Corey Brewer? In the top 8? Have yall even been keeping up with draft projections? Granted Florida won, but he is not that good and getting way too much hype from you guys. I think we should only be looking at these players if we are looking at the perimeter: (In order of who could benefit us the most this coming year) 1. Brandon Roy: the most complete perimeter player and most NBA ready player in the draft. Great court vision, rarely ever make mistakes, can do everything for you. His comparison is Ginobli, which I think is true after watching a few of his games. Especially the way he drives. Also, he can finish with both hands. Projected 6th, but if he drops a couple of spots and Rockets can pick him up if we move up to 7th or 8th. At 10, there is an off chance. 2. Rodney Carney: Most athletic player in the draft. Can shoot the 3 decently enough. Needs to work on ballhandling. Probably needs a year of work before being a solid 3rd scorer. Still better and more athletic than Corey Brewer. Carney is projected to go in the early teens which makes Rockets more than capable of drafting him. 3. JJ Reddick: Not quick or fast by any means, but still better than what people think and probably average or just below average for the NBA. Best case scenario is that he molds his game around Reggie Millers. Since we do not need him to do that, he will most likely be just a shooter from outside when our stars get double teamed. I think if he can shoot over two guys in his face in the NCAA, he can shoot open shots from 3-point line. Something which our other wing players are unable to do. He is smart and plays with passion. Granted his size and defense is in question, but he is the one person in the draft that you can be sure about as far as advertised ability. 4. Ronnie Brewer: If you guys want a Brewer, get him. Can play decent defense. Can shoot and slash. Not as athletic as Carney and doesnt have his upside, but still a solid player.
Shame on you people..... Heart > Head Of course if Yao continues to improve and we lose everyone one... DD
No, Lebron isn't available. And we don't need another developing TMac. We've got TMac. Keep it real. Our window is now. We need a starting shooting guard DeAleck. And not 2 years down the road either. We have the base to compete for a championship now. Now, if we get lucky and get top 3 and have a shot at a player with superstar potential, then great draft Noah, draft Gay, whatever. But we STILL are going to have to get a starting shooting guard from somewheres. Not unless you want to go into next season with another unproven, underdeveloped bodied rookie sitting the bench while we run Juwan "one foot nailed to the floor" Howard and David "the midget" Wesley or Luther "quickie, streaky, and shorty" Head out there again and then have to put up with Van Gundy screaming at our rookie while he plays 8 minutes a game. Unless you are planning on Van Gundy getting a lobotomy the first of June. Stro is gone. He's gonna be traded. Hopefully, we can use him and the draft pick to bring in an upper tier shooting guard like Mo Pete, somebody that is league tested and proven and we can plug in and forget it. I don't have a problem with drafting a player. I do have a problem with drafting a kid and having to wait 2-4 years for him to develop. If we do that, we are losing 2-4 years of TMac and Yao's prime years. If we are gonna draft somebody, we need them to start at the 2 or 4 next year. I don't think that there are any 2 guards that are going to be available through the draft that are better than pulling the trigger on trades that are going to available this summer for swing men. I wouldn't take any swingman in this draft, including Gay, over a player like Mo Pete, Corey Maggette, or someone of that ilk. Gay is the player with the greatest chance to be a superstar out of this draft, but the odds of us getting high enough to pick him are small, and then he still has to develop. It's just not a fit. We are better off if we are going to draft a kid, to draft a power forward. They are more plentiful in this draft and it is easier for them to come in and be effective in a Van Gundy type system than it is for a perimeter player to come in as a rookie and be effective. The only way any of this changes is if Van Gundy is not the coach. Then there is a whole paradigm shift of thought on the whole team, etc. But I don't see Van Gundy getting fired or quitting this year. 1. Starting SG that can score. 2. Better PF.
Yeah I'm ready for the tank-action. A top 10 draft pick should suffice. Nice video link on YouTube Clutch.
We're starting Rafer Alston (pass first with only 1/2 of the "to pass to" list in the lineup), a rookie SG (Head), a Bobcats' castaway, Juwan in the most inconstent season of his career, and the rotation consists of Stro, Frahm, Brunson and Rybo....and we need to tank? Not a fan of tanking. It's bad karma. While I basically agree with Clutch's list, it's way too early to lock in on where any one of them will get selected. There are always teams willing to take a flyer on an "off the list" player with perceived potential. And that doesn't even factor in that usually a minimum of one player sky rockets up the list by having a great draft camp and/or private workout. Also, I totally disagree with those proclaiming Van Gundy won't start a rookie. If you put in the practice time and produce, you'll get more PT. If your PT is one of the top 5 in productive, you'll start. Besides, IMO it's very hard to throw a blanket statement like than on VG when he's never had a Lottery pick.
Hey, I hope you are right. But I have not heard one thing out of Van Gundy's mouth that indicates that he would start a rookie and play him significant minutes. But I have heard plenty of things from Van Gundy that leads me to believe that he would bench rookies and play them very sparingly. The ONLY reason Head got significant minutes this year was because of injuries. It didn't matter how hard he played in practice, Van Gundy made it clear that if it hadn't been for injuries, Head would have gotten junk minutes off the bench for at least this year and probably next year too. While it may be true that Van Gundy has never had a lottery pick to coach, it is also true that Lebron, Yao, and Kobe ain't in this draft. The top pick is liable to be a sophomore and several of the top picks, maybe as many as 5 or more of the first 10 are likely to be sophs. The odds are if we draft a perimeter player with our draft pick that he sits the bench next year. Roy, Carney, Gay, any of them. Unless Van Gundy changes his spots. (which I hope he does)
Personally, I think the Rockets have so many holes, that they could go with best player available when they pick. We need a 2, we need a 1, we need a 4, and a backup SF and Center wouldn't hurt. Guys that haven't been mentioned: The Williams', Sheldon and Marcus. I think either would help our team. Stro/Howard, not the answer at the 4 Alston, not the answer at the 1.
i dint think i wud ever say this but winning tonite is really gonna hurt...we were so close to being edged out by seattle minne and even boston...wish we had a tuffer schedule to end the season...
that is a true rockets fan. Every fan wants a perfect season. In reality, if you do not it this season, you look for the future. Choose the best course for the future, Rockets!
Walton could have been spreading manure but he did make a quick barely noticable blurb during the Rockets' last game vs the Laker$. Paraphrasing Walton, he said he talked briefly with VG and VG anticipates major changes in the off-season. IMHO, it's hard to make "major" changes when you're armed with a Lottery pick and an MLE. It's possible VG would trade the pick down (combined with a contract) for a vet and a lower pick (the latter being only rotational). But I really think the play of Head, Bogans, Frahm & Hayes have softened VG a little. After all, VG didn't make a hard push for Spree. I'm ever the optimist but I could foresee our #30 from the Knicks making the team and getting some minutes.
We should have started tanking after T-Mac was out, but it's not too late now. I think those are against tanking are either short term fans - being either a fan for a short time, or is not placing Rockets as the first team to root for. If not, then they are just too idealistic. It's time for pragmatism to speak over idealism. Winning now is harmful and meaningless to the Rockets. Harmful because it is practically playing under a new rule: substract n% of talent off your team for every victory. Meaningless for there is no reward, no playoffs for such sacrifice in talent. Losing now is beneficial and meaningful, for the reasons above. Like I said, when a war is lost, when a country declared defeat, it's foolish to run into a jungle and keep fighting.
I admit it's time to tank. But don't call people who want to win out short-term fans or too idealistic. Some just can't stand to see their team lose..
Well, I hope you're right. Assets for acquiring players: 1. MLE 2. $4.2 TE 3. Stromile Swift 4. lottery pick 5. top of the 2nd round pick 6. Spanoulis 7. Possibly one of either Rafer or Luther. I do not put too much stock in Walton's comments. He's one of the guys crawling all over JVG for his coaching style. Why would JVG tell him anything worthwhile?
