For all the bbs posters that had this ultimate plan of dividing minutes up between Taylor ,Thomas , and Griffin and that all the players would be happy remember this. All 3 are young and still trying to establish themselves, all 3 are competitive and I TOLD YOU SO! Its not a rub in or any disrespect for thomas but giving the situation , something had to give. Griffin needed time to develop, Taylor needed time to see what he has after his injury, and Thomas need time for a contract. throw in the fact that no one that Ming would catch on this fast and Cato would except his role and play hard with energy off the bench so all added up to someone getting traded. Giving his easy to move contract vs production, then Thomas was the best candidate. Personally, I would have like to see Taylor and Thomas moved for Ty Hill to get us from under Taylor's contract, but oh well. Now at least it shouldn't be anymore Kenny sucks thread. I think he's a perfect fit for in Philly backing up Coleman and KVH.
Great post SirJackieChiles I agree with the point guard thing but I'm gonna stick with Moochie and give him two years to develop into a true point guard. Yes, I'm skeptical. But then we pick up a veteran point guard looking to be on a contender. In two years, think Gary Payton would be willing to come here just for a ring?
OK, now we need some of you stalkers out there to stake out Nick Van Exel's house and let us know when Posey arrives, and post some pictures.
I think it's a nice trade. Kenny Thomas: he gets to go to a good situation w/ the sixers. and i have no doubt that he'll flourish there as he did w/ the rockets in the short amount of time. James Posey: I am hoping the guy can knock down some shots. Granted, he played for the nugs and he had no one to help him, but unless your name is Allen Iverson you can't be shooting in the 30 % range and hope to make it in the NBA. All in all, this really cleared the glut at the 4 but I don't know if y'all see what i see: if posey's contract is up after this season, the rockets wouldn't really HAVE to sign up do they? if so, then all we need him for is this year. so technically, this will free up the small foward spot after this season as well. which means: <b> if posey becomes a FA next year, we will free up the 3 spot for rice and boki.</b> so basically, the rockets might just hire posey for this year and clear out room at the 3 for PT for boki. I'm hoping this is true b/c if PT ain't there, boki might be the next dan langhi. and a side note on TMo---my god. i have never experienced so much anger with one player's play in my life as i did w/ TMo last night. in the span of less than 6 minutes of game time he managed to miss 2 open shots and lose the ball 2 more times. i believe he's gonna be gone after this season...i hope.
What makes you think the Rockets are not going to re-sign Posey? It is not like he is going to put up all-star like numbers and get a fat contract. I think he was traded to be THE small forward on this team. I see Boki as being a role player of the bench. Anyway I liked this trade, I think the Rockets just improved alot.
Jeff I agree with what you have to say but I think the main reason the trade went down wasn't to replace Rice but to give him an adequate backup but also to back up our guards. Steve and Cat have been putting in some MAJOR minutes and they wanted to cut them back a bit. Both those guys are seeing well over 40 minutes a game and the Posey trade gives them the ability to cut those guys back to 35-38 minutes. Over the course of a 82 game season it'll help keep those guys fresh for the playoffs.
Kinda pointless to say this on a Rockets board I guess, but I'm afraid that Philly is gonna be a substantially bigger threat for the league now. They gave up crap and got a very solid player who will make them deeper on both sides of the court. KT was pretty cool and took too much heat on this board seemingly just cuz people thought we had too many PFs. Oh well, I kinda like Philly, and wouldn't mind seeing them go to the finals again.
Rockets now look very much like a finals-caliber team to me. C - Yao Ming PF - Eddie Griffin/Mo Taylor SF - James Posey/Bostjan Nahbar SG - Cuttino Mobley PG - Steve Francis I really hope this lineup will stay 'til rockets win it all!!!
The Rockets team that played Indiana last night was a beautiful thing to behold, because everybody passed the ball. Kenny Thomas had many virtues and talents. But he could not or would not pass the ball. When your offense depends on passing, and one guy can't or won't pass, either you're playing 4 on 5, or you're throwing the ball to him and taking everybody else on your team out of the play. That's why Kenny had to go, hopefully to a place where it's OK for him to be the last guy who touches the ball.
I'm not suggesting he will replace Rice this year. I'm saying that Rice is not a guy who will be here long term. He will probably finish his contract and retire or move on. I was talking about the long-term implications of a guy like Posey. You're right, of course. Here's the really interesting part. It was becoming clear that the Rockets don't just consider Eddie their power forward of the future. Given that Yao is in there developing, Eddie should be as well. Given that, SOMEONE was bound to be pissed having to ride the pine while the other power forward backed up Griffin. What's interesting is that the move ultimately pissed off BOTH Thomas AND Taylor. Taylor was getting NO minutes and KT still believed he deserved to play starter's minutes every night. No one was getting consistent enough time on the floor to really establish himself and it was rapidly becoming a disaster. Now, with Thomas gone and a guy who really likes being here in his place, the team didn't just improve it's perimeter defense, it improved its overall chemistry. By the way, you are dead on about Cato. Who could've imagined the guy would respond so incredibly well to backing up Yao? My hat's off to him.
Wow Jeff, you and I agree completely on this. I just can't see Posey being a rental. It's not like we have other big wings with his size and athleticism, and most importantly defense. Given that, his ties to the and to the Houston area, I think he will be fairly easy to resign if we so desire. If he absolutely bombs, we let him go-KT wouldn't have resigned here anyway. Low-risk, high-potential. I like it. Rice is going to stick around until his contract runs out- and he only has one year after this. Then we'll see Posey and Nachbar at the 3, who complement each other extremely well (Posey's D, Nachbar's shot). I wouldn't be surprised to see T-Mo brought back as well-Posey can slide to the 2 some, and T-Mo can play the 3 or the 3rd string PF minutes in the case of fouls or injury. Cato has been incredible- extremely positive impact on the floor, and he and Yao seem to have a great relationship. With Yao, Cato can go all out in his minutes, and Rudy can give Yao rest or take him out when he's in foul trouble because Cato's play has been rock solid. This roster is so well designed, contract-wise and player-wise. I think our front court now is practically set in stone with Yao/Cato, Griffin/Taylor, Rice/Posey/Nachbar/Morris (Rice short term). I think we may still see a move or 2 in the backcourt, but not until at least the end of the season. Mobley needs to show he can be effective playing off the ball (he's getting the shots, just missing them...they MUST start falling), and Moochie needs to...well Moochie just needs to stop screwing up all the time.
Everybody keeps showing Posey at the three spot. I thought he palyed two for the Nuggets? Anybody know how much time he spent at each position?
Anyone else catch Fox 26 news at 9 tonight? In the sports segment, they had a short interview with KT, apparently just outside the airport (IAH?). He said he was upset, and he even cried when he heard about it, because he's been here for three years and he got attached to the guys on the team. He then said after seeing them again today before he left, he cried again. Poor KT. Good luck, big playa. Sorry if this has already been posted. Hopefully when we go to Philly, you drop 50 on us, but we still win the game.
Contract wise, we're still kinda screwed, but i feel that will work its way out. The Taylor and Cato contracts are horrible since both are backups. i think personally, Cato would and will accept his bench role better in the long term. Eventually, Taylor would probably want to start for someone and with Griffin in there, that all but kills this idea. After next season though, everything will look better because Taylor will be left unprotected and Charlotte will be enamored with the "potential" of a then 28yr old 4, Rice will be coming off the books also that same yr and at that time Cato's contract won't look nearly as bad. Ideally, backups are paid like back ups, but since some of the starters got got their position taken but are making starters money, then the payroll looks indifferent. Anyone remember Cody Carlson?
moomoo - Thanks for the scoop. Kenny's a class guy who enjoyed Houston and playing for the Rockets. I'm going to miss him. leebigez - I haven't even thought of an expansion draft. Oh how I would love to jettison Taylor and his contract. I love being put in a good mood before going to bed Any details on how an NBA expansion draft works?
Bye, KT. Good luck getting the ball in Philly. I really liked Mo T's pass to Rice at the end last night. Great read, great pass. If Mo can play the passing post (learning from Ming) he can stay. Otherwise, see ya in Charlotte. If Mo does learn to hit the open man or feed the cutter or drop it back to Yao - whoa - that's a new weapon. Just be respectable on the J, Mo. Passing is where you could really excel. Take a lesson from the big fella. You too, Griff. Good "D" from Cat last night! If Posey does nothing more than motivate Cat to keep the pressure up, good trade. Also, Pose, please motivate him not to shoot 0-11 in the first three quarters. Cat, take a lesson, and cut when the jumper's not there - or better, let the light bulb come on - like Steve said - and find a better shooter with the hot hand. Pose, don't you go clankathon on me. Don't . Shoot. Don't. Shoot. Bad. Shots. Keep it simple, Ming will find you. Francis will use you. Good luck. Go Rockets.
kenny was a solid contributer will be missed come playoff time. everyone saw 2 years ago mo taylor struggle in first couple months than he played very well so dont panic yet. Now that rockets have a set rotation they should play there roles better. I think with posey they now can fast break better. Rice Griffen, Yao being half court players really were slowing down rockets now they should run more . I noticed posey always cuts to basket and feeds the post well(Mcdyess) because of height at 2 guard. overall I think this will improve rockets ugly offense. and team defense should be better, they should sign ho grant for defense against TD CWEBB BRAND.
Posey is not here to replace Rice. Rice is playing better and better in the offense and remains the general on defense. Yao benefits immensely from him being on the floor (respect/3pt shot/passes into the post) so don't expect him to cut into Rice's minutes this year. Posey will only play the 3 in scrap minutes when Yao is resting or there is someone in particular for James to be gaurding. Posey will be far more valuble at the 2. Cuttino and SF are great, but they do play too many minutes, and now that this is a playoff caliber team, that kinda of thing will count. We really don't have anything wrong with the 3 on this team, what we needed was a backup 2...we simply did not have one. Now we have a very well-rounded guy, who won't whine coming off the bench and won't mind playing big minutes one night and hardly any the next. Provided we use him accordingly, this is a great pickup for this team. All you have to do is consider Posey a two-gaurd...because that is what he is.
Are you kidding me man? That old guy is worthless haha, there was a reason he was dropped. Man I really like Hawk's D and the way he plays the game, I feel bad he won't get even 10 minutes probably now, but he understood it was a longshot that he'd make this team and probably wouldn't get much playing time. He seems like a guy who's happy to contribute however he can. The season gets more and more exciting every game.
