Let me put it this way for you. Everyone is aware of the injury risk to Tracy McGrady,if he is down Luther Head becomes the primary shooting guard.Our backcourt becomes very small in that situation. SF can't be relied any longer nor can Bobby Jackson for more than a few games. We need a tall,athletic swingman who can reduce not only Tracy McGrady's minutes but also Shane Battier's too. Mike Harris is an undersized PF,not an SF.Steve Novak is only good for spot minutes.
You're missing the point. We're all in agreement that this team could use some more size and athleticism. What we are arguing is whether or not Morey actually said/does not use height when evaluating players. I'm pretty damn sure it's a factor, maybe just not as highly rated as skill or potential.
Good break down!! And you have just answered my point. Who killed us in the play-offs for the past 2 years, the Utah Jazz. Derron Williams 6'5" , against Rafer 6'3". How many times did our undersized power forwards give up big boards to the larger Okur 7'0". I'm not going to even mention how much we gave up with Luther Head 6'3", against the 6'7" Kyle Korver, and the 6'5" Mike Harris against the Matt Harpering 6'7". We only have 2 players that can over match them, Tracy and Yao. This is how we continue to watch other teams in May and June!!
If you look at my other post in which I paraphrased Morey I said he does not factor in height as much as he does skill.I didn't say he doesn't factor it all. I also mentioned in the same post that skill level and how a player fits in with the team should be the most important factor in selecting a player as well. Both you and I agree that we need more size,height,athleticism in addition to a high skill level.I don't want a guy who is tall and can just run and jump or a lazy,soft player like Swift.
sure Luther Head was a rocket before DM but he drafted Aaron Brooks, he picker up Mike Harris, he resigned Chuck Hayes to a 3 yr contract @ $1.9 million a year. Chuck Hayes is the equivalent to Ryan Bowen.
First of all, we are not a short team. Our starting lineup consists of guys that are average at worst, with Alston being the worst offender at 6'2". Secondly, steals of the draft are just as likely to be undersized. Where we're usually picking, guys drop for a reason. Size is one of them. Look at the last three drafts: Landry, Milsap, and Ellis were the best guys taken late in their respective drafts. They're ALL undersized. Size helps, but it's not the first attribute to look for in a player. Our stars and main pieces are big, the rest of the roster just need to be warriors regardless of stature. Joe Dumars is one of the best GM's in the business and he has no qualms about utilizing undersized players like Stuckey, Maxiell, and Ben Wallace. You guys think you know better than him? Here's a thought. Why don't you guys list players in this draft that you think we can get that are perfectly sized? Quit criticizing and start naming players you think the rockets should draft. Because last year guys were crying over Fazekas and McRoberts and none of them were held accountable. This time, let's keep tabs on all you size-mongers.
Chuck Hayes was resigned by Morey, Mike Harris was picked up last year under Morey, and why would you draft of all things ,a SMALL point guard if your roster is very small outside of Yao and T-Mac
You must not have been alive in 2005. Chuck Hayes is insanely more valuable than Flyin' Ryan Bowen. Your argument just isn't adding up. 1. Chuck Hayes was re-signed by Morey - that doesn't mean "Morey doesn't factor in height!!?!!". Chuck Hayes is one of the best defensive PF's in the league.. with his size the only thing truly holding him back. Who would you have signed, assuming they were available and wanting to sign with us, at 1.9 million for three years? Ben Wallace makes 15.5 a year -- and I think Hayes is better than him. 2. Mike Harris was never factored into the rotation. He was a training camp invite, that Morey cut because there just wasn't room. This was explained to you earlier. Signing Mike Harris is not an argument that "Morey doesn't factor in size". It's not like he had a more talented, taller replacement who could come in right away and know the system He also signed Loren Woods, who is size and nothing else. 3. They felt Aaron Brooks was the BPA, imo. Regardless of size or position, I think they were set to take the best player available. They made up for drafting a PG by buying Carl Landry. Bottom line: we all think we need some more athleticism and size. I'm confident we'll draft some, but praying we trade for it (w/ Shane).
I actually thought Morey likes to keep signing and trading for PFs and Centers. I am kinda tired of it, wish he would concentrate on our backup G for T-Mac. Drafting one little PG is fine if you are signing and trading for 6 PF/Cs and 2 Fs. He traded and signed 6 PF/Cs. He drafted 6'9" PF Landry and traded a pg for another 6'9" PF Scola, signed a worthless 7'1" stiff in Loren Woods, and resigned 7'2" Mutombo, signed 6'10" Justin Williams. Only 2 of those guys are no longer with us, because they big giant stiffs. He traded for 6'8" F Gerald Green and signed 6'7" F Bobby Jones. He signed 6'3" PG Steve Francis, a tall PG, but completely disabled.
So your basic thesis is that if we'd had a taller player on the court against Okur, then we would still be playing? Would the 7'1 (9'5 standing reach) Loren Woods have helped?? It's extremely foolish to say that we were too small when our 7'6 franchise C was sitting out injured. Of course we don't have a decent third string backup C - how hard is it to get a guy who is a good ball player 'just in case'... And so naturally a PF needs to slide over and play C some of the time. For the record, our starting lineup more than matched up height-wise with the Jazz Our height: their height PG 6'2 - 6'3 SG 6'8 - 6'7 C 7'2 - 6'11 PF 6'10 - 6'8 SF 6'8 - 6'9 Interesting that you say it was the Jazz who killed us with the 6'8 Carlos Boozer at PF, and the 6'7 Paul Millsap coming off the bench foot, shot, your argument?
I tired of him signing and trading for big stiffs at the expense of talent and scoring. He just wouldn't quit and got proven wrong again and again, with each subsequent stiff. Loren Woods and Justin Williams were the biggest flops. He resigned a 7'2" Mutombo, one of the best backup Cs, though. I would have liked for him to go for somebody younger. More than likely they wouldn't be 7'2" or taller though. The rules have changed to favor guards. We need more penetration and offense from our guards, in particular our back up SG/SF.
He made the Woods and Williams moves mid-season out of desperation AFTER Ming got injured. Don't write a revisionist history here... It's not Morey's fault that Bonzi can't hit an open 3 to save his life - so he moved him on. But one would've thought that guy was the backup SG? Once the season is underway, there's only so many options at any position, so he fiddled around with the stiffs to see if any would fit... Chuck Hayes is one of the best defensive PFs in the game, and he picked up over a steal per contest AGAIN. We just created an asset with at least some value for a team looking to get better defensively. Anyway - point is that BOTH Morey and Adelman have talked about the backup GF position as being our biggest need this off-season. And BOTH have talked about bringing in a vet with legit size
Just name the 2-3 players you would've gone for as backup C halfway through the season Where were these 'talented' guys?
Well - at 6'4.5 in shoes he's certainly more on the 'undersized' side of things than 'oversized' And so if he's full size, then the 6'6 3/4 Chuck Hayes is full size and the whole argument breaks down...
You arguement is baseless!! I was alive in 05', 06' , 07', and 08' and I saw the Rockets loose the exact same way. No size, no length, and no bench. Why would you re-sign someone if he does not fit your criteria as a power forward. for instance, how many other teams would Chuck Hayes play as many minutes for , as he does with the Rockets. He is exceptional on the defensive end but he gives you nothing offensively. If you were listening during the play-offs, Adelman said numerous times that he was torn between putting in a defensive or offensive unit. We have too many players that are one way players, either they are offensive or defensive. Mike Harris is another Short player for his position that hustles, but really doesn't give you much offensively. And by the way the Best Player Available, point guard wise was Ramon Sessions. I would trade Brroks for him in a minute. So you are wrong again!!
It depends on his role. If he's a point, he's quite big. If he plays the off-guard, he's quite small. This year, Flip used him in both roles. I'd say he was a combo guard, and those guys are undersized by definition. No one said Sura was big anything. I'm pretty disturbed that out of my whole post, all anyone got was that Stuckey was undersized.
No!! Not just center but look at the other positions outside of T-Mac. I'm saying we are getting beat at too many other positions. To me the Rockets need to focus on what type of player they want at each position from here on out!! For example, if it is a back up guard, their pholosophy should be that; we want a player in the 6'7" to 6'9' range, he must be able to attack the basket athletic and he must be able to defend. We are not going to settle for a 6'4" or 6'5" player. If you look at the Lakers, that is what they do! Look at their roster; Kobe 6'6", Gasol 7'0", Odom 6'10", Radmonovich 6'10", Walton 6'8", etc. Their pholosophy is length!!! And to top it off they're going to have Bynum 7'1" next year. And yes I brought up the Jazz, who has 6'8" Boozer and 6'7" Milsap. They are the exact same size as our power forwards; 6'7.5" Landry, 6'5" Chuck Hayes, 6' 9" "but not athletic" Scola, he plays more like 6'7" by the shots he gets blocked. And yes those same Jazz got killed on the glass by the Lakers!!!
Name that 6'7'' to 6'9'' backup guard who can do all these things and set forth the plan for acquiring said player.
No, Scola plays like a guy in his rookie season, getting used to the fact that the NBA has far more athletic players with length that he played against in Europe. Next season, you won't see nearly as many of his shots blocked, not that it was a big problem this past season, anyway.
