Agreed. During the summer I was all for trading Battier and Tmac instantly. Now I am a little reluctant on the thought of trading Battier. The things he can teach CBud are scary.. If CBud can become half of what Battier is defensively, Chase will be freaking scary. But I still think Bat and Tracy need to go. Before the deadline. Not offseason.
I was so excited after watching that Spurs game. From a purely basketball point of view it was so much more fun to watch than the monotonous "give the ball to Yao in the post" (although we will need him eventually to win). It's just gonna be fun watching our current group of players evolve and develop from the ground up... rather than having championship expectations every season and eventually being disappointed. We have the right coach in Rick Adelman to bring this team together. Much of any success this year will be primarily from the core of Aaron Brooks, Scola, Lowry, Landry, Battier, (eventually) Ariza, and (maybe) Tmac. Notice that these players (except Battier, Tmac) have been added and succeeded in the Morey/Adelman era. There's no reason why newer guys like Budinger, Andersen, Dorsey, Taylor, etc. can't have similar success after some time. Obviously, this team is trying to get younger, quicker, more offensive-oriented, and more fun for us fans.
I think this team will surprise a lot of folks and compete for a low playoff seed. We know they will play hard, play D, and hopefully have a chip on their should for everyone counting them out. BELIEVE
Hey, if you weren't so dead set on trading him, I wouldn't do it! I look at Luis differently. He's improved every year we've had him. I think he'll improve this year. Finally we have an answer at the 4 spot, one we didn't have, like, forever. And I'll add that while no one can deny his age, because of his style of play, he'll be playing at a high level this season and 4 beyond that, IMO. If we can sign him for $6 million for 4 years, I'd be jumping up and down with excitement. That would be getting him cheap. I don't buy the rebuilding idea. I'm more into "reloading" and Scola is one of the rocks the Rockets should build around.
I couldn't have said it better myself and I can't rep you again until I rep some other people who get it.
Deckard, I think if Landry had scola minutes, he would produce just as much if not more. That's not to say scola can't play, I just look at it as having a team with upside. Its easy to say scola will be like he is 4yrs from now and that's not a bad thing, but looking at landry and his growth every yr and factor in his age, I would rather have Landry going forward and get another younger guy that is trending upward. I wouldn't give scola away because he has a good value based on his production vs contract. Its easy to see the rockets are going to have to make a choice in the near future. If they resign scola at 6m per and the flling yr landry is a free agent, his value is going to be the same. Problem is, landry will probably want to start and the rockets will be letting the younger player with more upside and good production walk. That's not something you do. Now,maybe landry is the bait because teams see his upside,who knows?
Given the discussion on trading Battier before Taylor and Ariza, I figured this would be a good thread to ask this. We've been discussing how terrible the close-outs and rotations to shooters have been in the Rockets defense over the first two preseason games. That's not characteristic of the Rockets we know, so how much of this do you think is attributable to Battier not being on the court to direct traffic and set an example? I think Batter coming back should improve those areas of weakness. For reasons like this, at this point, I'd keep Battier over both Ariza and Taylor, especially if we're speaking in terms of who will be more effective on a Yao-centric team. Both still have room to change my mind, though.
Not a problem. I've rooted for teams in far more dire situations *cough*Browns*cough*. Now it will be rooting for smaller things, like the growth of the young guys and watching them put together scrappy wins against top tier teams.
Hey, I brought this up in the 'Celtics/Rockets Game' thread. Wanted to run it by a few more members. This is a contract year for Lowry... Hypothetically speaking, let's say he gets frustrated coming off the bench and thinks he deserves a starter's role on another team. So, he bails. Should we take a serious look at Rondo? Supposedly he turned down an extension from the Celtics, who I'm sure didn't have much to offer. I believe that we could possibly have the money to sign him. Correct me if I'm wrong, I think we could offer him a pretty decent amount of money. Again, I'm not an expert, and I don't recall how much spending money we COULD have this offseason.. But I am a believer that brooks is more of a sixth man kind of player than a starting PG for a championship team. Rondo is a good sized, do it all (including great defense) PG. He's won a championship, and has plenty of experience. Plus, he's quite young. Definitely a talent, and doesn't under-perform (playoff stats). This would give us a possible lineup of... (Salaries/Contracts might be off.. Again, not totally aware of where we stand financially). Rondo/Brooks TMac/Budinger Ariza/Battier Scola/Landry/Hayes Yao/Andersen/Hayes I think this would be an extremely dangerous line-up. But, I'm not sure if it is balanced enough. Maybe Rondo would want too much to be the 'man', along with Tmac. Ariza could play the role he played with the Lakers. Scola could do all the dirty work (even though he's capable of so much more). And with Yao in, you almost wanna run the offense around him... Not totally sure if it would work... but the bench would be quite dangerous as well. Simply speculation.
I've been working nights and my DVR has been malfunctioning so the second half of last night's game was the first chance I've had to watch this year's team. Verdict? KICK ASS. I'm more excited by Houston Rockets basketball with this team than I have been in, literally, years. Why? Because every single player plays his heart out. I wish the whole year could be preseason so everybody would keep fighting this hard to make the squad. I love these kinds of scrappy, under-talented players. Mario Elie and Chucky Brown are my all-time favorite Rockets for this reason. When you have guys that play this hard, that play this hard as a team, anything can happen. And it's so much more fun to watch underdogs over-perform than it is to watch stars dominate. I have a feeling this squad may become my favorite since the one that brought the first championship. No go to guy=all go to guys. I'd add Battier to this roster and call it a day. If that's our team, I predict an 8th seed that takes the 1 seed to 7 games before going out in the most feel-good story of the season. And I'd enjoy that even more than a championship team led by 2-3 all-stars. After a year of playing with that sort of confidence, add Yao for 10-11 and let the dynasty begin.
I completely agree, I am very excited for this season and I don't even think we have a great chance at a playoff spot. This season is a great chance for us to evaluate so we can set ourselves up for a long run rather than just 1 or 2 great years. It's going be to be a fun ride.
Your wrong, we will win... We will make the playoffs. Your right in the fact that it will be fun, but not if Rick plays cook, I hate him for some reason...
We will make the playoffs assuming Mcgrady remains healthy for the majority of the season. I just love how DM has constructed his team. We're a young team that'll be good for years to come. I thought we did well against one of the best teams last night. Just proves how good we can be when our stars can remain on the court.
So? That just means we'll get to hear Matt Bullard's corney jokes and Clyde's repetitive or controversial phrases all season long!
As long as our players try hard every game, I'll always be a fan. It was really painful last year to see T-mac give up ON the court..
i don't have any expectations for this season......even if we're in the running for john wall by january, i'll still be watching all the games from start to finish
I'm very excited about this season, despite having no championship expectations. We'll be competitive for the 5-8th seed. A lottery pick would be nice compensation should we falter. We'll see which of our guys blossom. There will be something to look forward to, that much is guaranteed. I think the Tmac hate is unreasonable, but it is time to move on. His injuries over the years have taken their toll and I don't believe Grover is some magical fountain of youth. Yao's future is up in the air for me, as well. I want him on the team, but I want some reliability as well. Battier and Scola are here to stay. People think they're too old to mesh with the young core, but they are proven contributors who can last through the next window. They have much more to offer than just statistics. They may outlast our young guns. We might pull a Boston and trade all the youth for a shot at the championship. Who knows?
