Morey: Please Keep this Core - They're Building Something Special

sorry for my typo

 

you guys are so obsessed with that third star. we might need 8 stars since we only have dwight, a superstar who can score and defend. =/

 

I like out starters.. Lin, asik, brooks... after that DMO can stay MAYBE but we may need him in a trade casspi, Garcia, brewer, smith, Canaan can all go if needed, I would keep Covington dude has potential and is only a $400k cap hit.

 

I'd rather we develop our young players than spending big money on a third star so the stars will have to play with a bunch of scrub.

 

Uh oh bad news Barrett!

 

You need talent to win the championship after all. James and Dwight are flawed and they need help. Daryl knows it and that's why he has been emphasizing that we need a third-best player.

 

I like this team, and I think it could be built on, but only if they fix a few of these issues first without getting someone else on board (or maybe another roleplayer)

1. Defense - if the whole team can put up a better defensive effort for 4 Qtrs - that would convince me that this team is hungry and is ready to go beyond first round. Especially in perimeter defense. The team always allows the other team far too easily to hit 3s. And occasionally a bad 3pt foul too.

2. TJones needs to develop better defense - great offense and rebounding, if he can take his defense to the next level would make him even more awesome ( I don't expect it to happen this year)

3. Rotations - not sure if this is more of a coaching issue but if players switch and rotate better and know their role - defense will improve. Great teams always know where to go

4. 3point shooting. Rockets have been experiencing a crappy 3 point slump for awhile. Is it really a slump or is the whole team just taking bad 3 point attempts? My memory tells me it's a combination of both. Missed open 3, contested 3s, any kind of 3s, they just don't want to fall. Not sure why, or how the team can fix. Maybe better rotations and screens to have more open 3s. I think the team on the most part can hit open 3s - what is the team % on that stat, if anyone can look up?

That's all, otherwise I think this team is pretty fun to watch if they continue to play like the past 3 games, allowing everyone to contribute

 

I hope one of our young guys can develop into that role too but there's no guarantee that they will so we also have to be opportunistic on the trade front or make an addition in the FA market.

 

Lol! Bam...take that .

 

I am not so sure about that. I think our biggest rival in years to come is going to be OKC. Apparently they know how to stop Harden and Dwight is a mediocre post player at best. I just don't see how we can beat them in a 7-game series with our current squad. I really think we need a 3rd star to match up to their talent level.

 

+1 for your first thread.

I agree, don't mess with the core players. This season our expectations shouldn't be high anyways because normally it takes a year to build the right chemistry.

 

I agree... Most championship teams have to grow together and young teams usually don't win championships. I don't really know how the cap would allow the Rockets to pay and keep everyone though... I believe Harden, Howard, and TJ are untouchable at this point _ everyone else may be up for grabs.

 

I would really like to see this core stay together as well. I feel like this core can really grow together into something special. What we really need is to buff out the bench more past Lin and hopefully Omer while he is still in contract. If we could add a solid wing defender and another solid back up big, maybe DMo can fill that slot, then we can really be something special.

Of course there is going to be some cap options to iron out. Like, what to sign Parsons and Beverley at? Or, what can we get out of an Asik trade? We are years away but Jones isn't going to cheap to resign. And as much as I would Lin as our bench manager, 8.3 million against the cap for him is too much. Can we get a discount rate to sign him after his contract, say around 4-5 million/year? Hopefully all of the guys sacrifice something in return to comeback and play with the team.

In terms of getting a third star, I honestly don't think it's going to be plausible without having the team just be Harden, Howard and the third star with a filler bench. Both Howard and Harden are signed to max contracts. This isn't like the Heat where Bosh, Wade and LeBron signed for almost max contracts. Or the Spurs where Tim, Tony and Manu signed for way less than they should have gotten. Not a knock on Harden or Howard because neither knew what the team would be like when they signed their deals but it's now a huge factor in the future of the Rockets.

That's why instead of having a third star, I would rather us use that money to sign two or more players to fair deals. We could use that 16-18 million that would be used to sign another max guy to resign Jones, Parsons and Beverley/Lin easily. Even if we could get Love or LMA, I rather our team be constructed with 2 top players, several good to great players and role players than 3 top players and rookies or way past their prime veterans on their last few years of playing.

 

Threw it down with force

 

Come on, do not lose the big picture.

The championship goes through OKC on the west, eventually Miami if James does not leave.

Nobody on this team can defend Durant/Lebron or at least negate their impact on the game.

We match up terribly against OKC. Harden can't do much against defense SG, averaging 39% shooting. Howard has end-of-game issues.

This team, as constructed now, can't beat OKC no matter how mature the team is. Not a chance.


I repeat what I said months ago, Parsons will be eventually gone because he is not a wing defender to save Harden, and can't match up with Durant.

 

That's exactly how I see it. This is why having another playmaker in game is so important in the current NBA games (Heat has Lebron and Wade). Whether Lin could be that guy, time will tell.