN FAVOR of this TRADE.". Sane makes some interesting points earlier in this thread. I encourage people to check it out. theSAGE
Completely not true. He was at that point during rehabilitation, but he's at his playing weight now (260). Because he couldn't work out, he put on some pounds when he was out, but every source on this BBS said that he worked very, very hard throughout the summer to get back into playing shape. From watching him, I just get the sense that his rhythm and timing are completely off, and the only way for him to get it back is to get actual game action. And as much as we needed to do it before, it was hard to justify giving him time out there to improve when there were both KT and EG as options. I don't think the injury is going to permanently hinder his career. He's had a couple of games where he's looked very good, especially offensively at establishing low post position (at Phoenix). The skills and the talent are still there... it's just a matter of having to readjust to the NBA game after virtually a year and a half off. It'll come with time.
He got rebounds, positioned himself pretty well, but just seemed out of sync when he had the ball. Very little touch or finesse ala like Cato. It seems like if he can hit those shots in practice it must be all psychological for him now.
Grega, while I feel for Boki, he wasn't going to get much in the way of playing time this year anyway. I think the Rockets see that with the right mix, they've got a shot to go a long way in the playoffs this year - and a defensive 2/3 helps them a lot. In the long run, Rice is not going to be here. If Posey does work out and we sign him to a decent role-player contract after this season, we will be able to have a very solid rotation at the three. We can rotate offense/defense at the 2 and the 3 with Boki playing 30 minutes, Cuttino playing 38, and Posey playing 28 between the 2 positions. In the meantime, tell Boki that we are looking forward to watching him play. The way to Rudy's heart (and playing time) is to kick ass and work hard in practices. Players who do this and don't complain get what they deserve eventually.
I'm a little sad to see Kenny go. He was a hard nosed player who would mix it up with anybody. I liked that. I've always wanted James Posey on the Rockets, so this trade kind of seems surreal to me. Posey is a baller who can run the break the the best of them. The Rockets just a whole lot more athletic so I'm excited to see what these guys are capable of together.
At this point pros and cons will only be proven or disproven over time. If all parties pass their physicals then we've got Posey as our newest team member. I don't post a lot, but the few times I have I've been saying we need a least ONE consistent shooter, which we thought we had in Nachbar (and earlier in Rice). As an example, in last night's game against the Pacers, we wouldn't need Mobley's big "3" in the fourth quarter to start edging ahead to the win if he doesn't go 0 for 12 prior to that. Until someone emerges as a CONSISTENT shooter on this team we are going to suffer through close games that shouldn't be close. Right now, Yao is our most consistent scorer, period. Sure he's had off nights, but as a percentage his shooting speaks for itself. Maybe Posey will elevate our team's game due to a more "balanced" lineup as some here have suggested. But a few others here echo my sentiments that we desparately need shooters -- consistent shooters. Unfortunately, today's NBA has been funneled towards athleticism and less skills; i.e., shooting, passing, etc. Now, they allow zone defense to try to swing back to skills more. Is there any wonder that the product has become severly lacking and inconsistent? Maybe there was some effect of the shock of the trade, since the players found out pretty much when they got to the arena for the game. That has to be a gimme. But our shooting was so up and down as a team before the trade that I don't think the blame lies there. As far as losing KT goes, I agree with windandsea. When someone has given a lot of themselves to develop into what they think their coaches and team wants, they are like family. I think there is something to be said for loyalty and hard work. I thought there was bitterness to several past Rocket trades. I felt bad for the way Ralph Sampson was traded. I felt bad for Otis Thorpe when he was traded. I know this is a business, first, but fans aren't connected to the business end -- they get attached to the players as people. Let's hope for the best -- that all who were traded will be happy in their new circumstances, that each team gets what they thought they were getting, and that we as fans will agree with their decision over time.
