great read, thanks! I'm not too surprised about Ariza. That doesn't mean other teams think he's one of our best players, just that he produces well for his contract. You don't think practically every contending would try and acquire Ariza for salary cap relief and a second rounder? He's young enough too that I could see a rebuilding team go after him as a good role player next to their "future superstars." Everyone loves an athletic wing who can do crazy dunks, play defense and has won a championship.
The Rockets training camp is held in my hometown of McAllen, Tx and let me tell you I am really excited about this years squad. Morey is the nicest guy who actually took time to speak to us fans last year, and I am so glad we handed the keys over to him. No diss to Dawson but this is a 21st century guy who knows his stuff so he has my complete trust. On another note, I would really like to know what our summer league squad is gonna look like. D-Leaguers plus PP??? Hopefully we can make some stuff happen early in the season so we dont have to play catch up. GO ROCKETS!!!!!!!
That's awesome. But what's Rusty Hardin's connection to Daryl Morey? Good info on Taylor. I have a good feeling about that guy. We may be more willing to let Bud go if Taylor's ready to develop. I think a team of Yao / Hill / Hayes Scola / PP / Hayes Ariza / Battier / Jeffries Martin / Bud / Taylor Brooks / Lowry / FA has a 50% chance of making the WCF.
Here's the video... http://www.nba.com/video/teams/rockets/2010/06/25/2010MoreyMOV-1357405/index.html
Rusty Hardin is a season ticket holder and was invited to the event apparently. I have no indication that DM needs the service of a criminal defense lawyer. You are smoking some quality weed if you think we have 50% of WCF. It's no lock that we make the playoffs, and if we do, the west is so deep that we are one of 7 teams below the lakers.
it's going to take.... Money! Uncle Les will have to open up his pocket book if he wants to win big. I think he does.
Check out Keith Jones calling Pat Patterson and finding out he might not be wearing #54... http://www.nba.com/video/teams/rockets/2010/06/25/2010MoreyMOV-1357405/index.html
You think that adding Yao to last year's team, plus a full season of Martin and Ariza playing together, AND our young players having another year of development, is not a lock to make the playoffs? And if we're 1 of 7 teams below the Lakers, then why is it so unbelievable that we're the ones who rise to the top of those 7 teams? The biggest obstacle to us making the WCF is playing the Lakers before then. A good team with good chemistry is certainly capable of beating the aging Spurs, the young Thunder, the falling apart Suns, the not improving Jazz, the cursed Clippers, the underachieving Nuggets, the choking Mavs, etc.
Thanks. I'm aglow like a schoolgirl on prom night, what with the extra green dot under my moniker and being on the front page. In all seriousness to all clutchfans, we're lucky that the Rockets have such events and Morey is so competent, candid and accessible. It's a great way to run the franchise that SF3 built.
Here's my power rankings in the West, with injuries and health being an unknown: 1. LA 2-5. Portland, Denver, Dallas, OKC 6-8. SA, Houston, Utah This assumes Phoenix loses Amare. If they keep him, then Phoenix makes the playoffs. NOLA could make the playoffs. Memphis has an outside shot, but they're such a bad organization I keep them out. If Yao is super healthy, we could push into the next tier. If he is not, we could fall right out. With this picture, I have a hard time seeing that we have a 50% shot at WCF. I think we do what SA does - win the games we can win, make the playoffs, take it easy on yao, avoid the 8 seed. From there, we hope for health and play our best ball at the end of the year. We can present matchup problems for any of the 2-5 seeds, but won't be favored. This year, lots of lower seeds advanced. We try to push our way into the WCF. If we make it, it's a hell of a year.
Basically, this is what I've been saying for awhile now. Brooks has special qualities, chase can be a rip hamilton type,and ariza is 24, made huge plays on a championship team and is on a mle contract. Lowry is a typical bench player and no one wants battier and his 7.3m for a no show in the playoffs on the road. Last yr the rockets were pushing scola,but the kings wanted landry because of the upside.
I'm actually starting to like our roster, specially if you compare it to the defending champs roster, I believe we have the better bench by far... Yao Ming 7'6 | Jordan Hill 6'10 | David Andersen 6'11 Luis Scola 6'9 | Patrick Patterson 6'9 | Chuck Hayes 6'6 Trevor Ariza 6'8 | Shane Battier 6'9 | Jerad Jeffries 6'11 Kevin Martin 6'7 | Chase Businger 6'7 | Jermaine Taylor 6'4 Aaron Brooks 6'0 | Kyle Lowry 6'1 | *third string PG(Incase of injury) *Alexey Shved 6'5 or Armon Johnson 6'3 Lakers current Roster Andrew Bynum 7'0 | D.J. Mbenga 7'0 | Derrick Caracter 6'9 Pau Gasol 7'0 | Lamar Odom 6'10 | Josh Powell 6'9 Ron Artest 6'7 | Luke Walton 6'8 | Devin Ebanks 6'8 Kobe Bryant 6'6 | Sasha Vujacic 6'7 | Adam Morrison 6'8 Derek Fisher 6'2 | Jordan Farmar 6'2 | Shannon Brown 6'3 --RB
