Najera for Langhi Trade

But we can't give Novitski to Dallas!!!! with Nowitzki and Novitski on the same team they would dominate!

 

Much like the non-Rashard drafting, I think the Rockets made the Langhi move just so people could b**** about it later.

good job Rocks.

 

We had to trade up to get Langhi, that is why we had no second round pick in the last draft. So really, Langhi cost us Najera and a first round pick, since we traded a first round pick for TMo, who we could have drafted with a second round pick. Or, if TMo was gone, we could have gotten Loren Woods. In retrospect, the Langhi trade was very bad.

 

Hehehe .

 

Yes. It was a good trade for Dallas. One might say even lopsided.

 

It is called PT. Get langhi some extended minutes and let's see if he can play. The only extended minutes I saw are in the summer leagues. Maybe when Cat sits with his bad ankles (insiders say both ankles are swollen like baseballs after every game, he will get 15-20 minutes. Some players are not meant to be spot-minute players off the bench. Maybe, the guy needs consistent minutes to prove himself. Dan Langhi can flat out shoot the rock. He proved it in college. I am not talking about someone who drove the lane against other slow college players either. I am talking about a guy who can throw it down from 15, 20, 23 feet consistently.

I saw him at Westside a couple times this summer against other NBAers and he was knocking them down with hands in his face!

Let's face it though. He must not be proving it in practice. Rudy gives time to players that work hard in practice. Maybe, he is a practice court lounge lizard and does not work hard. I watch him in warmups before games and he does not seem to be shooting seriously. He kinda walks around throwing up lame fall aways as if he knows there is no way I am playing tonight, so I am just going to collect my $5,000 game check and chill.

Najera has been given extended minutes in pinches. Let's see what Danny boy can do before we call this one.

 

I didn't understand that trade either. Why draft eduardo then after Dallas draft Langhi, we swap players? The thing is, a Don Nelson type system is for players and the teams while Rudy's is for 2 people. Langhi in Dallas would prosper because he would be on the move as opposed to spotting up all the time. Read the espn article about Steve Kerr and you will see there is a difference.

 

Actually,

As much as I like Langhi, I REALLY liked Eduardo, he hustles all the time and is a banger.

Not to mention the Rockets could save some jack on an interpeter for Oscar with Eduardo on the squad.

DD

 

It was a gamble on the Rockets' part.

Najera is a solid player; I wouldn't mind having him at all. He's a workhorse off the bench a la Malik Rose, etc. That's fine, but the Rockets thought they had a potential star in Langhi. Like Cato, he's got most of the tools to be really successful. It remains to be seen why he hasn't broken out yet.

I don't know if it was the best decision, but I still support the Langhi trade from that perspective. If you guys think it was bad move, fine, you're probably right. But if you're asking 'why,' that's your answer. Don't forget that we got Cuttino in the second round too. One out of two killer second-round steals ain't bad at all. And I haven't entirely given up on Langhi either.

 

I think you're mostly right about this distinction, and the Kerr article does give one a better picture of that.

However, I don't think Rudy is opposed to having guys on the perimeter move about. Remember when we were trying to institute a motion-type offense? I know we've had an inside-outside game for a long time, but I distinctly remember a Chronicle article from maybe a couple years ago where players (Walt) were talking about placing guys at specific spots so Steve and Cuttino would know where to pass to. Essentially, it makes it easier for Steve and Cuttino (and albeit, the help defense) to have guys at designated spots when they're trying to break down the defense.

Now, I know that was a long time ago, and I'm not a coach, but even I can figure that you should be able to have both your cake (players knowing where each other are) and eat it too (good player movement), but maybe the problem is that the team hasn't been able to get/execute everything in the offense Rudy's planned, and Rudy's been watering it down so that it can still function. This is still a young team, and before you bring up the Clippers, don't forget that the Clippers are still much more stable than the Rockets have been. We only just now have three of our starters from last year back (one of whom is Cato and doesn't matter). In addition, we've only had six players who saw significant minutes last year see significant minutes this year, one of whom is Steve who's been injured, and only three of whom were starters both years. I think he lectures the team on many problems we criticize like lack of ball movement. That we have trouble executing is more an issue of the players struggling with on-court chemistry and perhaps just grasping the system than the system itself.

But back to my point, because I don't really want this to dissolve into a Clippers/Rockets debate, in my opinion, I think Rudy wants more off-ball movement and a more sophisticated offense. He's just adding on wrinkles as the team can handle them.

 

Watching Langhi in Summer leagues as a Rookie- Rocky Mountain Review- he moved extremely well. His shot was on target. I thought we had a younger- more mobile Matt Bullard. I do not know what has happened to his development, but in summer league competitiion, he has the tools. His movement without the ball was very impressive.

 

My impression is the Langhi trade was a gamble that didn't work out. He's a unique player, given his size, speed and shot, and I think Rudy was hoping he could develop a mentality for the NBA. I think that's the only thing that Langhi is really lacking. Najera definitely has it, and that's why he gets court time. So I think this misjudged -- not on talent, but on persona.

 

The Rockets made a gamble.

Langhi had/has good potential. He has the potential to have a Detlef Schrempf like career, and be a starter. Or he has the potential to sit on the bench, because he's a liability basically everywhere but shooting. He had to get stronger. He had to play better defense. Morris has clearly jumped ahead of him with significantly better skills in those departments, and neither of their shots are falling particularly well.

Najera is bench material. He's a high energy guy, with no position, and not oozing with talent. He won't get much better, if any better. The moment he's not able to go full speed for his 20 minutes, his career will basically be over.

The Rockets gambled. And as far as gambles go, costing a 2nd round pick is not that bad.

 

I hate admitting the multiple sports packages i have and i know it was college, but the few games I saw of Langhi he didn't just stand and shoot 3's. He kind of moved without the ball, put it on the floor and stuff like that. I'm not going to bring up the Clippers, I'll do you one better, the Glen Rice trade. Coming into the season before we made this deal, I thought it would be a chance for him or Morris to step up and maybe grab that position. Before there was any chance of that, we traded for Rice. Now we have a rental on a old guy and can't see if Langhi or Morris are actually ballplayers or what they can add to this team. I don't know whats going on in practice, but this guy can't get off the bench. It would be sd if Langhi leaves and becomes a pretty good player like Craig Ehlo.

 

It would suck! the phantom of Ehlo will haunt us forever!

I watch the players on the bench through the binocs all the time...and generally, Dan looks totally uninterested and unenthused to be here or there. He is seen yawning and almost comatose (sp.). I know it is hard sitting on the bench night in and night out and he is a competitor, but still you are in the NBA, baggin 5k per night. Be happy and be humble! Get out of the chair during a high-flying dunk and show some interest in your fellow players, team and the game. Stand up and give high fives to players as they come in during a timeout, versus waiting for Collier to help you get off the floor. I cannot speak for his true attitude, but the perception I have from watching him is that he is a whiney kid who thinks he should be starting and is so pissed that he cannot even be a bench supporter!

There, I said it! I feel so much better. I want Dan to play and succeed and am pulling for Dan, because I saw in play in the SEC and know he can contribute...but, maybe, he does not earn the right to play much because of his 1) practice game face and 2) his overall attitude

just some thoughts and obversations from Section 105.

 

I saw Dan in Long Beach last summer and I thought he was the real deal. Granted, being a star in the Summer League may not mean much (Sean Colson anyone?) but he looked no worse than any of the Clippers he matched up against (Lamar Odom included) and I thought that was a pretty decent benchmark.

I thought his decision-making and ball-handling skills were way better than I thought (based on watching him play in Long Beach). He's no star to be sure, but I think his fundamentals look very sound. There were times in the past month where I felt Rudy could have done no worse to let Langhi have the ball than watch the dribble, dribble, clank when Mobley and Moochie had been out there too long.

--Deji

 

Langhi can play!!! he just isnt the future of the rockets... steve is and his man is tmo so we will move langhi in a trade and develope tmo who has better defence.

 

There's a school of thought that says you should spend your second-round picks on gambles, because you can always grab a true second-round player two or three years from now off the free agent market, without giving up the time and roster space a second-rounder out of college requires. In fact, you're more likely to have to cut a true second-rounder because you don't have roster space for players who can't play yet or can't contribute much. So you pick a guy like Mobley or Langhi or Loren Woods. If he's a bust, he's a bust, big deal. But if the bet pans out, you don't have to agonize over whether he's worth the space.

On this theory, without the benefit of hindsight, Langhi was a good pick/trade, and Tmo wasn't.

 

I mentioned this in my "Hindsight Sucks" thread.